International Open University - IOU - Philippines

duate courses in Islamic Studies completely tuition-free. Dr. Bilal Philips, Founder and Dean, Islamic Online University

The IOU was launched in 2007 from Qatar with an offering of completely free diploma courses. Alhamdulillah, although we began with 1,500 students in 2007, by the end of 2008, the number of registered students tripled, reaching 4,500. And now, as 2010 draws to a close, Allah has blessed the IOU with a student body of over 30,000 students from over 177 different countries. In 2010 the IOU launched the world’s first tuition-free, online Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies. This path-breaking initiative utilizes the worldwide presence of the Internet and advanced open source online learning technology to bring low-cost, university level Islamic education within reach of anyone on the planet who has access to a computer and the Internet. Thus the IOU Now has two separate virtual campuses: the degree campus and the diploma campus. Each campus is hosted on its own dedicated server. General Information
Islamic Online University offers tuition-free Islamic courses leading to certificates, diplomas and degrees taught completely in English with the exception of Arabic language. Its courses are accessible from two streams:

1. The first stream consists of free intensive courses from the traditional fields of Islamic disciplines in separate topics of immediate, practical relevance and benefit to new students of Islam. It is a structured program where the courses are arranged into increasingly more advanced levels. Certificates are issued to graduates of each course and a diploma for those who complete all the courses offered. This stream also serves as an introduction to online study for students who wish to pursue the BA in Islamic Studies.

2. The second stream is a full-fledged formal Islamic Studies (Usool Ad-Deen) Degree Program in English (BAIS). Course Material, provided online, will consist of written material of the basic text being taught plus Audio and Video Lectures of classes, and live tutorial classes.

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IOU’s current programs are of three types:

1. FREE COURSES: A series of free courses arranged into an organized program of study wherein students who follow the recommended sequence will embark on a study program guided by Dr Bilal Philips himself. The program provides an introduction to the basic Islamic sciences and insight into the manhaj or way of the Prophet (pbuh) as embodied in the Qur'aan and authentic Sunnah in accordance with the understanding of the first generation. Some of the courses will be on topics of immediate and practical relevance to the students. The free course of study will also introduce students who wish to pursue an accredited BA or MA in Islamic Studies to the methodology of the BAIS program.

2. BA and MA COURSES: The other facet will be the full-fledged formally accredited Islamic Studies (Usool Ad-Deen) Degree Program in English (BAIS). Course Material will consist of written material of the basic text being taught plus Audio and Video Lectures of classes conducted in the ISA-Doha, or elsewhere.

3. DIPLOMAS & CERTIFICATES: Diplomas will be granted for the completion of all the courses offered in a given subject of the BAIS program. Certificates will be given for each of the free courses and a diploma for those who complete all of the free courses. The free course component of the IOU is currently open for enrollment. Those interested will first have to create a site account and then enroll for the courses of their choice. HISTORY
The IOU was originally a product of Dr Bilal's teaching courses in Islamic Studies at the American University in Dubai for seven years after Islamizing the complete curriculums of study for the college of education of the Sharif Kabunsuan College in Cotabato City, Mindanao, Philippines in the early nineties. One year after the IOU’s establishment in 2001 the program ran into technical difficulties and had to shut down, however, the material developed for its courses was used to establish a department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Preston University – Ajman, UAE and three years later the department had its first batch of BA graduates. After running the Islamic Studies department at Preston for one year as its dean, Dr Bilal moved to Doha, Qatar, and in the beginning of 2007 established another BA in Islamic Studies (BAIS) program in Doha, approved by Omdurman Islamic University in Sudan for accreditation, under the title of the Islaamic Studies Academy. In April 2007 the Islamic Online University (IOU) reopened its doors with the popular Da’wah Training Course after a five-year interlude. To enhance the students’ leaning experience, the server and the LMS (Learning Management System) of the IOU have been upgraded. As a result, the courses now have audios and Flash format videos enabling easy viewing online for all types of internet connections. There are also monthly online live student forums with Dr Bilal, as well as general forums for students to discuss and research together. FOUNDER
DR. ABU AMEENAH BILAL PHILIPS was born in Jamaica, West Indies, and grew up in Canada, where he accepted Islam in 1972. He completed a B.A. from the College of Islamic Disciplines (Usool ad-Deep) at the Islamic University of Madeenah in 1979 and a M.A. in Islamic Theology in 1985 at the University of Riyadh, College of Education. In 1994 he completed a Ph.D. in Islamic Theology in the department of Islamic Studies at the University of Wales. From 1994 to 2001, Dr. Bilal founded and directed the Islamic Information Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and the Foreign Literature Department of Dar al Fatah Islamic Press in Sharjah, UAE. In the year 2001, Dr. Bilal established the Islamic Online University, the first accredited Islamic university on the Internet. He was a professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University in Dubai and Ajman University, head of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Preston University-Ajman, UAE, a lecturer and director of Da'wah and Education at Qatar Guest Center, Doha, Qatar, and is currently the Dean of the Islaamic Studies Academy in Doha (see: www.islaamicstudiesacademy.com ) More information about him and his activities may be found at

www.bilalphilips.com

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NOTE: Student groups and forums on the Facebook or anywhere else on the internet outside the IOU website are neither created nor maintained by Islamic Online University and the students who join these groups or forums are responsible for their own decision. We request the students to report to us if they find anything unethical or unislaamic somewhere in the name of IOU so that we can alert the IOU students about it.