The university has faculties of Education and Humanities, Shariah and Islamic Studies and of Pure and Applied Sciences. The university has its origins in the Islamic African Center, established in Khartoum in 1977. In 1992 the military government of Colonel Omar al-Bashir upgraded the institute to a university. Although the word "Islamic" was dropped from the title, Islamic studies are an importan
t part of the curriculum. The university has been active in Islamic higher education in sub-Saharan Africa since it was created. The University runs the College of Education, Zanzibar, with a 2006 enrolment of 466 students.[4] In 2011, according to Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, Madrid, the university ranked 10,924 in the world, fifth in Sudan. In Sudan, it ranked behind the University of Khartoum, Sudan University of Science & Technology, National Ribat University and Karary University. Officially the Chancellor of the university is the President of the Country. In effect, the head of the university is the Vice-Chancellor. The university is legally independent from the Sudanese state, but the government is the largest financial backer. Classes are mostly held in Arabic, but most of the students come from non-Arabic-speaking African nations and from other countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. The university, working with other organizations, established the Disaster Management and Refugees Studies Institute in 1993. The Institute was inaugurated in 1994 at a ceremony attended by Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity. It undertakes training and development of approaches to disaster management in the Horn of Africa.[7] In April 2011 the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Hassan Mekki, met the Islamic Relief Agency Secretary General, Adnan Bin Khalil Al-Basha in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The two signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in charity and relief work
