The College of Shariaa and Islamic Studies at Qatar University (QU), in collaboration with Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, organized an international forum entitled “Islamic Culture as a University: Contemporary Challenges and Prospects of Development,” with the participation of leading academic speakers from various Arab and Islamic universities.
The forum consisted of three sessions each of which addressed a specific topic. The first session centered on the place of the course of Islamic Culture in Islamic colleges and universities. The second focused on the cultural challenges that the course encounters, as well as its decisions and teaching techniques. The third and last session was devoted to applied and practical discussions about the course, hence the expert speakers shared their practical experiences in teaching the course of Islamic Culture.
The forum opened with an opening address by Dr. Hassan bin Rashid Al-Derham, President of Qatar University. Dr. Al-Derham spoke about the importance of this forum and who it reflects the continuous efforts of the College of Sharia to improve and develop the courses and equip it with the most recent effective learning approaches. He also stressed that the Islamic Culture course continues to be of immense benefit for educating both students and scholars about the religion of Islam, its breadth, deep conceptions, as well as the nation’s shared concerns and some of the most effective ways of undertaking them.
In his opening speech, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Ansari, Dean of the College of Shariaa and Islamic Studies, confirmed that the organization of the forum is a testimony to the College of Shariaa’s commitment to collaborate and share experiences with stakeholders worldwide. Especially, since the challenge that face Islamic culture today are challenges that we all have to confront in order to maintain an Islamic culture which can stand effectively in the face of challenges from other cultures, which is be able to convey the message of this nation to the world. This, Dr. Al-Ansari, emphasized is a challenge that we must overcome.
In his paper, Dr. Mohamed Al-Musleh, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, declared that by organizing this forum, the College of Sharia intends to meet three objectives. The first is to bring together those who work in the field of Islamic Culture, as educators or researchers, to reflect and discuss the different ways in which the course may be advanced so that it responds to contemporary issues. The second is so that Qatar University and other universities exchange thoughts, experiences, and practices about developing the Islamic Culture course. The third and last objective is to urge institutional and individual efforts at the university to advance the course.
Dr. Adnan Muhammad Zarzour, a former Professor of Islamic Culture at Qatar University and a number of other universities, spoke first. His paper addressed the question of Islamic culture in universities as a contemporary challenge. Then, Prof. Dr. Abdul Majeed Al-Najjar, Professor of Islamic Culture at the American University in Cairo. Dr. Fatiha Dawar from the University of Algiers spoke in this session on the vision of thinker Muhammad Al-Mubarak for the course of Islamic culture at universities. He was a former member of a number of universities, and his speech dealt with the purpose of developing awareness of Islamic culture.
The forum is a step of many to come toward advancing the course of Islamic Culture as outlined by key specialist organizations, such as the Association of Arab Universities, the Association of Islamic Universities, and the Organization for Islamic Education and Learning.
This forum was organized on the occasion of a larger cultural event, “Doha, Capital of Culture in the Islamic World 2021,” which Qatar hosts from March 2021 to March 2022 under the auspices of the Islamic World Organization for Education, Education and Science (Doha). The ancient history, the Islamic landmarks it embraces, and the civilizational contributions it offers, which made it an Islamic cultural beacon.
With this forum, the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Qatar University contributes, along with other state institutions, to an amalgam of distinguished cultural events in a historic period where Doha showed the world the bright image of Islamic multiculturalism.
Source: QATAR UNIVERSITY