On Thursday August 13, 2009, IIIT concluded its third annual Summer Program in Islamic Studies for senior undergraduate and graduate students. Fourteen students from seven different universities completed the six weeks program that was held at IIIT campus in Herndon, Virginia between July 6 and August 13, 2009.

The program included three major components: a) intensive courses in Islamic studies such as Quran and Sunna, Islamic history and civilization, Islamic jurisprudence, comparative religion, Islamic reform movements and faith-based entrepreneurship; b) research work and training in an area of interest to the student, and c) briefings on the history of Islam and Muslims in America and field trips to major Muslim organizations such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), the American Muslim Task Force for Civil Rights and Elections (AMT) and the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association (CMSA).

In addition to the coursework, the research projects and field trips, the students participated in social events that brought together scholars participating in the IIIT Summer Institute for Scholars and IIIT staff and their families.

The graduating students and their research topics were:

-Ahmad Syfiq Hazmi, University of Minnesota.
“Maqasid al-Sharia: Freedoms in Sharia according to Ibn Ashur and Its Applications”

-Nassiba Benghanem, Georgetown University
“Islamic weekend Schools: A Case Study and Proposal for Curricula Reform”

-Daniel Bottmley, University of Delaware
“The Fear Within Islam: A Call for Intra-Islamophobic Study”

-Matthew Brooks, George Mason University
“Finance in Achieving Maqasid al Sharia: Towards a Mutua Understanding”

-Manahil El Sheikh, George Mason University
“Proposal for Education to Eradicate Illiteracy in Developing Countries”

-Elcin Haskollar, Ph.D. Candidate, Rutgers University
“Nonviolence and Peacebuilding in Islam: The Turkish Perspective on the Islamic Tradition of Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution and Nonviolence”

-Mohammad Shazani Masri, Universityof Illinois
“Translation into Malay of the Islamic Vision of Development by Omar Chapra: Lessons learned”

-Molly McDonald, University of Delaware
“Interfaith Dialogue and faith-Based Reconciliation”

-Judith Mueller, George Washington University
“Translation into German of the Fiqh of Minorities, by Taha jabir al Alwani”

-Khadija Nassiri, George Mason University
“Obama Speeches in Turkey and Egypt and the Challenges Muslim face in America”

-Zachary West, George Mason University
“Waqf and Public Interest”

-Hanane Yeslem, George Mason University
“Obama Speeches in Turkey and Egypt and the Challenges Facing Muslims in America”

-Saima Yousuf, George Mason University
“Islamic Weekend Schools: A Case Study of ADAMS Weekend School”

-Shahid Khan, George Washington University
“The Saint and the Prince: Muslim Hierological Studies of Hinduism with Special Reference to Abd El-Quddus Ganguhi and Dara Shikoh”

During the graduation ceremony, IIIT awarded six graduating students for outstanding performance and achievement during the program with Research Fellowships at IIIT. The recipients of the Research Fellowships were:

• Elcin Haskollar
• Shahid Khan
• Mohammad Shazani Masri
• Judith Mueller
• Nassiba Benghanem
• Matthew Brooks

The full year, non resident, Research Fellowships include research work at IIIT, participation in academic conferences and complementary membership to the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) and a one year subscription to AJISS ( The American Journal of Islamic Social Science ). In addition, each student will receive a one thousand dollars monetary award upon completion of their research work by the end of the year.