Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies (BAIS)

https://iou.edu.gm/stream/bais/

Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies (BAIS)

$569 per semester if studying full-time x 8 semesters = $4,552.

Accredited in Gambia, possibly. 4 to 9 years duration depending on the number of courses. Interesting.

They also appear to offer several non-credit Arabic-learning programs, e.g. https://iou.edu.gm/stream/iap/

 

Hmm. Further research shows this to be the former Islamic Open University founded by Bilal Philips, and best avoided.

 

He's Jamaican Canadian lol

 

Why is it to be avoided (I honestly don't know)?

I just looked up Bilal Phillips and he seems to have a good educational background.

 

Didn't we have that one yet, and we came mostly to the conclusion that the people behind it are fanatics (at the very least)?

 

Ah, here: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/islamic-open-university.54122/

They were discussed a second time here, but I am too lazy to search that thing, too...

 

Sorry, I was on mobile yesterday and DI was intermittently available so I kept my comments brief. Bilal Philips is allegedly an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 WTC bombing, has been banned from numerous western countries for national security reasons and apparently advocates a version of salafism that is very strict and rejects interpretations that many other Muslims find perfectly acceptable. I don't have any training in Islamic Studies and haven't seen the curriculum to know if that part is true, but the possibility that it is has given me pause. Plus if there is a terrorism connection, that is disqualifying in my book.

 

Ummm, yeah, unindicted co-conspirator of 9/11, probably best to steer clear!!

That's really a shame, I'll bet there's a market out there for an accredited undergraduate degree program in Islamic Studies. I did a super-quick search, and most options seem to be either certificates or graduate degrees.

 

I've previously created threads on the programs from Mishka University and International Islamic University of Minnesota so there's a few out there!

 

Mishkah states they’re in the process of applying to SACSCOC while IIUM is open about being unaccredited.

Mishkah’s accreditation page states that if they achieve it, they’ll be the first online Islamic university to do so. It’s still pretty amazing to me that there are no accredited undergraduate programs in Islamic Studies out there.

https://mishkahu.com/academics/accreditation/