Academic Foundations: Qur’an, Hadith, Sunnah and Seerah
In brief: The Institute's academic foundations: the Qur'an, Hadith, Sunnah and Seerah, Imam Abu Hanifa's jurisprudence, Imam Ahmad Raza's rulings and Mujaddid Alf Thani's Sufi teachings.
Every programme is built on six foundations, studied through primary texts and the commentaries of recognised scholars.
| Foundation | Focus |
|---|---|
| Qur’an | Revelation, tafsir, recitation, Qur’anic sciences, and the Urdu/English tafsir tradition |
| Hadith | Transmission, criticism and the major collections, including the six canonical books (Kutub al-Sitta) |
| Sunnah and Seerah | The practice and biography of the Prophet ﷺ; the Sunnah as a source of law and character |
| Hanafi fiqh | Usul al-fiqh and applied jurisprudence in the school of Imam Abu Hanifa |
| Aqidah and Imam Ahmad Raza | Creed and rulings as taught by Imam Ahmad Raza Khan; see Barelvi Sunni doctrine |
| Tasawwuf | The Naqshbandi Mujaddidi path and the writings of Mujaddid Alf Thani |
How other Islamic universities inform us
Our programme design is informed by the structure of reputable Islamic teaching institutions: the graded texts of the dars-i-nizami madrasa tradition, the faculty-based degrees of al-Azhar, and the research-degree conventions of modern universities (supervised dissertation, literature review, referencing, viva or written evaluation).