Updated 16 November 2010
The Madinah and Bab al-Ilm summer courses are a regular feature of The World Federation’s calendar as youths from around the world gather together in the Islamic Republic of Iran for 3-weeks of education, cultural appreciation, spirituality and recreation. The aim of the course is to serve as a post-Madrasah education initiative; integrating academic scholarship with an experience of cultural relevance of Islam in the modern age along with a sense of enhanced self-knowledge and understanding leading to higher levels of spirituality and as a result, greater service to humanity in worship of the Almighty (swt).
This year, the course ran from 18 July 2010 – 7 August 2010. The World Federation’s Qum Office had the honour of hosting the largest group thus far – 70 students from 4 continents and from a variety of academic, familial, geographic and linguistic backgrounds. The courseplanning began almost 6 months before the students landed in Iran and was backed up by the constant and selflessadministrative and logistical support of the Islamic Education Team in London, and The World Federation’s regionalbodies: Africa Federation (AFED), The Council of European Jamaats (CoEJ) and The Organization of North American Shia Ithna Asheri Muslim Communities (NASIMCO).
The course was set in the spiritually charged city of Qum al-Muqaddasah where most of the academic and cultural programmes were conducted. For the first two weeks of the course, the brothers resided in the well-equipped ImamKhomeini Seminary dorms while the sisters stayed at the pristine Jamiah al-Zahra (sa) courseus. During their stay in Qum, students participated in many activities mainly within the city though they also went on daytrips to Tehran and nearby cities such as Kashan and Naraaq, where they visited historical, natural and pilgrimage sites. The final week of the course was spent in the Holy city of Mash’had, performing Ziyarah of our beloved 8th Imam (as), visiting scholars,shopping and also having some fun!
View full report on 7th Madinah and Bab al-Ilm Summer short courses