On Friday July 22^nd, IIIT celebrated the completion of its 5^th annual Summer Program in Islamic Studies with the graduation of fifteen students. The program, which ran for six weeks between June 13 and July 22, included instruction in core courses such as Qur’an and Sunna, Islamic History and Civilization, Islamic Jurisprudence, Contemporary Islamic Thought, and Muslim World Affairs. In addition, four seminars were offered focusing on Islamic Finance, Faith-Based Entrepreneurship, Islamic Reform Movements and Muslim organizations. The students visited offices of major Muslim organizations in Washington as well as some Islamic Centers such as ADAMS (All Dulles Area Muslim Society). Beside the coursework and the field trips, each student conducted research in area of their interest related to the main focus of the program and prepared a research paper/project that was presented publicly the day before the program ended.

Four students from the group were awarded Research Fellowships from IIIT for outstanding performance. The one-year, non-resident Fellowships will allow the students to pursue research at IIIT, participate in selected academic conferences beside a free one year membership in the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) and subscription to the American Journal of Islamic Social Science (AJISS).