30 December 2021 / 26 Jumada al-Awwal 1443
Dear friends and supporters, as-salamu ’alaykum,
Over the course of the past year, I have had the great honour of being entrusted with upholding the mission of Cambridge Muslim College and carrying its vision forward. While we are only nearly at the halfway point of both the Hijri year and the academic year, this break before the new Gregorian year presents a fitting opportunity to reflect on where we have come. Despite the continued challenges of the Covid era, this has been a year of remarkable achievements.
We are expanding our core programmes, with the addition of a second concurrent cohort of our undergraduate degree in Islamic Studies. After a rigorous admissions process, we selected an outstanding group of students, many of whom will be starting their Arabic year with us in just a few weeks, with the rest joining us in Cambridge next September.
We are also preparing for the re-launch of our Diploma in Contextual Islamic Studies and Leadership, reviewing what our students have said over the last 10 years and examining alumni impact all contributing to the upgrade of our curriculum to deal with present and future societal challenges.
Additionally, students in the first cohort of our Diploma in Islamic Psychology completed their first term this month. This programme grounds practitioners in traditional notions of the self and its spiritual reality to revive and contextualise the understanding of holistic, Islamic health and wellness. The Covid pandemic revealed a gaping hole in the provision of resources, guidance, and training in addressing the global decline in mental health and wellbeing. We are excited about the potential that this inaugural cohort has shown already and look forward to the impact they will make in their communities around the globe.
Our continuing education programme continues to deliver beneficial educational opportunities for a public audience. Building on our existing Ramadan Live 2020 programming, we listened to feedback from our audience and offered new rich and insightful reflections on our theme ‘Sow a Seed’, and deep explorations on leaders through the times, all of which provided nuanced understandings of what it means to contribute to our communities and be stewards of this earth.
Our Hajj programme ‘The Fifth Pillar’ during the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah allowed us to continue unearthing new understandings of the month and the role of the foundational pillar in our spiritual practice.
As UK Covid regulations lifted in the Summer, we were able to hold in-person events to be in community with one another once again. We started with a series of events around recently published books by our core faculty and affiliated scholars, held in the college garden.
This five-part series, Tea Over Books, consisted of a morning lecture by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad continuing teaching from Imam Ghazali’s magnum opus, Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din and an afternoon session interview with our authors. This was followed by Shaykh Abdal Hakim returning to deliver a ‘Paradigms of Leadership’ lecture and a private Heritage Tour Reunion for participants from our Bosnia and Java tours.
This year we introduced new ways for our supporters to give to the college to help sustain and develop its ambitious mission. US supporters can now make tax-deductible donations to the College. We have also launched two new donation options: cryptocurrency and will-gifting.
Our vision and mission is one that is truly for and by the people and we cannot do it without the collective support of our donors and advocates. Together, we stand to make a major impact at a time when the world is desperate for guidance, wisdom, and practical solutions. We are honoured to be working with you to deliver on our mission and make our vision a reality together.
Thank you for your time, donations, and most of all, your continued prayers for success. May Allah put barakah in all our efforts and continue to allow us to be of service in the years to come.
Dr Abdallah Rothman
Principal
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