Osman (left) Confirmed the good news
Long at last! Muslims in Malawi can at least afford a smile following the long awaited establishment of the first ever high learning facility which has since been named Iqra University, Malawi Muslims official website can reveal.
According to the information gathered by this website, the University will be housed in a building which used to be Skyway University situated along the M1 road opposite the National Library in the Central Business District of Blantyre.
The two-storey building has 32 classes and it can accommodate up to 600 students.
One of the key members for the steering committee Muhammad Osman said “this is a reality and Muslims should now celebrate their first ever Islamic University in the country which we all have been longing for a long time.”
Osman said that the building in Blantyre which will house the University has been bought by a donor who refused to be mentioned.
“Currently we are dealing with the concept paper so that we should apply to government – but this will not stop us from opening in January because we are already affiliated to Zanzibar University while we will be waiting for accreditation from the Government.
Osman further said that the school will start only with Humanity programs where they will be offering degrees and diplomas.
No accommodation will be offered as the school gets into operational, according to Osman who also heads Islamic Zakaat Fund (IZF).
The establishment of the facility is to increase the number of Muslims attaining high education as Muslim students who fail to be admitted at the Public University will have an alternative.
For instance this year, out of 2000 students selected to pursue different programs at the Public University in the country, only 19 students were selected from Secondary schools that are run by Islamic Organizations.
This without skepticism is a significant drop considering that last year it was 25 students who were admitted into the Public University.
Malawi Muslims Official website understands that once the University opens, apart from increasing the number of Muslim students getting high education, it will also reduce the financial burden on the IZF which sponsors a needy student with 3 to 4 million Kwacha for attainment of a first degree in Zanzibar.
“The money which IZF spend on a single student in Zanzibar can make two or three Muslim Students attain the same degree locally, therefore we feel the establishment of this institution will help us a lot in sponsoring more students locally.”
Meanwhile Osman has appealed for support from the Muslim community in order to make this university one of the best learning institutions in the country.
Since Government started issuing accreditation to private universities in the country, there has been mushrooming of the higher learning facilities with faith groups in forefront of establishing these institutions and Muslims could not understand why despite enjoying over 40 percent of the entire country’s population they were failing to establish a single university.
