Students who do not pass the Exemption Exam must pass MAIS 501 and MAIS 502. If they do not pass these two courses or the Exemption Exam by the time they complete the introductory courses, they may not become official candidates in the graduate program and will not be permitted to continue into a concentration area or write a comprehensive research project/paper.

The introductory courses for the MAIS program are crucial to Islamic Studies and key to the program’s excellence, for the following reasons:

1. The most important Islamic sources, including the Qur’an and the Hadith, two foundational sources of Islam, are in Arabic. Therefore, without a thorough understanding of the Arabic language, it is impossible to appreciate the essence of Islamic Studies. We have designed a highly effective teaching approach to reading classical or Qur’anic Arabic, with the goal of teaching students to understand Islamic texts in their original language over the course of two semesters. To achieve this, we use intensive lessons that focus solely on reading skills.
2. The Qur’an and the Hadith, the authoritative sources of Islamic knowledge and the Islamic worldview, are at the center of the introductory core curriculum. Both are examined from a variety of perspectives, which consider their history, structure, and content, and how they have been interpreted.
3. Past and present Muslims have generated a diverse range of views based on their various readings of the Islamic scriptural sources, the Quran and the Hadith. In Survey of Islamic Thought (MAIS 505), students are introduced to four intellectual traditions within Islam: Islamic theology, Islamic philosophy, Islamic jurisprudence, and Islamic spirituality. After this introduction, they can learn more about each of these traditions by enrolling in self-contained elective courses based on their interests.