Institute of religious higher education in Saudi Arabia.
Medina has been a center of religious education in the Islamic world for hundreds of years. The Islamic University of Medina was founded in 1961, according to Saudi sources, to spread the teachings of Islam in the world; by 1995 it had 3,058 students and 378 staff. About 80 percent of the students are Saudis, and the remainder foreigners. Tuition is paid by the government, and applicants must be Muslims of "good moral character" and be able to read the Qurʾan. The university has faculties in shariʿa (Islamic law), Qurʾan, daʿwa (proselytizing), hadith (traditions of the prophet Muhammad), and Arabic. Because the university reflects the influence of the country's powerful and conservative religious establishment, its mission and curriculum reflect the same restrictive view of Islam.
Bibliography
Al Salloom, Hamad I. Education in Saudi Arabia. Beltsville,
MD: Amana, 1995.
— ANTHONY B. TOTH
