International University of Africa

The International University of Africa (

Due to its geographic location and cultural history, Sudan has been hosting a steady flow of people from neighbouring countries, who were either in pursuit of religious knowledge or were on their way to perform the hajj pilgrimage. (Port Sudan lies directly across the Red Sea from Mecca's port city of Jeddah.) Some pilgrims stayed behind, either with a sheikh (religious leader) or fleeing from religious persecution, which set in as a result of European colonization. Others were forced by incessant wars to seek refuge and education in Sudan. As of 2010, the university had almost 6000 students. Its 93-acre campus is located in the South-Eastern part of Khartoum State.^[7]

History

African Islamic Center

The forerunner of the university, known as the African Islamic Center

According to the Oxford Islamic Studies Online, the Sudanese Islamist group National Islamic Front founded the AIC "to undertake missionary work among the non-Muslim majority in southern Sudan".^[8] Other sources indicate the training was not exclusively for Sudanese. Political scientist

According to the university's website, the Institute/Centre began by "accepting African students at the intermediate and secondary levels" from 1977-1979 onwards, before "this project was stopped". Later on, the Institute/Centre was revived "on a wider basis and with greater facilities" by the "Government of the Sudan". It "invited a number of Arab countries" to contribute and six responded—Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, The United Arab Emirates and Morocco. Their representatives "formed the Centre’s board of trustees" (the institute's highest authority) and "drew a statute which was approved by the Government of the Sudan and ratified by the founding states".[10]

The Government of the Sudan granted the centre a "big plot of land and the president of the Republic gave it diplomatic immunities and privileges" which helped it to develop and progress quickly. The National Salvation Government ratified the previous statute.^[10]

Between 1977 and 1986 the Institute/Centre was established and "its administration and systems were settled". 800 students could be accommodated and "hundreds" of students graduated. Teaching was expanded from intermediate and secondary levels to include two university colleges. "Social and cultural activities" included "youth cultural mission and graduates associations". In one African country, "more than 500 applicants competed for ten scholarship awards" to AIC.^[10]

But in 1405 AH (1984-5) the Centre’s activity was curtailed after some member states "failed to pay their [promised] contributions", and the budget had to be cut at the same time that the two colleges were being established.^[10]

International University of Africa

In 1411 AH (1990–91), and due to the great demand of African students for higher education, the Government of the Sudan issued the following decree (according to the university website):^[10]

1. Elevating the Islamic African Centre to University statute with the name: International University of Africa.
2. Inviting interested countries and charitable institutions to become members of the Board of Trustees.
3. Ratifying the official seat agreement between the Government of the Sudan and the University and allowing it to retain the immunities and privileges granted to the Islamic African Centre.
4. The University was established with almost the full support of the Government of the Sudan, new faculties, institutes and centers were set up and study programmes became diversified including studies at applied science faculties. Programmes of post-graduate studies were introduced. The number of students multiplied greatly; and the University’s internal and external relations were extended resulting in a unique international African university.^[11]

So in 1992 the institute was "upgraded" to a university and its name was changed to Africa University,^[12] or International University of Africa.

In 1995, during the civil war in Southern Sudan,

Officially, the chancellor of the university is the President of the country. In effect, the head of the university is the Vice-Chancellor. In November 2020, Prof. Dr. Hunud Abia Kadouf, an internationally renowned law expert, was appointed as Vice-Chancellor.^[16]

The university is legally independent from the Sudanese state, but the government is the largest financial supporter. Classes are mostly held in Arabic except the medical and Health Sciences, but most of the students come from more than 90 countries, mostly non-Arabic-speaking African nations and from other countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia.^[17]

In 1993 and in cooperation with other organizations, the university established an institute for

• Faculty of Economics and Political Science
• Faculty of
  Arts
• Arabic Language Institute
• Faculty of Family Studies
• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences
  • Department of Chemistry
  • Department of Physics
  • Department of Geology
  • Department of Mathematics
  • Department of Microbiology
• Faculty of Nursing Sciences
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Pharmacy
• Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science
• Faculty of Dentistry
• Faculty of Engineering
  • Civil engineering
  • Computer Engineering
  • Communications Engineering
  • Systems Engineering and Control
  • Electrical Power Engineering
• Faculty of Administrative Sciences
• Faculty of
  Islamic Studies
• Faculty of
  Shariah
  • Department of Shariah and Law
• Faculty of Media
• Faculty of Quran.
• Faculty of Family Studies.
• Faculty of Islamic Studies.
• Faculty of
  Computer Studies
  • Computer Science
  • Information Systems
  • Information Technology
• Research Center
• African Islamic Center
• Faculty for Disaster and Refugee Studies

The Academic System

The University follows the academic semester system and credit hours. The academic degree is awarded for successful completion of the prescribed courses during the academic semesters.

These courses include:

1. University Requirements courses: "These are the compulsory courses for all university students. They include Islamic Studies, languages, and social subjects".
2. Faculty requirements: compulsory courses for all the students of the particular faculty.
3. Specialization Requirements: courses prescribed by the faculty for all the students of the same specialization.

Language used in instruction

As of 2010, about half of the students have come from Sudan, and most of the others from the Horn of Africa. Almost all have come from Africa, but other countries are represented, too:^[21]

Foreign Relations of the University

The university is a member of:

• World Association of Universities
  IAU
• Association of Arab Universities AARU
• Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World
  FUIW
• Union of African Universities AAU
• World Health Organization
  WHO
• IMED.^[22]
• Accredited through Sudan Medical Council by World Federation for Medical Education WFME.^[23]
• Union of Sudanese universities

There are also bilateral agreements for scientific and cultural cooperation with the following Islamic and international universities and academic institutions:

• King Faisal University N’djamena, Chad.
• International Federation for Arabic and Islamic Schools.
• International Islamic University Malaysia.
• Al-Albeit University Jordan.
• Islamic University Niger.
• Mbalie University Uganda.
• UNISA
  .
• Faculty of Shari ‘a Sarajevo.
• Kaneme College Nigeria.
• University College of Education Zanzibar
  (academically affiliated with the International University of Africa which awards the bachelor's degree to its graduates).
• Thika College for Shari‘a and Islamic Studies –Kenny (academically affiliated with the International University of Africa which awards the bachelor's degree to its graduates).
• Al-Hikmah University Ilorin- Nigeria.
• Kesaunee College (Nigeria).
• East Africa University Bosaso- Somalia.
• Prince of Songkla University- Thailand.
• International Islamic University-
  Islam Abad
  - Pakistan.
• Banader University Somalia.
• University of Addis Ababa Ethiopia
  .
• Burundi Islamic University Komebo Burundi.
• The International Organization for Memorizing they Holy Quran Islamic World Association.
• Uyun El-Hayat Charity Project.
• Immigrant Student Care Organization.
• World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY).
• The Cooperation Office for Da’awa and Guidance Ivory Coast.
• Sheikh Ali Katarjoghli (Turkish businessman) for building the Uthmanic Mosque.
• Abd Allah Hashim ‘Urwa Company
  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  –academic scholarships.
• Katsina Province Nigeria academic scholarships.
• Bar‘u University Somalia.
• The Association for Muslim Preachers Seralion academic scholarships
• The Shafi ‘iyean Islamic University Jakarta- Indonesia.
• University of Zanzibar.
• Arabic Reformatory College Sri Lanka.
• Khanan Chinese University for Alternative Traditional Medicine Sciences

^[24]

See also

• List of Islamic educational institutions
• List of universities in Sudan
• List of universities in Africa
• Education in Sudan

References