“…but I have to say that my favorite sessions were with Ustadth Ubaydullah Evans. His “Islam in America” classes were just the re-orientation I needed. I spent a good deal of my life thinking Islamic jurisprudence was black and white. For someone who had studied at Al-Azhar in Egypt, he is still very much aware of the times in which we live, Ustadh Ubaydallah was able to speak to the students in a way that gave us hope: that navigating Islam in the West in the 21st century was going to take commitment, but it was possible.”

Rafia Khader
Class of 2015

“While I had questioned my own beliefs before, ALIM deconstructed what I knew down to its very core, and reconstructed it after challenging us, bringing together a refreshed perspective. It challenged me to think from a viewpoint I did not think from before. To be quite frank, I was previously afraid of looking at it from that angle. But each lesson by the numerous scholars about Fiqh, Sīrah, modernity, or Islamic History (and many other topics), added to my prior knowledge, and showed me that had I not considered to ask the questions the scholars pushed us to answer, I would not have the same framework of my faith as I do now.”

Shaheer Ali
Class of 2016

“My experience at Alim’s Summer Program was pivotal in my personal Islamic development. The knowledge I gained and the nurturing I received from each of the participating teachers continues to steer me more than 15 years after my attendance. What I gained from ALIM is unmeasurable, It solidified my understanding of Islam as a divine, balanced and perfect way of life!”

Atiyah Conry
Class of 1999

“As a teenager in search of self discovery, in need of purpose and affirmation of faith, I attended and greatly benefited from The ALIM Program. Seventeen years later, I find that my quest for knowledge has come full circle. Now as an adult, I return not only as a counselor but as a student of scholars both home grown and of our international community. One of the many advantages of studying with the diverse group of scholars at the program is the ability to enjoy an environment where ontology is encouraged as a means to approach faith. I am grateful for this opportunity, as I have established friendships and bonds that I believe will last a lifetime. I highly recommend this program for students of knowledge of all ages and walks of life, who seek understanding in an encouraging, diverse environment.”

Jannah Abdul-Rahman
Class of 1999 & 2016

“Our class had people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities, and understandings of Islam. It brought different perspectives, but more importantly, it brought clashes. From from those clashes, I was challenged. And from those challenges, I learned some of the most important lessons of my life. We live in a time in which learning can be made very convenient and comfortable online. I think it’s that comfort that makes online debates get so ugly – we are unwilling to leave our comfort zones to understand another perspective. The sacrifice we all made of distancing ourselves from our physical and mental comfort zones made us grow together. I’ve made some of my best friends at ALIM despite vehemently disagreeing with them. In that way, we’ve become something like a family. And I really think that’s what growth in Islam is all about.” 

Ali Mahmoud
Class of 2015

“I attended the ALIM Summer Program in 2001, right after graduating from Brown University. The Summer Program remains one of the most intellectually and spiritually fulfilling experiences I have had since converting to Islam back in 1998. It was a rigorous overview of Sunni thought, coupled with a focus on issues of contemporary importance to American Muslim communities. It helped me bridge the world of “the academic study of Islam” and “traditional Islamic thought” in a way that helped me enormously in graduate school at Princeton, and as a Muslim chaplain at Dartmouth College and Brown. In many respects, the class I currently teach on Islamic law at New York University is built on the hybrid model of Islamic Studies I first learned at ALIM. May God bless my teachers.”

R. David Coolidge
Class of 1998

“Beyond Sunday school I’ve always felt a strong desire to understand my faith from deeper angles.Unless you’re studying Islam in an academic setting, there was no room to scrutinize or question.Everywhere you’re expected to approach the world in a critical and conscious matter but for some reason when it comes to faith that assumption doesn’t always hold. ALIM turns that assumption on its head and demanded me to analyze and understand my faith in light of changing times.As a young American Muslim, it was unbelievably refreshing. Through candid conversations, uncensored teaching of historical facts, the ALIM program became a safe space to explore and ask, learn and grow.As a result, I grew to have a deeper and much more rooted understanding and appreciation of my faith, something no Sunday school education could have offered.”

Amany Killawi
Class of 2014

“The ALIM Summer Program was a life-changing experience. I’ve been blessed to participate in many different intensive Islamic Studies programs, and ALIM is unique in its critical, yet nurturing, approach to Muslim intellectual and spiritual traditions. Too often, too many young Muslims are unprepared to face the Islamophobic onslaught from cultural, political and academic discourses, but ALIM offers an extraordinary antidote to common Muslim anxieties by teaching authentic, substantive and sophisticated Islamic literacy. For me, the deepest and most meaningful impact was how the scholars first ‘broke you down’ and then helped ‘build you back up,’ all while embodying their teachings of the intellectual and spiritual beauty of Islam. In my opinion, there is no finer intensive summer program across the country.”

Omer Bajwa
Class of 2007