AMI Graduation and 30-Year Jubilee

On the 8th July 2023, Al-Mahdi Institute celebrated its Graduation and 30-Year Jubilee. The day was an opportunity to reflect on AMI’s achievements over the last three decades, to celebrate the success of its graduates, and honour our distinguished honorary awardees.

This year, three students graduated from AMI.

Syed Imran Haider Taqvi

Syed Imran Haider Taqvi joined AMI as a transfer student after spending eighteen years studying in the Hawzas of Qom and Damascus. Since joining AMI, he began an MA in Islamic Studies at the University of Birmingham. Reflecting on his teachers, he stated that he found the traits of “teaching passionately, teaching with love, and teaching with care,” and that his teachers “would inspire you to learn, to know, to understand, and to grow.”

Syed Awn Naqvi

Syed Awn Naqvi studied pharmacy at the University of Bradford before joining AMI in 2019. Since then, he has begun an MA in Islamic Studies at the University of Birmingham. Speaking about his experience at AMI, Syed Awn paid homage to his teachers, fellow students, and to his family for supporting him along his educational journey, stating that “they all inspired me to become a better version of myself.”

Shaykh Adam Ramadan

Shaykh Adam Ramadhan studied Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Leeds before joining AMI in 2018. Since studying at AMI, he has gone on to complete an MSt in Islamic Studies and History at the University of Oxford and is now working at AMI as the Head Librarian and Education Manager. Summarising the sentiments of all the graduates, Shaykh Adam stated that “even though the building and all the resources in it are very impressive, it’s not AMI. AMI is its people.”

You can read more about our students’ journeys in our Insights Magazine.

AMI’s graduation ceremonies are also an opportunity to honour exceptional individuals for their contributions to humanity and to academia.

This year, the Sajjad Ebrahim Humanitarian Award was awarded to Mr Mukhtar Karim of the Lady Fatima Trust, a UK based, non-profit, non-governmental and faith-based humanitarian organisation. Founded by his father in 1997, Mr Karim has grown the Trust which has to date distributed over $25,000,000 to various projects in over 18 countries and territories.

The Ayatollah Amini Award for Academic Excellence was awarded to Professor Devin Stewart, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Professor Stewart’s research has focused on Islamic law and legal education, the text of the Qur’an, Shiite Islam, Islamic sectarian relations, and Arabic dialectology and he has numerous publications across these themes.

The ceremony began with a beautiful recitation of the Holy Quran by Qari Muhammad Ali, and also saw speeches from Shaykh Arif Abdul Hussain, the founder of AMI, and Dr Sajjad Ebrahim, one of AMI’s patrons, who both reflected on AMI’s journey over the last three decades.

Dr Katherine Brown from the University of Birmingham spoke about the success of the collaborative MA in Islamic Studies, which the University teaches with AMI, whilst Dr Munzela Raza, an AMI graduate, spoke about AMI’s vision for the next thirty years.

You can watch the full ceremony below.

Photos of the ceremony can be viewed here.