Courses Available to Audit
The Qur’an: Composition, Collection and Teachings
This course introduces students to the collection, compilation and standardization of the Qur’an along with its main features, structure, and themes. We will examine the different interpretive processes and approaches employed by exegetes, from the classical to the modern period, to yield meaning that is relevant to confront theological, legal and social issues. The course will also address the role of the Qur’an in everyday life and thought of a Muslim
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Islamic Ethics
This course surveys the literature in Islamic ethical thought, identifying key themes and topics for Muslims committed to living Islam as a way of life. Students explore how diverse Muslims have chosen to navigate the challenges of global modernity. They also examine how Islamic principles can help Muslims live with integrity in contemporary American society.
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Universal Maxims in Islamic Law and Beyond
The Maxims of Jurisprudence (al-qawāʾid al-fiqhiyyah) constitute a field in Islamic Law that enable a more supple approach to legal reasoning than “rote” or fixed methods. By means of these guiding “universals,” a nimble jurist is better empowered to join novel and emerging cases with judgments more in keeping with the ethical aims of sacred law. These universal maxims to provide an inherently Islamic style of reasoning that informs solutions and “ways forward” in socio-cultural situations—well beyond the field of jurisprudence—amid ordinary life decisions. This course will utilize case studies of contemporary issues that can be approached from the perspective of the maxims, accounting for the North American/Western contexts of Muslim life.
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Islam and Human Rights
This course critically explores theoretical and conceptual issues relating to the nature of human rights and the Islamic legal-theological-ethical tradition. The course identifies points of tension and convergence between the two systems. The course also examines various responses by Muslim thinkers, traditional and progressive, to contemporary discourses on human rights and substantive human rights issues, such as freedom of religion and conscience, women’s rights, treatment of minorities, and Islamic criminal law. The course also evaluates the effectiveness of human rights organizations/activists with regard to the geopolitical context.
Grief Care: Balancing Faith, Theology & Practice
Chaplaincy and spiritual care plays a primary role in helping communities navigate various life challenges, perhaps none more evident that grief and bereavement. While the sources of Islamic knowledge, namely the Quran and Hadith literature emphasize the role of trials and tribulations as an important means of development and spiritual growth of the human being, practitioners have to provide the necessary support to those encountering loss. This course seeks to provide students with a practical output in terms of how to navigate religious text in their pastoral care efforts in servicing their respective communities in times of grief.
Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution and Restorative Justice in Muslim Communities
This course explores Muslim perspectives in the field of conflict resolution and peacebuilding. We will systematically cover key concepts and major approaches in the field, such as interpersonal and intergroup and intragroup conflict resolution, third-party mediation, restorative justice, way of the council, and transformative and healing justice. Furthermore, this course examines the classical Muslim understandings of peacebuilding (salm), reconciliation (sulh), and arbitration (tahkīm), as well as contemporary Muslim contributions to the aforementioned approaches in the field. A recurring theme throughout this course is that for a Muslim community to function effectively there must be a viable system of conflict resolution that maintains peace between its members and other groups.
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Fundraising Strategies for Faith-Based Organizations
Religious organizations, often operating as non-profits, must find ways to raise funds for programs and operations. However, leaders in such organizations may not possess the requisite understanding of the strategies and tools available to effectively engage and secure support from various philanthropic sources. It is important for leaders to gain awareness of the current giving landscape, and of new approaches to fundraising involving digital platforms, social media, and marketing. This course equips learners with a sense of philanthropic trends, new fundraising approaches, and provides an opportunity to develop grant proposals, budgets, and fundraising action plans.
Foundations of Islamic Education
This course provides an introduction to Islamic educational thought, concepts and practices as developed within classical Islamic civilization. Through evaluation of translated primary sources and reflection on contemporary best practices, educators integrate knowledge and skills to facilitate religious education in Muslim school contexts.
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Islamic Rational Theology: 'Ilm al-Kalam
This course provides an introduction to the most important topics, figures, and methods of formative and classical Islamic theology (kalām), (8th-12th CE). In the 9th/3rd (CE/AH), ‘ilm al-kalām emerged as a systematic rational program used to affirm Islamic creedal doctrine and to develop analytical modes of examination and dialectal argumentation. This program—deployed primarily as a means of theological education and debate—would endure as the de rigeur method of Sunni theology until the turn of the 20th century. During this course, students will explore the early historical developments of the field, identify the primary objectives and priorities of kalām theology, and engage with the various frameworks and tools of that emerge within kalam relative to the Islamic intellectual tradition.
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Paradigms of Islamic Spirituality
Description pending.
To enroll in Arabic, use the registration form at this link instead: bayanonline.org/arabic
Intermediate Arabic 2A
Students further develop their reading, speaking, listening, and writing skills, and vocabulary. They master more complex grammar and syntax involving words derived from Arabic root patterns, using them to produce extended sentences and passages. They also master conjunctions and additional verb tenses.
Hybrid Attendance Policy
Updated: April 22, 2025
Hybrid Attendance Policy
Purpose: Bayan Islamic Graduate School believes physical attendance and participation at all hybrid intensive sessions held at our designated hybrid locations, which include our Chicago campus, is integral to fulfilling Bayan’s academic and pedagogical standards. Intensive sessions facilitate essential direct interaction, collaborative learning, spiritual formation, community engagement, and rigorous academic inquiry. Therefore, in-person attendance at all intensive sessions is a strict requirement to complete each course and to be eligible to graduate.
Policy Statement: All Bayan students who are enrolled in any hybrid-intensive courses are required to attend all in-person sessions on the scheduled dates at our designated hybrid locations, including our Chicago campus. Students who fail to physically attend any in-person intensive session without receiving prior written approval from Bayan’s Dean or Vice President of Operations and Academic Affairs will be subject to academic and financial consequences, including automatic withdrawal from course(s). Any student who is withdrawn from a course due to a failure to attend an intensive session will be responsible for paying 100% of the tuition associated with the course(s) out of pocket. Any scholarship funding associated with the course(s) that a student receives will be retroactively rescinded. Further, the course(s) will need to be retaken at the student’s sole expense.
If a student fails to attend any intensive course session for any reason - after the add & drop deadline - the following immediate consequences will apply:
- The student will automatically be withdrawn from the course effective immediately and receive a grade of W. No credit will be granted for the course.
- The student will not be granted access to any online recordings or sessions of any missed course.
- The student will meet with Bayan’s Dean to determine an appropriate future course to fulfill the requirement, at the student’s own expense
- Any scholarship funding associated with the course(s) will be retroactively rescinded and the student will become responsible for all tuition associated with the course(s).
Emergency Exemptions & Process: Students encountering unforeseen emergencies (serious illness, immediate family emergency, bereavement, or extraordinary circumstances) that prevent in-person attendance in any hybrid intensive course may petition for a one-time exemption through the following process. The granting of any exemptions shall be made on a case-by-case basis and shall be at Bayan’s sole discretion.
Submission of Emergency Exemption Form- Students must complete the Emergency Intensive Attendance Exemption Form, which can be requested by contacting the Dean.
- Students must attach all appropriate third-party documentation that substantiates the emergency during the intensive session course dates (e.g. a note from a health care provider that indicates the student’s health condition prevents travel and/or in-person course participation, death certificate, or other supporting documentation as requested by Bayan.
- Provide a written explanation (approximately 250 words) detailing the nature of the emergency and its impact on attendance.
- Students will be notified of Bayan’s decision via email from the Dean.
- Approved exemptions will include instructions for mandatory class make-up arrangements. Students who fail to abide by these instructions or requirements within the appointed time frames may have any granted exemption rescinded.
- Decisions will consider the nature and verifiability of the emergency, supporting documents, and a student's previous attendance history. Bayan reserves the right to request additional supporting documentation at its sole discretion.
- If a student is not satisfied with the decision, a student may appeal their case to the Academic Affairs Committee within five (5) business days. Any appeal request for appeal must be made in writing and sent to the Dean.
- All appeal decisions made by the Academic Affairs Committee after a student appeal are final and are non-appealable.
- Students must complete the missed intensive session by attending a subsequent scheduled intensive session, in-person and fulfilling any other appropriate requirement as established by Bayan..
- Video recordings or asynchronous engagement will not fulfill the requirement.
- All additional travel and accommodation costs for make-up sessions are the student's sole responsibility.
Retroactive Rescission of Scholarship Award: Any scholarship awards will be retroactively rescinded by Bayan for any course in which a student fails to attend a hybrid intensive session, in-person. In such cases, students will be responsible for paying full tuition for the course(s) they failed to attend. Any outstanding tuition balance must be fully satisfied for any student to register for a subsequent term.
Other Consequences: In the event a student habitually fails to attend attend hybrid intensive sessions, Bayan reserves the right, at its sole discretion to take other action, including but not limited to:
- Placing the student on Academic Probation or taking other disciplinary actions including suspension, or involuntary withdrawal from Bayan.
- Suspending or revoking all scholarship or institutional financial aid support.