Dean Message

Welcome to Muis Academy (MA)! I hope you will find this site useful and informative as we continuously develop and upload resources and information for your perusal.

In a world dictated by ongoing flux and its attendant challenges, information and knowledge are necessarily refreshed at the blink of an eye. While the rapid stream of information, and by extension, the nature of the world seemed overpowering to many, it also offers significant opportunities for development of new knowledge, models, assumptions and practices. Our community and its religious leaders have benefited from the Academy’s collaborative efforts to gain a deeper appreciation of the world as it is, and the multiple dimensions of contemporary reality.  Through this appreciation our journey to contemplate reforms so as to create the world that we want, begins.

This remains the motivation for us in MA, since it was formed in 2006. We pride ourselves in contributing towards the development of religious leadership for the modern world. As a research and education arm of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), Muis Academy offers training programmes for asatizah (imams and clerics), mosque leaders and officers, madrasah teachers, community and youth leaders to build capacity for the socio-religious sector. Our programmes provide a safe and objective platform for rigorous and robust discussions of ideas and thought that blend theory and practise, marry tradition and modernity, balance text and context, are sensitive to nuances and appreciative of differences.

Additionally we offers niche advance courses on Islam in The Muslim World to religious leaders, public officers and corporate leaders in partnership with reputable universities and institutes of higher learning. Most importantly we will ensure that a wide and expansive perspective, that balances our focus on both the internal and external dynamics, infuses the whole of our learning process and in all of our programmes. We intend to be recognised as one of the leading centres of learning on Islam.

Further away from our shores, we are also keen to share our experiences of religious administration and services with other Muslim communities regionally as well as globally. We successfully co-organised the inaugural Singapore International Wakaf Conference with the Islamic Development Bank and the Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation, the International Conference on Muslims in Multicultural Societies convened by esteemed academics from National University of Singapore, Oxford University and University of Melbourne.

I invite you to the many interesting courses and seminars that MA offers. We are committed to host distinguished experts and international speakers to share their insights, experiences and learning through various platforms. Hopefully these interactions will open doors for you to new ways of thinking and insights to contemporary issues/challenges facing the Muslim world. Whether you are new to Muis Academy or have taken part and are returning to look up more programmes, I hope you will find something that is of deep interest to you.

My colleagues and I look forward to meeting you.

Dr Albakri Ahmad
Dean
Muis Academy