Zaytuna, a Berkeley, California-based college has become the first accredited Muslim campus in the United States.
The accreditation was given by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. As per the approval letter, the school may now confer an accredited “Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Law and Theology.”
President Hamza Yusuf via the school’s website said, “Five years ago, we introduced an undergraduate liberal arts program inspired by the idea of restoring the holistic education that had been offered in the great teaching centers of Islamic civilization”.
“Today, Zaytuna’s accreditation roots this vision in a reality recognized within American higher education. It gives our community its first accredited academic address in the United States. And we hope, God willing, that there will be more such Muslim colleges and universities to come.”
Zaytuna was co- founded by Hatem Bazian, Imam Zaid Shakir and Hamza Yusuf. Imam Zaid Shakir and Hamza Yusuf are American converts to Islam from Eastern Orthodoxy.
According to Zaytuna’s website, “the term contains a complex set of meanings that includes decency, comportment, decorum, etiquette, manners, morals, propriety, and humaneness.”
There are Christians, Jewish and Buddhists colleges but Zaytuna is the first of its kind to be accredited.
Enrolling just 21 students this year, Zaytuna is ambitious, hoping to attract scores of regular donors.
Hamza Yusuf appealed to all American Muslims (with estimates ranging between five million and 12 million) to support the college’s mission: “As American Muslims, we are all Zaytuna’s current caretakers, and we all need to ensure that Zaytuna thrives for those to come after us.”