Al-Mahdi Institute : Education & Research

The Hawza Programme at AMI is taught over four years, with two 17-week semesters in each year. Students can choose to study the Hawza Programme full-time over four years or part-time for as long as it takes to graduate. In addition, students also have the flexibility to study the Hawza Programme in-house at the Institute or via distance learning. For more information on distance learning, please click here. NEW Students enrolling on the Hawza Programme must be able to read basic Arabic for entry on the programme. 

As an added bonus, from September 2018; students who successfully complete the first three years of the Hawza Programme will now have the opportunity to obtain a Postgraduate Masters degree in Islamic Studies awarded by and studied at the University of Birmingham (UoB), in the fourth year of the Hawza Programme. Find out more here.

FULL-TIME STUDY: Students who wish to study full-time on the Hawza Programme will study all the modules listed in the course structure below and will typically study from Mondays to Thursdays, 9:00am to 4:30pm. Full-time students studying via the distance learning route can either study online by joining classes live via Skype or offline by watching class recordings at their own convenience. 

PART-TIME STUDY: Students who wish to study part-time on the Hawza Programme can enrol on a maximum of five modules per semester. Click here to view the timetable of entry-level modules available this September. 

NEW Part-time students can choose from a variety of entry-level modules identified by an asterisk (*) in the Year One tables below. Students must be able to read basic Arabic to enrol on entry-level modules. Students who wish to apply for non-entry level modules will need to email  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  to demonstrate that they fulfill the Module Prerequisites required to undertake their desired modules.

EXISTING Part-time Students must ensure they fulfill the Module Prerequisites of their chosen modules to gain entry on their modules of choice. 

Below is the Hawza Programme Course Structure outlining the Modules taught over the four years. 

PLEASE CLICK ON THE MODULE CODES TO VIEW THE MODULE CURRICULUMS. 

Modules marked with an asterisk (*) are Entry-level Modules which require students to be able to read basic Arabic. Students who wish to apply for non-entry level modules must contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . A pre-assessment in Arabic Level 1 may be assigned to determine the students capability in Arabic Language and Grammar.

Please note: Upon completion of the first three years of the Hawza Programme, students who achieve 450 credits out of 510 credits and qualify to continue on the MA degree in Islamic Studies (awarded by UoB), will study on the MA programme alongside the Hawza modules listed in the table above. The MA in Islamic studies programme by UoB is currently only available to study on-campus (not via distance learning) and consists of six modules (taught at AMI and UoB) with a 15,000 supervised dissertation to be submitted at the end of the year. To find out more about the MA programme, course structure, fees and scholarships available, click here. 

Other optional modules available as part of the Hawza Programme include;

Please note:

To graduate from the Hawza Programme, students must achieve a total of 520 credits out of a total of 580 credits over the four years. 

For more information on Fees and Finance for the Hawza programme, please click here.

To apply, please click the 'Apply Online' button below. 

For more information on the Hawza Programme and different modes of studying available, please email our Educational Programmes Manager on  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.