Study Guide for MAIS - Masters in Islamic Studies

Enrollment Overview

A student can enroll in up to three courses with a part-time plan fee, up to six courses per semester with full-time plan fees, and a maximum of nine courses per semester with an accelerated plan fee. 

• Course Enrollment Portal: This portal remains accessible throughout the enrollment period. The enrollment period is as follows:

• Early Enrollment Portal: You may use this portal to enroll during all non-regular enrollment periods (i.e., except the month of March and September). This will give you access to the courses without waiting for the commencement of the next semester’s enrollment period. For more details regarding the early enrollment, please click here.
  
  Once your enrollment is complete, you need to log out of the Campus site and log in again to access the courses.

Course Overview

1. You may access your courses by clicking the “My Courses” tab located at the top of the Campus page.

2. Click on the name of the course to access the relevant course page.

3.The course material consists of:

• Course Text in PDF: The basic texts used for teaching the course are downloadable, printable PDF files. The supplementary reading texts are also indicated, however, there are no PDF files available for it. Please note that we do not provide hard copies of the study material.
• Course Details in PDF: This includes the syllabus, the name of the course instructor, details of the teachers assigned to the course, and other corresponding information.
• Recorded Sessions: (video and audio) contains content of the actual classes taught on the subject. We recommend that the students watch the videos at least once. The content of the audio is the same as the video - it is just an extraction.
• Supplementary Recorded Sessions: These are the yesteryear's recordings of live sessions which students can use for further reference. 

4. The course material is available for download from the course page.

5. Each course consists of 20-30 recorded module video sessions and recorded supplementary sessions, which can also be downloaded so that you may study offline as well.

6. Video and audio recordings are available for each module. The content of both, the video and the audio, are the same. So you may either watch the video or hear the audio at your convenience.

Study Overview

1. You should begin your studies by watching the video or listening to the audio recording and reading the corresponding text of Module 1.
2. In addition, to have a clear understanding, it is recommended to watch the recorded supplementary session corresponding to the module.
3. After having thoroughly studied Module 1, you should take the Module 1 test. The test consists of five multiple-choice questions and the test score is displayed immediately after the test attempt. [Note: There is no passing mark for each individual test, rather, 15% aggregate of all the tests together is added to the final course grade.]
4. After completing the Module 1 test, you should proceed to Module 2 and follow the same procedure as for Module 1 until the end of the course.
5. The number of modules for a course, along with the number of research papers can be checked from the “Components” section of the course page located at the right-hand side.

6. The Research Papers are released in the months of March and September. You may check the exact release date here. The Research link is usually at the exact center of the course page. 

7. Module tests can be taken at home within the prescribed time period. For the current semester’s scheduled dates, click here. Please note that MAIS students do not have to give Midterm Exams. Instead, they submit a Research Paper as explained above. The final exams must be taken only in an IOU approved exam center. There are hundreds of designated IOU centers across the globe. You may look for a center near your home and register it. If there is no IOU approved exam center nearby, you can suggest an exam center and if eligible, we will approve it, even if you are the only student taking exams in it, in sha Allah. The exam center registration details can be accessed here.

8. All the module tests, research papers, final exams have due dates and deadlines, which the student has to abide by. The due dates can be verified in the “Event Schedule,” which is available on “Dashboard” or here.

9. There are forums in the course page, which are helpful in enhancing the student’s study experience.

Live Sessions Overview

For the Ths 501, Ths 502 and Fiqh 503, two live sessions are held each week for each course. You are required to attend one of these sessions either live or view its recording later to obtain a 5% class participation mark. The weekly schedule can be seen here. 

Important Instructions regarding Exams/Tests

• All tests and exams are closed book. You should not refer to the books or notes while attempting the tests.
• The course teacher is not permitted to reveal the correct answers to the module tests. Please do not ask or email him/her with requests for the correct answers.
• Any email or question in this regard will not be entertained under any circumstance. A student who has made a mistake in his/her module test should go over the text or video recording to find the correct responses.
• Correction done on one's own is more beneficial and lasting, in sha Allah.