- Quranic Studies (on-campus)
Master’s degree in “Quranic Studies” is a comprehensive, educational package in line with the regulations and decisions made by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology of Iran. In this program, Quran and other related subjects are studied. The Noble Quran is the key source of values and doctrines in Islam, a comprehensive, universal religion, with a political, economical, and social system.
It is with no doubt that one of the areas necessary to be further scrutinized is the sacred book of Quran and the related studies, i.e. Quranic studies. Quran, as the only source for Islamic doctrines, is accepted by all the Islamic sects and also by the followers of other religions. Muslims and non-Muslims have long paid special attention to this great book and the related subjects and have created countless related contents.
In this field of study, one goal is to train researchers who become familiar with the Quranic studies and the different views through deep understanding of Islamic teachings and values. They will learn to explain the accurate views which are validated by Quran, valid hadiths (narrations), and rational reasoning about different Quranic studies and be able to present and defend their specialized ideas.
Graduates of this field can apply the necessary research tools to compile educational resources and textbooks. In addition, they will be prepared to teach these topics at institutes for higher education. Other outcomes for the graduates of the field will be their ability to explain and prove the superiority of Islamic views, while doing comparative studies on views about understanding scriptures. This is made possible through mastering Quranic studies in this field.
A bachelor’s degree or an equivalent is sufficient to study in this field. The degree should be confirmed by the consulate of Iran in the issuing country. The international applicants can study in this program regardless of their undergraduate field of study. The applicants with an international degree in whatever field can study in this program provided having scholarly competency and obtaining the agreement of the faculty members. Certainly, previous publications including books, research papers, and journal articles can have an influence on the committee’s judgment.
The master’s program of “Quranic studies” lasts for 2 years or 4 academic semesters; each semester being 16 weeks. Every one-unit class requires one hour of instruction per week. In case, the department decides that more time span is needed for a student to pass the prerequisites or finish the thesis, at most 2 extra semesters will be added. This program includes 44 units: 28 units of core courses, 12 units of prerequisites, and 4 units for the thesis. All the students are required to pass all the core courses and the thesis. However, the department will decide on the number of prerequisites to be taken, depending on the student’s undergraduate field of study.
Some of the core courses, taught in the field of “Quranic studies”, include “exegesis of Quran”, “studies of Quran”, “fundamentals and methodologies of exegesis”, “terminology of and proper nouns in Quran”, and “Quran translation analysis”. In addition, the following courses are considered as prerequisites: “Quranic studies”, “exegesis of Quran”, “history of hadith”, and “history of Quran”.