The Vice Chancellor of the Islamic University of Maldives met with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo to discuss the expansion of academic infrastructure and bilateral faculty development.
Dr Ali Zahir, the Vice Chancellor, and Dr Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam and Sheikh of Al-Azhar, centred their deliberations on strategies to elevate the Maldivian institution’s academic standing. The dialogue focused on capacity-building frameworks and professional development programmes designed for both the student body and university staff.
The existing cooperation between the two institutions includes two visiting professors dispatched from Al-Azhar to the Maldives, where they currently serve as faculty specialists in Quranic recitation. Vice Chancellor Zahir expressed his gratitude for this support during the meeting, while underlining the necessity for further avenues to bolster standards in the specific disciplines of Quranic and Islamic studies.
The Grand Imam remains the pre-eminent authority overseeing the religious and academic affairs of Al-Azhar University, an Egyptian institution with a history spanning more than a millennium. The vice chancellor was joined in the talks at the Grand Imam’s office by a delegation of senior IUM representatives, including Deputy Vice Chancellor Ahmed Ameen Mohamed.