What Makes the Humanities Department at DQC Unique?
The Humanities Department at Darul Qasim College (DQC) faces a unique challenge in comparison to other departments. Unlike the more established departments, which are part of the Dars al-Niẓāmī curriculum that dates back about 300 years, the Humanities Department operates differently. While the other departments teach traditional Islamic texts that are re-presented in a similar spirit, the Humanities Department focuses on a different approach.
Shaykh Amin often emphasizes the importance of both content and context. While other departments at DQC teach Islamic content, the Humanities Department recognizes the need for graduates to be proficient in understanding American intellectual content. This is crucial for those who aim to become scholars, imams, or community leaders in the U.S. Understanding the intellectual foundation of Western society is key to having a long-lasting impact.
Overarching Goal of the Department
The goal of the Humanities Department is to help students understand the origins of the American idea and to recognize that influencing America requires engaging with its intellectual history. Muslim students must learn that to make a meaningful impact in America, particularly over decades or centuries, they must understand and work within the historical context of U.S. intellectual life, ultimately re-presenting Islamic content within that framework.
The Impact of the Humanities Department in America
The Humanities Department bridges the gap between Islamic sciences and American academia. Darul Qasim College is unique in offering a comprehensive Islamic education that prepares students to become ʿulama without needing to study abroad. The Humanities Department further enhances this by integrating Islamic scholarship with academic disciplines in a way that no other institution does. Students take courses in Western philosophical history, rhetoric and logic, and Muslim civilizational history as a means of better understand the question: “What makes a civilization?”. With this ability to interrogate the intellectual foundations of Western civilization, students are equipped with the tools to better understand their current context and how to do research, write, teach, and work within it.
Islam has a rich intellectual tradition, and Shaykh Amin stresses that just because Islam is a religious tradition doesn’t mean it is simplistic. It encompasses both written and oral intellectual thought, which should not be dismissed simply because modernity might view it as outdated.
Preserving Muslim American Identity and Narrative
Darul Qasim College creates a space where students unite under their faith in Allah ﷻ, the Prophet ﷺ, and the Last Day. As Muslims, we cannot compartmentalize our faith and knowledge into separate spheres. Dividing religion from other aspects of life leads to confusion and an identity crisis, a challenge that modernity often exacerbates. Darul Qasim resists this modern separation between religious and secular knowledge and instead fosters an integrated understanding of both.
Many Muslims are focused on reclaiming their narrative, but reactionary academics only lead to division and circular debates. Islam transcends reactionary polemics, and we need institutions that not only reclaim the Muslim narrative but also speak as authorities in their respective fields. Shaykh Amin’s leadership has helped the faculty at DQC move beyond such reactionary discourse, encouraging them to speak authentically without succumbing to academic trends or pressures.
DQC’s Vision for the Future
DQC offers students a broader historical understanding of the Islamic intellectual tradition. We often hear about American exceptionalism, the belief that the U.S. is a uniquely progressive society. However, when we study Muslim history, we see multiple examples of diverse, dynamic societies that integrated an Islamic framework into their contexts. The Humanities Department at DQC plays an essential role in helping students realize that if establishing such a framework was possible and successful in the past, it can, and must, be effective again today.
