About Us

International Open University (IOU) started its journey utilizing the Internet and advanced open source online learning technology with the mission of changing the Muslim nation and the world situation through appropriate education in April 2007.

In 2010, after 3 years of planning, development and testing, IOU launched the world’s first tuition-free, online Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies (BAIS) program bringing university level Islamic education within reach of anyone on the planet who has access to a computer and the Internet at virtually no cost in comparison with traditional universities.

At the end of Fall 2013, the first batch of BAIS students graduated after 4 years of intensive studies in various Islamic and worldly sciences. With their graduation, the IOU Alumni Association was founded.

The International Open University is not an institution that focuses on worldly gain, because this world was never created for it. Being an institution that follows the Qur’an and the Sunnah, IOU believes that whatever the students learn needs to be a life changing experience, not limited to only academic studies. Hence, the goal of the International Open University is to teach practical knowledge that will be beneficial to IOU students and their communities in both worlds.

The International Open University strives to help their graduates understand that they should implement whatever they have learnt at IOU in order to change this world and find an excellent compensation in the hereafter. Thus, the University aims to do all it can not only to facilitate the preservation of the relationships that were developed at the University, but also to provide a platform for the graduates to fulfill their religious obligations and serve the Muslim community.

Chancellor’s message

Salaam alaykum IOU Alumni,

I warmly and formally welcome you to create the IOU Alumni Association, your association, where together you can begin to make tangible contributions to the continued growth of the International Open University as it seeks to fulfill its noble goal of changing the Muslim nation through education.

It is my hope that this association will also be the beginning of a coordinated effort by IOU graduates to help those following them and to open new avenues of Islamic work and projects beneficial to the Muslim Ummah.

You are the pioneers, our first IOU graduates, a dream come true, and I hope and pray that you will leave a memorable legacy for all those coming after you. We do not want the IOU Alumni Association to be like other alumni associations around the world, just as IOU is not like other Islamic universities. I believe that you can, and will, bring a new vision and mission to alumni associations globally. Consequently, I sincerely pray that you will be leaders for the generations of students to come and to the universities of the world.

Yours Islamically

Dr. Bilal Philips
Chancellor & Founder
International Open University

Ways You Can Help IOU

Join the IOU Alumni Association

Be active in the IOU Alumni Association programs and support IOU.

Give IOU Alumni Association membership to your family members & encourage them to get involved.

Represent IOU at events and help with student recruitment.

Donate generously to IOU

Become active in fundraisers that provide needed scholarships and funding for IOU projects.

Tell us about job opportunities and internships for IOU students and alumni that exist in your company, community, country or city.

Communicate with IOU to learn how you can help. Email us at: alumni@iou.edu.gm

Mission

The purpose of the IOU Alumni Association is to establish and maintain Islamic brotherhood among the alumni members; to build mutually helpful relationships between them and the IOU; to unite all alumni in support of the University; and to encourage Islamic education through ties to the University. In the coming years, the IOU Alumni Association will aim to strengthen the global association and form regional associations that will help IOU to fulfill its mission of changing the nation and the world situation through appropriate education until the Last Day.