Coordination of Islamic Colleges - CIC is an academic governing body functioning as a university. Established in response to a perceived need to evolve a methodology and mechanism to make higher Islamic Studies efficient and effective, the CIC has played a pivotal role in revising, modifying, and integrating the curriculum of Islamic Colleges in Kerala, the southernmost State of India where Muslim
s constitute one fourth of the total population. A front runner in the field of synchronizing Islamic and secular disciplines of knowledge, the CIC has made its presence known by propounding a comprehensive educational scheme for advanced Islamic learning. It is an umbrella organization with 88 affiliated institutes (34 of them are exclusively for girls) and around 9000 students, pursuing a unique syllabus and courses of study. made a humble beginning in 2000 as an academic coordinating committee of a few Islamic colleges following a unique syllabus and courses of study. This educational scheme was given form and shape in K.K.H.M. Islamic and Arts College, under Markazutharbiyathil Islamiyya, situated in Karthala of Malappuram District, which has over the years made a niche for itself in the field of higher Islamic studies. The C.I.C came into existence as an academic confederation of colleges seeking to replicate this syllabus and courses of study. Through the convergence and integration of around 88 colleges under a single academic umbrella, the C.I.C. has emerged as a robust academic center of excellence, with teaching, training and research as the areas of extreme priority. Later registered as an autonomous organization under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860(Regi. No: 379/04), it has a Senate, a Syndicate, an Advisory Board and various sub-committees including Academic Council, Examination Board and finance committee, directives of which are binding on each affiliated college. Islamic and Arts College, under Markazu tharbiyathil Islamiyya, is the nerve center of the C.I.C. Co-ordination of Islamic Colleges confers on students in the colleges affiliated to it the 'WAFY' and wafiyya degree for boys and girls respectively on their successful completion of the prescribed courses of study. Wafy is an eight-year exhaustive Postgraduate course in Islamic studies while Wafiyya is a five-year exhaustive graduate course in Islamic studies coupled with a recognized University degree in any secular discipline. This course was tailored to mould a new and promising generation of Islamic scholars with in-depth knowledge both in Islamic and secular studies. On Islamic stream, it follows the modified version of Muthavval, the postgraduate course cast in the mould of erstwhile Nizamiyya Syllabus which has been in vogue for centuries in higher Islamic studies in Kerala. While retaining the spirit of the traditional syllabus intact, modification was effected either by introducing some new topics or through revising some subjects with updated and modern versions. These measures are inevitable to meet the new challenges and needs of time. The courses was named after and the graduates were entitled ‘Wafy' and 'Wafiyya', implying their having been moulded as scholars with command over two disciplines and with reference to the Quranic allusions: “…..and any one who fulfills what he has covenanted with Allah, Allah will soon grand him a great reward” (Fathah) . Objectives:
Of a number of strides towards ameliorating the state of higher Islamic education in India, the exceptionally bold initiative that CIC embarked on stands out on several counts. Built on the foundations of Islamic epistemology, its educational schemes seek to play a leading role in disseminating the glorious and time-tested principles of Islam through peaceful and scholarly means. A generation of Scholars cast in knowledge and wisdom drawn from original Islamic sources is the most sought-after asset for materializing this grand goal. What is really required of a modern Islamic scholar is a healthy amalgamation of traditional roots of knowledge with their judicious application in modern circumstances. The dynamic spirit of the curricula and syllabi that CIC proposed after much homework can well meet these requirements.
