| عربي |
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Last Messenger
I have been honored with the trust of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to continue the building process of this leading institution, Umm Al-Qura University. I wondered that I have in mind among my first priorities is to transfer Umm Al-Qura University to be a hub for the world in academic accreditation, not just to have it academically accredited. I now wonder again that I find among the institutions in Umm Al-Qura University is The International Center for Academic Accreditation and Total Quality, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques endorsed the decision of the Higher Education Council in 3/7/1429 A.H. to establish the Center and its bylaws. Thus, Umm Al-Qura University achieved this international lead to establish this Center; this is a well deserved honor: Umm Al-Qura University is located in Makkah, the Qiblah for all Muslims where their hearts leap to; Makkah is the landing site for Revelation, and the source of the Guidance Light and Da'wah, and is one of the centers for Islamic sciences in our history. Moreover, the University hosts the College of Shari'a and Islamic Studies established sixty years ago, and is the oldest higher education institution in the Kingdom. Out of this College, two colleges and one institute emerged: the College of Da'wa and Usool-Ud-Din, the College of Arabic Language and the Arabic Language Institute.
Umm Al-Qura University, backed by its history and experience in the fields of Islamic sciences, Arabo-Islamic, cultural and historical studies, and by its human expertise and the accumulated experiences, is well qualified to establish an institution capable of setting standards for accreditation in the aforementioned subjects, and in order to award certificates of quality assurance and accreditation to higher education institutions in Islamic, Arabic and civilization studies.
The need for academic accreditation and total quality by all universities of the Islamic World in all majors, and particularly in Islamic and Arabic studies. This is deemed necessary, as academic accreditation helps unify academic and qualifying programs, and specify general guidelines for administrative, technical, and practical control away from details and redundancy. This is to achieve general principles and established academic facts, within administrative and academic denominators shared between these universities, albeit having the minimum.
The Islamic universities are more worthy of agreement based on original academic referentiality with a systemic approach, accomplished by our ancestors and triggered by the need that is abiding by the values of Islam, the goals and priorities of Sari'a, and objective facts that are free from ambiguities or confusions, stated by established evidence and the Muslim mind cherishing no anti-Islamic whims and perceptions.
Finally, I should credit this work to those involved in establishing this Center, as whoever does not thank people, would not thank Allah. First, I extend my thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for honoring Umm Al-Qura University with establishing this Center. Second, my thanks are to H.E. the Minister of Higher Education for his continuous support to Umm Al-Qura University. Likewise, thanks are extended to H.E. Prof. Adnan M. Wazzan, UQU Ex-Rector, for suggesting the establishment of this Center, for his care and following it up since it was just an idea until the Center became a reality. Then, I ask Allah to help the colleagues who are in charge of the Center headed by the Secretary-General, Prof. Abdullah Hamad Al-Ghotaimil, Amen.
May Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad, his family and all his Companions.
University Rector,
Prof. Waleed H. Abualfaraj