Jamia Al-Karam

Jamia Al-Karam is an Islamic studies college on a 30-acre site in Eaton, Nottinghamshire. Its Darul Uloom is run by Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada. The college moved to its present grounds in Retford in 1995. Its founder, Shaykh Pirzada, opened the Al-Karam Secondary School there. The boarding school teaches English, maths and science alongside Arabic, Islamic studies and Urdu. The institute has trained over 500 British Islamic scholars. Fifty of these went on to graduate from Al-Azhar University in Cairo. The link with Al-Azhar began in 1951 when Justice Shaykh Muhammad Karam Shah Al-Azhari started his studies there. He studied under scholars such as Ahmad Zaki, Mustafa Shibli and Muhammad Abu Zahra. In 2011 the United Kingdom branch of the World Association for Al-Azhar Graduates opened at Jamia Al-Karam. Visitors find a modern campus set in spacious grounds. The college runs a secondary boarding school on site. It also hosts the Al-Ni’mah Nasheed Group, which performs Islamic songs at events. The institute serves as a centre for dialogue between different faiths and communities. Robert Jenrick, MP for Newark, has visited and praised the work of its founder.