At Zaytuna College, giving the gift of knowledge entails a blessed partnership between our institution and our generous supporters, who share our commitment to educate and prepare morally committed leaders of tomorrow. Every gift directly impacts our ability to serve our students; below are just a few examples of what can be achieved, by the grace of God, when you make a gift to Zaytuna College.
“Before coming to Zaytuna,” says Nida Ahmed, class of 2019, “I thought subjects like metaphysics and logic had absolutely nothing to do with medicine.” But during her studies at Zaytuna, Nida learned to integrate her interests in medicine and Islamic studies by discovering the relationship between the two subjects. “Medicine itself can’t answer such questions as, What is a human being and what are valid sources of knowledge, but medicine certainly relies upon those answers.”
Thankfully, Nida learned about—and received—a scholarship from the estate of Dr. Adawia Alousi, who sought to underwrite the education of a female student in pursuit of a career in the STEM disciplines. By the grace of God, with admirable drive and the support of Zaytuna and its partnership with UC Berkeley, Nida had access to the STEM prerequisites for a pre-med student.
After scoring in the 97th percentile on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Nida gained admission to the medical school of her choice, the University of Texas at Dallas.
May God reward the Saleh family for establishing the Medhat Toufic Saleh Memorial Fund, which provided the seed investment to build a high-tech multimedia studio at the College.
From the outset, the Zaytuna A/V team aimed for flexibility and scalability, so the building of a functional studio space coincided with expanding a dedicated classroom in the Bin Bayyah building on the Upper Campus. This location, in the building that the College uses for most of its classes, means that students near and far can benefit from the enhanced classroom, a beautiful legacy for Brother Medhat.
By renovating a classroom into a studio, the College maximizes the use of existing space and, with continued support, can upgrade other classrooms as needed. This state-of-the-art studio is a critical component of our online learning initiative, which aims to bring Zaytuna to the homes and classrooms of seekers of knowledge across the globe.
With your support, we can continue to develop this capacity, which enhances Zaytuna’s core teaching ability and spreads the seeds for the continuing charity that is sadaqah jariyah.
Dr. Zarzour, mother to Zaytuna College alumna Leenah Safi (2014), spent her life as a clinical social worker and scholar in sociology, inspiring in those around her a passion for doing good. Dr. Zarzour resolved to serve her community by bequeathing a part of her estate to Zaytuna College prior to her passing, in hopes of supporting the college and its students.
A sincere lover of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, she left this world on the twelfth night of Rabi‘ al-Awwal. After her passing, her five children designated her estate gift as The Doctor Nariman Zarzour Legacy Scholarship to support students in need. They write, “It is a wondrous sign from the All-Merciful that her good intention has become an endowed scholarship that enables her charitable work, love for education, and, above all else, genuine determination to benefit the ummah to continue on after her passing.”
We pray that every student recipient of The Doctor Nariman Zarzour Legacy Scholarship will be a recurring source of blessings and benefit for Dr. Zarzour.