About Azhar Canada College
Assalamu alaikum,
My name is Umar Farooq, and I serve as Director of Education here at Azhar Canada College. We built this college to teach the classical Islamic sciences the way they were taught to us: by a teacher who knows your name, one subject building on the last. Every course sits inside that same approach, whether you're new to the subject or picking it back up after years away. The college is open to anyone who wants to learn, and it stays that way on purpose.
Classes run two ways: in person at our centre in Mississauga, and live online for students anywhere in Canada. Both sides study the same courses, so you choose whichever fits your week. If a course description leaves you with a question, call the office or send an email. We read every message and answer within a day.
Sheikh Umar Farooq, Director of Education
More about Sheikh Umar FarooqThe College
Azhar Canada College, an initiative of the Canadian Islamic Union (CIU), serves as a sanctuary for traditional Islamic scholarship tailored to the contemporary world. As Canada's premier Islamic institute anchored in the historical methodology and curriculum of Al-Azhar University, we bridge centuries of classical intellectual heritage with modern academic rigor. Our comprehensive pathways (part time and full time) guide students through the foundational Islamic sciences, including theology ('Aqidah), jurisprudence (Fiqh), Quranic exegesis (Tafsir), Hadith methodology, and the Arabic language. By combining sacred wisdom with contemporary pedagogy, we seek to cultivate thoughtful, balanced individuals who embody both intellectual depth and lived faith.
Our Mission
Our mission is to nurture both the mind and the heart, through an authentic Islamic education grounded in the Islamic scholarly tradition. We want our students to leave with real knowledge and strong character, ready to carry that responsibility into the world with clarity.
Our Vision
We envision Azhar Canada College as a global beacon of Islamic learning, celebrated for harmonizing the rich heritage of Islamic scholarship with the evolving needs of our contemporary society. We want our graduates to carry real knowledge into their lives, whether that means teaching their own families or leading in their communities. By making sacred knowledge reachable wherever a student lives, we hope to support a lasting, everyday practice of Islam.
The Name
أزهر
We take our name from Al-Azhar in Cairo. Founded in 970, it is one of the oldest universities in the Muslim world and has taught without interruption for more than a thousand years. Dynasties rose and fell around it, and it kept teaching. Some of the brightest minds in the history of Islam studied or taught within its walls.
Its scholarship is rooted in the Sunni tradition and draws on all four schools of law. Students learn the reasoning behind each position and see how scholars have disagreed with each other, with respect, for centuries. That breadth is a safeguard against sectarianism, and we hold to it.
We borrow the name with care. Our instructors trained within that tradition, and our aim is to carry it here: to build a lasting legacy of scholarship in the West, for the people who live here.
What We Teach
Azhar Canada College teaches the curriculum of Al-Azhar University. The college is led by Dr. Ashraf, its President, and Dr. Mona Gouda, its Dean, who earned her doctorate there. Every course combines three things: solid subject knowledge, direct mentorship from a live teacher, and space for the material to reach a student spiritually as well as intellectually. The college is open to anyone who wants to learn it, not only students from a particular background.
In practice, that means fewer lectures read straight from theory and more discussion grounded in real situations: hands-on workshops, questions from your own week, and instructors who expect you to ask them. The aim is a community that lives what it studies, made up of people who understand their tradition well enough to think for themselves and lead when they're asked to.
Our Centre in Mississauga
Azhar Canada College's classroom space is at 6185 Tomken Rd, Unit 8, Mississauga, ON L5T 1X6, just off Courtneypark Drive East and Britannia Road East, with ample parking. Look for Unit 8, or open the address in Google Maps. If you're taking a course live online instead, none of this applies to you: log in from wherever you are.
(905) 226-4135
Mon to Fri, 9am to 8pm