IANT Quranic Academy (IQA) is the manifestation of a long-standing dream of Dr. Yusuf Ziya Kavkci, the Imam of the Islamic Association of North Texas and founder/first Principal of IQA. His vision is to see an academy devoted to the mission of developing a new generation of American Muslim scholars who are raised within the culture of the United States while possessing knowledge of classical Islamic scholarship, and who can provide leadership for the Muslim Ummah in the 21st century. In fulfillment of this dream, Dr. Kavakci teamed up with Muhammad Al-Amin, a successful local businessman who championed the practical aspects of the effort to get such an academy up and running. Their efforts came to fruition when IQA launched operations in the fall of 2002. The Islamic Association of North Texas (IANT), a venerable organization that has seen the rise of Islam in North Texas over the past 40 years, agreed to sponsor the startup and to house the academy on the second floor of the Dallas Central Mosque. With only a handful of teachers and approximately 25 students, the hum of Quran memorization and other sounds of children and learning filled the hall. Administrative training and support was offered by Brighter Horizons Academy, (BHA), IQA’s sister school, having had its own start in the Dallas Central Mosque over a decade before. Now, in its 6th year of operation, IQA currently has nearly 40 staff members offering Quran memorization and a full academic program from kindergarten to grade ten for over 200 students. IQA has been highly recommended for accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and is a member of First Amendment Schools.

ALIM PROGRAM, ADVISING SCHOLARS

Dr. Yusuf Ziya Kavakci

Dr. Yusuf Ziya Kavakci is a founding board member of IANT Quranic Academy he was born in 1938 in Hendek, Sakarya, Turkey. At an early age (8-9 years) he accomplished memorizing whole Qur'an (Hifz al-Qur'an), graduated from Hasircilar Qur'anic School (Adapazari) with a training in Tajwid, Qira'ah, Arabic (Sarf and Nahw), Tafsir, Hadih, Fiqh, and allied Islamic Sciences. He passed national Exams for Waiz (Preacher and lecturer in Islamic Sciences) and Mufti (ordained and authorized to give Fatwa and religious verdict in Islamic field) and qualified for those jobs. He worked as Muadhdhin (Professional caller to prayer, Hirka-i Sharif Mosque), Imam (Kara Ahmed Pasha Mosque in Topkapi), and Waiz in the governorships Fatih and Beyoglu in Istanbul.

Dr. Kavakci received a bachelor's degrees in Law from The College of Law of Istanbul University and also in Islamic Studies from the Institute of Higher Islamic Studies, got his Ph.D. in Islamic History and Culture from Faculty of Arts, Istanbul University. After working as Assistant Professor and as Associate Professor in the Institute of Islamic Research, Istanbul University, he helped to establish the first college of Islamic Studies in modern Turkey. The College of Islamic Studies is now a part of Ataturk University, Erzurum where Dr. Kavakci worked as senior faculty. He chaired Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh and other departments and got full professorship in Islamic Law and worked as Dean of the College. His professorship in Islamic Law was the first such position in Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. He was educated in the traditional Ottoman way of Islamic Studies as well as in modern methods of teaching in today's universities.

He is a board certified attorney in Turkey and practiced Law in Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and attended numerous International Conferences on Islam. He was involved in the activities of the Islamic Conference and was in charge of the Muslim Minority students sponsored by Islamic Development Bank in Turkey.

In addition to numerious books published in Turkish, he has published the following books in English:

Islam (Briefly), (1991), Istanbul, Turkey.

Travelogue of my journey to the Cape of Good Hope by Omer Lutfi Efendi, (Translation from Ottoman Turkish), (1991), Cape Town, South Africa.

Islamic Law of Inheritance, (1994), Dallas, Texas.

Al-Furuq by Al-Karabisi (textual Criticism in Arabic).

Fiqh, Islamic Law and Usul Al-Fiqh.

Methodolgy of Islamic Research.

America I Saw and My Impressions.

Bibliography of Islamic Law.

Multaqa 'l-Abhur by Ibrahim al-Halabi (translation, Arabic to English).

Islamic Issues of Muslims in America (an analytical study and suggestions for solutions).