The International Open University (IOU), previously known as the Islamic Online University, was founded by Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips. He envisioned an institution that would offer online intensive, undergraduate, and graduate courses in Islamic Studies and other disciplines at an affordable cost. The IOU was initially launched in 2001 from UAE with an offering of a few short courses. After a five year interlude, it was restarted in 2007 from Qatar with a greater offering of completely free short courses. Alhamdulillah, although we began with 1,500 students in 2007, by the end of 2008, the number of registered students tripled, reaching 4,500. And Alhumdulullah, by the end of 2020, Allah has blessed the IOU with the largest Online student base of over 663,600 students from over 200 different countries. In 2016, IOU joined the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) and added the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and B.Sc. in Information Technology programs to its expanding range of programs. The University received accreditation for its B.Sc. in Islamic Economics, Banking, and Finance program from the International Council of Islamic Finance Educators (ICIFE), and is opening four country chapters of ICIFE in India, Somaliland, the Gambia, and Sierra Leone this year. Over the years, the IOU has concluded and signed various memorandums of understanding with international universities and higher education institutions, which can be viewed in detail on our Accreditation page. The IOU is now launching the world’s first tuition-free, online PhD in Islamic Studies. This path-breaking initiative plans to utilize the worldwide presence of the Internet and advanced open source online learning technology to bring low-cost, university level Islamic education and various conventional education from Islamic perspective within reach of anyone on the planet who has access to a computer and the Internet . Websitehttp://www.internationalopenuniversity.com/
