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• My time here at ALIM served two main purposes: teaching me how little I knew about Islam, and exposing me to the various viewpoints, concerns and aspirations of Muslims in America today.
  I came into ALIM almost as a last minute decision, but within a few hours of lectures here I had realized that I was blessed to be a part of a great program.
  I must admit that I was very skeptical of the viewpoints of some of our teachers, but over time I have come to see where they are coming from. I understand where I agree with them, and more importantly where I disagree, and that these differences are insubstantial. I appreciate the diverse teaching styles and attitudes of our scholars, which is integral to understanding the story of Islam.
  These various attitudes have come to reflect my internal struggle with issues of identity and strategy for living a meaningful life that leads to a place in Paradise.
  I have learned new and hopefully more correct ways of analyzing the history of Islam, the various intellectual views of Muslims, and the concepts of Revelation and the Sunnah. I will pursue an understanding of fiqh, tafsir, and seerah on a personal level, and am confident that what I have learned at ALIM will be confirmed by any truly in-depth classical method of study.
  I will return home with a deep sense of gratitude to the impassioned and wholehearted legacy of scholarship among Muslims throughout history. Many of the issues we deal with today have already been examined and dealt with by others before us, and we would do injustice to them and ourselves if we choose not to stand on the shoulders of these giants. I will return home with a long list of books to read. Outside of the classroom, ALIM continued to be a profound experience. The assabiyyah developed from the start between us gave us strength, lifted our spirits when we were down, and allowed our learning to continue through dialog. Group spiritual activities were well placed and provided a view of the big picture that occasionally got lost in the semantics of lectures.
  ALIM also provided us with a great balance of practical teaching, most of which occurred on Fridays. The weekly visits to masajids and cultural centers were essential in allowing us to understand the
  community in the local area, which shaped much of the teachings of our scholars. In some ways the local Muslims in Dearborn and Canton are a reflection of what we see in our hometowns I have been deeply inspired to extinguish my ignorance of Islam by my few weeks here, and I will never look at the American Muslim community in the same way again.

  - Umar Farooqi

• I view my experience at ALIM, among other things, as a launch pad to greater Islamic knowledge. I thank all the people involved with this program. They did a wonderful job. They rekindled my thirst for Islamic knowledge.

  - Ismail Husain

• As I look back, I realize that there is nothing more that I could have asked for from this experience. Coming to ALIM was a last minute decision that I will definitely benefit from for years to come.

  - Aisha Ahmed

• The most important things I am taking from this program are a deep confidence in my Muslim-American identity and a phenomenal network of diverse and dedicated students who are now to me like family.

  - Sarah Rashid

• this program would be nothing without the three teachers who devote their time and energy to give young American Muslims tremendous insights into Islamic issues, both past and present…. they equipped me with a greater understanding of the religion and an inspiration to learn everything about Islam possible

  - Azam Qureshi

• I can now say with confidence that with what I’ve learned at ALIM I know what direction to head in and what group of brothers to remember for eternity. Using terms like eternity was seldom in my past, but ALIM redefines not your vocabulary but reality.

  - Ali Abdel-Latief