Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy

The Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy is designed to provide Muslim religious leaders and chaplains with basic skills in pastoral care, practices of ministry, theology and ethics, dialogue and interfaith relations needed to serve as chaplains in a variety of settings. The areas of knowledge and skill acquisition provided by the 24-credit graduate certificate are:

• the responsibilities of Muslim chaplains/religious leaders surrounding life events such as birth, death, marriage, and loss;
• the rituals surroundings these same life events;
• examination of Islamic law, which undergirds all Islamic rituals and includes ethics and morality;
• the application of Islamic law to daily life;
• exposure to and understanding of chaplaincy skills in multifaith settings; and
• understanding of faith traditions other than one’s own.

Requirements/Credits

Introduction to Islamic Law (ET-640) or Contemporary Islamic Ethics (ET-655)	3 credits
Courses in Practices of Ministry, Theology and Ethics, Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations	15 credits
Practical Training	6 credits

All courses need to be approved in advance and in consultation with the Program Directors.

Students completing the certificate will also be expected to have acquired basic skills in Qur’anic recitation as well as the foundational Islamic knowledge needed to function successfully as Muslim Chaplains.

Download Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy Program of Study Worksheet

 

Practical Training

All students in the graduate Certificate program in Islamic Chaplaincy must complete six credits of practical training. In most cases, this practical training will consist of three credits of Clinical Pastoral Education and three credits of field education.

Clinical Pastoral Education (3 credits): All students are required to take one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). When the student has completed the unit of CPE, he/she must submit an Advanced Standing petition to the Academic Policy Committee which requests three credits and include a copy of his/her CPE certificate. No tuition is charged by the Seminary for CPE.

Field Education (GC-580 – 3 credits):

The content and setting of field education will vary according to the needs of the student. Normally, students are expected to work in a Muslim or non-Muslim institution 8 hours a week for 30 weeks for a total of 240 hours in a capacity that corresponds with the skills required in a specific area of chaplaincy, such as prison ministry, hospital, university, military, or community work. Students must register for GC-580 Field Education when they begin their field education placement and are charged tuition for three credits.

 

All field education placements must have an on-site field education supervisor and a Hartford Seminary supervisor (in most cases this will be one of the Directors of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program). Supervisors and students will be required to sign an agreement that specifies their mutual rights and duties. The field education supervisor, the student, and the Hartford Seminary field education supervisor (Co-Director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program or designee) will meet (on-site or virtually if necessary) a minimum of once each semester during the field education experience. In rare instances, students may be permitted to fulfill the field education requirement outside the New England area with the consent of the Directors of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program and with the assurance of appropriate means for assessing the nature and quality of the supervision.

Students with an extensive background in religious leadership may apply to the Academic Policy Committee to be granted three credits of Advanced Standing (in lieu of GC-580) for previous religious leadership experiences relevant to their intended field within Islamic Chaplaincy (ex. military, university, correctional facility, hospital, etc…). Petitions for Advanced Standing need to be made in accordance with the “Advanced Standing Guidelines of Hartford Seminary” and will be acted on by the Academic Policy Committee in consultation with the Director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program.

Islamic Chaplaincy Colloquium: All students are required to attend the annual Islamic Chaplaincy Colloquium throughout their studies. The Colloquium is designed to facilitate collegial sharing, peer education, spiritual formation and networking among students, alumni and practitioners in the field of Islamic Chaplaincy. Students who are currently carrying out their Field Education are expected to prepare presentations and facilitate workshops at the colloquium that reflect on their experience of working in particular areas within the field of chaplaincy. A fee for the Colloquium will be automatically added to the account of each student in the Islamic Chaplaincy program.

Co-Directors:

Dr. Timur Yuskaev
tyuskaev@hartsem.edu
860-509-9554

Dr. Bilal Ansari
bansari@hartsem.edu