The Foundation for Islamic Knowledge and Research (FIKR) was established as a not-for-profit foundation in late 2021 to enable Muslim philanthropists to contribute to the advancement of Islamic intellectual projects and impact global change by infusing global discourse with Islamic civilizational values.
FIKR does this through grants that fund Islamic knowledge-based projects and through scholarships that support our current and future scholars.
FIKR fosters sustainable and transformative change by financing multidisciplinary projects and interdisciplinary scholarship.
The name “Foundation for Islamic Knowledge and Research” and the acronym FIKR (lit. thought in Arabic) were chosen to represent the importance we give to fostering thought-leadership in the Muslim community.
Our Goals
The Foundation for Islamic Knowledge and Research (FIKR) exists to support educational and academic activities that serve the public good through:
- Grants to Islamic academic nonprofit organizations
- Scholarships to students in Islamic Studies, and
- Knowledge exchange programs.
The Foundation of Islamic Knowledge and Research believes that humanity’s advancement today is in dire need of serious investment of resources in order to reintegrate Islamic principles, faith, and practice into various spheres of everyday life, ranging from personal behavior to international law. A significant obstacle in the way of such an integration is the limited amount of resources being directed to academic and research-based projects that can link the secular and religiously-educated Muslim community. Through funding interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary projects and academics, FIKR hopes to facilitate effective collaboration between academics and scholars across various disciplines, resulting in an impactful and significant change in the world.
Our Impact
FIKR will provide funding to academic and research projects in three ways:
- Academic scholarships: merit-based scholarships will be granted to students enrolled in or seeking admission in a full-time educational program focused on the Islamic sacred sciences, priority being given to those who express an interest in pursuing dual degrees, one in the sacred sciences and another in another discipline.
- Project grants: FIKR seeks to support organizations that promote Islamic religious literacy and create opportunities for courageous interdisciplinary collaborations. The Foundation will award grants through calls for proposals connected with its areas of focus. It will accept and welcome unsolicited proposals for projects that demonstrate a desire and capability to address problems in an integrated and effective manner.
- Knowledge-exchange programs: FIKR will support travel and communication for the worldwide scholarly community, facilitating the exchange of Islamic knowledge across borders
Our Story
We were inspired to provide financial support to committed students of the sacred sciences and to scholars and their endeavors because of the incredible massive of resources being directed toward Islamic knowledge projects. We started our patronage of students and scholars of the Islamic Sciences with humble attempts to provide housing and interim residence to Islamic seminary students. We saw how many serious students wanted to pursue a career in religious studies but were unable to access financial aid, housing, and school supplies like their peers pursuing studies in various sciences and arts.
Over the years, we have encountered numerous generous hearts who wish to help students and scholars pay off their debts and sponsor their studies and research. To address this demand, we felt the need to establish a formal organization that could be devoted to subsidizing scholars and students in the field of Arabic and Islamic Studies. By doing so, donors could enjoy the formality, professionalism, and transparency of a registered not-for-profit foundation, and become a catalyst for countless academic projects.
In late 2021, a particularly generous donor helped FIKR pursue incorporation as a non-profit foundation and public charity. The founders of the Foundation are passionate about becoming an endowment (waqf) that can revive the Islamic tradition of never letting sacred scholarship suffer due to a lack of financial resources.
Current Opportunities
We are looking for:
- Development Managers
- Program Managers
- Marketing Interns
- Volunteers
If you are interested in any of these positions, please email us at contact@fikrfund.org.