The aim of this project is to discuss how Islamic universities in the West facilitate and condition the formation of modern Muslim subjectivities. The central question of the study is: How is the formation of modern forms of subjectivities tied together with the reinterpretation of Islamic traditions? The paper provides analysis of the curricula, and institution background, values and aims of two universities—Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, the first Muslim liberal arts college in the U.S.; and Cambridge Muslim College, the first to offer a Diploma in Muslim community leadership in Britain. Alongside the textually founded analysis, interviews conducted with leadership, faculty and students, and participatory observation inform the discussion. Analysis demonstrates that both institutions see themselves as mediators between Islamic traditions and modern Muslims in the West, and as having a responsibility to engage in the development of both Muslim minorities and the wider societies within which they operate.

With the worldwide expansion of the modern university system during the twentieth century, higher education has become an important feature of our modern society at a global level. Islamic universities form part of this global phenomenon, but so far major studies on the globalized higher education system have ignored the role of religion in this field. This article briefly explores the role of Islam at three Islamic universities in India, with a primary focus on the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) in New Delhi. JMI was established in 1920 and holds a long history of providing higher education, particular for Muslims, within the specific national context of India, where Muslims constitute a significant minority. More precisely, the article investigates how the “Islamic” is defined and expressed differently at the three institutions and what that difference means in conceptual terms. Finally, the findings are placed in relation to the issue of standardization/localization within the theory on globalized education.