Scholarship

1. Are novice students of Islamic creed, worship, and history
2. Are novice students of Qur’an and Classical Arabic
3. Have leadership experience in working in the Muslim community in various capacities
4. Have a general idea about which niche in Islamic work they would like to work in. Examples include but are not limited to the imamate, chaplaincy, professional teaching in schools and universities, organizational management, political advocacy, and da’wah
5. Have innovative ideas about the direction Muslims in Houston and in the West must take

1. Scholarship recipients must maintain a full-time student status in their respective academic institution
2. Scholarship recipients must maintain a 3.0 GPA (or similar standing) in whatever academic institution they are enrolled in.
3. Scholarship recipients must maintain excellent comportment in whatever academic institution they are enrolled in.

As a scholarship recipient, students will become of the growing Organic Imams team and work in a number of ways:
1. Ramadan fundraising to ensure the continuation of the scholarship for future scholarship recipients
2. Recruiting talent and guiding prospective students through the application process
3. Teaching classes and offering other services in Houston in their respective areas of proficiency
4. After their studies, scholarship recipients are expected to work in the Houston Muslim community for at least half the time they received financial support from Organic Imams. Though a tenured position is not promised, recipients are encouraged to work in a spectrum of capacities ranging from full time employment in Houston to pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors while volunteering in the Muslim community. It should be noted that with the rapid growth of Islamic centers in the greater Houston area, professionals trained in the Islamic sciences are increasingly in demand.

1. Applicants must have received a high school diploma or GED
2. Applicants must be at least 18 years or older though considerations can be made for exceptional underage students
3. Applicants must either currently live in or intend to live in Houston after their Islamic studies

1. The Rashad Scholarship application opens August 1st and closes November 31st.
2. Applicants must fill out the online application and send a professional resume to ‘organic imams at gmail dot com’ (delete spaces and add symbols).
3. Upon reviewing the initial applications, the scholarship board will contact select candidates during the first week of December for next steps.
a. Candidates will submit a statement of purpose explaining their educational goals as well as how they plan to serve the Houston Muslim community. The education goals must include a detailed plan of how the candidate plans to gain proficiency in Classical Arabic, which Islamic university they plan to enroll in, and how many years they are petitioning to receive financial support. Sample statements can be found “here”.
b. Candidates must be prepared to clearly articulate their statement of purpose in an interview and answer questions from the scholarship board.
4. Scholarship winners are announced before December 31st.