Al-Mahdi Institute (AMI) Reviews 10

My daughter had her Nikaah ceremony here. Brother Mahmood's detailed planning and procedures made the whole experience wonderfully with no complications. The nikaah ceremony delivered by Sheikh Aayman was just wonderful.
Brother Reza was available the whole day to help with everything we needed.
Thank you all for making daughter's wedding day so special. I would recommend Al Mahdi 100%.

Brilliant venue, very clean, professional services. Booked it for my daughters Nikkah.

Excellent institution, brilliant teachers, good online options for study and robust cirriculum. Can't recommend enough!

A credit to Al-Mahdi Institute for all the great services provided and all the amazing work they do. Particularly their outreach department who are constantly striving to build bridges between communities of all backgrounds.
Also the venue is magnificent, particularly the Chapel and the gardens which are a perfect space for worship, reflection and contemplation.
The staff are always polite, helpful and accommodating.
Keep up the good work!

An Inspiration
It is always a great pleasure for me to visit Al Mahdi. Having known the site, building, gardens and chapel for many years I find it enormously satisfying to come and enjoy its new Islamic life.
The chapel is simple and lovely, in new design and decor, actually an improvement to my mind in its very front area; the gardens interesting and well maintained, the building tastefully furnished and the whole site makes a very fine building.
More important still for me is the welcome which I see others receive and I receive myself for body, mind and spirit. It is always kindly and encouraging. My suggestion to have an inter faith 'progressive' - PF-group - was taken up straight away by Sheikh Arif and his colleague Sheikh Mahmood who shares the running of it with me as a very welcoming host and organiser. These two leaders show an encouraging interest in my own work which I appreciate. Other members of staff I wont name but those I meet are always helpful and interested in making a success of this group. It is clear that the staff are a team who get on well together so the atmosphere always feels very healthy.
Naturally, I'm not there all the time!
As a setting for our PF group I cannot imagine one more congenial and thought provoking. We really do try together to share universal values. I'd like to meet more often but all our members are busy folks.
Thank you immensely for your care, open-minded religious purposes, practices and fulfilment and for your friendship.

The Revd Richard Tetlow

Representing the Universal Peace Federation, my wife and I have held a number of Interfaith events at the Al Mahdi Institute, both pre-Covid and Post-Covid. The Prayer Hall, dining area and beautiful grounds provide a wonderful environment for such events. More than this, the peaceful, welcoming atmosphere allows everyone to feel at home, and always makes for a positive, hopeful experience amongst old, and new, friends. The staff have always been helpful, accommodating, friendly and professional, both in the planning stage, and during the events themselves. Highly recommended!
David and Patricia Earle

This institute was professional and extremely beneficial to my higher learning journey. The instructors are more than qualified, compassionate, and friendly. Attending this institute will definitely get your mind working!

Always a great experience when I visit. Doing great interfaith and Intra faith work. Keep up the good work!

For many years I was closely associated with the former “ United College of the Ascension”. It’s closure in 2006 was heartbreaking so it was with some anxiety that I accepted an invitation to return to what had been reborn as the “ Al-Mahdi Institute.” I need have had no fears. The welcome I received was sincere and warm.

To my very great joy I discovered that the former Chapel, which had always been the beating heart of the College , remains as it always was, a beautiful place for reflection and prayer.

From the Institute itself, the members of staff I have met and and from publications they have produced I have learned so much more about Islam and Shi’i beliefs.

The Inter-Faith Discussion Group hosted by the Institute enables participants to confidently question and explore a whole raft of questions with honesty and openness. In an atmosphere of respect and friendship ideas and experiences, questions and doubts, beliefs and claims can be shared and tested. In this way the Institute has become for me a blessing and a beacon of hope.

Canon Owain Bell
May 2022

Excellent institution. I took up Islamic studies for the first time during the lockdown in 2020 online, part-time and the experience has exceeded my expectations. I have only done 3 modules so far so this is what I am basing my review on.

Fantastic, varied modules with diverse lecturers with top notch lecturers and high quality content. Shout out to Sh Ali Bhojani.

I love the flexibility of the course- the ability to fit studies around my work. I can tune in live or watch classes in my own time.

The institution is run professionally, the online platform Canvas works well and I love all the extra-curricular learning opportunities such as seminars and workshops exploring contemporary and important topics.

I regularly recommend AMI to friends and family particularly for its focus on equipping Muslims and future scholars with exposure to a wider variety of perspectives with a grounding in academia and for its progressive approach.

As a beginner in Islamic studies I also commend AMI for being so inclusive and accessible- this is what Islamic learning environments should be like.