Anwarul Uloom Arabic College

Anwarul Uloom Arabic College (Kulliyyath Anwarul Uloom Al-Arabiyyah) opened on 23 April 1978 within the Makola Muslim Orphanage, under its first Principal, Maulavi Siddiq Alim. It was the first madrasa in Sri Lanka dedicated to orphaned children, and it still gives every student their education, food, housing and clothing free of charge.

The college was registered with the Ministry of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs in 1986 (Register No. MRCA/13/1/AC/61) and upgraded to an A Grade madrasa in 1996. Its religious programmes are recognised by the Islamic University of Madinah and King Saud University in Saudi Arabia.

Students follow an integrated eight-year programme. Shariah studies cover Aqeedah, Arabic language, grammar and literature, Fiqh, Hadith, Usul and Islamic history, taught alongside Sinhala, English and the national curriculum. A Hifz section takes students through the memorisation of the Qur’an. Students sit the G.C.E. Ordinary Level in their sixth year, and the Advanced Level and Al-Alim examinations in their eighth.

Around 254 students have completed the programme to date. The first was admitted to the University of Peradeniya in 1986, and graduates have since earned some fifty bachelor’s degrees, ten master’s degrees and two doctorates. Ash-Sheikh Muhammad Faiz Muhyiddin, the college’s first graduate, has taught and administered here since 1995 and is its longest-serving member of staff.