Imam (AJ) Center – Paris exists to prepare students, preachers, and teachers who can serve France, Europe, Africa, and the wider French-speaking world with language fluency, sound religious grounding, and a contemporary sense of responsibility.
Why a hawza in the West
Hawza education is a collective obligation for scholars in the historic centres of learning. For religious scholars in certain Western and European countries, it becomes an individual one.
While hawza education is considered a collective obligation (farḍ kifāyah) for scholars living in Islamic countries and in historic centres of learning such as Najaf al-Ashraf and Karbala al-Muqaddasah, it becomes an individual obligation (farḍ ʿayn) for religious scholars in certain Western and European countries.
This is particularly true in a culturally and intellectually diverse country like France, where freedom of thought has reached an exceptional level. The administration of Imam (AJ) Center – Paris therefore considers it a personal religious duty to undertake this mission.
The French arena is of tremendous importance at every level. It is essential that Shi'a Muslims make a positive contribution to French society and enrich its social fabric.
France also serves as a gateway — not only to the Maghreb and to Africa, where many people have embraced the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), but to all French-speaking countries, many of which maintain strong cultural ties with France.
Mission and beginnings
The hawza was shaped around a clear conviction: in countries like France, where intellectual and cultural diversity is especially strong, religious learning must be present, accessible, and able to speak with clarity to the societies around it.
For Muslim communities living in France and across Europe, serious religious learning cannot remain distant. The hawza was established as a local response to that responsibility, helping scholarship take root where people actually live, ask, teach, and serve.
During 2002, Ayatollah Shaykh Ismail al-Khaliq began teaching traditional hawza sciences in Paris. In 2012 those study circles were formally organized under the name Imam (AJ) Center – Paris.
This hawza is regarded as the first comprehensive Shi'a seminary in France, established to educate followers of the Ahl al-Bayt — and indeed Muslims generally. No previous hawza in France had been established with such breadth and inclusiveness.
Shaykh Ismail al-Khaliq brings close to fifty years of experience in hawza education, and has carried out missionary and educational work in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Canada, Africa, Pakistan, and many other countries.
Objectives
The Center responds to a practical gap: many Europeans are unable to travel to the traditional seminaries of the Islamic world, and Western Muslim communities need scholars who can teach in the languages spoken around them.
Devoted exclusively to
The Center deliberately avoids political involvement. It prohibits the use of its platforms to promote political organizations or to engage in disputes between different groups.
What makes this hawza unique
Its faculty includes highly distinguished scholars, but what distinguishes the Center most is the range of languages it teaches in and the practical shape of what it teaches.
It is the only hawza in the world offering instruction in several languages, so students can study in the language they actually live and preach in.
Although its faculty includes highly distinguished scholars led by Ayatollah Shaykh Ismail al-Khaliq, the curriculum emphasizes the real needs of Muslims living in Europe, the West, and Africa. Rather than focusing on abstract theoretical debates, it prioritizes the practical religious knowledge Muslims need in contemporary society.
Educational methodology
The Center follows the traditional hawza curriculum while adapting it to the needs of students living in Western societies. In-person study remains the primary method, but modern technology and distance learning extend the same teaching far beyond Paris.
The primary method of instruction, following the traditional hawza curriculum in the Center's own classrooms.
Languages
Arabic, French, Persian, English
Courses delivered remotely so students throughout both the East and the West can benefit from hawza education.
Languages
French, Arabic, Persian, English
In-person classes at the Center's affiliated institutes, taught in local African languages alongside Arabic.
Languages
Arabic and local African languages
Programs and curriculum
Recognizing that many students have careers, university studies, and family responsibilities, the Center has developed two educational tracks alongside a dedicated teacher-training programme.
Educational and cultural courses designed to strengthen the religious identity of Muslims, intended for students who cannot dedicate themselves to full-time hawza studies because of work or university commitments.
For students who wish to devote themselves entirely to religious studies, following the traditional hawza curriculum with minor adaptations suited to Muslims living in the West.
Weekend schools
As Muslim populations continue to grow in Europe and North America, there is an increasing need for qualified teachers who can educate Muslim children. This programme is distinct from the hawza's scholar-training track: it specifically prepares educators to teach children in Western societies.
About the founder
Ayatollah Shaykh Ismail al-Khaliq is among the most prominent Shi'a religious scholars in the West, with a missionary experience spanning more than four decades.
Ayatollah Shaykh Ismail al-Khaliq
Founder, Imam (AJ) Center – Paris
He was born in 1957 and grew up in Karbala, Iraq, in the vicinity of the shrine of the Master of Martyrs (peace be upon him).
He began his religious studies in the Hawza of holy Karbala under a select group of its scholars, including Ayatollah Shaykh Mujtaba al-Lankarani, Ayatollah Shaykh Muhammad al-Gharawi, his grandfather Ayatollah Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim al-Khaliq, and his father Ayatollah Shaykh Muhammad Ali al-Khaliq.
He moved between the hawzas of Karbala and Najaf al-Ashraf until he completed Kifayat al-Usul, and was examined in the advanced levels (al-suṭuh al-ʿulya) by an examination committee composed of Shaykh al-Ha'iri, Shaykh al-Rashti, Shaykh al-Kalbasi, and other scholars — he was thirteen years old at the time.
He then journeyed to the Hawza of Najaf al-Ashraf and sat for an examination in al-Makasib, al-Rasa'il, and al-Kifaya before Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei (may Allah sanctify his secret). Following this, he joined the advanced jurisprudence studies (bahth al-kharij) of Ayatollah Sayyid al-Khoei, Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad al-Ruhani, and Ayatollah Sayyid al-Khomeini.
As oppressive and criminal practices intensified against men of thought, religion, and culture, he was forced, along with some other scholars, to leave Iraq. He travelled between Iran, Pakistan, Syria, and Lebanon. In Pakistan he attained the degree of al-Fadil al-Arabi, ranking first at the national level.
In addition to his elevated religious education in the hawza, he completed his academic studies and obtained a Master's degree from the Arab University in Beirut. He remains deeply committed to the cultural and scientific advancement of the Ummah, working tirelessly to establish schools, hawzas, mosques, libraries, and a university in the regions of the Alawite and Druze communities.
After passing the age of forty, he relocated to the West to begin a cultural, religious, and educational project, taking into account the unique characteristics, cultures, and languages of those countries. He established projects for orphans in Canada and Europe, as well as schools for children to teach the Holy Qur'an, ethics, and the Prophetic biography.
As a result of his extensive engagement in scholarly, cultural, intellectual, and social roles across many countries of the East and West, he became fluent in the languages of the nations he lived in. This wealth of experience gave him a deep understanding of diverse cultures and religions, which facilitated his cultural projects, including interfaith dialogue and rapprochement efforts in the Middle East, Canada, and France.
Carrying a deep concern for elevating the standing of Muslims in the West — so that Muslims might keep pace with their French compatriots in intellectual and civilizational advancement — he began, around 2014, the project of establishing a university: a cultural, educational, and religious project conducted in both Arabic and French, to which he devotes great attention.
He is known for a distinctive approach that combines the preservation of heritage and authenticity on one hand with openness to other cultures on the other, and he possesses a refined humane spirit. He believes strongly in institutional work, continues to carry out his guiding role for Muslims in Paris and throughout France, Britain, and Belgium, and delivers his advanced jurisprudence lessons (bahth al-kharij) to his students in the hawza. He also has writings that remain in manuscript form.
At a glance
Scientific advisory board
The board brings together experienced scholars and university academics whose work spans jurisprudence, linguistics, Qur'anic studies, and higher education administration.
Lebanon
Netherlands
Iraq
Teaching faculty
Instruction at the Center is carried out by scholars who teach, preach, and lead communities across Europe, North America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Director, Imam (AJ) Center – Paris
Originally from France and now based in London, he began hawza studies in Qom in 1999 and studied there for nine years, specializing in jurisprudence, the principles of jurisprudence, Arabic language and grammar, theology, Islamic history, Qur'anic interpretation, and Islamic ethics. He later continued studying with hawza teachers online while remaining active in various European countries. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Foreign Languages and Civilizations from the University of Paris 8 (Saint-Denis), a Master's in Linguistics from Sorbonne Nouvelle, and a PhD in Imami Islamic Ethics from the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) in Paris. He is currently Imam of the Al-Khoei Centre in London, having previously served as Imam of the Islamic Centre of Swansea in Wales for five years. He has been active in religious outreach for more than twenty-three years — in France and Belgium, for fourteen years in Canada, notably Montreal and Vancouver, and for the past five years in the United Kingdom.
Selected works
Teaches in
Arabic, French, English, and Persian
Teaching faculty and Husayni orator
An advanced jurisprudence (bahth al-kharij) student at the Hawza of Najaf al-Ashraf, attending the lessons of Ayatollah Shaykh Baqir al-Irawani. He is a professor and graduate-level instructor in jurisprudence, the principles of jurisprudence, and Qur'anic studies, and a university professor in Iraq who teaches Arabic-language courses for the Center. As a Husayni orator he delivers sermons in numerous European countries and most cities of Iraq. He has published more than fifty research papers in peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed academic journals across various fields of Islamic studies, in both Arabic and English.
Selected works
Teaches in
Arabic and English
Teaching faculty
A respected scholar from the Hawza of Qom with extensive experience in education and religious outreach.
Teaches in
Persian and Turkish/Azerbaijani
Director, Imam al-Sadiq Seminary, Nigeria
A preacher based in Nigeria and director of the Imam al-Sadiq Seminary in Garko, Kano. He oversees hawza education in Nigeria and teaches in local African languages.
Teaches in
Arabic, Hausa, and local African languages
Director, Lady al-Zahra Center, Cameroon
An Islamic missionary in Cameroon who cooperates with the Center and directs the Lady al-Zahra (peace be upon her) Center there.
Teaches in
Arabic and local African languages
Teaching faculty, United States
A scholar serving Muslim communities in the United States, carrying out religious outreach throughout America.
Teaches in
English, Arabic, and Persian
Administration, Imam (AJ) Center – Paris
A member of the administration of Imam (AJ) Center – Paris, based in Lebanon, and one of the Center's Arabic-language instructors.
Teaches in
Arabic
Scientific institutes in Africa
Alongside its attention to the European and Western spheres, the Center places considerable emphasis on Africa, sponsoring a number of religious seminaries and institutes.
01
Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) Hawza — Garko, Kano
02
al-Sadiq al-Amin Institute
03
Lady al-Zahra (peace be upon her) Center
04
The first Shi'a seminary in Nouakchott
05
Educational project in Conakry
Ayatollah al-Khaliq's interest in students of the Islamic religious sciences in African countries goes back several decades. The Center also supports activities in Belgium and Mali, reflecting an educational and missionary reach well beyond France itself.