美国第一所被认可的穆斯林学校

Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California is officially a trailblazer. In March, it became the first formally accredited Islamic institution of higher learning in the United States.

Melissa Mani transferred from City College in Santa Barbara to attend Zaytuna College.

"It has been a life changing experience. Because this is the first time being in a Muslim environment where I felt really like I was growing," Mani said.

Mani is one of fifty-five American Muslims attending the U.S.'s first fully-accredited Muslim College. Students undergo intensive Arabic training. Zaytuna is a liberal arts college where students earn a degree in Islamic Law and Theology.

"It's to benefit themselves personally, for them to be able to make sense of what their tradition is asking of them in today's world and to be able to explain to others and obviously to do their best to infuse society with those virtues," Mahan Mirza, dean of faculty, Zaytuna College, said.

Faculty here acknowledge anti-Islamic sentiment in society, but say reaction to their accreditation has been overwhelmingly positive.

In fact, Zaytuna's property is on property rented out by a Baptist Seminary. And soon it will be moving to a place called Holy Hill, where it's neighbors will be both Christian and Jewish institutions.

"We also want to empower them and get them to be conversant so they understand the arena of where they are living and be able to negotiate the text into the contest of their American society. Literally, we're creating this mosaic, which as we speak, it's the first time this is being tried," Hatem Bazian, co-founder of Zaytuna College, said.

Zaytuna's current students are all Sunni, except for one Shi'ite. Non-Muslims have so far only enrolled in the school's summer Arabic classes.

"I have cousins who are Jewish, or Israeli, I have cousins who are atheist and actually don't believe in a God. And I have a practicing Christian family as well. But through that they all support me coming to Zaytuna and they all realize the beauty it is to have a quality education," Student Aisha Ibrahim said.

With accreditation under its belt, Zaytuna hopes to bring in its first international student in the next few years.