The Seminary
About
The Seminary for Insight, Research, and Transformation is an independent graduate seminary in California, grounded in the Islamic tradition.
Mission
The Seminary for Insight, Research, and Transformation forms scholar-practitioners, chaplains, and community servants by integrating theological knowledge, applied research, and pastoral formation. Its graduates are equipped to address the spiritual, emotional, and relational needs of diverse communities through rooted scholarship, pastoral presence, and applied practice.
Vision
SIRAT is an independent graduate seminary recognized as a standard for integrating theory and practice in service of transformation, where rigorous scholarship, formed practitioners, and applied work together strengthen the spiritual, emotional, and relational life of the communities they serve.
The Seminary's Work
Formation, research, and engagement
The Seminary's work rests on three pillars. Each carries part of the institution's purpose, and each depends on the others in every program the Seminary undertakes.
Formation
Vocational education and Islamic studies for credentialed pathways. Students are formed in cohorts through mentored study, contemplative practice, and supervised placement, beginning with the graduate chaplaincy program.
The chaplaincy programResearch
Scholarship engaging classical Islamic methodology with contemporary questions. The pillar produces the materials the Seminary teaches from, resources for working practitioners, and published work for the wider field, including the Journal.
Research and the JournalEngagement
Open-enrollment classes, workshops, and gatherings for community participants. No prerequisites; programs run in person and online, often in partnership with community organizations.
Community classes
Culture
The commitments that shape the Seminary
Culture is what an institution does when no one is articulating its values. Six commitments anchor the Seminary's.
Amana Trust
Trust held faithfully. The Seminary honors the trust placed in it by students, faculty, partners, and the communities it serves.
Shura Consultation
Genuine consultation. Decisions of consequence are reached through real deliberation, and disagreement is part of the process, not a threat to it.
Accountability
Clear ownership of commitments and conduct, carried in defined roles, transparent process, and follow-through.
Transparency
Decisions, processes, and outcomes visible to those they affect, inside the institution and beyond it.
Servant Leadership
Authority exercised in service. Leadership serves mission and community; the standard is the prophetic example.
Growth
Sustained development of every person and of the institution itself, in capability, rootedness, and alignment with mission.
The People
Led by its trustees, faculty, and advisers
The Seminary is governed by its Board of Trustees, taught by its faculty and scholars, and counseled by its Advisory Board.
Independence
An independent institution
SIRAT is an independent institution with its own governance, its own legal identity, and its own mission. It is not a department, subsidiary, or program of another organization. Partnerships extend the Seminary's reach without changing its independence.
Questions about the Seminary are welcome.
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