Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The Dundee college where western and Islamic worlds meet is recruiting more local students

Al-Maktoum College hopes to welcome more students from the city and the surrounding area.

Dr Abi Abubaker hopes to open doors of Al-Maktoum College to more Dundee students.
Dr Abi Abubaker hopes to open doors of Al-Maktoum College to more Dundee students.

There’s a building on Dundee’s Blackness Road which is described as a gateway between the city and the Middle East.

Most Dundee folk won’t have set foot inside Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education – but its head Dr Abi Abubaker hopes more of them will soon will.

The college was Scotland’s first ever institute for Arabic and Islamic studies when it opened in 2001.

It was established with funding from the United Arabic Emirates through the Al-Maktoum Foundation of the late Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai.

Currently eight out of 10 of its students are from overseas.

But Dr Abubaker wants to change that by evening the balance between international and Scottish students.

Dr Abi Abubaker is head and vice-chancellor of Al-Maktoum College. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

Addressing any misconception that Al-Maktoum College is for Muslims only, Dr Bubaker stressed the institution is for everyone; people of all faiths or none.

He said: “We had incidents in the early days of people walking through the front doors and wanting to take their shoes off, as if they were entering a mosque. Why would they need to do that?

“But that’s another time altogether now, we are firmly established within the city and people understand what we do and why we are here.”

Al-Maktoum College in Blackness Road. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

Students come from all over to study at Al-Maktoum College – Africa, the Middle East, Asia and beyond. It has more than 2000 graduates of more than 40 nationalities.

Courses include Islamic finance and Muslim family law, but also business and human resources. There are also beginners evening classes in Arabic language.

Stepping inside, you can see the appeal – it’s small and welcoming, the former Dundee College building aesthetically-pleasing, combining traditional and modern features and with a library stocked with beautifully-inscribed Arabic text and reference books.

Arabic books in the college library. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

Its lecturers are leaders in their fields.

The college is already making inroads to increasing local student numbers, working with schools including Morgan Academy, Grove Academy, Harris Academy, and Dundee and Abertay universities.

Dr Bubaker said: “We already have a good number of young people who are choosing us as a destination after they finish school and we want more of that.

“I would like to think we offer something different from the main colleges and universities.”

The college describes itself as “small in size, big in ambition”, with classes of around 10 students, rather than 20 or 30.

Classes are small, allowing one-to-one attention. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

“We are small, we have almost like a family-orientated atmosphere. We can offer a lot of one-to-one care for young people,” said Dr Bubaker.

And he says it has something to offer for those work with Middle Eastern companies or like to travel, teaching both Arabic language and culture.

He said: “Arabic language can be very poetic, and a lot people are interested in learning it just because of the way it sounds.

Learning Arabic language can appeal to people for many reasons. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

“People want to go for a holiday in the Middle East, Egypt, Dubai or wherever.

“A lot of businesses work with Middle Eastern firms.

“It’s useful not necessarily to speak it fluently, but at least to have a few phrases or learn about the culture.”

What courses does Al-Maktoum College offer?

Al-Maktoum College, which is SQA-accredited, collaborates with universities for some of its courses, including Dundee, Abertay and Trinity College in Dublin.

These include Islamic finance and Muslim family law, but also business and human resource management.

Arabic language courses are offered from beginner to advanced level, taught by native speakers.

Conversation