The Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah has signed a co-operation agreement with Croatia’s University of Zagreb, to establish an Arabic language and Islamic civilisation department at the university. 

The initiative of the academy, which was established in 2016 as part of the directives of H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, aims to serve Croatia’s Muslim minority who are interested in the Arabic language, as well as many Muslims and non-Muslim university students who desire to study the Arabic language and Islamic civilisation. 

The signing of the agreement was attended by Dr. Mohamed Safi Mostaghanmi, Secretary-General of the academy, and Mohammed Khalaf, Director-General of the Sharjah Media Corporation and Public Relations Official at the academy, as well as Dr. Damir Boras, Rector of the university, and Vesna Vlahovic-Stetic, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, along with several professors and administrators. 

Both sides discussed the process related to establishing the department, as well as their goals and strategies. 

Dr. Boras expressed his hope for the success of the department in educating bachelor’s degree students while pointing out that the university will also offer postgraduate programmes, both Masters and PhD, in Arabic, on the same level as other foreign languages courses, such as German, English, French and Turkish. 

The delegation toured the university’s facilities and its academic and scientific research. It also visited major academic and cultural monuments in Zagreb, as well as the local Islamic centre, which was established with a donation by Dr. Sheikh Sultan, where they were received by the centre’s representatives, who expressed their gratitude for Sheikh Sultan’s efforts. 

Dr. Aziz Hasanovic, Mufti of Croatia, praised Sharjah’s social and cultural role on Arab and international levels while highlighting the importance of its initiative to establish the Islamic centre and the Arabic language department. 

The academy is a public academic institution that supports the Arabic language and scientific communities in the Arab and Islamic world and serves as a platform for cultural dialogue and language research between international researchers.