Ahl Al Bayt University is a private research university in the city of Karbala in central Iraq. It is about 100km southwest of Baghdad.
The university was established in the year 2000 as an online university, with the idea of establishing a university to educate Iraqis in the diaspora all over the world. It originally taught management, law, Arabic literature and Islamic law. Offices were situated around the world in cities including London, Beirut, Kuwait, Damascus and Manama, to which students went to take exams.
In 2004 founder Dr Muhsin Baqir al-Qazwini moved back to Iraq and established the university there. It started with three colleges: law, Islamic sciences, and arts. The university has since added to include three further faculties of pharmacy, medical and health technologies and dentistry as a result of the university's expansion in 2007.
The Al Sadiq Foundation, which established the university, is a cultural, educational, and religious organisation which aims to spread Islamic principles among Muslims and non-Muslims through peaceful communication.
In English, the university motto translates to, “in the name of the Ahl al-Bayt, this high structure transcends time”.
The logo of the university shows a pen (representing knowledge) a prayer niche (mihrab) (representing prayer), a globe (representing the internationality of the university), and a sun (representing the culture of tolerance, coexistence and rationality), in which the sun rays represent the university seeking to spread this around the world. The university entrance also became a part of the logo once the university opened on its current site.
