The Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University is intended to provide students not only with a wide geopolitical lens, but also with a multidisciplinary lens that includes literature, history, politics, economics, religion, law, sociology and anthropology. The program offers undergraduate courses and a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies through several departments in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

With endowment gifts from Sohaib and Sara Abbasi and from Lysbeth Warren Anderson and matching funds from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the program is a priority at Stanford and integral to the university’s initiative in international studies.

"The Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford will make a significant contribution to Stanford and beyond. Despite its growing importance in the world, Islam is poorly and inadequately understood in our country. To serve our educational mission into the 21st century, we must expand our program in Islamic studies, and these wonderful gifts will help us do exactly that." -- John Hennessy, President of Stanford University