The Independent Islamic University Model in Europe: A Comparative Study of Three Islamic Universities in the Netherlands

This article examines the Independent Islamic University Model as a distinct form of Islamic higher education in Europe. While existing scholarship has focused primarily on state-integrated Islamic theology programmes and imam-training initiatives, independent Islamic universities remain underexplored as a specific institutional category. The study asks why independent Islamic universities operating within the same national higher education environment experience divergent institutional trajectories. Drawing on a qualitative comparative case study of three Dutch institutions—the Islamic University of Rotterdam (IUR/IUASR), the Islamic University Europe (IUE), and the Islamic University Amsterdam (IUA)—the study analyses institutional documents, policy records, accreditation materials, and relevant scholarly literature. The three cases were purposively selected because they represent contrasting trajectories of institutional development within the same national higher education environment. The article develops a theoretical framework for understanding their emergence, development, and institutional outcomes through a two-level analytical model consisting of a Triple Legitimacy Framework (academic, religious, and societal legitimacy) and Institutional Sustainability Capacity (governance, financial, organizational, and network capacities). The findings indicate that long-term institutional sustainability is shaped not by religious legitimacy alone, but by the interaction between academic, religious, and societal legitimacy together with institutional sustainability capacity. Institutions that successfully integrate these dimensions demonstrate greater organizational resilience and long-term continuity. The study suggests that strengthening both institutional legitimacy and sustainability capacity is essential for the sustainable development of independent Islamic universities in Europe. The proposed analytical model provides a transferable framework for analysing faith-based higher education institutions in other European contexts and contributes to broader debates on Islamic higher education, Muslim institutionalization, and institutional sustainability.