Application format preview
An early look at what applying may involve
The structure below is a draft. Prompts, word limits, and requirements may change before the first cycle opens. It is shared so that prospective applicants can begin thinking early.
Applications are not currently open
Saudi Arabia · 2024
Fellows listen during a small-group lesson on Islamic law in a historic mosque setting.
Please note
This page offers an early look at the anticipated application structure. Prompts and requirements may change before the first cycle opens.
Section one
Biographical information
Previous Umrah or Hajj experience is asked for context only. It does not affect eligibility. LinkedIn, nationality, and ethnic background are optional fields.
Section two
Video introduction
Introduce yourself in 90 seconds or less.
Video production quality is not assessed. What matters is how an applicant presents themselves and what they choose to prioritise.
Section three
Short responses
Applicants select two. · 75 words each
- Describe a moment when you sought knowledge or experience that no one required of you. What drove you toward it, and what did it change?
- What does the Muslim world mean to you personally, not what you have read or been told, but what it means to you at this point in your life?
- Describe your relationship with your local or home community. What have you built, sustained, or contributed there?
- Imagine returning home after The Rihla Fellowship. What do you hope has changed in you?
- Name a Muslim figure, historical or contemporary, whose life or work has shaped the way you think. How have they influenced you?
Section four
Personal statement
Applicants select one. · approximately 150 words
Who You Are
Tell us about yourself in a way your transcript and résumé cannot. We want to understand how you think, what you care about, and who shows up when no one is watching.
Your Faith
Describe your relationship with Islam. Where did it begin, where has it taken you, and where are you now? Include the questions you are still carrying.
Your Rihla
Where are you in your life right now? What are you ready to leave behind, and what are you hoping to find?
Your Contribution
What would you bring to a cohort of Muslim students from different backgrounds, universities, fields, and perspectives?
These prompts are drafts. The final application may use a different selection.
Selection
A four-stage process
- 01
Eligibility and initial review
Eligibility, completeness, seriousness, basic alignment, and academic and community context.
- 02
Narrative review
Reflection, curiosity, faith, community orientation, character, self-awareness, leadership, readiness for the cohort, and the ability to engage complexity.
- 03
Interview
Selected applicants take part in a structured interview. The interview is not designed to reward polished performance alone.
- 04
Final cohort selection
Selection considers both individual strength and cohort composition. The goal is not thirty identical applicants, but a cohort whose members challenge, support, and learn from one another.
This page offers an early look at the anticipated application structure. Prompts and requirements may change before the first cycle opens.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- Are applications open?
- No. Applications are not currently open, and there is no waitlist or sign-up form. When the first cycle opens it will be announced on this site and through campus partners.
- Who is eligible?
- The first fellowship is intended for Muslim American undergraduate students enrolled at the eight Ivy League universities. Eligibility for later cycles may broaden.
- Does the fellowship cost anything?
- The fellowship is being designed as a fully funded experience so that a student's ability to take part is never determined by their family's ability to pay.
- Do I need to have performed Umrah before?
- No. Previous Umrah or Hajj experience is asked for context only and does not affect eligibility. On the pilot journey, many participants performed Umrah for the first time.
- Is the 2024 journey a previous fellowship cohort?
- No. The 2024 Yale Umrah journey was a student-led pilot. It is the experience from which the fellowship was shaped, and its participants are pilot participants rather than fellowship alumni.
- Will the prompts on this page be the final application?
- Not necessarily. Everything shown here is a draft shared so prospective applicants can begin thinking early. Prompts, word limits, and requirements may change.