Alhambra is a 501(c)(3) organization registered with Stanford’s Office for Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL) as the official external support organization for the Muslim Student Union.
Alhambra serves as a welcoming spiritual home for Muslim students and the broader Stanford community, fostering faith, belonging, and connection.
Alhambra aspires to nurture spiritually grounded, Ummah-minded global leaders of the future.
Dr. Amina Darwish
Bahauddin (Robert) Kylberg (’88) · Omar Al Naggar (’09)
Tuba Okyay
Rasha ElSayed (’13) · Aneeqa Abid (’24) · Alaa Abdelrahim (’23) · Amr Safwat
First home-cooked meals for students
Alumni families expand support with airport rides and welcoming international students
Grassroots alumni support formalized into Alhambra as a professional organization
501(c)(3) status obtained; registered with Stanford ORSL as the official external support organization for the Muslim Student Union
Public endowment campaign launches toward a $313,000 goal
Dr. Amina Darwish joins as Chaplain
This spirit of community support began organically, with alumni families living around campus offering home-cooked meals and rides to students to and from the airport. It was an effort to pay forward the support they received when they were students to a new generation of Stanford Muslims from around the world. As this grassroots effort grew, those same alumni came together to formalize their support into a professional organization grounded in the Prophetic model of nurturing young people's spiritual growth. Today, the Alhambra team combines the experience of alumni who were leaders on campus during their student years, entrepreneurs, program managers and professionals—all united in service to the Muslim community at Stanford.
This vision is rooted in the Prophetic model of leadership and community building. From its inception, Alhambra has followed in the footsteps of the Prophet ﷺ, who met every person where they were and guided them through their spiritual growth. Following this example, Alhambra embraces a big tent community that welcomes diversity of thought and experience while creating spaces for unity and cohesion for anyone.
Inspired by the Andalusian legacy of Muslim institution building, Alhambra aims to build a lasting endowment at Stanford University to support the Ummah-minded, spiritually-grounded global leaders of tomorrow.
Muslim students lack sufficient spiritual support during the critical and formational college years
Chaplaincy support provides one-on-one counseling for Muslim students navigating their faith and Islamic education through regular halaqas.
Student leaders and advocates graduate, leaving long-standing needs, such as adequate space, unresolved.
A permanent, professionally staffed organization provides continuity and advocates across administrations.
Muslim religious life can be limited by institutional constraints when supported solely by a secular university.
As an independent 501(c)(3), Alhambra provides spiritual independence for Muslim campus life
Relying on Stanford's budget creates vulnerability to funding cuts and shifting priorities.
A self-funded endowment, a waqf, generates annual income independent of any university budget or annual campaign.
Help us build a lasting endowment to support future generations