About The Instructor:

Dr. Abdullah Ali is a scholar of Islamic law with field specialties in Islamic Theology as well as Race and Blackness Studies in Muslim History. His research interests include the interconnection between law and identity formation, comparative Islamic law, and Islam’s role in the modern world. At Zaytuna College, Dr. Ali teaches Jurisprudential Principles, Family Law, Inheritance Law, Commercial Law, Prophetic Tradition, Creedal Theology, and Islamic Virtue Ethics.

He received his BA or Al-Ijazah Al-‘Ulya from Al-Qarawiyyin University in Shariah in 2001. He received both his MA and PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in 2012 and 2016, respectively. Prior to his post at Zaytuna College, Dr. Ali was a chaplain at State Correctional Institute in Chester, PA, from 2002 to 2007. 

His PhD thesis, titled “The ‘Negro’ in Afro-Arabian Muslim Consciousness,” demonstrates the interplay between conceptions and perceptions of race in constructing class differences; it is an example of how race taxonomies are constructed and employed to impress upon peoples’ psychological states and sociocultural sensibilities. It aims to uncover how indigenous black African Muslims responded to challenges to their humanity and agency by their Arab coreligionists who saw themselves as ethnically and culturally superior to their brethren.

About The Instructor:
 

Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed was born and raised in Ann Arbor, MI. He began Islamic studies at Jaamiah al-Uloom al-Islamiyyah in Canada where he became a Hafiz at the age of 11. Upon the completion of his Tahfeedhul Ul Quran, Mufti Abdul Wahab decided to continue his studies in Islamic sciences. He started his 7-year Shariah program in Toronto, Canada, and went even further to pursue higher education of Hadith in Karachi, Pakistan. Mufti Abdul Wahab completed his Hadith Intensive at the renowned Islamic University founded by Sheikh Yusuf Binori RA known as Jamia Binoritown, where he had the fortune of studying under teachers who had received their Ijaazat from Al- Azhar, Madina University, and Ummul Qura.

Upon graduation, Mufti Abdul Wahab wanted to pursue his passion in understanding and education in the field of Islamic Jurisprudence and Law. He started his studies at Al Ihsan Institute located in Vancouver, B.C., specializing in Islamic Jurisprudence and Iftā’ under his professors while simultaneously teaching Fiqh and Hadith in the same school. During this time period, he was also serving as a Khateeb and lecturer in the province of British Colombia. He also traveled extensively across North America for Dawah purposes. Throughout his travels, Mufti Abdul Wahab addresses communities across the United States on a wide range of Islamic topics and Inshallah, continues to do so with the Tawfiq of Allah SWT. Mufti Abdul Wahab is a Co-founder at Miftaah Institute and also is a Co-Founder and Director at Michigan Islamic Institute.

About The Instructor:

Ustadh Shamaas Nyazee was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. He went to Parkway West High school from which he graduated in 2009.

After high school Shamaas decided to take a year off before college to Memorize the Qur’an. He finished the memorization of the Qur’an with Shaykh Haroon at Darul Qur’an Foundation in January 2010. 

In September of that same year, he traveled to Pakistan to study at Jamia Hasnain Faisalabad. The jamia was started by renowned scholar and orator, Shaykh Tariq Jamil. There he studied for six years under senior teachers such as Shaykh Ramzi Al Habib, Shaykh Ubaidullah, Mufti Ahmed Ali and Maulana Tariq Jamil himself. After graduating in 2016, he returned to America and is now teaching at Madrasah Tul Hussnain in Indianapolis, IN.

About The Instructor:

Shaykh Zayd combines a unique background of both Islamic Scholarship as well as his training in psychology. After completing memorization of the Qur’an, he traveled to Pakistan to study at Jamia Hasnain Faisalabad. The jamia was started by renowned scholar and orator, Shaykh Tariq Jamil. There he studied for six years under senior teachers such as Shaykh Ramzi Al Habib, Shaykh Ubaidullah, Mufti Ahmed Ali and Maulana Tariq Jamil himself. After graduating, he returned to Miami, FL where he serves as Imam at the Masjid Jamaat ul Muttaqeen.

Shaykh Zayd is currently pursuing a degree in psychology and has also successfully completed levels I & II of the TIIP certification, the flagship program of the Khalil Center, which offers a framework for integrating contemporary behavioral science into an inherently Islamic framework.

About The Instructor:

Shaykh Hamzah Imtiaz currently serves as the Resident Scholar at the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis (IFGSTL) in St. Louis, Missouri. He holds several ijāzahs (teaching licenses) in the Islamic sciences as a result of his 6 year journey of seeking knowledge. He studied under some of the world's leading Muslim scholars, including Mawlana Tariq Jameel and Mufti Taqi Usmani, the grand Mufti of Pakistan, and Mufti Muhammad Zahid, one of the leading experts on Hadīth Studies today.

About The Instructor:

Mufti Asif Umar is the Mufti and Imam of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis. He is native of St. Louis. He has a degree in advanced Islamic studies and a master’s degree in Islamic jurisprudence.