Islamic Online University Advisory Committee

Dr. Jafar Shaikh Idrees Sudan Founder of the American Open University, Washington, USA

Dr. Jaafar Sheikh Idris was born on June 15, 1931 in Port Sudan, Sudan. In addition to the modern school system, he studied Quran in traditional Quranic schools. He also studied Fiqh, Hadith and Arabic Language under traditional teachers in the city and studied Aqeedah with Ansar al-Sunnah.

He obtained his Ph.D. (Philosophy), from the University of Khartoum/University of London in 1970. The topic of his doctorate thesis was "The Concept of the Causality in Islam."
He has worked as consultant for various Islamic organizations around the world. He also was the chairman of the founding council of the American Open University. In addition to working as a consultant and chairman, he also served as professor of Islamic Studies and director of the Research Center of The Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America. At Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, a religious university in Saudi Arabia, he was professor of Islamic Studies in the Aqeedah, Da'wah and Information departments.

He has lectured at many universities, academic institutes, and Islamic centers in many parts of the Islamic and western worlds. He has also participated with research at many different conferences around the world.

Additionally, he has authored many articles and research papers.

Dr. Abdul Hakim Quick Canada Peace University, South Africa.

Abdullah Hakim Quick was born in the United States of America and accepted Islam in Canada in 1970. He pursued his study of Islam at the Islamic University of Madinah, a religious university in Saudi Arabia, where he graduated and received an ijaza from the College of Da'wah and Islamic Sciences in 1979. He later completed a master’s degree and a doctorate in African History at the University of Toronto in Canada. Shaykh Abdullah has served as imam, teacher, and counselor in the USA, Canada and the West Indies. For three years, he contributed to the religious page of Canada's leading newspaper. He has travelled to over 51 countries on lecture, research and educational tours.

Presently, he is a senior lecturer on the history of Islam in Africa at The International Peace University South Africa in Cape Town and an Islamic council member of the Muslim Judicial Council, Cape Town, South Africa. Shaykh Abdullah is also the director of the Discover Islam Centre (Cape Town) and ameer of the Dawah Coordinating Forum of South Africa.

Today, the world is in need of innovative rethinking based on original, authentic sources. Dr Abdullah Hakim provides an example of this new, progressive thinking.

Dr. James Jones USA Chair of World Religions, Manhattanville College, USA.

Dr. James (Jimmy) E. Jones is Associate Professor of World Religions with a concurrent appointment in African Studies at Manhattanville College. Professor Jones is chair of the World Religions Department and Visiting Professor at Cordoba University's Graduate School of Islamic and Social Science (Ashburn VA).

His writing, research and lecture activities are focused on Muslim American identity development and conflict resolution.

Internationally, Dr. Jones has lectured at, taught in or consulted with institutions in Bahrain, Bermuda, Egypt, Great Britain, Jerusalem, Qatar, Trinidad-Tobago, Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates. His most recent publication is a chapter in the recently released book Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism ( Mohamed Nimer , ed., Amana, 2007) entitled "What is Taking Place is a Clash of Cousins". Jimmy Jones holds a Doctorate of Ministry degree from Hartford Seminary. Born in Baltimore MD, Jimmy Jones embraced Islam in 1979. He lives in New Haven with his wife where they are active members of Masjid Al-Islam’s community development project.

Dr. Khalifah Al-Tamimi Saudi Arabia Founder and Chancellor of Madeenah International University, Madeenah.

Dr. Khalifah Al-Tamimi was born on Rajab 12, 1379 H. (1959) in Al-Madinah AL-Munawwara.
He obtained his Ph.D. from the Islamic University of Madinah Al-Munawwara. The title of his doctorate thesis is “The Rights of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) on His Nation in the Light of Qur’an and Sunnah”.

He has acquired teaching experience at a variety of universities.
He taught Islamic degrees at the Islamic University of Al-Madina Al-Munawwara for twenty-four years. During this time, he taught many subjects (Tawheed of Creation – Tawheed of Worship – Tahweed of Names and Attributes). He also taught in Taibah University (branch of King Abdel-Aziz University) as a cooperative professor for four years. He also taught in the Prophet’s (PBUH) mosque during the pilgrimage season for two years.

At present, he is the general manager of the Al-Madinah International University project (1425 hijri until the present). He was the first dean of the Scientific Research Division at the Islamic University of Madina. He also served as president of Arabic language and Islamic culture training courses in Thailand for eight years (1414-1421 H).

Dr. Saad Al-Shithri Saudi Arabia Founder of Knowledge International University, Riyadh.

The esteemed Sheikh, Dr. Sa'd ibn Naasir ash-Shithry, is the founder of Knowledge International University, and is a former Islamic council member of the Council of Senior Ulamaa in Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Sa'd holds a doctorate degree in the field of Islamic Jurisprudence & Methodology. He is also the author of several books explaining intricate topics found in the various Islamic Sciences, and has revised, authenticated, and explained a large number of texts. His presence and caliber in the field of da'wah and Islamic education is known around the world.

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Nuaimi Qatar Former Chancellor of Qatar University

Prof. Ibrahim Saleh K. Al-Naimi holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Southern California, USA (1983). He has filled many important administrative positions over the years: most notably, dean of QU's College of Science, president of Qatar University, and president of CHN University of Professional Education. Indeed, Dr. Al-Naimi’s administrative work has dominated the majority of his career.

As a chemist and professor of chemistry for many years, Dr. Al-Naimi has published more than 40 research papers in international, regional, and local scientific journals on environmental and chemistry-related topics.

A member in several international academic societies, Dr. Al-Naimi has participated in a wide variety of conferences around the world. His most notable contributions have been his paper “Natural Gas Industry in Qatar” for the Industrial, Economic and Technical Co-operation between the GCC and the Federal Republic of Germany. He has also served as chairman of the 1st International Conference on Chemistry and its Applications in Qatar. Among the papers which Dr. Al-Naimi has presented are: “Scientific Research in the Arab World” at the International Conference on Science & Technology at the University of Sharjah and a paper for the Thirteenth Conference of the Islamic Academy of Sciences, discussing natural gas resources in Qatar and Malaysia.