Islamic Online University

Abu Muawiyah Ismail Kamdar began his study of Islam at the age of thirteen. In 2006, he completed a seven year Islamic scholarship at a local Darul Uloom. In his quest for the truth and authentic Islamic knowledge, Abu Muawiyah continued studying Islam and sat with scholars from a variety of Madhabs and sects. His most notable teacher is Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips. Abu Muawiyah served as an Arabic and Islamic Studies Educator at Ihsaan Boys College is Durban, South Africa in 2008, and as an English and Social Studies Educator at the Al-Fajr International School in Chennai, India for part of 2009. Abu Muawiyah currently resides in Durban, South Africa and serves as an Arabic Tutor for Deenclass, an associate writer for Muslim Matters and as a Tutorial Assistant in Tafseer, Fiqh and Arabic for the Islamic Online University. He also appears regularly on Radio Al-Ansar and Channel Islam International.

Dr. Muhammad Anwar Sahib Almadani is a Fiji born, kiwi (New Zealand) Islamic scholar. He started to study at Madeenah Islamic University at the age of 14. After completing Arabic language course and high school he completed his BA in Islamic studies. Later on he completed his masters and PhD (1999) in Quranic science from the same university. He has authored a few books in Arabic and English that are yet to be published. He has presented Islamic programs on Voice of Islam, New Zealand and various radio channels.

He has coordinated many Islamic courses in various countries: New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. He has attended many conferences locally and aboard. He is a founder member and chairman of AtTaqwa Trust, Auckland, New Zealand. His roles include that of Imaam, Khateeb and religious advisor. He is also the Secretary for the Ulama board of New Zealand and advisor for Halaal issues to the NZ government.

Kamil Ahmad was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. At the age of 19, he traveled to Egypt where he started studying the Arabic language. Thereafter, he traveled to Saudi Arabia where he spent time in the company of the late Shaykh ‘Abdullah bin Jibreen in Riyadh.

He was then admitted to the Islamic University of Madeenah, completing a university diploma in the Arabic language, and then graduated with a bachelors degree from the faculty of Sharee‘ah. He went on to complete a post-graduate diploma in Da‘wah from the faculty of Da‘wah & Usool-ud-Deen.

He currently resides in the Qaseem Region of Saudi Arabia where he is pursuing a masters degree in ‘Aqeedah from Qaseem University.

Mohammed Irfan Khan born in Kuwait, is an Electrical and Electronics Engineer by profession. He is working as a Technical Manager at a prominent Da'wah Organisation named "Peace Propagation Center " (PPC) in Hyderabad,India.

He completed the Bachelors of Technology in (E.E.E.) Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. He has obtained a Diploma in Islamic Studies(Aqeedah) (DIS) under Sheikh Hussain Madani, from Peace Propagation Center, Hyderabad, India.

He has also completed Hifz-ul-Qur'an from Jami'at-ul-khairiyah, Jeddah, KSA. He is a certified Tajweed & Hifz-ul-Qur'an Trainer (Daurat-ul-Muallimeen) from Jami'at-ul-khairiyah, Jeddah, KSA .

He has also completed a short Arabic course under Sheikh Arshad Basheer Madani. He has completed a Da'wah Training under M.I.Ali, the president of Peace Propagation Center and has also gone through a short Da'wah camp under the guidance of Sheikh Arshad Basheer Madani.

Through these he has learnt to actively administer Da'wah events conducted in various parts of India and also be active in Online Da'wah campaigns, run by Peace Propagation Center (PPC). He has the ability to develop and present educational programs and workshops.

Zaheer khan was born and grew up in Guyana, South America. He was a sophomore when he got accepted to the University of Medina. Zaheer says it is ineffable to explain how it felt when he was accepted to the University of Medina. Without any considerations he moved to Medina where he studied Arabic and completed a BA in Hadeeth. Zaheer was also honored to sit with some of the most prolific scholars in Medina and Saudi Arabia. Zaheer also completed a Bachelors of Education from Brock University, Ontario. He is currently working on his Masters of Education in Leadership via Concordia University. Zaheer Khan is currently working as the Junior High Islamic Studies teacher at the Edmonton Islamic Academy.

Mohammed Bechir holds a Masters degree in Finance from Tunisia.He has completed his bachelors degree in administration. He further holds a certification is general accountancy. He has received Qur'aan ijaaza from Sheikh Wissam el Tom and an ijaaza in Hadeeth from Sheikh Waleed el Manissi. He is the co-founder and accounting partner in comptabilite et confiance b.m.

Rasheed Ahmed is originally from the Fiji Islands where he began to study Islam at the age of 17. After completing a semester of his Diploma in Islamic Teaching, Allaah, the Exalted, blessed him to study in Madinah University where he completed a Diploma in Arabic Language in 2005, a B.A. in Islamic Theology in 2009 and various short courses in Hadeeth Science. He lived in Bay Area, California, between 2003 and 2011, where he conducted classes in Islamic Studies at a local masjid as well as privately, and led Jumu'ah at California State University Hayward. In April 2011, he moved to New Zealand, where he works as a translator, teacher and khateeb. Apart from Islamic subjects, Rasheed has a keen interest in the fields of Intelligent Design (ID), Astronomy and web development.

Ibrahim Nashat Ahmed is an Egyptian and is currently pursuing his 4th year as a Pharmacy student at Misr International University. He graduated from the schools of the Azhar and memorized the holy Quran about 4 years back. He has also been leading as an Imam, in Taraweeh prayers and Tahajjud prayers, since 4 years. He has been assigned to be the Imam of al-Tawheed Mosque for Fajr prayer during this year and had been assigned to be the imam of Al-Hedaya mosque for Fajr prayer during the past 2 years. He has also participated in Al-Arqam Quran Competition and he is working on
al-ijaza with Shaykh Awl.

Taskeen Abdul-Rawoof is from Toronto, Canada. She has studied under Sh. Uthman Khan at the Shatibiyyah Institute for Tajweed and Qira’at where she obtained her Ijazah in the recitation of Hafs an Asim. She has also studied Asharah Sugharah and is currently working on completing the memorization of the Quran. Currently, she is studying at York University in an Honours History and Concurrent Education program.

Mrs Vaseem Banu is from Hydrabad, India. She has done her B.A. (phil.,psy., litt.), M.A. in English and Psychology, M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Psychology, through the Osmania University, Hyderabad. She has done B.Ed through the Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu. She has 4 years of experience as a Head Mistress of a High School, and 5 years of experience as a lecturer in Psychology & English in a College of Education and Engineering. At present she is working as a Lecturer in Saudi Arabia, since 2009, where she teaches Research Methodology, Phonetics, Language Learning, Pragmatics etc, at the under graduate level. She is proficient in English, Urdu, and Hindi, and highly interested in acquiring Quranic knowledge.

Tehseen Fatima is a Pakistani and British National who did her Masters in Environmental Sciences and Research work in Biochemistry from Fatima Jinnah Women's University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She has done Islamic Courses including Translation and Tafseer of the Holy Qur'an, and a Hadeeth Course of Sahih Bukhari from Alhuda International. She has also learnt Tajweed from Skeikh Uthman Khan at Shatbiyyah Institute, Canada and taught Tajweed at different levels in Alhuda Institute Canada and Pakistan, and is currently conducting Tajweed Courses at different locations. She is also a student of Ashrah Qira'at.
Just recently she has received Ijazah in Hafs Qiraat by Shaykh Uthman Khan

Zahra Anwer was brought up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After completing her bachelors in Commerce, she joined Dar Al Huda Qur'an School for Tajweed and was blessed to study with the wonderful teachers. She studied tajweed under the supervison of Sheikhah Kareema Carol Czerepinski [the author of a series of the three books called 'Tajweed Rules of the Qur'an.]. She completed her four years there and got an ijazah. She has also done short courses of- tawheed,tafseer and fiqh us sunnah. She was blessed to study tafseer and basic fiqh with Umm Muhammad [the author and translator of Saheeh International Publications], and other amazing sisters at the Islamic Cultural Center in Jeddah.

Rabeeya Gohar Khalid was born in Pkistan and grew up in Saudi Arabia. She memorized the Qur'an in her early teenage and continued the studies of Quran. She completed three years course of Tajweed from a renowned Quran school Dar ul Huda in Jeddah , supervised by Sheikhah Kareema Carol Czerepinski, meanwhile she did her B.A in Islamic Studies. She received Ijaazah in Riwaayah Hafs An Aasim min Tareeq Ash Shatibiyyah from a student of Sheikhah Kareema and currently working on Riwaayah of Taiyyibah. She has been teaching Tajweed and Hifdh at Dar ul Huda Quran school since last five years.

Mrs. Rasheeda Sulthana Mubeen is a Senior Scale Lecturer in one of the most reputed colleges in Chennai,India. She is also a part time faculty in one of the B.Ed colleges in Chennai.She has done her B.A., M.A.,and M.Phil, in English Literature and is currently persuing her doctorate. She has also done B.Ed.(batchelor of education). She has presented a number of papers in various seminars and conferences.

She has a lot of interset in teaching and her aim in life was to become a teacher. She has a very different approach to teaching. Another very important field she is interested in, is editing. She has been the editor for an educational web site for the past few years. She is a very good councellor who not only understands the problems of her students but also gives good solutions.

Umm Eesa has been studying the Qur'an under a number of teachers and shuyookh from an early age. She is a hafidha and also holds an Ijaazah in 'Ashara Sughra (ten Qiraa'aat) and a separate one in Hafs 'an 'Asim min Tareeq Al-Shatibiyyah. She teaches Tajweed and Hifdh both online and in her locality. She is currently conducting the general open sessions for brothers and sisters online at IOU

Ejaz G M Khatib is an Indian and has done B.E. in Computer Science, through Shivaji University, Kolhapur, India in 2004. He has about 8 years of experience in the field of IT Help-desk support and System Administration. He has been serving at DFI-Katara Cultural Village, Doha, Qatar, as an IT Technical Support Person from Dec 2010 till date. At Emad Traders, Doha, Qatar, he worked as the Desktop Support Engineer from Sep.2005 to Nov 2010. At Ebrahim Darwish Electronics, Dubai he worked as the IT Support Engineer from Sep. 2004 to Aug. 2005 and At Emad Electricals & Trading, Doha, Qatar, he worked as the Desktop Support Engineer from Jun 2003 to Jul 2004. He is a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) on Windows XP and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and at the MC ITP he is doing a course on Enterprise Administrator which is expected to be completed by April 2012, InshaAllah. He is fluent in English, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and Marathi.

Mariam Nashat Ahmed is an Egyptian and has done her Bachelor of Science through Ain Shams University, Cairo. She attended the Summer School (1993 to 1998) at Dar Al-Eman for teaching Quran in Nasr city, Cairo, Egypt. She completed the Quran Teacher Preparation Course (2008) at Al-fatth Mosque in Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt. She also received Al Azhar Tajweed Certification (2006) for the recitation in the way of Hafs ‘an ‘Asim at The Azharic Institute of Qeraat in Shobra, Cairo, Egypt. She served as the Summer (1999/2000) Quran teacher at Dar Aleman mosque for teaching Quran located in Nasr city, Cairo, Egypt. In the academic year (2004-2005) she served as the Quran teacher for the kinder garden at Ajyad Azhary School, located in Maadi, Cairo, Egypt. She also served as a Quran teacher for kinder garten and grade one, in Jana Dan Islamic International School, located in Maadi, Cairo, Egypt, during the academic year (2005-2006). She was also the Quran, Religion and also the fun science Nursery teacher for kids from 2 to 4 years at Sesame Club Nursery located in Maadi, Cairo, Egypt, during the academic year (2010-2011). She is fluent in both Arabic and English. She is a very patient person, and has excellent interactive skills with students especially kids and has a highly social character with good communication skills.

Mustafa Abdel Halim Mohammed Nabawy has done BA in Faculty of Languages and Translation Department of Islamic Studies in English of Al-Azhar University in 2007. He has received certificates of TOEFL in English from the amide East in 2006, certificate of Specialization in the ten qeraat el Quran from the Al-Azhar in 2005, certificate of Alyit al qeraat , the Minor (ways of reading Quran) from Al Azhar – Egypt in 2002, certificates of appreciation in many competitions in the Quran full year of 1994-2004 and certificate of Merit from the World Islamic & Sciences Education University in Jordan in the year 2010-2011.

He has served as a Full-time lecturer at the World Islamic & sciences Education University in Amman, Jordan, in the academic year 2010-2011, as the Imam of local mosques from 2001 to 2006, as a public relations officer in the Egyptian Company Syrian in 2009, as an English translator of the Sinai from 2007 to 2009 and he is proficient in speaking, writing and reading in English and average in German, Hebrew and Spanish.

Yusuf Gassiep (Abu Hamza) was born in 1981 and raised in Manenberg on the Cape Flats. After completing high school he performed Hajj in 1999 and then travelled to Egypt to meet up with his hifth teacher from Cape Town who at the time was also in Egypt pursuing higher studies. It was in the dusty city of Cairo where he spent the following 9 years of his life enrolled at the Al Azhar Institute and later majored in Hadith at the Al Azhar University’s faculty of Usoolu Deen. He attended the lessons of many of the Ulamah in cairo at the various masajied of Jamaat Ansaru Sunah Al Muhamadeyah amongst his teachers are Dr Mohammed Yousri, Sheikh Shareef Husain Abdul Qadir, Sheikh Tariq ibn Iwadullah, Sheikh Osama Sulaiman ,and Dr Omar Abdul Azeez .He also attended the monthly lectures of Sheikh Mustafa Al Adawi.

He had the opportunity of attending the lectures of Sheikh Safwat Nurudeen (rahimahu ALLAH) , Sheikh Abi Ishaq Al Huwaini and Sheikh Mohammed Hassan whenever they visited Cairo.

He also completed the Fajr Centre Arabic courses and pursued the Khitaba course offered by the Fajr Centre. One of the first books he ever bought as a student of knowledge was Sheikh ibn Uthaymeen’s (rahimahu ALLAH) Explanation of Al Aqeedah Al Wasitiyah and since then he developed a great love for Sheikh ibn Uthaymeens works.

On his return to South Africa in 2008 he was offered a post as an English teacher in Buraidah Saudi Arabia he then travelled to Saudi and worked there till January 2011. During his stay there he was involved with the Buraidah Dawa centre and was a Hajj guide for new muslims.

In 2011 he became the first imam of the Town Centre Mosque in Cape Town South Africa. He is an instructor at the Al huda foundation which offers short courses on various topics.

Um Khadeegah is an Egyptain pharmacist who graduated from Cairo University in 2002 and then obtained a clinical diploma from Ein-Shams University and she also passed ICDL, preparatory TOEFL courses and many other courses in QA, GMP and statistical analysis. She started studying Tajweed at Arrahmah center for the noble Quran memorization with Tajweed in Cairo in the year 2003 and completed it in 2005 with the theoretical Tajweed courses in this period. She then went to the Khatemah level and finished the memorization in the year 2008 and started teaching Quran and Tajweed rules in Quran center for arab and non-arab students in KSA. She also passed the Alqayedah Annouraneyah and is teaching the non-arabs till date, in Ijazah

Sister Umm Rukhaiya has a bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences. She had ijazaa in hafs an aasem reading with a chain connected to Prophet Mohammed (SAW). She is now a student in Pathway Institute in islamic Diploma for Dawaa an she has also enrolled herself in Khatma of kaloon an nafi reading, shouba an aasem reading, and warsh an nafi reading.

Fazeel Mohamed completed his secondary school in 1977 from St. George's College in Trinidad. He studied at the Islamic University of Madeenah from 1978 to 1986 and graduated with a B.A in Hadeeth and Islamic Studies.
After returning to Trinidad in 1986 he has been teaching Arabic at different levels at Darul Uloom. He is a senior lecturer, and the Head of the Counselling Department at Darul Uloom Institute, Trinidad.

An Electronics & Communication engineer by professional training who opted to spread the word of Allah”, would be an apt description of this 32 year old public speaker & trainer, who’s journey into the world of comparative religion & Da’wah started at the age of 21 as a participant of the Da’wah Training Programme conducted by Dr. Zakir Naik at IRF, Mumbai in the year 2001.

The zeal within him in clarifying misconceptions about Islam was kindled by Shaikh Ahmed Deedat & Dr. Zakir Naik and this exposure to these world renowned scholars resulted in him choosing Da’wah over Engineering. Being a passionate full time Da’ee since 2002, specializing in inter-faith dialogues, Ather Khan has participated in numerous one-on-one sessions & group discussions with non muslims and, (by the grace of Allah) has clarified a number of misconceptions about Islam amongst television viewers as well as live audiences in various parts of the globe.

He has been delivering talks on Islam and Comparative Religion for the last ten years.

Ather Khan is also an accomplished trainer with experience in imparting Da’wah Training to students of Comparative religion and has been a faculty in the IRF Da’wah Training Programme conducted in 2004 and also conducted Da’wah Training Programme organized by the IPCI, Birmingham (UK).

Soha Rajeev has a Masters in Psychology and a Bachelors degree in Islamic Studies (from Preston International College). She has worked as a school counselor at Al Mu'minah, teacher and Head of Department of Islamic Studies at Unity Public School. She has conducted workshops for women of all age groups and has written books and articles on topics related to Islam. She has dealt with children and adults with emotional and behavioural problems and mental illnesses.

She is presently a Psychologist and a Cognitive Behavior Therapy practitioner and does face-to-face counseling as well as online counseling, through her online help-centre, ‘Soul Talk’. She is a Tutorial Assistant and Islamic Counsellor at Islamic Online University. She is also a trainer in Public Speaking, and the founder of ‘Speak Up!’, an academy which trains women in oratory skills.

Shaibu Asali also known as Shuaib Asali graduated from the Islamic University of Medina in 2005 with a degree in Sharia. After graduation he worked as the Imam of Ardbennie Mosque in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Currently he is in the final stages of his Masters degree in Contemporary Fiqh at the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Doha, Qatar. He likes daawah is involved in daawah on some online platforms

Mukhtar Raban was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He is a graduate of the Islamic University of Madinah, where he completed a diploma in Arabic Language Studies and a degree in Shari’ah. He has taught for the Al Madinah Institute in Port Elizabeth and regularly conducts Islamic seminars, with a focus on Shari’ah-related topics. He has completed TESOL studies and taught English Studies at various colleges in Saudi Arabia. He is currently completing his masters degree in the field of Applied Linguistics. At present, he is a lecturer at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa; leads the e-learning unit of the Department of Applied Language Studies and teaches Arabic short courses. He also serves as the Vice-President of the Council of Islamic Affairs and a member of the Shar’iah Advisory Council in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. He presents short courses in Islamic Studies to his local community, is an established Khateeb and regularly features on various Islamic radio stations.

Abu Adnan is originally from Lebanon and currently residing in Sydney, Australia. Sheikh Abu Adnan has an ijaaza in the Quran. He has a Bachelor's degree in 'Islamic Studies and the Arabic Language', graduating with a high distinction. He has also completed a Masters in 'Islamic Judicature and Political Theory' at The AlMedinah International University, also graduating with a high distinction. Sheikh Abu Adnan is currently the principal of Al Badr Islamic institute.

Luqman Plato hails from the shores of Cape Town, South Africa. He always had a sense of enthusiasm to study the religion of Islam. After secondary education, he furthered his studies at the Darul Arqam Institute, where he learnt basic Islamic Studies and Arabic; it was at that point in time, he developed a love for the Arabic Language.

He studied at the Islamic University of Madina, completing the Two Year Arabic Diploma course, and thereafter graduated from the Faculty of Arabic Language in 2012.

He is currently an Arabic Instructor for the Ummul Qura Institute in Cape Town, and conducts classes in Fiqh, Hadeeth, Qur’ān Reading and Tafseer at various schools.

He is also a Khateeb and is well known for reciting the Qur’ān at Mosques all around the Cape.

Laja Yasini was born and bred in Zimbabwe. He started his study of Islam at a very early age of 7 at the local Madressah in Gweru Zimbabwe where he later became an Imaam. In 2002 he was accepted to study at the main Darool Uloom in Zimbabwe: Darool Uloom Waterfalls.

In 2005 he got a scholarship to continue his studies at the Islamic University of Medinah where he got a Diploma in Arabic,Thaanawiya certificate and a Bachelor Degree in Sharia.

Currently He is busy with his L.L.B Degree (Bachelor of Laws) at the University of South Africa. He is also a site operator on a da’wah online site called chatislamonline.org and is actively involved in Da’wah activities under the Siyafunda Trust which is a Da’wah organization in South Africa.

Graduated in Hadeeth and Islamic studies from Islamic University Madinah. Then completed MA in Usuluddin from University of malay in Malaysia. He is a certified Shareeah auditor and advisor from Aoifi Bahrain.

He has travelled to Saudi, Malaysia and UAE for teaching non Arabic speakers Arabic and introducing Islam to non muslims.

Rosana Gulzar Mohd started her career as a financial journalist in Singapore. She then joined HSBC and worked in Singapore and Dubai. The stint gave her valuable exposure to Islamic finance. During her time with HSBC, she also completed Chartered Financial Analyst exam level 1 and CIMA’s Diploma in Islamic Finance.

Her three years in Dubai was also spent learning and reading up on Islam with AlHuda Sisters, an Islamic da’awah group for women all over the world. Enriched by the knowledge, Rosana is also now a student of IOU’s Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies.

A Second Upper Class Honours graduate in Communications Studies from Nanyang Technological University, she currently lives in Singapore.

Edo Omercevic has gone through more than a decade of training in economics and finance. He started his tertiary education at the International Islamic University Malaysia where he obtained his Bachelor in Economics (Hons) as well as his Master of Economics degree.

He is currently a Ph.D. in Economics candidate at the International University of Sarajevo. His interest and specialization is in the field of money and banking, with special reference to complementary and alternative currencies and monetary systems.

Mr Omercevic is presently a lecturer at the American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina and he is a co-founder of the Center for Advancement of Free Enterprise (Centar za poslovnu afirmaciju) that is promoting free market ideas in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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