Sheikh Nuh Keller, American Muslim translator and specialist in Islamic Law. Born in 1954 in the north-western United States was educated in philosophy and Arabic at the University of Chicago and UCLA. He entered Islam in 1977 at al-Azhar in Cairo, and later studied the traditional Islamic Sciences of hadith, Shafi’i and Hanafi jurisprudence, legal methodology (usul al-fiqh), and tenets of faith (`aqidah) in Syria and Jordan, where he has lived since 1980.

His English translation of `Umdat al-Salik [The Reliance of the Traveller] (1250 pp., Sunna Books, 1991) is the first Islamic legal work in a European language to receive the certification of al-Azhar, the Muslim world’s oldest institution of higher learning. He also possesses ijazas or “certifiates of authorisation” in Islamic jurisprudence from sheikhs in Syria and Jordan.

His other translations and works include: Al-Maqasid: Imam Nawawi’s Manual of Islam; The Sunni Path: A Handbook of Islamic Belief; and Tariqa Notes (handbook for those on the Shadhilli path of tasawwuf). He is currently translating Imam Nawawi’s Kitab al-Adhkar [The Book of Rememberance of Allah], a compendium of some 1227 hadiths on prayers and dhikrs of the prophetic sunna.

Hamza Yusuf serves as president of Zaytuna College. In addition to teaching several subjects in Zaytuna’s curriculum, he has authored encyclopedia entries, academic papers, and articles on Muslim bioethics, legal theory, abortion, and many other topics. His books and translations include The Content of Character: Ethical Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad; The Prayer of the Oppressed; The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi; Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart; and Caesarean Moon Births: Calculations, Moon Sighting, and the Prophetic Way. He is a member of the Supreme Fatwa Council serving under his mentor, Shaykh Abdallah b. Bayyah, and serves as vice president for the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, an international initiative which seeks to address the root causes that can lead to radicalism and militancy. He holds licentia docendi in several Islamic subjects, a BA in Religious Studies, and a PhD in North and West African intellectual history.

Habib Ali was born in Jeddah and is direct descendent of Imam Hussein son of Ali, peace be upon them. He began taking knowledge from his early childhood from his first teacher, his mother’s great-aunt, the scholar and knower of God, Safiah daughter of Alawi son of Hassan al-Jifri, she had an immense influence on him and the direction he took in the pursuit of knowledge and spirituality.

As a continuation of the authentic methodology of receiving Sacred Knowledge, and wayfaring on the spiritual path, through an unbroken chain of masters, all the way back to the Messenger of God may God Bless him & his family and give them peace, a methodology the preservation and maintenance of which, the valley of Hadramaut and the city of Tarim are renowned, this work was continued in the intellectual Milieu of the Hejaz which became a meeting point for the Scholars of the School of Hadramaut when they were exiled from the South of Yemen during Communist Rule; he received his education in the Sacred Sciences and the Science of Spiritual Wayfaring at the hands of Scholars and many Spiritual Educators among them: Habib Abdul-Qadir Bin Ahmad al-Saqqaf, Habib Ahmad Mashhur Bin Taha Al-Haddad, Shaykh Muhammad Bin Alawi al-Maliki al-Hasani, Habib Attas al-Habshi and many others.

He was born in Damascus, Syria. He studied in the College of Medicine of the University of Damascus. He studied in the United States and became qualified in Medicine. He studied under some of the great ‘ulama of Sham and Saudi ‘Arabia. He has ijazah in the ten styles of recitation of the narration of Shatibiyyah and Durra from Sheikh Muhammad Sukr. He has ijazah in the ten styles of recitation of the narration of Tayyibah from Sheikh Ahmad Mustafa, who is a student of Sheikh Abd al-Aziz al-Zayyat of Egypt. He has ijazah in fiqh and ‘aqida from Sheikh Abu Yusr ibn ‘Abidin, Sheikh Lufti Fayumi, and Sheikh Adeeb al-kallas.

He has ijazah in hadith from Sheikh Yasin Fadani al-Makki, and Sheikh Dr. Nur ud-din Itar. He also has ijazah in hadith from al-Hafidh Sheikh Abd Allah Siraj ud-din. He has taught at various din-intensive courses in England and North America.

Sheikh Samir is presently a teacher in the the M’ahad al-Fath in Damascus, teaching Hanafi Fiqh in the Takhassus Shariah department and lecturing in
the Masters department.

Sheikh Samir teaches Tajwid on a daily basis in the blessed masjid of Sheikh Ibn ‘Arabi, a post given to him by his sheikh and father-in-law, Sheikh Muhammad al-Sukr.

Shaykh Ruzwan Mohammed is a Sunni theologian and Scholar. A graduate in Geopolitics and Arabic from the University of Glasgow, he has spent over a decade studying with a wide array of scholars and theologians in the Muslim world.

He has studied the Turkish language at the University of Ankara, Turkey and is a graduate of the Fat’h Islamic Law College in Damascus, graduating from the prestigious 6-year programme with a distinction of merit, achieving first position in his year of graduation from the college. Currently engaged in post-graduate research into the effect of both textual hermeneutics and environment on Islamic legal ethics, he is working on a study and translation of a text on jurisprudence by the Spanish philosopher Averroes.

He serves as an advisor to various independent Muslim educational organisations in the United Kingdom and is actively involved in interfaith work, most notably accompanying David Lunan, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland on a pilgrimage of Israel and Palestine, meeting with Israeli cabinet ministers, members of the Palestinian legislature as well as the religious leadership of all side to explore avenues towards peace. He is a regular on local and national radio as well as an occasional contributor to national Scottish newspapers; regularly heading Q&A format programmes answering Muslim queries.

Shaykh Muhammad Bin Yahya Ninowy was born in Syria and began his study under his father, acquiring knowledge in many disciplines, including Aqeedah, Fiqh and Hadith, with numerous licenses to teach. He attended Al-Azhar University and also studied with prominent scholars in Syria, the Hijaz and North Africa. He is one of the leading scholars in North America and has been an Al-Madina Institute foundation scholar since its inception.

Shaykh Amer has been described by the Sunday herald as one of the Scotland’s most prominent and respected Muslim thinkers. He holds a (LLB) law degree from Strathclyde university and BA (Hons) in Islamic studies from the University of Wales. He spent 10 years studying the Islamic sciences including 6 years with distinguished scholars in the Middle East (Syria and Yemen), gaining him teaching licenses (ijaza) in various Islamic sciences. His main field of interest is primarily Islamic family law; an area in which he has studied in depth having studied all four schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

Currently, he is conducting a PhD research on the relationship between Islamic family law and Scots family law. He also has a certificate in counselling skills accredited by COSCA (Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland). He is an Islamic family law consultant to a local Scottish law firm and a Family support consultant at Unity Family Services. Part of his role at Unity involves delivering pre-marital and post-marital courses UK wide (www.unityfamily.co.uk/events.html). In 2007 he authored the booklet “What Islam Really Says About Domestic Abuse” available at (www.unityfamily.co.uk/people.html). He is the author of the Reminder series – a series of short leaflets covering contemporary issues affecting the Muslim Community and wider society (www.the-reminder.co.uk).

In 2009 he co-founded the Solas Foundation and with his partner Shaykh Ruzwan Muhammad, established the iSyllabus Islamic studies program. He is currently the co-director of the programme. He is also the Muslim Chaplin at Glasgow Caledonian University, where he delivers the Friday sermon and regular classes for students.

Shaykh Ahmad Muhammad Saad Ash-Shafi’i Al-Azhari Al-Hasani was born into a family of scholars whose lineage goes back to the Prophet (May Allah’s salutations and peace be upon him) through Sayyidna Al-Hasan ibn Ali (radia Allahu anhu) in the northern Egyptian governorate of Monofiyyah, in the Nile Delta. Many great scholars of Islam have come from this governorate including people like Shaykh Al-Islam Ibrahim Al-Bayjouri, Imam Tajuddin As-Subki and Taqiyuddin As-Subki, Shaykh Al-Islam Ash-Shanawani and many others. As the custom of the family was to memorise Qur’an at an early age, Shaykh Saad completed the memorisation of the Holy Qur’an at the age of ten at the hands of his father and studied basic Arabic and Islamic sciences with focus on Arabic grammar and balaghah (rhetoric) before enrolling into Al-Azhar system of schools where he spent almost 17 years of his life graduating with a B.A. Honours in Islamic Studies in English.

Born Timothy J. Winter in 1960, Abdal Hakim studied at the prestigious Westminster School in London, UK and later at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated with first class honours in Arabic in 1983. He then lived in Cairo for three years, studying Islam under traditional teachers at Al-Azhar, one of the oldest universities in the world. He went on to reside for three years in Jeddah, where he administered a commercial translation office and maintained close contact with Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad and other ulama from Hadramaut, Yemen.

In 1989, Sheikh Abdal Hakim returned to England and spent two years at the University of London learning Turkish and Farsi. Since 1992 he has been a doctoral student at Oxford University, specializing in the religious life of the early Ottoman Empire. In 1996, he was appointed University Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge.

Sheikh Abdal Hakim is the translator of a number of works, including two volumes from Imam al-Ghazali’s Ihya Ulum al-Din. He appears frequently on BBC Radio and writes occasionally for a number of publications including The Independent and Q-News International, Britain’s premier Muslim Magazine.

He lives with his wife and children in Cambridge, UK.

Shaykh Dr. Gibril Haddad, born in Beirut in 1960, was raised in a Lebanese Catholic family and converted to Islam while studying French Literature at Columbia University. Guided by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, he pursued Islamic scholarship and spent around a decade studying in Damascus under prominent scholars. His spiritual guide is Shaykh Nazim Al-Haqqani of the Naqshbandi order.

He holds ijazas from over 150 scholars across the Muslim world and is recognized as a major figure in traditional Islamic scholarship. Shaykh Gibril has taught globally and serves as a Senior Assistant Professor at SOASCIS, specializing in Comparative Tafsir. He holds doctorates from Kolej Universiti Insaniah in Malaysia and Columbia University, and has studied at prestigious institutions including the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

An author and translator, he has published over 36 books, including major works like The Encyclopedia of Hadith Forgeries and a critical edition of Tafsir al-Baydawi. He has been recognized as one of “The 500 Most Influential Muslims” and is known for articulating traditional Islam in the West.