The Madinan Way
Dr Shadee El-Masry
Twitter & Facebook - @DrShadeeElMasry
732 - 807 - NBIC
Dr. Shadee Elmasry was born and raised in New Jersey. He began studying the traditional sciences rigorously at age eighteen after a summer in Fes, Morocco. Since then he has studied all over the world including Hadramawt (Yemen), Mecca and Madina (Saudi Arabia), London (UK), Cairo (Egypt) and New Jersey (U.S.) under several luminaries of our time.
Beginning in his home state of New Jersey, he learned tajweed under Shaykh Mohammed Jibreel and hadith (Sahih Muslim) & tafsir under Hafidh Ghulam Yasin. In London, he learned hadith from Mufti Barakatullah, while keeping the company of the city’s noble imams Ahmed Ba Bikir Sudani, Mufti Barakatullah, and Shaykh Abu Bakr Ba Shuayb. Dr. Elmasry went on to study Arabic grammar and poetry under Shaykh Taleb al-Qalqami and Dr. Shadi Naser. He then pursued principles of jurisprudence by learning the Maqasid al-Sharia from Shaykh Hamza Karamali and the Matn of Ibn Abi Kaff under Ustadh Abdullah bin Hamid Ali. Dr. Elmasry also studied the Risala of Ibn Abi Zaid in Maliki fiqh under Mauritanian scholar, Shaykh Salek bin Siddina, and took ijaza in the Matn al-Ghaya from Shaykh Imaddudine Abu Hijleh in Shafi’i fiqh, and in the the Tahawiyya (beliefs) and the Bayquniyya (hadith) from Sheikh Muhammad Al-Ninowy.
Last but not least, Dr. Elmasry traveled to Hadramawt, Yemen to study Islamic spirituality from the venerable scholars Habib Ali al-Jifri and Habib Umar bin Hafiz. Under their tutelage, Dr. Elmasry studied from the works of several traditional masters including Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Sheikh Ibn Ata’illah al-Sakandari, Sheikh Umar al-Suhrawardi and Sheikh Abu Talib al-Makki to name a few.
In addition to traditional learning, Dr. Elmasry has received has an impeccable academic record in Western studies. He graduated with a B.A. from Rutgers University in New Jersey in sociology, religions, and philosophy and went on to receive his Masters from The George Washington University with a thesis on Sayyid Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki under the supervision of Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
Dr. Elmasry received his Ph.D. from the University of London in February 2007. His thesis was entitled Da’wa in the Works of Imam Abd Allah bin Alawi al-Haddad, and is in the process of revision for publication. His articles have been published by the Routelege Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs (September 2010) as well as the Zaytuna Seasons Journal (Autumn 2007).
Dr. Elmasry went on to teach at several universities including Yale University, University of London SOAS, Trinity College, Hartford Seminary and Manhattanville College.
Currently, Dr. Elmasry has found his way back home as Scholar in Residence and Director of Education and Community Affairs at the New Brunswick Islamic Center in New Jersey. He is also the founder and head of Safina Society—an institution dedicated to the cause of traditional Islamic education in the West.
Imam Dawud Yasin
Twitter @acksalik
Facebook @Dawoodyasin
Dawood Yasin is currently the Muslim Life and Service Trips Coordinator at the Tucker Foundation. In his role Dawood provides spiritual and religious support, offers educational seminars, and leads congregational prayers for Muslim students at Dartmouth College and residents of the greater Hanover area. Dawood also works to foster understanding and dialogue among diverse campus groups by building and maintaining interfaith relations. In addition he advises students in the Service and Education Program (SEP) by coordinating six alternative spring break trips and the Cross Cultural Education and Service Program in Siuna, Nicaragua (CCESP-Nicaragua).
During his residence in South Africa Dawood converted to Islam Spent 4 months in jamat tabligh, and from there was inspired to study islam and then he spent five years in Damascus studying Arabic, Islam, and spirituality. Upon completion of his studies he relocated to New Haven CT where he served as an Imam. While in New Haven he also worked as a teaching assistant and engaged in research at Yale University. Most recently, Dawood served as Director of Outreach at the Zayed Center for Islamic Culture in the United Arab Emirates, engaging in public speaking within U.A.E. and abroad, emphasizing ethics and tolerance between Muslim and non-Muslim communities. shaykh adopted the Maliki schoool after his return from damascus
Dawood teaches Arabic language in the summer at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. He was born and raised in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and now li
Mona El-Zankaly
Ustadha Mona El-Zankaly was born in Cairo Egypt, raised in California, a graduate of the University of California Riverside with a bachelors degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. In 1998 Ustadha Mona began seeking sacred knowledge at the Zaytuna Institute in Hayward CA. There she has studied with many eminent scholars, such as Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Khatri, Shaykh Abd Allah b. Bayyah, and Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi. In 2001, she joined Fajr center in Cairo, Egypt to complete a year-long program in Arabic. She then returned to the Zaytuna Institute in 2002 where she studied full time with Shaykh Salik b. Siddina several texts in Maliki fiqh, Aqidah, Hadith, Tafseer and the inward science. In 2004 Ustadha Mona traveled to Damascus, Syria to continue her studies with a focus on Qur’an. While in Damascus, she obtained an Ijaazah to teach Tajwid in the Hafs style from Shaykh Shukry Luhafi. She has also obtained Ijaazah upon hearing the complete recitation of Sahih al-Bukhari, and Muwatta al-Imam Malik from Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi. Under the guide of Imam Zaid Shakir, she then completed the four year Zaytuna Seminary pilot program and received a baccalaureate degree in Islamic Studies in 2008. Ustadha Mona has also attended the Dawra programs in Tarim Yemen where she had the opportunity of learning from the great scholars of Tarim. Ustadha Mona began teaching in 2002 both privately and publicly and has taught for The Zaytuna Institute, Sisters Deen Intensive, Dar al-Zahra, The Rahmah Foundation, and Meadows of al-Mustafa. Currently Ustadha Mona resides in Egypt where she is continuing her studies.
Mujahid Abdul-Karim
Mujahid Abdul-Karim was born and raised in Inglewood, California. He accepted Islam in 1994 while a student in undergraduate school. He became a serious student of the Islamic Sacred Sciences after a trip to Fez, Morocco while he was introduced to Maliki Fiqh. Thereafter, he traveled to study in Tuwemurat, Mauritania, under the order of Shaykh Salek bin Siddina, to the village of Shaykh Murabit Al-Hajj Al-Fahfu. there he studied Maliki fiqh with Shaykh Abdur Rahman Haddamin, Shaykh Abdullah ibn Ahmadna, And Shaykh Muhammad Tahir. he spent time and studied with Shaykh Salek ibn Siddina in his village, Dar as-Salam, before going to study in Taysir insitute of Islamic Sciences of Shaykh Muhammad Hassan Al-Khadim. Mujahid is a long time student of Shaykh Salek ibn Siddina, with whom he studied a variety of Islamic Sciences, most notably the Kafaf al Mubtadi of Shaykh Muhammad Mawlud in fiqh, and Idda'tul Djunna of Shaykh Ahmad Al-Maqqari in Aqidah. He went on to study the Mukhtasar Khalil with Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and with Shaykh Muhammad Haddamin and hi brother Shaykh Abdur Rahamn Hadamin Al Ain, UAE.
Mujahid Holds a B.A in African-American Studies from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland: and an M.A in African History from Howard University in Washington, DC. He also studied Islamic Political Science at The Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Virginia, his research interesets include West African History, Slavery in the Muslim World, and the Shariah Sciences. Mujahid lives in Al-Ain, UAe where he continues his Islamic studies with Mauritanian scholars.