Ustadh Ubaydullah Evans is ALIM’s first Scholar-in-Residence. He converted to Islam while in high school. Upon conversion, Ustadh Ubaydullah began studying some of the foundational books of Islam under the private tutelage of local scholars. Since then he has studied at Chicagoland’s Institute of Islamic Education (IIE), in Tarim, Yemen, and Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, where he is the first African-American to graduate from its Shari’a program. Ustadh Ubaydullah also instructs with the Ta’leef Collective and the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN).

Khalid Latif is Executive Director and Chaplain (Imam) for the Islamic Center at New York University (NYU). In 2005, Imam Latif was appointed the first Muslim chaplain at NYU. At NYU, Khalid initiated his vision for a pluralistic American Muslim community, rooted on campus and reaching out to the city. In 2006, Imam Latif was appointed the first Muslim chaplain at Princeton University. In 2007, Imam Latifs position was fully institutionalized at New York University, and so he committed himself to that institution and the building of a Muslim life institution. Today Islamic Center is a leader among American Muslim organizations, uniquely shaped to contribute to the future of Muslim practice in the West. At NYU, Imam Latif has not only managed to build a strong Muslim institution at NYU, but he has offered his experience and awareness to the U.S. State Department, various institutions, corporations, mosques and other communities in the United States, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Egypt. He is a highly sought-after speaker, offering to diverse audiences his unique blend of motivational speaking, leadership insights, spiritual development and religious awareness.

Shaykh Tariq Musleh is a graduate from the prestigious Madinah University where he attained his Associate degree in Arabic and Bachelors Degree from the College of Sharia. He completed his memorization of Quran at the age of 13 and went on to receive ijaza from Palestine. He studied Classical Arabic at the Fajr Center in Egypt. Shaykh Tariq has worked as a part time instructor for Islamic Learning Foundation Chicago, where he taught Quran and Arabic studies. He has served in Young Muslims (YM) for many years as a coordinator and murrabi. Shaykh Tariq has also served as the Youth Director for the Islamic Center of Naperville in Chicago and became the Youth Director and Assistant Imam of Mecca Center in Willowbrook, Illinois in July 2017.

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.

Mufti Hussain Kamani was born and raised in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. His journey to pursue sacred Islamic knowledge began at age 6. By the age of 9, he completed the memorization of the Holy Quran. To further advance his studies in the Islamic Sciences, he traveled to the United Kingdom and pursued formal Islamic authorizations (ijazahs). For 7 years, Mufti Kamani studied a rigorous curriculum covering the Arabic language and literature, Islamic jurisprudence, Tafseer of the Holy Qur’an, Hadith, Islamic Philosophy, and Aqeedah. Afterwards, he was selected for a post-graduate level course in Islamic Law and Legal Verdicts, which he completed within two years. He later earned his graduate degree in Business Management from the University of Coventry in the UK.

Imam, humanitarian, and educator

Imam Asad Zaman is a distinguished leader in Islamic activism, interfaith activities, non profit work, education and youth development. He is Executive Director and Imam with the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. In 2011, he co-founded the Minnesota Rabbi Imam Round Table. He has provided training to over 200 police officers serving in various Minnesota police departments. He has chaired the MAS Minnesota convention several times. He was previously a policy fellow at Minnesota 2020 and Hubert Humphrey policy fellow at the University of Minnesota. Asad has made Minnesota his home since 1992.