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.

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).

Shaykh Suleiman Hani is the Director of Academic Affairs at AlMaghrib Institute, a research scholar for Yaqeen Institute, and a resident scholar in Michigan. At the age of 14, Suleiman completed a 10-month Qur’an memorization program and began his intensive studies under numerous scholars, earning dozens of traditional religious certifications in the process. He later earned a master’s degree from the University of Jordan’s College of Shari’ah, ranking first in his class, and a master’s degree from Harvard University, where he studied religions, philosophy, political science, and psychology. Over the past decade, he has served as an Imam and community leader in Michigan, lectured in dozens of countries, published a number of books and articles, and was featured on the largest Islamic TV stations worldwide.

Mufti Aasim Rashid is a distinguished Muslim scholar, speaker and educator (the title ‘Mufti’ indicates his expertise and authority in Islamic law). He is devoted to the study and explanation of Islamic sacred texts and their relation to the modern context. His lectures, delivered at conferences and institutions around the world, are known to be inspiring and pertinent to the issues and pressing questions of the day. Mufti Aasim is the founder of the Al-Ihsan Educational Foundation, which has initiated the ‘Islam Unravelled’ project.

Tom Facchine is from Southern New Jersey. He obtained his Bachelors in Political Science/International Relations from Vassar College (2011), where he embraced Islam in his senior year. After studying Arabic independently, he was admitted to the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia where he obtained an Associates in Classical Arabic (2016) and a Bachelors in Comparative Islamic Law (2020). He also completed the chaplaincy program conducted under the supervision of The Prophet’s Mosque (2019). Out of all his extracurricular studies, his study of tafseer under Shaykh Abdallah Shinqeeti in the Prophet’s Masjid was probably the most impactful.Tom has always been a passionate advocate and instructor for Muslim Youth, founding multiple youth groups and conducting various afterschool programs. He is currently the Imam of the Muslim Community Association of Mohawk Valley in Utica, NY as well as nearby Hamilton College. In his ‘spare’ time, Tom enjoys birdwatching, hiking, camping, poetry, and learning languages. He lives in Utica with his wife and three children.

Mufti Sultan is a Canadian Scholar who began his formal Islamic education at a tender age commencing with committing the Qur’an to memory in Canada simultaneous to his academic education. Subsequently, he enrolled in the 8-year Intensive Aalim program in Canada initially but traveled overseas to a traditional seminary (Madrasah Arabia Islamia, Azaadville, South Africa) for its final years. After acquiring proficiency and receiving Ijaazah (where applicable) in the major fields of traditional Islamic theology including Arabic grammar, Islamic Credence, Jurisprudence, Prophetic Traditions (including all six authentic books and more), Quran Exegesis etc, he was selected to specialize in Jurisprudence through a postgraduate course (Iftaa) authorizing him to issue verdicts according to the Hanafi school of thought. The Iftaa was done in Al Mazaahir Institute in Sandton, South Africa.

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.

Dr. Shadee Elmasry was born and raised in New Jersey. He completed degrees at The George Washington University and The University of London, SOAS, while also learning with scholars in the traditional manner. He now teaches at the New Brunswick Islamic Center and heads the Safina Society (which offers classes live and online at www.SafinaSociety.org).