About the Speakers

Imam

Omar Suleiman

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Imam Omar Suleiman is from New Orleans, Louisiana and has been the Imam of Masjid Abu Bakr there for several years. He has two Bachelor's degrees in Islamic Studies and in Accounting. He studied in the UAE under Ustadh Tariq Rajah and in Jordan under Shaykh Omar Sulayman Al Ashqar. Since 2008, Sh Omar has been under the tutelage of Dr. Salah As-Sawy and Dr. Hatem Al Haj. He teaches online with Mishkah University and a member of the ICNA Shariah Council. Imam Omar worked for ICNA Relief in Hurricane Katrina and ICNA Relief Louisiana. He was awarded for "Outstanding Civic Achievement" by the Major and City Council of New Orleans in 2010. He obtained his Masters of Islamic Finance with the Institute of Islamic Finance in the UK, and his currently pursuing his PhD in Islamic Studies from the Islamic University of Malaysia.

Mufti

Hussain Kamani

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Ustadh

Ubaydullah Evans

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Ustadh Ubaydullah Evans is ALIM's (American Learning Institute for Muslims) 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 while simultaneously pursuing a degree in journalism from Columbia. Since then he has studied at Chicagoland's Institute of Islamic Education (IIE) under the rectorship of Maulana Abdullah Saleem, 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) at times.

Baraka Blue

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Asma Hanif

Ustadh

Hassan Elwan

Dr. Hassan Elwan originally from Egypt, He came to the US in 1997 to complete a Ph.D. program at the Ohio State University. He was the MSA president at OSU and was one of the founders of Ansar Relief, a refugee aid organization based in Ohio. He obtained his PhD in microelectronic in 2001 and is currently working in the field of chip design in southern California. He is also with Orange County Islamic Foundation and is active with many Islamic organizations in the field of da'wah and Islamic education.

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Hosai Mojaddidi is the co-founder of MH4M (Mental Health for Muslims). She has been actively involved with the Muslim community in the San Francisco Bay Area and southern California for nearly 20 years. Working for several non-profit organizations and schools including Islamic Study School, Zaytuna Institute, Islamic Networks Groups, Peace Terrace Academy, and Northstar School she has worked in various administrative and leadership capacities as well as a Qur'an teacher and lecturer. She also volunteered her time with other local and internationally recognized groups. 

Through her years of work and activism, as well as her monthly halaqas, Hosai has been able to gauge the mental health issues of the larger community firsthand by serving as a private mediator, advisor and mentor to many. 

Mouaz Al-Nass, of Syrian descent, was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He studied Inshad (religious songs) and Maqamat under foremost munshideen in Syria while completing a degree in Management Information Systems. As an expert singer and drummer, Mouaz has been involved in may musical performances in the USA, UK, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Mouazz also studied  tajweed and Fiqh under his father Shaykh Samir al-Nass.

Shaykh Samir is a prominent scholar from Damascus who completed medical degrees in Syria and the United States but also mastered many Islamic sciences under prominent scholars in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. His father is presently a teacher at al-Fatih al-Islami University in Damascus and conducts learning programs regularly in England and North America.

Brother Dash is a New Jersey based Spoken Word poet, writer and photographer. Known most prominently for his poetry Brother Dash brings an energetic and rhythmic style of delivery to his powerful and thought provoking lyrics.  A graduate of Rutgers University with dual major in English and Sociology Dash's academic background is evident in poetry.

In addition to his poetry Brother Dash has emerged as a prolific writer and social critic bringing up issues either rarely or never discussed open in Muslim communities in particular mainly on the subjects alluded to in his poetry. In 2011 he founded the nonprofit organization I Inspire which organizes community volunteers to read bedtime stories to sick children in hospitals.