Salman al-Husaini al-Nadwi

Sheikh Salman al-Husaini al-Nadwi is Dean of the Faculty of Shariah at the renowned Nadwat ul-Ulama madrasa in Lucknow, a member of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, and a senior scholar in India. A descendent of the Prophet (saw) whose very recent ancestry is also a blessed and illustrious list of ulama and mashaikh. The great Sheikh Abul Hasan Ali Al-Hasani Al-Nadwi is his mother’s paternal uncle. He is also a student of the great Sheikh ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah under whom he learned while studying hadith at the Jami’ah al-Imam Muhammad ibn Sa’ud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As a young graduate, he founded the Forum of Muslim Youth (Jam’iyyat Shabab al-Islam) which is now one of the biggest Islamic organisations in India. He is generally accepted as the worthy successor to Sheikh Abul Hasan Ali Al-Nadwi and has followed his example in showing great concern for the affairs of the Muslims. He is a man of intuition and insight and considered a great thinker among scholars. He has travelled widely visiting Muslim communities, meeting other ‘ulama, academics and thinkers all over the world to see the work of Muslim organisation and institutes, take ideas from them and share his ideas and thoughts with them. A equally powerful speaker in Urdu and Arabic, he has inspired many people all over Europe, America, the Middle East and South Asia. It has been the good fortune of Ebrahim al-Khalil Trust that it has helped organise many of his journeys accross the UK and Europe and many members of the team at the Trust have been honoured with his company in these trips. He has been a regular visitor to Ebrahim College where he is well known for delivering lectures to the ‘ulama of London. 

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani

Sheikh Taqi Uthmani needs no introduction. His advice has been taken prior to most of the major principle and academic desicions at Ebrahim al-Khalil Trust. We try to seek his advice even if it means taking a trip to Pakistan solely for that purpose. It has been a great honour to have hosted him for a major conference on Zakah in 2004. Many of the staff at EC are his direct students and he remains a great influence and inspiration to us all.

He is one of the greatest scholars of this generation. Son of the great Mufti Shafi (ra). His work on Islamic economics, finance and banking is ground breaking and world renowned and he is probably the greatest orthodox Mufti alive today. He is the vice-president of Darul ‘Uloom Karachi, one of the biggest and most prestigious seminaries in Pakistan, and, amazingly, manages to teach Sahih al-Bukhari there despite all of his national and international engagements, and prolific authorship. His works are varied in topic, language and in size. He has written the multi-volume commentary of Sahih Muslim in Arabic, Takmilah Fath al-Mulhim, published a translation and commentary of the Qur’an in English, and written prolifically in his native Urdu. He has authored books on tafsir, hadith, fiqh and tasawwuf, and continues to work on major projects today. His advice will continue to be valuable to us and we hope we will continue to benefit from him as students of knowledge and as an organisation.

Sheikh Mufti Muhammad Rafi’ Uthmani

Elder brother of Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani and President of Darul Uloom Karachi. He is known as the grand mufti of Pakistan and is a man of great influence all of the country. He is known to be a perfectionist, a strong administrator and brilliant scholar. His strong leadership and astute management is the reason for the success and prestige of Darul Uloom Karachi where he also teaches Sahih Muslim. He is also the Author of many books on various topics and his students are scattered all over the globe serving the Deen in different capacities. It was our pleasure to host him for several days at Ebrahim College in 2007 and benefit from his advice, example and good cousel.

Maulana Abu Ammar Zahidur Rashidi

Maulana Zahidur Rashidi is the son of the great Pakistani muhaddith Sheikh Sarfaraz Khan Safdar and the nephew of the late Sheikh Abdul Hamid Sawati. He has now taken his father’s place as the lecturer of Sahih al-Bukhari (Sheikhul Hadith) at Madrasah Nusratul Uloom in Gujranwala where he is also vice president. He is also now the head of the Pakistan Shariat Council and the most senior patron of World Islamic Forum. Despite all of his responsibilities Sheikh Zahidur Rashidi is also an author and prolific jounalistic writer. His articles, often written with swift unedited strokes of his pen on planes, trains, or wherever he is inspired, are regularly published in many different newspapers and magazines all over the subcontinent. He is a regular advisor and visitor to Ebrahim College spending time with us at least once every year. May Allah swt grant him a long life and give us the tawfeeq to benefit from his knowledge, experience and advice.

Dr Mahmood Ahmed Ghazi is the former religious affairs minister of Pakistan and the former vice-chancellor of the Internation Islamic University, Isalamabad. He is a brilliant academic and jurist who has authored many works on different topics and in various languages including a translation of the Seerah of Prophet saw from French to English; such is the breadh of his expertise and skill. He has visited the UK many times and has been hosted by Ebrahim College where he delivered lectures and seminars on various topics. His advice on curriculum, strategy and future planning is taken very seriously by the Ebrahim al-Khalil Trust team and to this day he remains just a phone call away whenever he needs to be consulted.

The late Sheikh Ubaidul Haq, Khateeb of Bangladesh (May Allah swt have mercy on him)

Sheikh Ubaidul Haq was one of the most senior Ulama of Bangladesh. He was the khateeb of the national masjid of Bangladesh, Baitul Mukarram, and the Sheikul Hadith of Madrasah Qasimul Uloom in Dargah, Sylhet. A principled man whose sermons and instructions from the minbar always kept the 50,000 people who attended Jumu’ah at the masjid under strict disciplined control. Rarely can such absolute respect be witnessed. He was a man who was able to unite the ulama of Bangladesh regardless of their backgrounds or political or ideological affiliations and differences because so many of them were his direct students. His last two visits to the UK were by the invitation of Ebrahim College and he offered us priceless advice and support. He was an inspiration to the people of Bangladesh and his demise in 2007 left the whole nation in mourning. May Allah swt shower him with His mercy and grant him the highest place in Jannah.

Maulana Muhi Uddin Khan (May Allah swt protect him)

Maulana Muhi Uddin Khan is a prolific writer, historian, and the editor of the world famous Monthly Madina (Mashik Madina). He is an inspiring man whose patronage has produced some great Islamic writers and columnists in Bangladesh. His magazine is most circulated Islamic monthly in Bangladesh by a significant margin and many of his works can be found on the bookshelves of most Bangladeshi households. He translated the Qur’an into Bengali glossed with the abridged translation of Mufti Shafi’s Ma’arif al-Qur’an. This translation was published by the Saudi government and disbributed all over the world to every Bangla speaking community. He regularly visits Ebrahim College and advises us with regards our decision, plans and strategies. The Ebrahim al-Khalil Trust team also visits him in Bangladesh to seek his advice and assistance with regards to aspects of the Trust’s work in the UK and Bangladesh. He is now in old age and we pray that Allah swt grants him good health and keeps him with us so we can continue to benefit from him.

Sheikh Fazlur Rahim (May Allah swt protect him)

Sheikh Fazlur Rahim is the inspiration behind the EC team. He has taught every member of EC’s senior management team and inspired them with his knowledge, wisdom, character and excellent example. He graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband in the 1940s where he studied under the great indian scholar Hussain Ahmad Madani and the other great shuyukh of Darul Uloom at the time. After moving to the UK he was appointed as a lecturer at al-Jamiah al-Islamiah Nottingham where he taught advanced fiqh, tafseer, and hadith including Jami’ al-Tirmidhi. His students are scattered all over the UK and continue to benefit from him long after their graduation. May Allah swt grant us the tawfeeq to make the most of this jewel among scholars.

Late Sheikh Abdul Aziz Doyamiri (May Allah swt have mercy on him)

Until his recent demise in 2008, Sheikh Abdul Aziz had been a pillar of support for Ebrahim College. His advice has influenced important curriculum and strategy decisions since the start of Ebrahim College. He was the Principal of Jamia Madinatul Uloom (Darus Salam) in Sylhet, Bangladesh, and the Sheikhul Hadith (Lecturer of Sahih al-Bukhari and Jami’ al-tirmidhi) of the same madrasah. Despite having no political affiliations or commitments, he was an extremely influential scholar in Sylhet and the whole of Bangladesh. He has also been a staunch supporter of EC projects in Bangladesh. His demise is a deeply felt loss to EC and the whole ummah. May Allah swt shower his grave with His mercy and grant him the highest station in Jannah.

Sheikh Muhammad Isa Mansuri (May Allah swt protect him)

Sheikh Isa is one of the senior ulama of London who is known and respected by ulama all over the Indian subcontinent. He lives near Ebrahim College and spends most of his time writing. He is a prolific columnist and author, his articles, which get published in some of the top Urdu papers and magazines around the world will now fill many volumes. Some collections of his articles have already been published. His articles are thought provoking and almost always relate to matters relating to the condition of the whole ummah. Ebrahim al-Khalil Trust is looking in to the possibility of translating a selection of his articles in to English. He has always been exptremely supportive: promoting our work among ulama, regularly visiting and raising concerns, costantly sharing his reading and research so that the Trust’s work and its team are never out of touch with what is happening to ummah around the world and what the priorities of Muslims should be accordingly. May Allah swt grant him a long life of health, barakah, and more productive work.

Sheikh Faizur Rahman Uthmani (May Allah swt protect him)

Sheikh Faizur Rahman Uthmani is the founding president of Idarah al-Uloom al-Islamiah, in Islamabad, Pakistan. He graduated from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1978 having studied under great scholars such as Mufti Muhammad Shafi as well as his two great sons, Mufti Muhammad Rafi and Mufti Muhammad Taqi Uthmani as well as many other great scholars; he also has an LLB from Karachi University. He is an expert in Ilm al-Uroodh wa al-Qawafi which has become a vary rare subject in Islamic seminaries. The Sheikh has also written a text on the subject calledMudhakkiraat fi ‘Ilm al-Uroodh wa al-Qawafi; he has also written a commentary on al-Aqeedah al-Tahawiyyah and a small booklet on the educational philosophy established at his institute called Rehnuma e Talaba. In 2007, the Sheikh taught an intensive course on ‘Ilm al-’Uroodh wa al-Qawafi at Ebrahim College which was mainly attended by EC students studying undergraduate levels of the Alim course, he also taught a separate course for EC staff; both courses were extremely well recieved particularly because of the Sheikh’s ability to deliver the subject with such energy and enthusiasm and because of his meticulous preparation and very diverse and dinamic teaching methods. This year in 2008, the course is being offered by EC as a weekend intensive for Ulama, Imams and anyone who is an advanced student of Arabic. The course will be taught in Arabic only.

Sheikh Zaid Shakir

Zaid Shakir is a Muslim American scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College[3][5] in Berkeley, California. He teaches courses on Arabic, law, history, and Islamic spirituality.

He is co-founder and chairman of United For Change since 2009. This effort through modern discourse, is to create awareness of the broadest and most consuming topics within the Muslim and interfaith community. The aim is to leverage the diversity through cooperation and goodwill and address the obstacles that have proven to be divisive.

The Chronicle of Higher Education stated, “Embodying an American story if ever there was one—including proverbial bootstraps, military service, political activism, and deep religious commitment—Zaid Shakir’s message of social justice in the face of poverty and racism he has known first hand makes him endlessly and, it often seems, effortlessly relevant. He is as approachable a man as I’ve ever met.” He is one of the signatories of ‘A Common Word Between Us and You’, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.

Professor Ebrahim Moosa

Ebrahim Moosa is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Notre Dame in the Department of History and the Kroc Institute for International Studies. He was previously Professor of Religion and Islamic Studies at Duke University. He is considered a leading scholar of contemporary Muslim thought. Moosa has been named as one of the top 500 Influential Muslims in the World.

Moosa specializes in classical and medieval Muslim thought, Islamic ethics/law, and religion and modernity. He completed his theological training in the early 1980s in India, graduating with specialization in the traditional Islamic sciences from Darul Ulum Nadwatul ‘Ulama in Lucknow, India. His Ph.D. is from the University of Cape Town, where he taught until the late 1990s. He was visiting professor of Islamic studies at Stanford University from 1998-2001. Since 2001, he has taught in the Religion department at Duke University.

Professor Dr Jonathan A C Brown

Jonathan Brown is the Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and he is the Director of the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding. He received his BA in History from Georgetown University in 2000 and his doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago in 2006. Dr. Brown has studied and conducted research in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, South Africa, India, Indonesia and Iran. He has published articles in the fields of Hadith, Islamic law, Salafism, Sufism, Arabic lexical theory and Pre-Islamic poetry and is the editor in chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law. Dr. Brown’s current research interests include Islamic legal reform and a translation of Sahih al-Bukhari.

Professor Datuk Osman Bakr

Dr Osman Bakar is Chair Professor and Director of the Sultan Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Centre for Islamic Studies (SOASCIS), Univeristi Brunei Darussalam, and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. He has published 18 books and over 300 articles on Islamic thought and civilization, particularly on Islamic philosophy and science. He also writes on contemporary Islam and inter-religious and inter-civilizational dialogue. His writings have been translated into many languages. He has served as advisor and consultant to a variety of international academic and professional organizations and institutions, including UNESCO and The Qatar Foundation. He served as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Malaya (1995-2000) and was awarded a Datukship by the Malaysian King in 2000.

Dr. Fella Lahmar

Dr. Fella Lahmar joined the University of Bolton as an External Supervisor in September 2020. Previously, she worked as a Research Associate at the University of Nottingham and then as a Lecturer and Course Leader for MA programmes at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education.Fella has a keen interest in methodological issues and the theoretical underpinnings of research. This includes the decolonisation of research and mixed methods research, with particular expertise in qualitative research methodology. Fella has an ESRC-recognised MA in Educational Research Methods and a PhD in education (University of Nottingham), a PGCert in Higher Education Practice (Newman University); an MA in Islamic Studies (Loughborough University); a PGCert in Professional Studies in Education (Open University); and a BA in Islamic Studies (Emir Abdelkader Islamic University in Algeria). Fella is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the British Educational Research Association and the British Association for Islamic Studies.

Dr Shuruq Naguib

Dr Shuruq Naguib [Lecturer at Lancaster University, UK] – Dr Shuruq Naguib is a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Lancaster University, UK. She received her PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Manchester, Department of Middle Eastern Studies. Dr Naguib’s research covers two key strands: the classical and pre-modern intellectual and textual traditions, particularly Qur’an hermeneutics and ritual law; and Muslim responses to modernity, with a focus on how twentieth century and contemporary Muslim women scholars read the tradition to intellectually and socially develop their religious authority as knowers of the tradition.

She has written on ritual purity, metaphor in post-classical Qur’an interpretation and Arabic rhetoric, hermeneutics of the Qur’an, and contemporary female exegetes and jurists in Islam, with special interest in Bint al-Shati’. She led a research project on women’s contemporary readings of Islamic texts in Egypt and the UK (2011-2012) and is currently the Co-investigator on the AHRC-funded project Representing Islam on Campus. Shuruq chairs the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS)