Shaykh Sulaiman Moola [may Allah preserve him] began studying the sacred sciences at an early age. After having completed the memorization of the Quran at the age of 14, for the next seven years he would go on to study Arabic [and all its related sciences becoming especially fluent in Arabic poetry], Tafsir, Hadith, Aqidah and Fiqh [specializing in the Hanafi School].
Having studied under senior scholars from South Africa and the Indian Subcontinent and receiving ijazah from them, he went on to teach at various Madaris in South Africa including Dar al-Uloom Zakariyya.
Shaykh Sulaiman Moola has travelled extensively throughout the Muslim world and the West for the purpose of Dawah and teaching. Some of the countries he has visited include various Central African nations, the Middle East, United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Australia, West Indies, U.S. and Canada. His travels and lectures have been a means of great inspiration to many across the globe.
Shaykh Taha Karaan is a Shafi�i scholar born in Cape Town, South Africa to a family renowned in both its maternal and paternal lineage for Islamic scholarship. His father, Shaykh Yusuf Karaan, is one of the oldest and most distinguished Islamic scholars in the Cape. Shaykh Yusuf � famous for his translation of many of Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandhlawi�s seminal works � currently sits as the chief Magistrate for Islamic Civil Matters in the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC).
Shaykh Taha completed his Qur�anic memorization in one year at the Waterfall Islamic Institute, the oldest Islamic seminary in South Africa. During his stay, he assisted in the editing of the Qur�anic prints that the Institute has become famous for the world over. After finishing four years of the �alim course in two years, he journeyed to the Indian sub-continent and Dar al-Ulum Deoband, graduating from there in 1991 with the highest of distinctions � as did his father � in a class of over 700 students. He then traveled to the Middle East and completed a two-year graduate diploma at the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies in Cairo, Egypt.
Shaykh Taha is the recipient of numerous chains of transmission (ijazaat) � from well-respected scholars in India, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, among others � in numerous fields of Islamic study.
Currently, Shaykh Taha is a member of the Ifta� Department of the MJC, and sits as an executive member of the Muslim Personal Law Board and on the Islamic Advisory Board of ABSA, one of South Africa�s national banks. He is a sought-after speaker at Islamic symposia and conferences but attends them sparingly, preferring to spend most of his time at the Islamic seminary, Dar al-Uloom al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah, that he founded in 1996. The educational thrust of the seminary reflects Shaykh Taha�s own pioneering vision and commitment to squarely interface with the challenges of the modern age through the twin objectives of preservation and progress. In his own words:
�The study of Islam is not simply an area of academic investigation. It is the continuation of a legacy�a legacy that was initiated with the revelation of Iqra�, whose foundations were laid over the 23 years of Prophethood, and whose edifice was raised by successive generations of keenly devoted scholars for well over a thousand years. The type of individualism that places the investigator in the centre and ignores the legacy of the discipline is foreign to Islam. Knowledge is handed down through a legacy of scholarship. The student, as the recipient of knowledge, becomes heir to that legacy. By inheriting the legacy he becomes part of it, and it is then through him that the legacy is perpetuated.
The legacy itself transcends time. But every subsequent age brings with it unprecedented challenges. It is only when the challenges of an age have been met that the claim of preserving a tradition becomes tenable. The dynamism inherent within the legacy of knowledge in Islam makes it possible for it to meet all challenges. Every instance of interaction between challenges and the legacy adds to the wealth of the legacy itself. Thus does the legacy progress and develop. And in this way do preservation and progress go hand in hand.�
In his teaching, writing and legal verdicts (fatawa), Shaykh Taha regularly addresses contemporary issues such as the challenges of post-modernity, feminism, Islamic economics and finance, the old and new Orientalisms, and fiqh issues affecting diaspora Muslim communities.
His students (and authors of this biography) describe him as divinely-gifted with encyclopedic knowledge; possessed of a near photographic memory; an insatiable bibliophile within the Islamic sciences and without; a teacher that never ceases to inspire; endowed with an elegant calligraphic hand and a penchant for poetry; thoroughly unassuming, pleasant, brilliant and tender-hearted.
Shaykh Ahmad Ali [may Allah preserve him] emigrated from Pakistan to the United Kingdom at an early age. After completing his secular studies, he enrolled at Darul Uloom Al-Arabiya Al-Islamiya, a madrasa located in Northern England. There, he successfully completed the traditional Islamic studies course under the guidance of some of the best scholars in England.
Shaykh Ahmad Ali focused his attention on the sciences of aqidah, fiqh, hadith and tafseer. After graduating, Shaykh Ahmad Ali established the al-Mahad Al-Islami in Bradford, England. This institution provides Islamic counseling, education and guidance to youth and university-age students in the area.
Shaykh Ahmad Ali has also authored a number of books, given lectures at numerous institutions, including a special series on the signs of the Day of Judgment. Popular for his dynamic style of speaking, Shaykh Ahmad Ali has traveled across the United Kingdom and to the West Indies to spread the message of Islam.
Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera [may Allah preserve him] has been studying the traditional Islamic sciences and writing scholarly works for most of his life. He completed the bulk of his studies at Darul Uloom Bury in the UK, with teachers such as Shaykh Yusuf Motala and other students of Shaykh al-Hadith Mawlana Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandhlawi. He then travelled to South Africa and enrolled in Madrasah Zakariyyah part-time to gain specialized training in answering legal questions (ifta�) and complete a Bachelor of Arts (with honors) in Islamic Studies at Rand Afrikaans University. He then went on to Syria, where he received a second certification in Qur�anic recitation and memorization, this time from Shaykh �Abd al-Razzaq al-Halabi. Additionally, he received a certification from Shaykh Adib Kallas after reading Mulla �Ali al-Qari�s Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar and attending lectures on other classical texts of Islamic creed (�aqida). After his trip to Syria, he traveled to Saharanpur, India, where he received a formal authorization to issue legal rulings (fatawa), which required a close study of part or all of a number of classical jurisprudential texts. During this time, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman also attended classes on the principles of hadith (usul al-hadith).
Shaykh Abdur-Rahman attained additional certifications in hadith from such great scholars as Shaykh Muhaddith Habib al-Rahman al-A�zami (through his student Shaykh Mufti Zayn al-�Abidin), Shaykh Abu �l-Hasan �Ali Nadwi, and Shaykh Muhammad al-�Awwama. May Allah continue to bless those of his teachers who are still alive and have mercy on those who have passed on to the next.
To date, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman has authored the highly popular Fiqh al-Imam: Key Proofs in Hanafi Fiqh and co-authored Reflections of Pearls. He also published Provisions for the Seekers, a translation and commentary of the Arabic work Zad al-Talibin, Prayers for Forgiveness: Seeking Spiritual Enlightenment through Sincere Supplication, a translation of Al-Istighfarat al-Munqidha min al-Nar, a collection of seventy prayers for forgiveness of Imam Hasan al-Basri. Additionally, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman has completed a published translation of Imam Abu Hanifa�s Al-Fiqh al-Akbar, along with its commentary, written by �Allama Maghnisawi, with notes from Mulla �Ali al-Qari�s larger commentary.
For a complete biography visit www.whitethreadpress.com or www.zamzamacademy.com.
Bio Coming Soon. Insha'Allah.
Abdul Nasir Jangda is the founder and director of Qalam Institute. He was born and raised in the Dallas area. At the age of 10 he went to Karachi, Pakistan to memorize the Quran. He excelled in his memorization and committed the entire Quran to memory in less than 1 year. He then returned home and continued his school education. After graduating from High School, he went back to Karachi to study the Alim Course at Jamia Binoria. He graduated from the rigorous 7 year program in 2002 at the top of his class and with numerous Ijaazaat (Licenses) in various Islamic Sciences. Along with the Alim Course he concurrently completed a B.A. and M.A. in Arabic from Karachi University. He also obtained a Masters in Islamic Studies from the University of Sindh. He taught Arabic at the University of Texas at Arlington from 2005 to 2007. He has served as an instructor and curriculum advisor to various Islamic schools and Islamic studies programs. He served as the Imam at the Colleyville Masjid in the Dallas area for 3 years. He is a founding member and chairman of Mansfield Islamic Center.
Abdul Nasir is an instructor with Bayyinah Institute, where his class "Meaningful Prayer" has traveled the country. His latest projects include Quran Intensive (a summer program focusing on Arabic grammar and Tafsir), Quranic analysis lectures, Khateeb Training, chronicling of the Prophetic Biography at www.qalaminstitute.org, and personally mentoring and teaching his students.
