The opinions expressed by the ICNA Convention speakers are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) or the Muslim American Society (MAS).



MOHSIN ANSARI
Dr. Ansari has been with ICNA, serving in different capacities for the past three decades. He previously served as the Chairman of ICNA Relief and Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD).
He completed his pediatric residency at Metro health Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. He continued to broaden his training and experience at the same institution in the capacity of a Chief Resident. Dr. Ansari then did his pediatric specialization and fellowship in Neonatology (Newborn and Premature baby care) at Metro heath Medical Center. Dr. Ansari is currently licensed to practice medicine in several states. He is also an author of multiple research papers published both in national and international medical journals. He lives in Maryland with his wife and five sons.



SIRAJ WAHHAJ



OMAR SULEIMAN



YASIR QADHI



DALIA FAHMY



Lobna Mulla



ABDUL NASIR JANGDA
Born and raised in Dallas, he currently resides there with his wife and three children. He memorized the Qur’an in Karachi at an early age. After high school, he returned to Karachi to study the Islamic sciences full-time at Jamia Binoria where he specialized in Fiqh and Tafsir. He graduated from the rigorous ‘alim program in 2001 at the top of his class. He also attained a B.A. and M.A. in Arabic from Karachi University while completing a Masters in Islamic Studies from the University of Sindh. After returning home, he taught at the local university and Islamic schools and served as the Imam in the Dallas area.



Suhaib Webb



BrJavaid Siddiqi
He is currently the CEO of Helping Hand USA and the former President of ICNA. He's an engineer by profession, Javaid holds a Master's degree in electrical engineering.
As a resident of Lexington, KY he is a regular Khateeb in his area masaajid.



Zahid Bukhari
Dr. Zahid H. Bukhari serves as Executive Director of the ICNA Council for Social Justice (ICNA CSJ). Since 2004, he has also been serving as Executive Director of the Center for Islam and Public Policy (CIPP), Washington, DC. Previously, he worked as Director, American Muslim Studies Program (AMSP) at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim- Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. From 1999-2004, he also worked as Director, Project MAPS: Muslims in American Public Square, which examined the role and contribution of the Muslim community to the American public life.
Dr. Bukhari’s research interests focused on Islam in the West; Muslims in America; religion and politics; and religion, humanitarian aid and development. He is also editor of the Project MAPS volume: Muslims’ Place in the American Public Square: Fears, Hopes and Aspirations; and the CIPP volume: Observing the Observer: The State of Islamic Studies in American Universities.
From 2009-2012, Dr. Bukhari also served as National President of Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). Dr. Bukhari has a Masters in Economics from the University of Karachi, Pakistan and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Connecticut, USA."



KHALID GRIGGS



SUZY ISMAIL
Dr. Suzy Ismail is the Founding Director of Cornerstone, a nonprofit, faith-based communication intervention organization with several locations around the world that focus on youth, family, marriage, identity, socioemotional wellness, and relationship rebuilding.
She is the author of many books including "Modern Muslim Marriage," "9 to 5," "When Muslim Marriage Fails," and several other works. She specializes in educating and empowering women, youth, and vulnerable populations by presenting a range of workshops, lectures, programs, diversity seminars, and corporate trainings both nationally and internationally.
As a Visiting Professor for over a decade in the Communication Departments of Rutgers University and DeVry University, Dr. Ismail has researched, written, and presented extensively on the intersectionality of education, faith, communication, and culture.
She has also served for many years as a student adviser, teacher, and board member of a local private school. Dr. Ismail has been interviewed on numerous media outlets and is often featured on talk shows, radio and television broadcasts and podcasts regarding her work. She has presented on the topics of marriage, family, parenting, identity, and teens at many public and private universities around the world such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, NYU and many more, as well as at the World Meeting of Families during Pope Francis’ first visit to the US. She has traveled to the border of Syria to work in refugee camps with women, families, and orphans and continues her work with resettlement and relief agencies providing integration intervention.
For many years, Dr. Ismail has served as an executive officer and director on several nonprofit boards, commissions, and organizations. Her humanitarian work has been recognized with numerous awards including the Ambassador for Peace Award and the Visionary Muslim Award. She holds an MA in Communication and in Human Services and a PhD in Family Studies & Intervention Strategies. Dr. Ismail currently resides in Princeton, New Jersey with her husband and three children.



MOHAMMAD ELSHINAWY



SAAD TASLEEM



Zaynab Ansari
Zaynab Ansari spent a decade studying Farsi, Arabic, and traditional Islam, sitting with male and female scholars in seminaries in the Middle East, including traditional scholars in Damascus in the 1990s. Upon her return to the United States, she earned degrees in history and Middle Eastern Studies from Georgia State University.
Since 2014, Zaynab Ansari has served as a scholar-in-residence for Tayseer Foundation, offering enrichment courses and halaqahs to women and youth in the Muslim Community of Knoxville, and working on interfaith dialogue. She is currently an instructor at Tayseer Seminary, which features a one-year intensive in Islamic Studies, drawing students from Tennessee and all regions of the United States.



Majed Mahmoud
Majed completed a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Windsor, a Bachelor’s in Islamic Studies in Islamic Jurisprudence and Legal Theory from Al-Madinah International University, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Wayne State University.
As he travels worldwide lecturing about different aspects of Islam, Majed works full-time as a mechanical engineer and teaches with Al-Maghrib Institute.
He currently lives in Michigan with his wife and three children.



Suleiman Hani
Imam Suleiman Hani is the Director of Academic Affairs at AlMaghrib Institute, a research scholar for Yaqeen Institute, and a resident scholar and adjunct lecturer 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.



Zahra Billoo
Zahra Billoo serves as the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA) office, the oldest CAIR chapter office. Since joining in 2009, Zahra has led the organization through a period of six-fold growth. Today, she manages one of the largest CAIR offices in the country with a team of civil rights and social justice advocates dedicated to the empowerment of American Muslims through legal services, legislative advocacy, and community organizing.
Under Zahra’s leadership, CAIR-SFBA has filed lawsuits against the United States Department of Justice, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Southwest Airlines, representing American Muslims facing discriminatory treatment. CAIR-SFBA has also significantly expanded its capabilities to provide know-your-rights sessions on a nearly weekly basis to mosques and community members in the San Francisco Bay Area, while also providing direct legal representation to Bay Area residents facing numerous civil rights violations, including FBI interviews, employment discrimination, airport harassment, school bullying, and hate crimes.
Zahra’s advocacy has included media appearances in local and national media, including MSNBC, NPR, the San Francisco Chronicle, and even FOX News. Among her awards, she received the 2017 Human Rights Award from the Society of American Law Teachers and the 2018 Community Builder Award from People Acting in Community Together (PACT). She was also listed by the San Jose Mercury News as a “Woman to Watch” in March 2017 for Women’s History Month, as well as by the Chronicle of Philanthropy in their January 2018 cover story on millennials who lead.
She is currently a fellow with Levi Strauss Foundation Pioneers in Justice, a senior fellow with the American Leadership Forum’s Silicon Valley Chapter, and an alumna of Rockwood’s Fellowship for a New California, Leader Spring’s Executive Directors Fellowship, and USC’s American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute. Zahra earned her undergraduate degrees from the California State University, Long Beach, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings. She is licensed to practice law in California.
Outside of her work with CAIR, Zahra bakes birthday cakes for foster children through Cake4Kids and is a coordinator for Project Feed, a monthly homeless feeding effort in downtown San Francisco. She lives in Milpitas with her two cats, Justice and Peace.



Dalia Mogahed
Dalia Mogahed is the Director of Research at ISPU where she develops, leads and executes ISPU’s community-focused research strategy.
Mogahed is former Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, where she led the analysis of surveys of Muslim communities worldwide.
With John L. Esposito, she coauthored the book Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. President Barack Obama appointed Mogahed to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in 2009.



Abdullah Oduro
Abdullah Oduro is a first generation Ghanian native that converted to Islam in 1997. He graduated from the College of Islamic Law from the University of AlMadinah in 2007. He conducts public speeches, sermons, lectures, and workshops around the US on Islamic Law, self-improvement, and convert life. He is currently the Imam at the Islamic Center of Coppell and Lewisville in Dallas, TX.
He resides in Dallas, TX with his wife and four children. Having recently joined Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research as a Scholar, Shaykh Abdullah leads a team providing unique and comprehensive resources for new Muslim converts and institutional convert care



Joe Bradford
Joe Bradford is an entrepreneur and an American scholar of Islam. He holds a Master of Islamic Law from the University of Medina and has studied traditionally in the Muslim world for the past 20+ years. He was a VP and Senior Shariah Consultant for AlRajhi Bank, the largest Islamic Bank in the Middle East. Joe is sought after as an Ethical Finance Advisor to individuals and institutions at home and abroad.
Joe is one of the few experts on issues involving Muslims and Finance in North America. While his expertise spans many areas, he has focused his efforts on creating companies that allow people of faith and conviction to align their values with their finances.
As a co-founder of MyWassiyah.com, he has leveraged his extensive knowledge of Islamic Inheritance (Far’idh) to create a world-class product that bridges the gap between traditional Islamic knowledge and the requirements of the US legal system.
As Shariah advisor to Zoya.Finance, Joe has contributed in bring values to life, creating an app that makes halal investing easy by helping you build and monitor a shariah-compliant investment portfolio with confidence and clarity.
As the principal of Moneycoa.ch, Joe works with businesses and individuals to build a comprehensive overview of financial health, goals, and values allowing his clients to take the steps needed to achieve financial success and align their business and personal finances to their values as Muslims.



Mobeen Vaid
Mobeen Vaid is a Muslim public intellectual and writer. A contributing writer for muslimmatters.org, his writings center on how traditional Islamic norms and frames of thinking intersect the modern world. In recent years, he has focused on Islamic sexual and gender norms.
Vaid also serves as an advisor to Muslim college students, and is a campus minister for the Muslim community at George Mason University. He has reviewed The Study Qur’an for the Journal of Islamic Sciences and published “Can Islam Accommodate Homosexual Acts? Qur'anic Revisionism and the Case of Scott Kugle” for the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (AJISS).


Tom Facchine



Ovamir Anjum
Dr. Ovamir Anjum is the Imam Khattab Endowed Chair of Islamic Studies at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Toledo.
His work focuses on the nexus of theology, ethics, politics and law in Islam, with comparative interest in Western Thought. Trained as a historian, his work is essentially interdisciplinary, drawing on the fields of classical Islamic studies, political philosophy, and cultural anthropology.



Carl Sharif El-Tobgui
Carl Sharif El-Tobgui holds a B.S. in Arabic Language from Georgetown University and a Master's and Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from McGill University and currently serves as Associate Professor Arabic & Islamic Studies and Director of the Arabic Language Program at Brandeis.
He previously taught for five years at Harvard University as Preceptor of Arabic, and has also taught at the Middlebury College Summer Arabic Language School. Prof. El-Tobgui's scholarly expertise lies in the field of Islamic thought, with a concentration on theology, law, and jurisprudence.
He is particularly interested in questions concerning the relationship between reason and revelation in the Islamic tradition and has published on the manifestations of this tension in the fields of classical Islamic jurisprudence and Qur'anic exegesis. His first monograph is an extensive study of Ibn Taymiyya's (d. 1328) 10-volume magnum opus, "Refutation of Contradiction Between Reason and Revelation" (published Open Access by E.J. Brill, 2020).
In addition to his expertise in Islamic thought, Prof. El-Tobgui has a deep love of language in general and of Classical Arabic in particular and has enjoyed for many years exploring the intricacies of Arabic grammar as well as classical literature and poetry with his students.


Rania Awaad


Dawud Walid



Saadia Z. Yunus
Saadia Z. Yunus, MA, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist, motivational speaker, and community leader. She has extensive experience helping individuals, couples, families, and groups, is trained in trauma and gives presentations and workshops throughout the country.
She is a graduate of the Institute of Islamic Sciences, a teacher of the Quran, and a mental health columnist. She owns a private practice in Deer Park, NY, and is the co-founder of Muslimahs of Long Island. She is on the advisory board of Dolan Family Health Center in Huntington, NY. Born and raised in Bonifay, Florida, Saadia Z. Yunus now resides on Long Island, NY with her husband and four children.
She has an active social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and can be contacted via her website: www.saadiazyunus.com



Altaf Husain
Altaf Husain is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and lives currently in Northern Virginia with his wife and children. He serves as Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Howard University in Washington DC.
His research interests include the mental health and integration of immigrant and refugee families, and especially Muslim adolescents, in the United States.
He serves as Vice President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research and an advisory board member of the Peaceful Families Project -dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence.
He feels honored to have spoken at ICNA conventions since 1998.



Hatem Bazian
Hatem Bazian is a co-founder and Professor of Islamic Law and Theology at Zaytuna College, the 1st Accredited Muslim Liberal Arts College in the United States. In addition, Prof. Bazian is a lecturer in the Departments of Near Eastern and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
In addition to academic work, Dr, Bazian is a weekly columnist for the Turkish Daily Sabah Newspaper and Turkey Agenda online magazine. Dr. Bazian is founder and national Chair of American Muslims for Palestine, board member of the Islamic Scholarship Fund, Muslim Legal Fund of America, President of Dollar for Deen Charity, and Chair of Northern California Islamic Council."



Asif Hirani



Sabeel Ahmed
"Dr. Sabeel Ahmed* is the Executive Director of the GainPeace Project, an outreach project of the Islamic Circle of North America.
As a *director of GainPeace*, Br. Sabeel's aim is to bring out the commonalities and build bridges between people of various faith, races, and nationalities and share the beautiful faith of Islam with our fellow Americans.
Some of the *projects of GainPeace* include advertising the message of spirituality via buses, Billboards, trains, TV, Radio, and newspapers. Dr. Sabeel had given many outreach presentations and workshops in various cities in the USA on the topics of Shariah, Freedom of Speech, comparative religion, and youth empowerment.
After completing his medical education in the Caribbean, he decided to dedicate his time as a *full-time (daee) educator of Islam* to tackle Islamophobia and convey the peaceful message of Islam.
He is married with three children and resides with his family in Morton Grove, IL, *USA*."



Dunia Shuaib



Hussain Kamani
Saadia Z. Yunus, MA, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist, motivational speaker, and community leader. She has extensive experience helping individuals, couples, families, and groups, is trained in trauma and gives presentations and workshops throughout the country.
She is a graduate of the Institute of Islamic Sciences, a teacher of the Quran, and a mental health columnist. She owns a private practice in Deer Park, NY, and is the co-founder of Muslimahs of Long Island. She is on the advisory board of Dolan Family Health Center in Huntington, NY. Born and raised in Bonifay, Florida, Saadia Z. Yunus now resides on Long Island, NY with her husband and four children.
She has an active social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and can be contacted via her website: www.saadiazyunus.com



Abdool Rahman Khan
Sh. Abdool Rahman Khan is a graduate of the Islamic University faculty of Shari’ah (Islamic Jurisprudence).
He is currently the chairman of the Shari’ah Council of ICNA and a member of the Fiqh Council of North America.
He also is the Director of Programs in the Tarbiyah Department of ICNA.



Abu Zayd
Abu Zayd holds a degree in Islamic studies from the School of Islamic and Arabic Studies as well as traditional licenses (Ijazah) in the ten modes of Qurʼānic recitation, books of hadith, and many Islamic texts.
He has authored The Children's Bequest, a popular textbook on Tajweed that has been used to teach hundreds of students.
He currently teaches courses in Qurʾān and Ḥadīth via the Qur’an Literacy Institute in central NJ and is the director of religious programming at Masjid al-Wali in Edison, NJ.
He was a founding member of Young Muslims and a long-standing member of ICNA.



Daoud Nassimi
He is a professor of Islam and a member of Shari’ah Council of ICNA. He has a unique and combined educational background in Engineering and Islamic Studies.
Initially, he did his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in electrical engineering and worked in telecommunications for many years. Then, because of his passion to serve Islam and the community, he decided to first change his career to Islamic Studies by studying Arabic in Saudi Arabia.
Later, he did a second Master's degree and a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham in England. His Ph.D. thesis was on a comparative review of English translations of the Qur'an.



Mikaeel Smith
Shaykh Mikaeel Ahmed Smith (Michael V Smith) At the age of 18 Michael embraced Islam after reading the Qur'an and the Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Soon after, he enrolled at Dar ul-Uloom al-Madania in Buffalo, NY, where he completed his memorization of the Qur'an.
He continued his Islamic studies in Jami'a Abu Noor in Damascus, Syria. In 2012, he completed his hadith studies of the Sahih Sitta (six most authentic collections of Prophetic traditions) and Qur’anic Tafseer (commentary). He earned Aalimiyah degree in Islamic Studies at the Dar ul-Uloom Canada.
Shaykh Mikaeel is currently a full time teacher at Qalam Institute in Dallas Texas. He has just published his second book With the Heart In Mind: the Moral and emotional intelligence of the Propohet.



Afia Yunus
Afia received her B.A. degrees in Criminal Justice and Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and earned her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law with a Certificate in Public Interest Law.
She is the founder of Yunus Law P.C., an immigration law practice with offices in Chicago, Philadelphia, and NJ. She represents clients around the country and abroad in family-based and employment-based immigration and removal defense.
As a passionate immigrant justice advocate, Afia is a Board Member of the One America Movement, a South Jersey Leader for Faith in New Jersey, a Member of the Cherry Hill Human Relations Commission, a Board Member of the Cherry Hill Mosque, serves as legal counsel for ICNA’s Center for Social Justice hotline, and hosts regular workshops, seminars, and Facebook LIVE webinars to advance and enhance the rights of immigrants nationwide.



Yassine Daoud
Yassine J. Daoud, M.D., is assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer eye institute at Johns Hopkins university. Dr. Daoud grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon between 1976-1993 and witnessed the Lebanese civil war.
He was awarded full scholarship to attend the United World College for high school. He then attended Amherst College in Amherst on a full merit based scholarship and then received another scholarship to receive his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School.
He was selected to the prestigious Doris Duke Fellowship. Dr Daoud is a frequent speaker at different area mosques during Jumuah khutbah's, Eid prayers and ramadhan khateerah's. He co- founded Harvard Longwood Muslims (HLM) over 15 years ago at Harvard Medical School, and "BRIDGE America" to help settle new Muslim refugees to the united States.
He also leads multiple halaqas in the area and is very active in volunteer efforts in the DMV area. He is a mentor and advisor to Muslim student groups at college and university campuses.



Rukhmah Ziamir
Rukhmah Ziamir is a recent graduate of the National Study Circle taught by Sh. Yusuf Rios. She is also a graduate of ICNA’s Institute of Islamic Sciences in New York where she studied Tafseer, Seerah, Hadith, and Islamic Literature. She is from New York and has been part of YM since 2013.
She was the former YM National Coordinator and also served in various leadership positions nationally, regionally, and locally. She currently serves as the Secretary General of the YM Board.
She graduated with her Masters in Speech-Language Pathology from St. John’s University and her Bachelors in Communicative Sciences and Disorders from New York University. She currently works as a Speech-Language Pathologist and provides therapy services in a Middle School.



Ayman Hammous
Dr Ayman Hammous, lives in Dallas, TX and married with five children. He holds a doctorate degree in Physical therapy from Stoney Brook University. He is the current Executive Director of MAS National.



Jawad Ahmed
Imam Jawad Ahmed graduated from International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan with a Bachelors (with Honors) degree in Usool-uddin (Islamic sciences) with specialization in Tafseer and Hadith.
He received Arabic Language Certification and Teaching License for Islamic Studies & Arabic from Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
He graduated from University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA with a Bachelors of Science degree in Physical Sciences.
Currently he is Imam of Islamic Society of North Jersey in Budd Lake NJ. He is also Coordinator of 877-Why-Islam Dawah Hotline for last 15 years, managing team of 25 daees over phone 24/7 hotline.



Arshia Ali-Khan



Christina Jump



Zainab Chaudry



Sr. Abrar Omeish



Rameez Abid



Steve Downs



Nahela Morales
"Nahela Morales is a dedicated, passionate Mexican Muslim convert, humanitarian, award-winning activist, international public speaker, community organizer, and a mother of one.
She is the co-founder of Embrace, an initiative created for Reverts by Reverts. Their mission is to empower, integrate, and serve our Muslim convert community by providing social and educational space in which to encourage growth, shape Islamic identity, and equip them with the knowledge needed for their life journey. She currently serves as the Dallas Chapter lead and Marketing Director.
She has had the opportunity to speak in countries like Sweden, Columbia, Brazil, and her native Mexico. She has represented a variety of oppressed demographics through her years as an activist and humanitarian. Since 2019 she has served on the board of CAIR-Central North, whose mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. Her dedication and discipline enable her to also mentor and serve on other boards throughout the country including ISPU, and World Hijab Foundation to name a couple. She is currently pursuing her Master's in Divinity at Bayan Islamic Graduate School accredited through Chicago Theological Seminary.
At the end of the day, Sister Nahela Morales is simply a servant of Allah."
Quran Reciters


Ismael Essa


Abdellah Marhoum


Haroon Baqai


Qari Nazrul Islam

