Ustadha Mona Elzankaly Bio Born in Cairo, Egypt and raised in Southern California, Ustadha Mona Elzankaly graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Mathematics in 1994. In 1998 Ustadha Mona began seeking sacred knowledge at the Zaytuna Institute in Hayward CA. She later traveled internationally seeking sacred knowledge. She has studied under many eminent scholars such as Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Khatri, Shaykh Abd Allah b. Bayyah, Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi, Shaykh Salik b. Siddina, Imam Zaid Shakir, Habib Umar b. Hafiz, Habib Ali al-Jifri and other scholars from Syria, Yemen and Egypt. Ustadha Mona obtained different Ijaazahs in Tajwid, different books of hadith, Aqidah, and Maliki Fiqh. In 2008 She completed the four-year Zaytuna Seminary pilot program and received a baccalaureate degree in Islamic Studies. In 2014 she completed a four-year Islamic Shari’a program at al-Azhar University in Cairo Egypt. Ustadha Mona began teaching in 2002 both privately and publicly. She has taught for Zaytuna Institute, Sisters Deen Intensive, Dar al-Zahra, The Rahmah Foundation and Meadows of al-Mustafa. She currently teaches at The Rahmah Foundation FOH program, and Nur al-Iman an Islamic studies program for ladies.

Ustadha Aishe Samir Lababidi Bio Ustadha Aishe Samir Lababidi Born in Aleppo Syria, ustadha Aishe obtained a bachelor of Sharia law in 2009 from the Sharia school, Salah al-Din, in Aleppo. Ustadha Aishe has taken many different courses to further her education in the different sciences of shariah attaining many certificates. She has received a diploma in Educational Qualification in Sharia Sciences, in Istanbul in 2016. She also received a degree in psychology from the university of al-Murabi in Istanbul in 2019. In addition, Ustadha Aishe has received many ijazas in Quran, Tajweed, the books of hadith, seerah and shamail. Ustadha Aishe has more than twelve years of experience in teaching Quran, hadith and seerah. Ustadha Aishe currently resides in Syria with her family.

Ustadha Asia Esmatullah Bio Ustadha Asia Esmatullah Ustadha Asia was born in Balkh, Afghanistan, and lived there until the age of eight. In 2011, she moved to Egypt, where she spent her childhood and completed memorizing the Qur’an at the age of 12. She then studied the Qur’an under several teachers, including Shaykha Aisha Al-Sinni. After completing her recitation, She began her ijazah journey and was granted ijazah by Shaykha Sayyida Hamed. She also holds ijazah in Tajweed in both Tuhfat al-Atfal and Al-Muqaddimah Al-Jazariyyah. She studied at Al-Bu’uth Islamic Girls Institute in Egypt, which is affiliated with Al-Azhar, and graduated from high school in 2018. She then pursued a degree in Islamic Sharia at Al-Azhar University, graduating in 2022. Before moving to the United States, She taught private Qur’an lessons in Egypt for one year. Since 2023, She has been teaching in Qur’an centers in California. She currently teaches at Al-Muhajireen Masjid and Nur Al-Iman Center, where she continues to help students develop a strong connection with the Qur’an.

Ustadha Faizah Mohamed Bio Ustadha Faizah Mohamed Faizah Mohamed was born and raised in Southern California. She started her journey seeking Islamic knowledge with memorization of the Holy Qur’an, which she completed in 2009. The desire to understand and connect with the Qur’an led her to join a 6-year Aalimiyyah program in traditional Islamic sciences at a local Islamic institute, during which she studied the Arabic language and grammar, Qur’anic Exegesis (Tafsir), Hadith, and Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh). Upon completion of this program, she joined Shah Maseehullah Academy to study the canonical Hadith books—including Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan at-Tirmidhi, and Sunan Abi Dawud—a second time. Thereafter, she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science at UCLA. She has been teaching different Islamic studies subjects privately and now teaches Hanafi Fiqh at Nur Al Iman, ultimately aspiring to foster a connected, educated community that will confidently uphold the teachings of Islam.

Ustadha Jamela Rahmani Bio Ustadha Jamela Rahmani Jamela Rahmani moved to Yemen tarim in 1999 and lived there for 16 years during that time she was blessed to memorize the Quran and study at Dar al-Zahra. She studied Arabic, Tajweed, and shafi fiqh. She taught Quran in Dar al-Zahra for a year and taught at ahl al-Kitab and Sunnah school for three years. She later relocated to Afghanistan where she taught at the winter program for women that her family had established. She Returned to America five years ago and seizes every opportunity to teach whatever she can from the knowledge that she obtained from the beautiful and amazing teachers in Tarim.

Ustadha Sadaf Khan Bio Ustadha Sadaf Khan Sadaf A. Khan was born in North Carolina and raised in Saudi Arabia. After returning to the U.S, she graduated from university and then subsequently began online studies in the Shariah sciences with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and Ustadha Hedaya Hartford, followed by completion of an Alimah curriculum with various Hanafi scholars and muftis based in India and the United States. She continues to study both online and in person with Islamic scholars such as Shaykh Nuh Keller, Ustadha Besa Krasniqi, and Shaykh Ashraf Muneeb. She currently teaches and resides in Chicago with her husband.

Ustadha Sahar Ibrahim Alharethy Bio Ustadha Sahar Ibrahim Alharethy Ustadha Sahar is Jordanian and a US Permanent Resident. She has more than 20 years of experience in teaching Quran (Tajweed and Tafseer), Alkaida Alnurania, and Arabic as a Second Language in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and America. Ustadha Sahar holds a high diploma in fiqh wa usul from the World Islamic Science and education University in Jordan, a Bachelor degree in Information Technology from Arab Open university in Saudi Arabia. She has done one year of Qur’an studies at the national University in Saudi and a Course in the ways of teaching Qur’an and Arabic. She has an Ijazah in Quraan برواية حفص عن عاصم من طريق الشاطبية , and an Ijazah in teaching Al-kaida Al-Nurania.

Ustadha Saira Abu Bakr Bio Ustadha Saira Abu Bakr Teacher Saira Abu Bakr (Ummal Fadl) has studied the Sacred Sciences including her fard ayn (knowledge obligatory upon all adult, sane Muslims) primarily under Shaykh Salik Bin Sidina (West Africa) since 2002. In Aqīdah she has been taught the following texts: `Aqīdah Tahāwiyyah (two commentaries), Jawharah (three commentaries) and Ummal Barahin (Sanusiyah). In Maliki Fiqh (Jurisprudence): Akhdari, Ibn `Āshir, Risālah, 'Izziyah and the majority of Mukhtasar Khalīl. She has also been taught texts on the Shāmail of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Seerah (Life of the Prophet), Hadith Terminology, Purification of the Heart, Rights of Parents, in Arabic and English at Zaytuna Institute, Hayward, California since 1997. In 2000 she attended an eight-month Arabic intensive program at the Fajr and Diwan centers in Cairo, Egypt to study Grammar and Rhetoric. In 2008 she completed the Seminary Program in Hayward, California under the direction of Imam Zaid Shakir. In 2010 she returned from Syria where she had spent two years furthering her studies in `Aqīdah, Fiqh, Arabic (Teacher: Ustadh Jamal Omari) and Tajwīd (Science of Quran Recitation; Teacher: Anse Maria) and where she attended classes taught by Shaykh Muhammad Yaqoubi, Shaykh Samer Nass and Ustadah Shaista Maqbool. During this time she also continued to teach women Fiqh and other (fard 'ayn) subjects in online and private gatherings. She currently continues to teach fard ayn knowledge to children and adults in private and public settings, online and in-person. Teacher Saira AbuBakr has received a B.S. in Biology (California State University at Stanislaus) and an M.S. in Genetic Counseling (Sarah Lawrence College, New York).

Ustadha Shamira Chothia Ahmed Bio Ustadha Shamira Chothia Ahmed Born and raised in California’s Central Valley, Ustadha Shamira is passionate about educating and empowering Muslim women to draw closer to Allah through sacred knowledge and its practical application in everyday life. After graduating as valedictorian from a large public high school and briefly studying at Georgetown University, she pursued sacred knowledge under scholars in Africa, Europe, and Asia. She began her studies at the women’s Dar-ul-Uloom Mu’eenal Islam seminary in South Africa before completing the intensive five-year ‘Alimah program at Ja’mia Al-Imam Muhammad Zakariyya in Britain. She later studied Arabic and Qur’anic recitation in Damascus, Syria, receiving an ijazah in Tajwid of the Hafs recitation from the late Shaykh Hasan al-Kurdi. Ustadha Shamira began teaching Hanafi fiqh for women at Zaytuna Institute in 2005 and has since taught various Islamic sciences to women across North America. In 2008, she earned a Master’s degree in Demographics and Social Analysis from the University of California, Irvine, where her research focused on Muslim American identity formation. In 2013, she undertook specialized study in the fiqh of menstruation, lochia, and abnormal discharge under Mufti Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera and assisted in compiling Imam Abu Hanifa’s Al-Fiqh al-Akbar Explained. Alongside her scholarship, Ustadha Shamira is a certified birth doula and lactation educator. Drawing on both her professional training and her experience as a mother of five, she helps Muslim women approach pregnancy, birth, and motherhood through the lens of faith and sacred knowledge, offering birth consultations, virtual doula support, and educational programs rooted in authentic Islamic guidance and evidence-based care. She is the founder of Her Sacred Path, co-founder of the Rahmah Foundation, and currently teaches at Nur al Iman, a full-time girls’ and women’s shariah program in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through her teaching and mentorship, she seeks to help women develop a sound understanding of their faith and a deeper connection with Allah.

Ustadha Yasmin Dphrepaulezz Bio Ustadha Yasmin Dphrepaulezz Yasmin was born in the United States and grew up in California. She completed a fundamental Arabic class at lighthouse mosque in 2012. In 2013 she began studying Tajweed with Ustatha Nawar Taleb-Ahga and continued with her family until 2016. During this time, she also completed two semesters of Arabic in community College. In 2014 Yasmin attended the Dowra, an Islamic intensive in Tarim Yemen, and began studying at Nur al-Iman in 2016. She graduated from the program in 2020. Ustadha Yasmin currently teaches beginner Arabic and level one Maliki Fiqh at Nur al-Iman.

Ustadha Zarinah Redden Bio Ustadha Zarinah Redden Ustadha Zarinah Redden embarked on her journey of seeking knowledge in the blessed land of Tarim, Hadhramaut, where she pursued the intensive Shariah program at the esteemed women’s madrasah, Dar al-Zahra, established by Sayyid al-Habib Umar bin Hafidh. Her dedicated pursuit led her to spend five transformative years immersed in the Islamic sciences, studying subjects such as Islamic Jurisprudence, Aqeedah, Seerah, and more under the guidance of some of the most profound female and male scholars. Upon her return to the U.S., Ustadha Zarinah, in her dedication to spreading sacred knowledge, began teaching young Muslim girls at the institute Nur al-Iman, covering subjects such as Islamic Jurisprudence and Tafseer among others. She also held classes in her local masjid, teaching the fundamental aspects of Islam to those who were new to the faith or interested in learning about it. Additionally, alongside her peers from Dar al-Zahra, she has organized and led many gatherings of remembrance and reflection for women in her community, encouraging them to come together for the sake of Allah. Ustadha Zarinah remains deeply committed to the path of knowledge and continues to actively seek both sacred learning and spiritual development.