Teachers

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 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 Shamira Chothia Ahmed Bio Ustadha Shamira began her journey in seeking sacred knowledge at the women’s Dar-ul-Uloom Mu’eenal Islam seminary in South Africa, and completed the five-year intensive ‘alima program at Ja’mia Al-Imam Muhammad Zakariyya, one of Britain’s first and most renowned Islamic universities for women. There she was granted ijāzah (authorization) in Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Sahīh al-Muslim, Sunan at-Tirmidhī, Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Sunan an-Nasā’ī, and Sunan Ibn Mājah. Thereafter, she continued her Arabic and Qur’anic studies in Damascus, Syria where she obtained an ijāzah in Tajwīd of the Ḥafṣ recitation from the late eminent Syrian scholar, Shaykh Ḥasan al-Kurdī

Ustadha Souad Djilani Bio Ustadha Souad Djilani has been teaching Arabic for more than 10 years. She has been offering private classes for 6 years and currently teaches Arabic at Bay Area Arabic Academy for middle and high school students. Previously she taught Arabic at Hikmah School for one year and Islamic Society of East Bay Sunday School for more than 8 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in Biology, as well as ijazah in Makharij and Sifaat of Arabic letters.

Ustadha Yasmin Dphrepaulezz Bio 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 Yemen, and began studying at Nur al-Iman in 2016. She graduated from the program in 2020 and currently teaches level one of Maliki Fiqh

Ustadha Jamela Rahmani Bio 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.