Scholars of the Schools: The Four Great Imams
The work of the illustrious great imams and the legions of students that followed them have preserved much of Islamic law up until the present day. Who were they? How were they connected to one another? And ultimately, what lessons can we draw from their remarkable examples for our own lives? Join us for this two-day event to learn more about the founders of the four schools and build a deeper appreciation for the rich differences of opinion among our scholars.
SPEAKER BIOS
Mufti Mujibur Rahman - Imam Abu Hanifa
Born in Bangladesh and raised in New York, Shaykh Mohammad Mujibur Rahman completed High School and soon embarked on his journey to learn the Islamic sciences. He completed a six year Alim course at Darul Uloom Azadville, South Africa. He has studied under great scholars, receiving several formal authorizations (Ijaza) in the sacred sciences. He earned authorizations in Hadith under Shaykh Fadhlur Rahman A’zami and authorizations on the Ten Qira’aat (forms of recitation of the Qur’aan) from Shaykhul Qurra’ Ismail Essack. Upon graduation, he travelled to Deoband, India, where he attended the world leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband and gained specialized training in answering legal questions under Mufti Habeebur Rahman Khairabaadi. He also received authorization by Mufti Yusuf Thawli in fatwa. During his stay in India, he studied under great ‘Ulama such as Shaykh Naseer Khan, Mufti Zafeer uddin Miftaahi, privately by both Shaykh Arshad Madani and Mufti Sa’eed Palanpuri. Upon his return to America, he resided as Imam of Madina Masjid in Manhattan, New York for a period of two years. Thereafter he took a one and a half years off to complete his Memorization of the Quran in Darul ‘Uloom Al Madania, Buffalo and is now serving as a full time Instructor at Darul Uloom New York.
Shaykh Hamza wald Maqbul - Imam Malik
Shaykh Hamzah Wald Maqbul was born in Whittier, California, and lived in Southern California until the age of ten when he moved to Blaine, Washington. After graduating from Blaine High School, he went on to attend the University of Washington and in 2004 completed a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry and a Bachelors of Arts in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
After graduation Hamzah went on to pursue traditional Islamic studies, which took him to a number of countries, including Syria and Egypt where he studied the Arabic language, Morocco, Mauritania, and UAE, where he studied the madhab of Imām Mālik, grammar, usūl al-hadīth, and the two renditions of the qira’ah of Imām Nafi‘, Warsh and Qalun, and finally Pakistan where he had the opportunity to study tafseer, usūl al-ḥadīth, ḥadīth, ‘ilm al-rijāl and Hanafī fiqh. All of these studies culminated in him receiving an ijāzat al-tadrīs, literally meaning “a license to teach,” which is the equivalent in Pakistani Islamic seminaries to a MA in Arabic and Islamic studies, as well as an unbroken chain of transmission by which to narrate the ḥadīth of such books as the Muwaṭṭa’ of Imām Mālik, the Ṣiḥaḥ al-Sittah (Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dawūd, Tirmidhī, Nasā’ī and Ibn Mājah), and the Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Athār of Imam al-Taḥāwī.
After his return to America he spent five years as the resident scholar of the Thawr Institute, a non-profit religious and educational organization based in Seattle, Washington. In parallel with his work at Thawr, he was worked closely with Islamic Relief, CAIR Seattle, and a number of other non-profit organizations that serve the Muslim Community. From 2012 through 2014 he was an instructor at Darul Qasim, an institute for higher Islamic studies in Glen Ellyn, IL. At Darul Qasim, he taught Naḥū (Arabic Syntax), Ṣarf (Arabic Morphology), Mālikī fiqh, ʿAqīdah (Creed), Ḥadīth Studies, Qur’ānic Studies, and Sīrah (Prophetic Biography). He has previously served as an Imām with the Muslim Association of Greater Rockford’s mosque in Rockford, Illinois. Throughout his time in America, he has been teaching, giving khuṭbas in masjids, and traveling through America promoting seeking sacred knowledge and the practice of the prophetic sunnah.
Ustadh Tariq Ameer - Imam Al Shafi’i
Ustadh Tariq Ameer began his formal Islamic Studies during college in Atlanta, Georgia with Ustadh Jamal Hysaw and Shaykh Muhammad Mendes. After graduation he traveled to Tarim, Yemen where he studied at the former Badr Institute and thereafter Dar Al Mustafa. Upon his return to the United States he continued his studies with local teachers including Shaykh Khalil Abdur-Rashid, Dr. Shadee El Masry as well as teachers from Qibla. Sidi Tariq has received ijaza in different texts in the subjects of Shaf'i Fiqh, Aqeedah, Hadith terminology, Shamaiil, as well as covered texts without ijaza in Hadith, Arabic, Mantiq, and Usul Fiqh.
Shaykh Taha Abdul-Basser - Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Taha bin Hasan Abdul-Basser is a researcher and teacher of Islamic ethics and law who has acted as a shari`a compliance reviewer, examiner and consultant to investment funds, investment banks, retail banks, financial advisories, legal advisors and other for-profit and not-for-profit entities since 1998. He was lead contributor to the Harvard Islamic Finance Information Program's database software on Islamic financial ethics and jurisprudence, independent study course instructor ("Principles of Islamic Finance") at Harvard Business School, Senior Tutorial Advisor at Harvard University's Department of Near Eastern Language and Civilizations and the Harvard Islamic Society Chaplain (1999-2013).
He received his Bachelors (A.B.) in the Comparative Study of Religion from Harvard College, a Master's (A.M.) in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University and is an ABD from the same department. In addition to his father (with whom he began the study of standard Arabic as a child), he has studied the traditional Islamic disciplines with teachers from the Sudan, the Yemen, Tanzania and Bahrain. He has received traditional licenses (ijazat) in Islamic ethics and law, Prophetic traditions (hadith) and other disciplines from several notable scholars, including Sh Nizam Ya`quby. External Event Url
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