Our Scholars

Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

Chairman, Islamic Supreme Council of America

Born into an eminent family of religious scholars in Beirut, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Al-Kabbani is a world-renowned Muslim scholar, author, and lecturer. Shaykh Hisham Kabbani received his Islamic Law (Shariah) Degree in Syria (Damascus). He also studied deeply the subject of Islamic spirituality under two internationally renowned Naqshbandi spiritual guides, namely, Shaykh Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani and Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the American University of Beirut and also studied medicine in Lowain, Belgium. Shaykh Hisham Kabbani is Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA), a non-profit religious organisation based in Washington DC. ISCA has spearheaded a number of peace initiatives, hosted notable conferences, actively engages in inter-religious dialogue, and promotes traditional and moderate Islamic views within and outside of USA. For more details [click here].

Shaykh Dr Ali Gomaa

Former Grand Mufti of Egypt

Sheikh Ali Gomaa is the former Grand Mufti of the Arab Republic of Egypt. He is one of the foremost Islamic scholars in the world. Despite retiring from the post of Grand Mufti of Egypt in 2013, Gomaa has remained active on many fronts and his counsel is more in demand than ever before. For more details [click here].

Habib Umar Bin Hafiz

Founder Dar al-Mustafa Islamic Institute, Tarim, Yemen

Umar bin Hafiz was born on 27 May 1963 CE or 4 Muharram 1383 AH in Tarim, Hadhramaut, Yemen, and raised in a household that possessed a tradition and lineage of Islamic scholarship and righteousness by his father. His father was Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafiz, a Habib and mufti of Tarim, a pious caller to Islam, scholar, and a martyr of the communist uprising. He is a descendant of Prophet Muhammad (s), through his grandson Hussein ibn Ali.

More details: https://simplyislam.sg/about/our-scholars/habib-umar-bin-hafiz/

Habib Kadhim Bin Ja’far Asseqaf

Dar al-Mustafa Islamic Institute, Tarim, Yemen

A highly-respected scholar, Habib Kadhim is considered an expert in many Islamic sciences including jurisprudence, prophetic biography, creed, principles of jurisprudence and in particular, hadith (sayings of the Prophet) and its sciences.

More details: https://simplyislam.sg/about/our-scholars/habib-kadhim-jaafar-assegaf/

Shaykh Faid Mohammed Said

Former Resident Scholar at the Harrow Central Mosque in North London, United Kingdom

Shaykh Faid Mohammed Said is one of the most prominent Islamic scholar based in the United Kingdom whose efforts include teaching and community outreach work. Besides holding regular classes on the Qur’an, Seerah and Fiqh, Shaykh Faid is a pioneer in pastoral work providing advice and counseling services for those who are in need especially new Muslims, women and the youth. His ‘Clinic of the Heart’ Project is an exciting and innovative initiative that strategically creates a context of frontline engagement between a scholar and those in the community who need access to a balance interpretation of the faith.  Shaykh Faid was formerly the Director of the Larayb Institute of Education (LiFE) as well as the Resident Scholar at the Harrow Central Mosque in North London, United Kingdom. For more details [click here]. 

Ustadh Mohammed Iqbal

Senior Islamic Religious Teacher, Singapore

Ustadh Mohammed Iqbal Abdullah embraced Islam 25 years ago and is now considered one of Singapore’s most learned (‘alim) Muslim convert in Singapore, where Islamic sciences are concerned. He studied at the International Islamic University Islamabad (Pakistan) and also at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. He also studied intensively under the tutelage of Singapore’s world-renowned scholar, Allahyarham Sheikh Umar al-Khatib. Ustadh Mohamed Iqbal has taught Islam and Arabic language for more than 12 years at places like The Muslim Converts Association of Singapore (Darul Arqam), Masjid Abdul Aleem Siddique and Masjid Al-Istiqamah. He is currently the Director at the Azizah Chishty Quranic Centre and has regular classes at the centre, some Mosques, and at SimplyIslam.

More details: https://simplyislam.sg/about/our-scholars/ustaz-iqbal-abdullah/

Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad

Senior Islamic Religious Teacher, Singapore

Dr. Gibril Fouad Haddad is a Senior Assistant Professor at SOASCIS in Applied Comparative Tafsir. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon and studied in the UK, US, France, Lebanon and Syria. He holds a Doctorate from Kolej Universiti Insaniah, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, New York where he was the recipient of several fellowships including one at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France. He also graduated summa cum laude from the New York University Latin and Greek Institute. Dr. Haddad spent nine years of study in Damascus, Syria (1997-2006) and has received ijaza (certificates) from over 150 shaykhs. He has lectured on Qur’an, Hadith, Prophetic Biography (Sīra) and Sufism in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the US, UK, Sweden, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, the Republic of South Africa and Mauritius. He is the author of over three dozen books, most recently the first critical edition and transla¬tion and first book-length study in Eng¬lish on the first Ḥizb of Tafsir al-Baydawi, a 900-page work to be published jointly by UBD Press and Beacon Books (UK). Published works include The Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur’an, The Encyclopedia of Hadith Forgeries, and The Muhammadan Light in the Qur’an and Hadith as well as hundreds of articles, most recently “Tropology and Inimitability: Ibn ʿĀshūr’s Theory of Tafsīr in the Ten Prolegomena to al-Taḥrīr wal-Tanwīr” and “Quietism and end-time reclusion in the Qur’ān and Hadith: al-Nābulusī and his book Takmīl al-nuʿūt within the ʿuzla genre” (forthcoming). Dr. Haddad was hailed in the inaugural edition of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World as “one of the clearest voices of traditional Islam in the West.” For mode details [click here and https://www.livingislam.org/tgfh.html].