Monday 5/18:
Dr. Maha Houssami
is a
lecturer in the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Department at Duke. She teached Arabic at the advanced level.
Tuesday 5/19:
Brother Joshua Salaam
has strong roots in the American Muslim community. He started attending national Muslim youth camps at the age of 12 and continued as a participant, counselor and speaker for over 30 years. Joshua entered the U.S. Air Force in 1995 and served as a Police officer for four years. He was a key contributor in establishing Friday prayer services on base for Muslim military members and went on to serve as an Imam in Goldsboro, NC for several years. Before starting at Duke in July 2018, Joshua worked with youth and families for 11 years at one of the largest Muslim communities in America. He holds a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies with a focus in Christian/Muslim relations and a Doctorate of Ministry degree from Hartford Seminary.
Wednesday 5/20:
Dr. Saadia Yacoob
is Assistant Professor of Religion at Williams College. She holds a PhD from Duke University and an MA from the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University. She has also studied Islamic law in Egypt and Jordan. Her research focuses on gender, sexuality, and legal subjecthood in early Islamic law. More broadly, her research interests include the history of Islamic law, Muslim feminism, history of sexuality, feminist epistemology, and legal anthropology.
Thursday 5/21:
Khadijah Siddeeq-Mohammed
has served as an educator in many communities. The most influential experience of Khadijah Siddeeq-Mohammed’s life is learning from and working alongside her late husband, Imam W. D. Mohammed. She is also the founder of A Call to Life, Inc. and EsUniCom, L.L.C. Through A Call to Life, Inc., she works to educate Muslim youth by showing them how Al-Islam and the example of our Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) are always relevant to all areas of their lives. Through EsUniCom, L.L.C. (Establishing a University in Our Community), she works to unite cultural communities around the community-based knowledge G_d has blessed them with in their respective communities. Of primary interest to Khadijah Siddeeq-Mohammed, is to strengthen the unity of the African American Muslim community through encouraging the adult members to come together in community to study the language of Imam W. D. Mohammed and continue the progress they have achieved as a result of G_d blessing them with their leader and teacher, Imam W. D. Mohammed.
Friday 5/22: Ustadha Saima Yacoob
lives and teaches in Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to holding multiple ijazahs in Tajweed and the Variant Recitations of the Qur'an (Qira'at), she holds a Master’s in Education with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction from George Mason University. Her journey of studying Tajweed began at the age of 10, and she received her first ijazah in Hafs ‘An ‘Asim in 2010 from Sheikh Hatim Yousseff. She continued her studies in Amman, Jordan, receiving ijazah in Hafs ‘An ‘Asim from Sheikh Hussain Ashraq Laban and in Qaloon ‘An Nafi’ from Sheikh Abdullah. She also holds ijazah in Tuhfat-ul-Atfal and Muqadimmah Al-Jazariyyah from Mufti Mohmed-Umer Esmail. After receiving ijazah in Hafs, she continued to study the Qira'at, receiving ijazah in all 10 variant recitations from Mufti Mohamed-Umer Esmail. She has permission to teach as well as to grant ijazah to others through her teachers. She currently serves as a chaplain at the Islamic Society of Greater Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is also the Director at Recite With Love.
Nightly taraweeh this week will be led by
Sheikh Omar Jabbie,
from Sierra Leone, who memorized the Quran at the age of 14. He attended The Islamic University of Madina in the holy city of the Prophet Mohamed PBUH. Later graduation with his bachelors degree from the faculty of Islamic Jurisprudence.
