Islamic Learning Foundation

Scholars

Shaikh Ahmed Kobeisy
Shaikh Kobeisy obtained his B.A. in Islamic Studies, College of Hadith and Islamic Studies, Islamic University, Medina, Saudi Arabia, 1985. His course work included Hadith, Qura'n, Doctrine, Comparative Islamic Jurisprudence, Comparative Religions, Teaching Methodology, Contemporary World, Research Methodology, and Arabic Language Art and Literature. He received his Diploma in religion and teaching methodology, College of Da'wah and Graduate Studies, The Islamic University, Medina, Saudi Arabia, 1985. He received his M.S. in Counselor Education/Educational Psychology, School of Education, Syracuse University, 1993. He went on to obtain his Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 2001. He wrote the first book on counseling American Muslims entitled: “Counseling American Muslims: Understanding the Faith and Helping the People”, 2004. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at many universities and academic institutions including Syracuse University and Hartford Seminary. He has also served the community as an Imam, chaplain, and counselor in the Upstate NY area for the past several years. Shaikh Ahmed Kobeisy is currently the Director and Resident Scholar at the Islamic Learning Foundation in College Point, NY.

Ustaadh Mohamed Yousef
Mohamed Yousef earned his BA from the Arabic department at the Zagazig University’s Benha branch. Later, under the tutelage of Dr. Rushdi Ahmed Ta’eemah, a world renowned scholar & author specializing in Arabic instruction, he internalized an in-depth understanding of the methodology of teaching Arabic as a foreign language. He did specialized study pertaining to instruction for English speakers dealing with areas of phonetics, structures, conversation and comprehension. He served for over six years as supervising instructor for various junior high schools run by the Ministry of Education in Egypt concerning himself with the areas of reading, writing conversation and poetry. He went on to serve in the same capacity for an additional five years within the same school system at the high school level. Yousef also taught at the world famous Al-Fajr institute where he received high honors and recognition for his excellent service. He worked to establish a complete start to finish Arabic curriculum for Al-Haramain Association in Saudi Arabia. He taught Arabic as a second language in Saudi Arabia at various institutes for over 3 years. In the United States, he served as the head of the Arabic Department for Al-Madeena (elementary & high school) in Brooklyn, NY where he was also responsible for training Arabic teachers. He studied the science of Tajweed directly under the tutelage of Sheikh Syaed Abu Zaid, a notable authority on Tajweed who is a professor at the University of Al-Madeenah and teaches alongside the famous Shaikh Al-Hudhaifi. He also studied Tajweed under Sheikh Abdul Basit Hashim, a professor of Tajweed and Qira’aat at Al-Azhar University. He studied Aqeedah from Sheikh Abdul Rahman Abdul Khaliq, a top student of Sheikh Al-Albani. He further studied the Mustalah Al-Hadeeth under Sheikh Majdi Arafaat, a student of the famous Sheikh Muqbil.

Past Instructors

Dr. Ibrahim Negm

Ibrahim Negm was born in Egypt. He earned his High School Diploma from Alzhar Al Shareef and placed number 4 in the nation. He was awarded a distinguished scholarship to pursue Islamic studies at Al Azhar University. He earned Ijaza in Islamic Studies in 1995 and was the class valedictorian. He was awarded a distinguished fellowship to conduct research at Harvard Law School. He was also a visiting Researcher at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences. PhD in comparative religious studies from the American College of Theology, MN in 1999. After earning his graduate Degree, he was awarded an adjunct position as an Assistant Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at St. John's University in New York. He was also a visiting Scholar and researcher at Oxford University, UK, 2002. He obtained his PhD in Islamic Studies in 2005 from Graduate Theological Foundation, IN. He served as a full time Imam and Director at the Islamic Center of South Shore in New York. He then served as the first Director of the Islamic Learning Foundation in College Point NY. Sheikh Negm is currently serving as a representative of Sheikh Ali Goma, The Grand Mufti of Egypt and is teaching at al-Azhar University.

Imam Raouf Uz Zaman

Imam Nizam Ahmad Raouf Zaman is a graduate of the Aleemiyyah Institute of Islamic Studies (Karachi, 1975) and a graduate of Faculty of Usuluddin, Al-Azhar (Cairo, 1978). He has also served as an Islamic worker and teacher with the Guyana Islamic Trust (Guyana, 1979-2000) and held the position of Principal at Guyana Islamic Institute (1997-2000). In addition, he was Imam at Masjid Darul Qur'an, Bay Shore, NY (2000-2003). Presently he is serving as the Imam of Muslim Center of Middlesex County.

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