Teaching on Quranic Arabic Winter Courses

Dr Riza Muhammed was born in Trinidad and in the last few years has moved to the U.K. He is an active da’iyah and writer/editor of a number of publications including books on spiritual development and Islamic Movement. He served as National Head of Tarbiyah for the Islamic Society of Britain.

Teaching on Quranic Arabic Winter Courses

Abdullah Muhammad is a Hafiz of the Qur'an. He graduated with an LLB (QMW, University of London) and an MA in Islamic Studies (SOAS). Hafiz Abdullah also completed his PGCE at the Institute of Education and went on to complete the LPC to qualify as a solicitor.

He has extensive experience in teaching and has been studying the Qur'an for over two decades with many scholars. Hafiz Abdullah has written specialist articles on the Qur'an and has a large collection of works on the Qur'an including over 50 different translations of the Qur'an in English.

Teaching on Quranic Arabic Winter Courses

Akhlaq Chaudhry was born in Manchester, UK in 1982. He became involved in Islamic work at the tender age of 10, becoming a member of Young Muslims UK. He also became an active member of the Islamic Society at college and at university, serving as treasurer. He also served as an executive officer of YM Manchester. After graduating from university, he spent several years abroad pursuing Arabic and Islamic studies.

Academically, Akhlaaq graduated from University of Manchester with a BSc (Hons) degree in Geology, 2003. He then, went on to complete a Masters in Geology 2004. Since then, he has completed a 2 year post graduate business management diploma in June 2010. He is due to start his PGCE in Sciences at University of Manchester in September 2010.

He began studying Arabic and Islamic Studies seriously in 2001. He has had the opportunity to continue and broaden his studies into the various disciplines of the Shari'ah under the tutelage of several scholars in the Middle East and the United Kingdom.  In 2002, he travelled to Jordan where he studied Arabic Grammar, Fiqh, shariah and Aqidah. He then spent 2 years in Egypt 2004-2006, studying Nahw, Sarf, Balaahga Tajweed and Fiqh under various scholars.

From 2008-9, he attended intensive weekend courses with the UK based pre-eminent scholar of Hadith, Shaykh 'Abd Allah ibn Yusuf al-Judai', with whom he studied Arabic grammar.

Over this period and beyond, he had the opportunity to study with Shaykh Mohammad Akram Nadwi, (2009-10) focusing mainly on hadith and fiqh, but also branching out into usul al-fiqh (legal theory), adab (literature), and pre-Islamic poetry among other disciplines, Arabic grammar and tafsir.

Since his return to the UK in 2006, he has been teaching Classical and Quranic Courses in Manchester, Altrincham and in Leicester (Knowledge Seekers Summer Courses). He has lectured extensively and is a regular teacher at Islamic study courses.

Teaching on Quranic Arabic Winter Courses

AbdulWahid Hamid, writer, editor, educationalist, teacher and community activist, was born in Trinidad in 1943. His paternal grandfather had migrated to the Caribbean from Kanpur (Cawnpore) in India while his grandmother as a young Hindu girl of 14 was kidnapped off the streets by British agents in India and taken to Trinidad as an 'indentured labourer'. His best-selling 'Islam: the Natural Way' has been translated into several languages including French, Spanish, Turkish, Bossanski, Urdu and Malay. He has recently published 'Burnishing the Heart', selections from the Qur'an for self-awareness with some personal reflections. Earlier publications include a pioneering course for the teaching of Qur'anic Arabic, and life histories of the Companions of the Prophet based on original Arabic sources. He has edited numerous books including the important 'The Meccan Crucible' by Zakaria Bashier, and more recently M. S. Kayani's 'Pondering the Qur'an' and 'The Quest for Sanity - reflections on September 11 and the Aftermath'.

Prior to arriving in Britain in 1964, AbdulWahid was a primary school teacher and had a brief sojourn as a student at Al-Azhar in Cairo. In London, while doing further 'A' levels in Latin and History, he joined the Labour Party but left in disgust at Harold Wilson's Rhodesia policy.

AbdulWahid studied history and Arabic at the School of Oriental & African Studies. A life-long activist and mentor, he has been president of the London Islamic Circle, general secretary of the Federation of Students' Islamic Societies, editor of 'The Muslim', a member of the team that launched 'Impact International' in 1970, and a mainstay of community initiatives both in Trinidad and Britain, in particular the founding and development of The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). He was a member of the MCB panel that presented evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Religious Offences in October 2002. He was responsible for the major refurbishment of the Rabitah Centre and Mosque, Goodge Street, Central London under the supervision of the architect Ayyub Malik and the graphic designer Zafar Malik. His career has included work as a university lecturer and an educational consultant in Saudi Arabia and the teaching of Qur'anic Arabic in London, Chicago, Toronto, Trinidad and Bahrain.