Kufah Faculty

Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Omar Hussaini

Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Omar Hussaini memorized the Quran at Ma’had Ta’lim ul-Islam. He holds a BA in Psychology (2000) and MD degree. In 2006, he received degrees in both Shari’ah studies from Darul Uloom Zakariyyah, South Africa and Medicine from the University of Illinois. From 2007 to 2013, Shaykh Omar completed his medical residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and fellowships in Hematopathology and Molecular Genetic Pathology at Washington University in St. Louis. During this time, he also received formal authorization in the Islamic science of spiritual purification. Shaykh Omar is currently Director of Molecular Hematopathology at the Moffitt Cancer Center and Associate Professor of Oncological Sciences at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He lectures at retreats, I’tikaaf programs, universities, conferences, and mosques worldwide and teaches weekly classes in Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence, and spirituality.

Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed

Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed was born and raised in Manhattan. While at college at the University of Chicago, he turned to religion, and in 1999, he left America to spend twenty years abroad. He pursued the classical disciplines of Islamic learning, becoming a traditionally trained Islamic scholar, receiving the ‘Ālimiyyah and Takhassus fi’l-Fiqh degrees. He then served as an instructor and guide to university students and professionals in Pakistan, England, and South Africa. From 2005-2013, he was a professor of Islamic Thought and Intellectual History at leading universities in Pakistan, including LUMS and AKU. In 2017, he returned to academia to pursue a PhD in Islamic Intellectual History at the University of Oxford. From 2020-2023, he held research fellowships in Islamic philosophy at Princeton University and Yale University. Since 2023, he has worked as a researcher and administrator at a nonprofit institute in the Princeton area. He also serves as an academic advisor and remote instructor at Kufah. His talks are available at: Islamic Spirituality YouTube Channel

Shaykh Ahyan Yoonas

Shaykh Mohammad Ahyan Yoonas is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, where he began his Islamic education by completing Ḥifẓ at Masjid Omar bin Abdul Aziz. He pursued his ʿĀlimiyyah studies at Tibyan Seminary and later at DarusSalam Seminary, from which he graduated in 2023. He subsequently earned a Master’s degree in Islamic Texts with a concentration in Islamic Law from Zaytuna College, where he authored his thesis titled “Critically Speaking: Early Matn Criticism in the Ḥanafī Madhhab from Shaybānī to Ṭaḥāwī.” Deeply committed to community education, Ahyan has regularly delivered seminars, intensives, and lectures across the Metro Atlanta area. His intellectual interests center on Uṣūl al-Fiqh, Kalām, Philosophy, and the broader landscape of Islamic Intellectual History.

Shaykh Yousuf Ghouse

Shaykh Yousuf Ghouse was raised in Chicagoland. He memorized the Quran at the Institute of Islamic Education in Elgin, IL. After earning a degree in Mathematics from UIC, he pursued Islamic studies full time at DarusSalam and then Darul Uloom Zakariyya in South Africa, where he completed the 7-year Alimiyyah program and a post-graduate specialization in hadith. He is the founder of Brighter Futures and teaches at DarusSalam Seminary in Lombard, IL.

Shaykh Dr. Mohammed Ali Ismail

Shaykh Dr. Mohammed Ali Ismail was raised in Florida and studied at USF, where he served as MSA president. He began Islamic studies while pursuing medical school and radiology residency at Ohio State University. He studied the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum through multiple institutes and graduated from Jamia Falah Darayn in Dayton, OH in 2024. He is now an Assistant Professor at OSU and an Abdominal Radiologist.

ʿĀlimah Syeda Zeba

ʿĀlimah Syeda Zeba was raised in the UAE and the U.S. A mother of five, she studied Tajwīd in St. Louis and began Tazkiyah training in Chicago. She completed her Alimah/Shariah degree in Lusaka, Zambia at Jamia Zainab in 2015. She is co-founder of Makkiyyah Institute and teaches advanced hadīth and other sciences. She also has experience in community counseling and regularly teaches women and youth globally.

ʿĀlimah Dr. Ambareen Khan

Raised in Philadelphia, ʿĀlimah Dr. Ambareen Khan studied at Villanova University and completed medical school and anesthesiology residency at Drexel University. While balancing motherhood and medicine, she pursued tajwīd in 2015 and completed her Alimah degree from Zaynab Institute in 2024. She resides in Tampa, FL.

ʿĀlimah Amera Khanum

ʿĀlimah Amera Khanum was raised in India and moved to the U.S. 28 years ago. She holds a degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering and has studied Islamic sciences with institutions including Zaynab Institute, Makkiyyah Institute, Rabata, and Seekers Guidance. She recently completed a six-year Alimah program at Zaynab Institute and actively organizes Islamic programs and events.

ʿĀlimah Lubna Zaffer

ʿĀlimah Lubna Zaffer has lived in Louisiana, and now resides in Tampa, Florida. She is a proud mother of three. Having graduated from Zaynab Institute, she now teaches Purification of the Heart and Spiritual Parenting at the same institute. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of New Orleans. ʿĀlimah Lubna is an Islamic Studies teacher at Bayaan Academy, teaching a variety of Islamic sciences to Muslim children.