Student Spotlight: Halah Zumrawi
March 17, 2021
Why TISA? The Islamic Seminary of America is an institution that I could only dream of as a younger student. I was drawn in by
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Our nation needs scholars and leaders just like you to serve the American-Muslim community while promoting a greater understanding of Islam throughout contemporary society..
The Islamic Seminary of America, an Islamic Seminary Foundation institution, is a lighthouse of knowledge and faith devoted to equipping American-based leaders. We aspire to raise the general level of Islamic understanding within the American Muslim community and throughout American society. Let us help raise you to a new level of growth in your desire to live out Muslim ideals of justice, equity and contribution to the common good.
Our mission is to be the world’s preeminent community of scholars where generations of religious scholars and ethical leaders pursue the highest levels of knowledge, research and training, rooted in the Quran and Sunnah and integrating the rich traditions of classical Islamic knowledge with Western academic scholarship.
Why TISA? The Islamic Seminary of America is an institution that I could only dream of as a younger student. I was drawn in by
Bahiyyah Muhammad Visiting Faculty Member, TISA Assistant Professor | Department of Sociology and Anthropology College of Arts & Sciences, Howard University Bahiyyah M. Muhammad received
ISNA Presents its new 2020-22 Leadership Team ISNA’s new 2020-22 leadership team was inducted during the ISNA’s 57th — and first virtual — Annual Convention.
Dalia Mogahed is the Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, where she leads the organization’s pioneering research and thought leadership programs on American Muslims. Mogahed is former Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, where she led the analysis of surveys of Muslim communities worldwide. With John L. Esposito, she co-authored the book Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. President Barack Obama appointed Mogahed to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in 2009. She was invited to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about U.S. engagement with Muslim communities. Her 2016 TED talk was named one of the top TED talks that year. She is a frequent expert commentator in global media outlets and international forums. She is also the CEO of Mogahed Consulting.
Shaykha Tamara Gray is the founder of Rabata, an organization dedicated to promoting positive cultural change through creative educational experiences. She is an Islamic scholar and holds multiple ijazas in Islamic sacred texts and subject matters. Shaykha Tamara recieved her doctorate from the Leadership, Policy and Administration program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. She holds a master’s degree in Curriculum Theory and Instruction, and worked for twenty-five years in the field of education, before moving into the non-profit world.
Shaykha Tamara works as Executive Director for Rabata, building and sustaining its many and varied educational projects. Some of the projects of Rabata are: the Ribaat Academic Program; an online seminary for Muslim women, Daybreak Press publishing, Daybreak Bookshop and Community Gathering Space, Leadership and Legacy Curriculum Materials, etc.. She is also a community faculty member at Metropolitan State University in the Ethics and Religious Studies department, and Associate Chaplain at the University of St. Thomas.
Shaykha Tamara is also a public speaker, often engaged to speak about issues of gender, leadership, Islam, and spirituality; locally, nationally and globally. Some of her platforms have included the International Leadership Association, the World Parliament of Religions, the Bonyaan conference on the Muslim woman (Sweden), the Islamic Society of North America and several universities, including Princeton, Virginia Tech and Oxford University.
Her publications range from several culturally appropriate English language curriculum programs to translations of sacred texts. Shaykha Tamara’s most recent work is the translation of Mukhtasir al-Jami’ fi al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya by Samīra Zayid [Compendium of the Collection of Sources on al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya] (Co-translator) scheduled for release in Fall 2017. Her book, Joy Jots: Exercises for a Happy Heart, is in its third print.
Shaykha Tamara is part of the ISNA task force for more inclusive and welcoming mosques, on the advisory board of Muslim Women’s Association of Chicago, and the Muslim Anti-Racism Committee. She also sits on the board of Sakana Community Resource, working with faith based financial tools and affordable housing, and on the board of the Collegeville Instititute’s Interreligious Fellows Program, working to develop educational programming for faith leaders around social justice issues.
Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Bagby’s research focuses on the study of the American Muslim community in general and masjids in particular. PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan. Director of ISNA’s Masjid Development Initiative. Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding. Board member of Muslim Alliance of North America, Masjid Bilal (Lexington, KY) and CAIR-KY.
Raised in the U.S., Ustadha Rania Awaad began her formal study of the traditional Islamic sciences when her parents permitted her to travel to Damascus, Syria at the age of 14. Her desire to continue studying the Deen resulted in multiple trips back to Damascus, interspersed between her high school, college and medical studies. She was honored to receive Ijaazah (authorization to teach) several branches of the Shari’ah sciences at the hands of many renowned scholars, including many female scholars. She has received Ijaazah to teach Tajwid in both the Hafs and Warsh recitations from the late eminent Syrian scholar, Shaykh Abu Hassan al-Kurdi. In addition to completing several advanced texts of the Shafi’i madhhab, she is licensed to teach texts of Maliki fiqh, Adab and Ihsan. Currently, Ustadha Rania teaches online and local classes for The Rahmah Foundation, Rabata, and is on faculty of Zaytuna College where she teaches courses in Shafi’i fiqh, women’s issues in fiqh, and has helped develop and co-direct the Tajweed and Hifz progam.
Ustadha Rania also a medical doctor with a specialty in Psychiatry. She completed her Psychiatric residency and fellowship training at Stanford University where she is currently on the faculty as a Clinical Instructor in the Stanford Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences department. Her medical interests include addressing mental health care concerns in the Muslim community- particularly that of Muslim women and girls. She has been awarded grants from the NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) to conduct research on this topic and has presented her findings at several medical conferences. Other on-going endeavors include the compilation of manuscripts addressing female-related mental health and medical issues from a fiqh-oriented perspective. She currently serves as the Director of the Rahmah Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching Muslim women and girls traditional Islamic knowledge. In this capacity she also heads the Murbbiyah Mentoring Program which trains young women how to teach and mentor Muslim girls and teens. Ustadha Rania is both a wife and a mother; she has been counseling and teaching women classes on Tajwid, Shafi’i Fiqh, Ihsan, marriage and raising children since 1999.
