Faculty & Administration

Shaykh Mujahid Abdul-Karim
Founder and Director
Instructor: Maaliki Fiqh, Islamic Studies
Mujahid Abdul-Karim was born and raised in Inglewood, California. He accepted Islam in 1994 while a student in undergraduate school. He became a serious student of the Islamic Sacred Sciences after a trip to Fez, Morocco where he was introduced to Maliki fiqh. Thereafter, he subsequently traveled to study in Tuwemurat, Mauritania, under the order of Shaykh Salek bin Siddina, to the village of Shaykh Murabit al Hajj al Fahfu. There he studied Maliki fiqh with Shaykh Abdur Rahman Hadamin, Shaykh Abdallah ibn Ahmedna, and Shaykh Muhammad Tahir. He spent time and studied with Shaykh Salek bin Siddina in his village, Dar as Salaam, before going to study in Tayseer Institute of Islamic Sciences of Shaykh Muhammad Hassan al Khadim. Mujahid is a long time student of Shaykh Salek Bin Siddina, with whom he studied a variety of Islamic Sciences, most notably the Kafaf al Mubtadi of Shaykh Muhammad Mauluud in fiqh, and the Idda’tul Djunna of Shaykh Ahmad al-Maqqari in Aqidah.. He went on to study the Mukhtasar Khalil with Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and with Shaykh Muhammad Hadamin and his brother Shaykh Abdur Rahman Hadamin in Al Ain, UAE.
Mujahid holds a B.A. in African-American Studies from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland; and an M.A. in African History from Howard University in Washington, DC. He also studied Islamic Political Science at The Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Virginia. His research interests include West African History, Slavery in the Muslim World, and the Shariah Sciences. Mujahid lives in the UAE where he teaches and works to develop Fayda Institute.

Cheikh Bwee Naji Limam ash-Shanquitti
Instructor: Quran, Maaliki Fiqh, Islamic Studies
Cheikh Bwee was born in Bangou, Mauritania in 1982. He studied in many traditional schools(mahadhar) all over Mauritania. Cheikh Bwee memorized the Holy Quran at an early age in his remote home village of Al-Jadidah, located in the municipality of Bangou, Hodh Chargui region. He studied al-Rasm al-Uthmani through the following texts: Al Muhtawa al-Jamia: Rasm al Sahaba wa Dhabt al –Tabi’i(The whole content; transcription of the Companion and control of the Tabi’i). The Hamlat al-Massomi
After studying the Matn of al-Akhdari and Murshid Mu’iin of Ibn Ashir, Cheikh Bwee went to Ahel Waweh Mahdhara in Amraj Province where he continued to consolidate his knowledge of the Quran. Then he went to Al-Kwaisi Mahdhara where he obtained the ijaza in Nafi and Hafs of Asim recitation methods from his Shaykh Mohamed Hassan Ould Sidi Mohamed. He then moved to the Levrewe Mahdhara in Trarza where he studied the following texts from his teacher Shaykh Bah Ould Mohamed Ali Ould Nema: Nadthm of al-Ajrumiyya(Ubayd ar-Rabbi), Laamiyatul Afaal of Ibn Maalik, Nadhtm of al-Ghazawaat of Ahmad al-Badawi, and The beginning of the Alfiyya with Ihmirar Ibn Buna to Inna wa Akhwaatuhaa.Then Cheikh Bwee moved to Al-Tayseer Mahdhara of Shaykh Muhammad Hassan al-Khadim, where he completed the study of the majority of the traditional Islamic Science texts such as: Alfiyya with Ihmirar Ibn Buna, Mukhtasar Khalil, Al-Kafaf, Al- Manhaj al-Muntakhab(Qawa’id Fiqhiyya), Sullam al-Akhdari in Mantiq, Ibn Abd Oumo in Uroodh, and Al-Muallakaat al-Saba’a and other poetry.
He also studied Maraaqi as-Su’uud with Shaykh Mohammed Ould Mahfouz. In addition to this, he studied Talaa’atul Anwaar in Mustalahal Hadith, and Alfiyyat al-Bayaan wa Tafseer and Tuhfatul Ahkaam by exchange at Al-Mahdhar al-Namuzadiyye School of Mauritanian Scholars Association.
Cheikh Bwee holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Islamic Studies from the Higher Institute of Islamic Studies and Research and the Modern University of Shanquit respectively. He holds an Ijaza in the Quranic recitations of Nafi’(Warsh and Qalun) and Hafs on Aasim. He holds a general ijaza in all texts he studies with the Eminent Mujaddid scholar Shaykh Muhammad Hassan al-Khadim from Tayseer Mahdhara.Today, Cheikh Bwee is the Imam and teacher of Islamic and Arabic Sciences at the Osama Bin Zaid Masjid in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

Shaykh Muhammad Abdur Sabur
Director of The Arabic Language Center
Instructor: Arabic Sciences
Shaykh Muhammad Abdus Sabur is a native New Yorker. He began studying Arabic in 1999 at the Fajr Institute in Cairo, Egypt. After spending approximately one year in Egypt, he moved to Jordan where he continued his Arabic studies with Arabic instructors from the city of Mafraq. After returning to New York after his stay in Jordan, Shaykh Muhammad completed his studies with Shaykh Adnan Abu Shama of Syria. Over the course of two years with Shaykh Adnan, he competed his studies in the Alfiyya of Ibn Maalik. Shaykh Muhammad is the author of “First Steps Towards the Wonders of the Arabic Language” which was written specifically to assist non-native Arabic speaking novices to take their first steps towards the acquisition of the Arabic Language. In the book, he introduces both vocabulary and Grammar that allows the learner to immediately begin using the language, along with exercises on verb morphology as an additional resource. Shaykh Muhammad has a dynamic style and method of teaching that is sure to facilitate progress and development for new Arabic learners.

Shaykh Muhammad Al-Zayn al-Jakani ash-Shanquitti
Instructor: Maaliki Fiqh, Islamic Studies
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Zayn Ibn Shamikh Al-Jakani ash-Shanquitti was born in 1981 in the capital city of Noakchott, Mauritania. He studied in numerous mahaadhir(pl. mahdhara) and received a number of ijazas by various scholars. Shaykh Zayn was a top student in the mahdhara of Shaykh Muhammad Hassan al-Khadim ash-Shanquitti, and received ijaza from him in a number of subjects including Fiqh, Aqidah, Usul, Qira’aat of Quran, and much more. Shaykh Zayn teaches from his home in Noakchott, Mauritania and continues to benefit others from his knowledge.

Shaykh Nasir Abdussalaam
Assistant Director
Instructor: Shaafi’i Fiqh, Islamic Studies
Nasir Abdussalam is the founding director of Saladin Islamic Seminary. He was born in St. Louis, MO, and raised mostly in Atlanta, GA. He accepted Islam in 2003 while attending Georgia State University, where he majored in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition. In 2008 he moved to Jordan, where he studied at the World Islamic Sciences and Education (W.I.S.E.) University for a Bachelor’s degree in Islamic Law and Legal Theory (al-fiqh wa usuluh), in addition to his traditional studies of theology, the Shafi’i school of law, and hadith for over the course of a decade with the likes of Sh. Abdul-Malik as-Sa’di, Sh. Shuayb al-Arna’ut (rahimahullah), Sh. Ahmad al-Hasanat, and others. He has taught privately and for Islamic American University, and is the translator of al-Ghazali’s The Forty Principles of the Religion and The Foundations of Belief, The Creed of Imam Bayhaqi, and Ibn Kathir’s Ikhtisar ‘Ulum al-Hadith. He is the imam of the Islamic Association of West Virginia in Charleston, WV and continues to study, teach, and translate.

Shaykh Subahi Musa
Director of Quran Studies
Subahi Adam Hamad Musa was born in Sudan 1994. He memorized Quran in 2005 according to Riwayat Ad-Duri ffrom Abi ‘Amr al-Busri and As-Susi from Abi ‘Amr. Also Riwayat Hafs from Aasim and Riwayat Warsh from Nafi’,
He taught Quran for almost 15 years beginning in his country of Sudan and then taughr in the United States and Canada since 2014 to the present.

Shaykh Nuh Saunders
Consultant of Quran Studies
Instructor: Quranic Studies
Nuh Saunders was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the grandson of converts to Islam who were sure to instill in him a love of Islam. As an aspiring Student of Knowledge, he began his studies in Arabic and Quranic studies at the Quba Institute in Philadelphia. He then began an in-depth study of Aqidah and Dawah withShaykh Abdur Rahman Sondalani privately. During this time, he was privileged to study Shafi Fiqh with Imam Muhammad Amin of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
At the advice of Imam Amin and many others, Ustadh Nuh set out to the Islamic world to further his pursuit of knowledge. At first, this led him to Egypt where he had the opportunity to study Arabic grammar and Tajweed with scholars of Al Azhar University. After that, he moved to Tarim, Yemen to enroll in the world-famous Dar Al Mustafa Islamic Seminary. He has studied the various Islamic sciences including fiqh, hadith, seerah, and tassawuf.
His main area of study is Quranic recitation. He was given the opportunity to study privately with such great Quran reciters such as Sayyid Ali Ba Alawi of Tarim
Hadramawt and Shaykh Bashar al Riz, who is one of the great reciters of Damascus and a direct student of Abul Hassan al Kurdi. He has memorized the main text in the science of Tajweed and received ijaza. He has been been in for the past six years where he is studying full time with the intention of specializing in Dawah, and Quranic recitation, along with the variant modes of recitation under the tutelage of great scholars such as Habib Umar Bin Hafidh and many others.

Shaykh Murabit Ibn Sidi Ibn Isa
Instructor: Islamic Studies
Shaykh Murabit Isa graduated from the mahdhara of Ahlul Bayyah and completed his studies and obtained an ijaza in seven recitations of Quran. He then traveled from the lands of Shanquitt to Saudi Arabia where he now lives in Medina al-Munawwara. There he conducts a mahdhara with students where he teaches Qawa’id Fiqhiyya, Usul al-Fiqh, Mantiq, Balagha, Nahw, and Fiqh.
Shaykh Murabit furthered his studies at a graduate level institute in Mauritania, The University College of Usul ad-Deen and Fiqh, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of Mauritania.
Shaykh Murabit Isa has memorized several texts of the Shariah Sciences aforementioned, as well as texts of Hadith such as the Alfiyyatul Iraqi and Tala’atul Anwar of Sidi Abdullah Ibn Hajj Ibrahim ash-Shanquitti.
Shaykh Murabit continues his work and residence in Medina while frequently traveling to his homeland of Mauritania.