Our Vision
Islamic Literacy is a web-based educational platform that allows Muslims to take courses on Islamic topics with high-caliber teachers. The goal of Islamic Literacy is to make Muslims Islamically literate.
215
Current Students
Shaykh Rizwan Arastu
Founder of Islamic Literacy
2010
Founded
14 years in operation. Over 60 courses offered
Students from US, UK, Canada, Dubai, Tanzania, South Africa, India, Iran, Philippines, Germany, Australia, Nigeria, Pakistan…
Shaykh Rizwan Arastu
Shaykh Rizwan Arastu is a graduate of the Islamic Seminary of Qum and Princeton University. He is the founding director of the Islamic Texts Institute, a non-profit aimed at making Islamic sources accessible to non-specialists. He is also the founder of Islamic-Literacy.org, a web-based educational platform that aims to help all Muslims become Islamically literate. He lives with his wife and six children in Elgin, IL.
Sayyid Sulayman Hassan
Sayyid Sulayman Hassan was born and raised in Western New York where he attended both school and college. While still in high school, he would attend classes in Arabic and fiqh at the Hawza Ilmiyya in Medina, New York, after which he attended the University of Buffalo and received a bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1997. Immediately after graduating from college, he went to Qum, Iran, to study at the Hawzah. In Qum, he soon studied the standard texts taught within the Hawza and proceeded to the advanced study of fiqh, during which time he also taught several of the standard Hawzah texts and translated several books and articles into English. Sayyid Sulayman holds a PhD from the University of Chicago. He is the co-imam at the Imam al-ʿAṣr Mosque. He is a long-standing board member of the Islamic Texts Institute and a content editor for ITI’s publications. Sayyid Sulayman currently resides with his wife and three children in Virginia, where he continues to study and teach.
Shaykh Mohammed Al-Saadi
Shaykh Mohammed was born and raised in the United States and is a graduate of the Islamic seminary (ḥawzah) in Najaf, Iraq. He has a bachelor’s degree in Communications with a double emphasis in Electronic Media and Speech from the University of Michigan where he also minored in Philosophy and completed his Pre-Medical requirements. Shaykh Mohammed Al-Saadi is the co-founder of Shield Families, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting Muslims living in the West in starting, building, and sustaining devout families dedicated to the service of God through offering programs catering to the different stages of family development While in the US, he resides in Dearborn Heights, MI where he continues to research, while also serving various communities, focusing on family and community development.
Ustadhah Zahraa Hamka
Ustadhah Zahraa Hamka received her Bachelor of Science from Wayne State University with a major in Psychology and a minor in Mathematics. She is also a graduate of the Islamic Seminary of Najaf, Iraq. She splits her time between homeschooling her three boys, continuing her Islamic research, and educating women in Islam. In 2021, she co-founded Shield Families, a non-profit organization aimed at nurturing devout Muslim families. She currently resides in Dallas, TX with her husband, Shaykh Mohammed al-Saadi, and their three boys.
Sayyidah Shahnaze Safieddine
Sayyidah Shahnaze Safieddine holds a BA in English literature, an MA in English as a Second Language (ESL) from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and a certificate in secondary education. She studied in the Islamic Seminary of Qum for six years. She has taught practical ethics at the Hawza Ilmiyya of England. She is a co-founder and instructor for Workshops for Islamic Educators (WIE). She is currently a full-time ELA middle school teacher at the Huda Upper School in Michigan. She is also a PhD candidate at Sophia University Institute. Her doctoral thesis focuses on establishing a culture of truthfulness within the educational system.
Ustadhah Fatemah Meghji
Ustadha Fatemah Meghji is based in her hometown, Vancouver, BC, on unceded First Nations Territories. She received her BA in English Literature and Religious Studies from the University of British Columbia in 2010. After graduating from UBC, she studied at Jamiah al-Zahra in Qum, Iran from 2011 to 2016, and recently completed her MA in Qur'anic Exegesis & Qur'anic Sciences. Her research interests include the Qur'an, its exegesis, ethics, and contemporary social issues, especially the struggles of women in modernity.
Sayyidah Israa Safieddine
Sayyidah Israa Safieddine is a teacher and educational consultant from Michigan who specializes in Islamic instruction and educational training. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she earned an MA in public administration with a focus in assessment and evaluation. She also studied at Jami`at al-Zahra in Qom, as well as al-Qaem Institute in the US. Between 2016 and 2018, she taught theology at the Hawza Ilmiyya of England. She is a founding member and an instructor for Workshops for Islamic Educators (WIE), as well as the interfaith coordinator for Risalat International Institute. In the summer of 2022, she co-founded the Oasis Institute for Outreach & Education, an initiative dedicated to meeting increasing demands for Islamic programs and courses (edoasis.org).
Ustadhah Maryam Sarrafee
Maryam Sarrafee was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in Northern Virginia. After graduating from George Washington University with a degree in International Affairs, she joined her husband in Iran in 2004, where she attended classes in Qur'an and Islamic studies at the Hawzah in Qum. She obtained a Master's in Education from Roosevelt University in 2012. She is a mother of three and lives with her family near Chicago, Illinois.