Guest Instructors

Islamic Studies

Guest Instructor Bios

Sheikha Zaynab Ansari

Zaynab Ansari is a native Southerner with Northern roots. She spent several years studying the core Islamic sciences, including Arabic, jurisprudence, Qur’anic recitation & commentary, Hadith, and Prophetic biography in Damascus, Syria at Abu Nour Masjid’s college preparatory program. Upon her return to the United States, she continued her Islamic studies privately with Shaykh Khalil Abdur-Rashid, Imam of New York’s Iqra Masjid, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Educational Director of SeekersHub Global Islamic Seminary, Shaykh Jamal Ud-Deen Hysaw, and Dr. Fareeha Khan, Assistant Professor of Religion & Anthropology at Willamette University. From 2004 to 2009, she volunteered, answered questions, and taught at SunniPath Academy. She currently answers questions for SeekersHub, writes for Azizah Magazine’s Deen Department, and volunteers with the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta. Upon her return to the United States, she earned degrees in history and Middle Eastern Studies from Georgia State University. Since 2014, Zaynab Ansari has served as a scholar-in-residence for Tayseer Foundation, offering enrichment courses and halaqahs to women and youth in the Muslim Community of Knoxville, and working on interfaith dialogue. She is currently an instructor at Tayseer Seminary, which features a one-year intensive in Islamic Studies, drawing students from Tennessee and all regions of the United States.

Ustadha Hosai Mojadid

Ustadha Hosai Mojaddidi has served the Muslim community in the San Fransico Bay Area for 20 years, as an organizer, teacher, spiritual counselor, mentor, and mental health advocate. She holds a Bachelors in Liberal Studies with a minor in sociology. Her traditional studies of the classical sciences of Islam have included Tazkiyah an-Nafs, Arabic, Hadith, and Hanafi fiqh through Zaytuna Institute. Ustadha Hosai has many teachers such Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Abdullah al-Kadi, Qari Amar Bellaha, and others. Ustadha Hosai is passionate about transformative internal change for muslim women and runs workshops and writes articles about this.

Dr. Sh. Ayshah Wazwaz

Dr. Sh. Ayshah Wazwaz has studied the Islamic sciences for nearly two decades and specializes in Fiqh. She has studied at Dar al-Hadith and Dar al-Quran, in Masjid al-Aqsa. Shaykha Ayshah went on to complete a Bachelors in Islamic Jurisprudence and Masters in Contemporary Islamic Science from al-Quds University, Palestine, and a Phd in Islamic Studies from Jinan University. Shaykha has been a Lecturer at various Masajid and organizations for 17 years, and has been a lecturer at Islamic University of Minnesota for 4 years. She is the founder and CEO of Gems of Light.

Ustadha Aisha A. Arshad

Ustadha Aisha Arshad is a motivational speaker for American Muslims. Her most popular talk, “How to Be Unapologetically Muslim While Living Your Best Life”, has been well-received at several masjids and MSAs including Cornell, IAGD, MCWS Youth, the University of Michigan Dearborn, the Islamic Foundation of Lincoln, and more.

In 2020 she developed a mentorship program for sisters called The Strong Believer, where she coaches Muslim women on how to step up without burning out.

Ustadha Aisha is the Academics Head for Qabeelah Ittihaad, which is the Michigan chapter of AlMaghrib, where she co-hosts their weekly online halaqa. And she is a certified speaker with ING MidWest where she delivers educational presentations about Islam and Muslims to schools, colleges, and other community organizations.

In 2016 she was part of the research team at ISPU on the Muslims for American Progress (MAP) study, where she interviewed over 40 Muslims in Michigan on their contributions to American society.