Instructor Bios

Dr. Sh. Haifaa Younis is an American Board Certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist with roots from Iraq. Her pursuit of Islamic knowledge began when she began to study with various Islamic scholars from across the United States while she simultaneously attended individual courses and lectures on subjects including Aqeeda, Fiqh, usual Fiqh, Hadeeth, and Tazkiyah (purification of the soul). From the United States, she moved to Saudi Arabia where she graduated from the Mecca Institute of Islamic Studies (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) and Al-Huda Qur’an Memorization School (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) where she completed the memorization of the Qur’an. She is the founder and Chairman of Jannah Institute and currently teaches seminars on the thematic commentary of various chapters of the Holy Qur’an and their practical relevance in our day-to-day living. Additionally, she offers retreats on key topics that inspire hearts, combining the inner essence of Islam with an outward expression of practice. Dr. Haifaa is passionate about spreading the word of Allah (SBW) and igniting the love of Islam and the Qur’an through her teachings.

Hafidha Rana has been teaching girls and women in Jannah Institute since 2013. She has successfully graduated more than 13 hafizat from the Jannah Institute Pearls Program (hifz program for young girls) between 2013-2017 and continue to teach women proper recitation and memorization .She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and her teaching diploma at the Syrian University in Damascus. She memorized the Qur’an in Beirut, Lebanon with shaykha Nahed Khalil Khattab and received her Hifz Ijazah and Al-jazariyya poem (certification) in the recitation of Hafis ‘an Asim from the highest authority of Qur’an memorization in Syria under Shaykh Muhyee Ad Deen AlKurdi in 2002 and Since then, she has taught Qur’an with tajweed and Al-Jazariyya .She loves teaching the Qur’an and is filled with joy when her students proceed forward in their Qur’an pronunciation or memorization. She feels that it is essential for every woman to dedicate time to improve her spiritual life by learning the Qur’an and other Islamic knowledge. As a mother of five, she knows the importance of balancing between a woman duties and her pursuit of knowledge in preparation for the Day of Judgement.

Ustadha Shaista's journey of learning tajweed began when she took the Alhuda online course in 2009. After that, she enrolled in the very first batch of Jannah Institute students joining to improve their tajweed with Ustatha Rowhea Nawa. In 2015, she completed her Itqaan course with Ustatha Alaa at JI. She started teaching in 2014 during the weekends. Starting in 2015, she taught the Itqaan Course for 3 years. Currently she is focusing on teaching Tajweed in Urdu.

Hafidha Lina is originally from Syria. She currently lives in Saint Louis, MO. She holds a degree in public health and architecture. The degree she honors the most is the one I have in Qur’an. Usatatha Lina describes her journey with the Holy Quran as one that “teaches me that sincerity is what matters most. Hard work and persistence is the boat that drives you to your goal. However, sincerity drives you safely.”  She has taught Tajweed’s rules in theory and in practice in small private classes, and has been teaching for the Jannah Institute since August of 2019. Her goal is to have students perfecting their recitation of the Holy Quran, and eventually, become teachers themselves and transfer the knowledge to other students.

Ustadha Nezha is originally from Morocco, and a mom of a 10 year old. She completed her studies in Itqan at Jannah Institute during 2015-2018. She started memorizing the Quran at Jannah Institute. In January 2019, she started teaching the Perfecting Quran course, and last school year 2019-2020, she started teaching the Quran for Beginners course.

Hafidha Afiyah holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and philosophy from Oxford University, and a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. She began her journey with the Qur’an after the birth of her first child, and it has become her career and passion since. She obtained ijazah in the memorisation of Qur’an whilst living in the Middle East, and has also learnt and taught tajweed at Dar Al Huda, Jeddah. She is currently based in the United Kingdom.

Ustadha Faiza Khan holds a Bachelor’s in English Literature from California State University, Fresno. She started her Quran journey by enrolling in various courses online and by studying tajweed at the Quran Institute of America in Detroit, Michigan. From there, she completed the Bayyinah Dream program and is currently a student at the Qalam Seminary. Having teaching experience in various secular settings, Faiza is most passionate however about teaching and learning the Arabic language. She resides in Dallas, Texas, with her husband and kids.

Hafidha Tasneem completed her master’s degree in computer science from the University of Arizona in 2011 and began her Qur’ān journey shortly afterwards. She studied under Ustadha Badia Khazaal of Southern California for nearly 5 years, completing her hifth and earning an ijāzah in the recitation of Ḥafṣ by the way of Shāṭibiyyah. Currently, she is working on strengthening her memorization by studying the mutashābihāt of the Qur’ān under Dr. Haifaa Younis. She is also studying the ten variant readings of the Qur’ān under Shaykh Uthman Khan of Critical Loyalty. For the past two years, she has been teaching introductory tajweed to a small group of adult sisters in her local community in Houston, Texas.

Hafidha Amina Mujela-Botic finished her Bachelor’s degree at Faculty of Islamic Studies in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, at department of Islamic Theology, as one of the highest ranked students and the receiver of the Golden badge from the University of Sarajevo. She was a student assistant for the Qira’atu-l-Qur’an class at Faculty of Islamic studies, and is currently at Islam in Europe master’s studies at the same faculty. Amina has three years of experience in teaching classes of Qur’an, tajweed, Arabic letters and hifdh of the Qur’an, and has  completed her hifdh of the Qur’an. She studied the Qur’an under Shaykh qurra hafidh Armin Abaza, Shaykh qurra hafidh Dzevad Sosic, and Shaykh hafidh Kenan Music.

First introduced to Jannah Institute by a friend in 2018, Hafidha Ayat’s serious learning journey began as a student of Dr. Haifaa. Memorization of the Quran was completed shortly before the start of this journey Alhamdulila and was accompanied by the passion to focus on learning the means of purification of the heart, Tazkiyah. Since being introduced to Jannah Institite, she has been enrolled in the Tazkiyah, Quran and Hifth revision courses with Dr. Haifaa. With a love for sports and math, Ayat is energetically motivated to help and encourage other sisters in their Hifth journey incorporating summary sheets and memorization tips she has been taught along the way.

Hafidha Fatima Rashid has been teaching Tajweed since 2007. She completed the Tajweed course from Dar Al Huda Quran school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She then went on to teach in the same school. After moving to Madinah she started teaching online and has been teaching online since 2013. Hafidha Fatima Rashid obtained an Ijaazah in the Jazariyyah from Sheikhah Rabeeah Shad. She obtained an ijaazah in the three books of tajweed written by Sheikhah Kareema Czerespinski from Sheikhah herself, Alhamdulillah. She has memorized the Quran by the grace of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'laa and is  studying different Qira’aat from the Qira’aat Al Ashr min tarqeeq Ash Shatibiyyah (the 10 methods of recitation by the way of Ash Shatibiyyah) She is very passionate about teaching tajweed. Her aim and hope is to help as many students as possible to be able to recite the Quran correctly as our beloved Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) recited.

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 Maryam Amir received her master’s in Education from UCLA and holds a second bachelor’s degree in Islamic Studies through Al-Azhar University. She has memorized the Qur’an and works in the field of Quran recitation and women’s spirituality. She’s been featured in news outlets including BBC, NPR and CBS and lectures internationally. She holds a second degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do.