Al-Sharaf Institute

Scholarship rooted in an unbroken chain

Our teachers have studied at the great seats of Islamic learning — from Damascus and al-Azhar to the traditional Dars-e-Nizami institutions of the subcontinent — and sat with the foremost scholars of their age. Each brings that inheritance into the classroom, so what you study here reaches you the way it has always been transmitted: from a teacher, with care, and with a chain behind it.

5Resident scholars

3Visiting scholars

15Courses taught

Shaykh Naveed Jameel

Principal

Shaykh Muhammad Naveed Jameel was born and raised in Nottingham. The Shaykh began his journey in the study of the Islamic Sciences at the age of 17 at the exemplary institution of Jamia Nizamiyya Ridawiyyah in Pakistan. Here the Shaykh attained his foundations in the Islamic sciences studying the traditional Nizamiyya Syllabus for 4 years under the guidance of eminent scholars such as the erudite Allamah Abdul Hakeem Sharaf al-Qadri, Shaykh al-Hadith Pir Muhammad Chishti, Shaykh al-Hadith Dil Muhammad Chishti, Shaykh al-Hadith Allamah Khadim Hussain Rizvi, and Shaykh al-Hadith Hafiz Abdul Sattar Saeedi.

Thereafter, the Shaykh travelled to Syria where he spent a further 5 years studying at the renowned Ma’had al-Fath al-Islami, and studied advanced Aqidah, Fiqh, Usul and much more with the foremost scholars of Damascus such as Shaykh Muhammad Jumu’ah’, Shaykh Dr Saeed Ramadan al-Buti, Shaykh Abd al-Hadi al-Kharsa, Shaykh Fawwaz al-Nimr and Shaykh Osama Rifai. Upon his return to the UK he continued his studies under the tutelage of Mufti Ashfaq Ridawi in Nottingham and began to teach the Islamic sciences.

Shaykh Issarar Hussain

Senior Lecturer

Shaykh Issarar Hussain was born in Sheffield and began his journey in the study of Islam through the memorisation of the Qur’an. He then completed his A-levels and began his studies of the sacred sciences. After studying the Nizamiyya syllabus for 6 years in the UK; he then travelled to Egypt where he further enhanced his knowledge at the world renowned Al Azhar Masjid. The Shaykh was blessed to study under the tutelage of eminent scholars such Shaykh Ashraf Hamid al-Azhari, Shaykh Dr Ahmad Ma’bad Abd al-Karim, Shaykh Taha Rayyan and many other learned Ulama of Al-Azhar. In particular he studied comparative fiqh with Dr Amr Ghanem al-Azhari, a professor of Islamic law in Al Azhar over a period of two years in order to deepen his understanding of Islamic Jurisprudence. Following this, he completed the rigorous Dawra al-Hadith and the Takhasus fi al-Fiqh program with the inheritor of the Bandayalwi tradition, Shaykh Fadl Subhan al-Qadri. He also holds a Masters degree in Islamic Theology from the University of Nottingham.

Shaykh Mubeen Raza

Lecturer

Shaykh Mubeen Raza, originally from Coventry, studied Human Physiology at the University of Leeds, earning a BSc (Hons). His interest later shifted to sacred Islamic knowledge, which he pursued in Jamia tul Madina in Bradford and Birmingham, and further advanced in Karachi and Lahore. There, he studied under prominent scholars such as Mufti Hashim Khan Attari and Mufti Muhammad Qasim Attari, specializing in Islamic jurisprudence and Quranic exegesis.

He holds ijazaat from prominent scholars of the UK, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.

Shaykh Mubeen also benefited from various teachers, including Shaykh Asrar Rashid and the highly respected Imam al-Mudarrisīn, al-‘Allāma Ghulam Muhammad Tonswi, who was a student of the legendary al-Imām ‘Ataa Muhammad Bandyalwi. Additionally, during a two-year stay in Turkey, he studied Tasawwuf, Tafsir, Hadith, and other Islamic sciences while enhancing his conversational Arabic.

With over a decade of experience in teaching Islamic sciences, Shaykh Mubeen focuses on Arabic grammar, rhetoric, Ḥadīth, and Tafsīr.

Shaykh Mahin Saiyed al-Azhari

Lecturer

Shaykh Mahin Saiyed al-Azhari, a distinguished Islamic scholar from the United Kingdom has studied under the guidance of renowned scholars like Allama Abu al-Mahmood Nishtar (Wales, UK), Shaykh Muhammad Naveed Jameel, Moulana Hafiz Gul Muhammad, and Moulana Zein Hud (all based in the UK). His quest for knowledge led him to seek out the Ulama of Egypt, where he spent time at the famous Al Azhar Masjid. There, he benefitted from eminent scholars, including Dr Amr Ghanem al-Azhari, as Dr Ayman Hajjar, Shaykh Ahmad al-Sharif and other learned scholars of Al-Azhar.

Moulana Sufyan Arshad

Lecturer

Shaykh Sufyan Arshad is a traditionally trained Islamic scholar, born in Germany and raised in the UK. His journey into Islamic scholarship began after a transformative I‘tikāf experience, which led him to pursue the ‘Ālimiyyah course at Jāmi‘ah-tul-Madīnah UK. Over six years, he studied under esteemed teachers such as Mawlānā Shahid Raza, Mawlānā Rashid Ghani, Mawlānā Amir, and Shaykh Mubeen Raza.

Upon graduating, Shaykh Sufyan began teaching the sacred sciences and continues to serve the community through education and guidance. He is also furthering his studies under Dr. Shaykh Mufti Monawwar Ateeq, deepening his expertise in advanced Islamic disciplines.

Shaykh Abdul Qadir Hussain

Visiting Lecturer

Dr. Abdul Qadir Hussain was born in the city of Al-Mayadin (Ar-Rahba) in the Euphrates Valley, Syria, in 1391 AH. He studied at both the Faculty of Sharia at the University of Damascus and the Islamic University of Madinah. He earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Islamic Jurisprudence and its Principles from the University of Damascus, where he was later appointed as a teaching assistant in the Department of Qur’an and Sunnah Sciences. He went on to obtain a Master’s and then a PhD in Islamic Sharia, with his doctoral thesis titled معاییر القبول والرد “Criteria for Acceptance and Rejection in the Interpretation of the Qur’anic Text.”

After academia in Syria, he relocated due to the war. He has lived and taught in Turkey, including a stint teaching at Yalova University۔ The shaykh is currently an active lecturer on tafsīr/ʿulūm al-Qur’ān and contemporary issues online.

Shaykh Haroun Kanj

Guest Lecturer

Shaykh Haroun Kanj is a contemporary Sunni scholar and da’i based in Australia, originally of Lebanese descent. He studied the Islamic sciences with the renowned scholars of Yemen, Lebanon and Syria and is passionate about reviving traditional Islam as understood by generations of scholars throughout our history by following the two schools of Aqeedah (Ashari and Maturidi), one of the four schools of law (Hanafi, Maaliki, Shafii and Hanbali) and the spiritual path (Tariqa).

Shaykh Haroun currently teaches a broad range of subjects including Aqidah (theology), Fiqh (jurisprudence), Hadith, Quran and Arabic Grammar to hundreds of students of knowledge in Australia.

Shaykh Adham Al Asimi

Visiting Lecturer

Shaykh Adham al-Asimi is a renowned scholar from Syria. Shaykh Adham was born in 1983 in Syria, and he pursued his Islamic studies at the Fatih Islamic Institute in Damascus. He graduated with the highest distinction in his studies specializing in creed, logic, and Hadith, and now he serves as the Imam and the Khatib of Al-Bashir Mosque in Damascus.

مُدَرِّسُو مَعْهَدِ الشَّرَفِ

Scholarship rooted in an unbroken chain

Shaykh Naveed Jameel

Shaykh Issarar Hussain

Shaykh Mubeen Raza

Shaykh Mahin Saiyed al-Azhari

Moulana Sufyan Arshad

Visiting Instructors

Shaykh Abdul Qadir Hussain

Shaykh Haroun Kanj

Shaykh Adham Al Asimi

Study with our teachers