Teachers
Educating a Child is a Trust
The great Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī ra explains how a child’s education is a trust for us to fulfill:
‘The child is a trust placed in the hands of his parents. His pure heart is a priceless, simple essence that is bereft of all impressions and imagery. However, it is receptive to every impression and inclines towards everything that is naturally inclined towards. If he is habituated upon good and instructed in it, then he is raised upon it and is thereby felicitous in the World and the Hereafter. His parents thereby share his reward with him, as does every teacher and caregiver of his. However, if he is habituated upon evil and neglect, in the manner that animals are neglected, then he becomes wretched and is destroyed, with the burden of sin being upon his guardian and the one in charge of his affairs.’
Teachers
All of our teachers are DBS checked and undergo regular safeguarding training for both
adults
and children.
They are proficient in their subjects and have considerable experience
in
the
teaching of Arabic and Islamic sciences at various levels.
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Shaykh Mustafa Muhammad Salim
In 2010 Shaykh Mustafa left for the blessed lands of Tarim in order to seek sacred knowledge. For a year, he immersed himself in the study of Arabic. Guided by an unyielding desire to be closer to Allah’s words, he then embarked upon memorising the noble Qur’ān.
Under the guidance of the venerable Habib Umar bin Hafiz, he undertook a remarkable 10- year program studying the Islamic sciences including Qur’ānic Tafseer, Shafi Jurisprudence, Hadith and Arabic Grammar.
After graduating in 2021, he went on to teach Qur’ānic Tafseer, Fiqh of Inheritance and the Arabic language at Dar al Mustafa. Whilst teaching at Dar al Mustafa, he studied the 7 modes of recitation with Sanad at Mahad al Aydarus Qur’ān school in Tarim.
Shaykh Mustafa is now back in the UK and has continued to spread the knowledge taken from the blessed lands of Tarim.
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Shaykh Shakeel Ahmed
Born and raised in Nelson, Lancashire, Shaykh Shakeel completed the Micro Madrasah programme in 2010. He then remained as part of the administration team for a further 4 years. He departed for Cairo, Egypt in 2014 where he studied the Arabic language and Qur’anic recitation for over 3 years. He then travelled to the blessed city of Tarim, Yemen where he studied a number of Islamic sciences for a further 5 years.
He is now returning to the UK to disseminate the knowledge that he has taken over the last 9 years.
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Shaykh Luqman
Shaykh Luqman completed memorisation of the entire Qur’ān at a young age. He has also undertaken a 3 years course in the Micro Madrasah course under Shaykh Ibrahim and Shaykh Haroon and a two year Arabic language course. Shaykh Luqman holds the honourable position of the resident Imam at the Rawḍah Mosque in Mustafa Mount and leads the daily congregational prayers.
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Ustadh Saqib Tariq
Currently residing in Leeds, Ustadh Saqib has completed the Micro Madrasah program as well as the 3 year Arabic Madrasah. He has been blessed to study under, and attain numerous ijāzāt from, many luminaries of the tradition in various Islamic sciences and disciplines, including tajwīd. He has also studied inshād with Syrian and Moroccan teachers, and spent 6 months studying in the prestigious Dar al-Mustafa institute in Tarim, in addition to attending the summer Dowra program 3 times. He continues his studies and has been leading a weekly mawlid in Leeds since 2018.
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Shaykh Haroon Hanif
Shaykh Haroon began his path of studying Islam almost thirty years ago. His path of learning began with studying with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf in Liverpool. He travelled to France to study Arabic at IESH for one year. He returned and spent a decade working as a Housing Officer whilst at the same time continuing his Islamic studies. He received grounding in a number of sciences, particularly jurisprudence and language. During this time he taught students privately and on courses nationally. He then travelled to Syria in 2007 where he spent three years completing his studies. There he sat in the classes with some of the greatest scholars of Damascus including Shaykh Said Ramadan al-Buti and Shaykh Usama Rifa’i. He studied with many scholars particularly Shaykh Muhammad Jum’ah, Shaykh Adnan Darwish and Shaykh Abdul Hakim Uthman.
He returned in 2010 when he took up post as Resident Teacher with Greensville Trust in Liverpool. He has been teaching on the Micro-Madrasah course and also teaches across the North of England particularly focusing on Qur’ān. He is the lead for the Arabic Madrasah course being delivered from Felicity House. He travels across the country delivering lectures and teaching on courses and has translated a number of traditional Islamic texts into English.
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Ustadha Aliya Rahim
After graduating with a degree in Law and completing her LPC qualification, Ustadha Aliya Rahim left her career in Law and began her pursuit of sacred Islamic knowledge by completing the three-year Micro Madrasa programme with Shaykh Ibrahim Osi- Efa, Shaykh Haroon Hanif, and Ustadha Nagebah Hayel. She then studied Arabic full- time for two years under Ustadh Omar Atri and Ustadh Tawfiq Baltah, as well as completing the Summer Dowra Programme in Tarim, Yemen, in 2019 under many of the most eminent male and female scholars of our time. She continues to further her studies privately
Ustadha Aliya Rahim has been a teacher for the Rawḍah Madrasa for children at Felicity House, Liverpool since its inception in 2017 and is also a teacher at Dar al- Zahra based in Liverpool, where she teaches young women (13-18) the rudimentary aspects of their faith. Ustadha Aliya teaches courses to women across the North- west of England.
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Ustadh Omar Atri
Ustadh Omar Atri was born in Syria and graduated from the prestigious al-Azhar University in Egypt with bachelor’s degree in Arabic Language and Literature. He has taught Arabic as a foreign language for over six years at a language centre in Cairo and for a similar period at a secondary school in Abu Dhabi. In addition to teaching the Arabic language, he has developed curriculum and headed an Arabic department. Ustadh Omar has been a teacher for the Rawḍah Madrasa for children at Felicity House, Liverpool since its inception in 2017 Ustadh Omar currently resides in Liverpool with his family.
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Ustadh Khalid Thabet
After graduating with a degree in Biomedical Sciences and masters in Pharmacology, Ustadh Khalid embarked on his extended pursuit of sacred knowledge through the three year Micro Madrasah programme, studying with the esteemed teachers Shaykh Ibrahim and Shaykh Haroon, alongside advancing in his Arabic language through the Arabic Madrasa with Shaykh Haroon. He also teaches privately outside of Rawḍah, and continues to further his Qur’ānic and Arabic studies privately. Ustadh Khalid has been a teacher within the Rawḍah since 2021.
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Ustadh Amir Nawaz
Ustadh Amir began his pursuit of knowledge in Liverpool with Shaykh Haroon Hanif and Shaykh Sirajuddin in 2001. He continued his studies with Shaykh Ibrahim Osi-Efa in 2006 which then led him to travel to Yemen. He was blessed to study at Dar al- Mustafa under al-Habib Umar b. Hafiz, al-Habib Kazim al-Saqqaf, al-Habib Muhammad al-Aydarus, Shaykh Umar al-Khatib and Shaykh Salim Bahraysh. Whilst in Yemen, he assisted with the annual Dowra program. He also set up various programmes such as ‘The Rights of the Deceased’ course with the Mufti of Tarim, Habib Ali al-Mashour and a course for mothers under the supervision of Habib Umar. He is currently a resident teacher at Greensville Trust where he teaches on the Arabic Madrasah course and is the lead teacher for the Rawḍah Madrasah in Liverpool since its inception in 2017.
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Ustadh Arafat Ali
Ustadh Arafat Ali travelled to the blessed lands of Tarim for a number of years and studied with many of the esteemed teachers of Hadramaut. He has been teaching at the Rawḍah since 2019. His profile will be updated further soon.
Principles of our Teachers
Our teachers will adhere to the Eight Responsibilities outlined by Imam al-Ghazālī ra:
- To teach for the sake of God, alone.
- To behave as a parent would behave towards their very own children.
- To advise the students with prudence.
- To advise the students against learning too quickly.
- To advise students to conquer the urge to overtake ones classmates.
- He should reprimand with moderation, in private, discreetly and not in public.
- Be wary of consistent rebuke.
- To actively pursue that which he/she teaches and that his actions do not contravene that which he/she is trying to inculcate in the students.
