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MFI Personnel

Officers and Board of Directors

Imad

Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, Ph.D. (President, director) is an internationally known interdisciplinary scientist of Palestinian descent, birn at sea and raised in the United States. He is author of Signs in the Heavens: A Muslim Astronomer's Pe rspective on Religion and Science, a senior lecturer at the University of Maryland and he teaches a course on Islami creligion, history and civilization at Weley Theologucal Se minary. He also teaches an course on Islamic history and civilization for the summer interns program at the International Institute of Islamic Thought. Dr. Ahmad has received the “Star Cup for Outstanding Public Service” award from the Montgomery County Civic Federation, the “Champion of Democracy Award” from Marylanders for Democracy, the “Samuel P. Chase Freedom Award” from the Libertarian Party of Maryland, and the “Sentinel Award” from the Montgomery County Civic Federation.


Aly Ramadan Abuzaa`kouk, Ph.D. (Vice-President, director) Aly Ramadan Abuzaakouk was born and raised in Libya. He received a Bachelor's degree from Cairo University in Journalism and a Master's degree in Communications from Stanford Universit. He also holds a Master's degree in Middle Eastern and Aly AbuzakoukIslamic Studies from the University of Michigan. In 1973, he established the Department of Communications at the University of Benghazi, Libya.  In 1981, he was a founding member of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, and served as its director of communications until 1987. After ten years as Director for Publications at amana Publications, he later served as Executive Director of the American Muslim Council and as Ambassador of Goodwill for the U.S. State Department to several Arab and Muslim countries. In addition to translating and transliterating the last three chapters of the Qur'an, he has published numerous articles (in Arabic and English) and has worked extensively with foreign and domestic media.  In 2003, he co-founded the Libyan Human Development Forum to promote human rights, democracy, and civil society in Libya. He also worked as the Washington director of the Center for the study of Islam and Democracy. He is now the President of the Citizenship forum for Human Development and Democracy (Benghazi-Libya).


Farhana N.Shah, M.A. (Secretary, director) was raised in Houston, Texas. She earned her Master’s in Education with a concentration in Administration and Supervision from Loyola College in Maryland. She is experienced in consultative services; coaching; program and performance management; and training and Farhana Shahdevelopment. She was nominated for Dr. Greenblatt award for excellence in teaching in 2003. Zaner-Bloser, creator of educational materials and services, used some of Farhana’s ideas to enhance their pilot program. In 2010, she appeared in the Association of Supervision for Curriculum Development DVD "The Sights and Sounds of Equitable Practices." Since October 2001, Farhana has taken great interest in bridging the gap between Islam and non-Muslims.  She has written a Module, through a local grant, called Overview of Islam for Educator (2006) and presents this workshop annually at education conferences nation-wide.  Farhana has also been a presenter on several occasions for The American Association of University Women at their request about Women in Islam.Farhana has several times provided professional development to educators internationally as a U.S. Speaker and Specialist in a program funded by the U.S. State Department.  She also provided personalized training to educators in Nepal on a U.S. State Department funded project, ACCESS.  Recently, she has been invited by educators in Thailand to provide professional development. Farhana also is on the Advisory Committee of a girls’ academy in India.


Shahid N. Shah, M.S. (Treasurer, director) is a co-founder of the Minaret of Freedom Institute. He has been a thought leader, Islamic political evangelist, Shahidand influential memberof the Muslim community in America for more than 15 years. He is the founder of ISL Software Corporation  and Chief Architect of The Alim Islamic Knowledge Platform, the world's most popular English-based Islamic software which is a staple in homes of hundreds of thousands of Muslims  worldwide. He is also the Founder & CEO of Netspective Communications LLC, a software development firm that provides the tools and skills necessary for enabling mission- and safety-critical enterprise software. He serves as a director on several corporate and non-profit boards and as the Chairman of the IEEE Computer Society's Northern Virginia Chapter


Antony Sullivan

Prof. Antony T. Sullivan, Ph.D. (director) is an internationally recognized senior scholar who holds an honorary position as Associate at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the is  University of Michigan. He is the author of or contributor to five books and some 100 journal articles and academic reviews focusing on the Arab and Muslim world. Dr. Sullivan has played a major role in bringing together moderate Muslim intellectuals and their appropriate Western counterparts to address contemporary challenges that are common to both the West and the Islamic world.  Currently, he is a Senior Fellow, Mediterranean and Near East Programs at the Fund for American Studies in Washington, D.C., and serves as Director of Faculty at the International Institute for Political and Economic Studies (Greece) that the Fund operates in conjunction with Georgetown University.


Board of Advisors

  • Sharmin Ahmad, M.A. is a Bangladeshi writer on socio-political and Islamic issues and an human rights activists with a special interest women's rights and author of The Rainbow in a Heart.
  • Omar Altalib, Ph.D. teaches Sociology at the International Islamic University in Malaysia and served in Iraq as an advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Education in 2004.   
  • Prof. Charles Butterworth, Ph.D. is a leading scholar of Islamic studies at the University of Maryland. 
  • Prof. Sulayman Nyang, Ph.D. is a distinguished Muslim scholar of international affairs at the African Studies Center of Howard University.
  • Abdul Hafiz Shaikh, Ph.D. is a federal minister for privatization and investment the government of Pakistan. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 
 

Staff and Fellows of the Institute

The Minaret of Freedom Institute is now assembling a team of highly qualified academics and policy experts with an interest in promoting liberty, free markets, and a better understanding of Islam to serve as fellows to write academic papers, policy advisories, and op-ed pieces. Click here for further information.

   




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