Our Leadership
Dr. Abidullah A. Ghazi
Dr. Abidullah Ghazi, a specialist in Islamic Studies and comparative religion, was born and raised in India and hails from a long line of prominent Indian ‘Ulamā’. Dr. Ghazi’s early education was carried out in the traditional Muslim educational institution, attending Dār ul-‘Ulūm (Deoband, India) and Qāsim ul-‘Ulūm (Faqirwali, Pakistan). He furthered his studies at the Aligarh Muslim University (India), as well as the prestigious universities of The London School of Economics and Harvard University, where he earned doctorates in Comparative Religion and the History of Religion. He taught at various universities throughout the world including Jamia Millia Islamia, the University of Delhi, London University, Harvard University, the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, San Diego State University, Governors State University and the King ‘Abdul ‘Aziz University in Jeddah. He has been an educational consultant to several universities and educational institutions.
Dr. Ghazi is the recipient of numerous awards, most notably the Citizen’s Award, the Ronald Regan Award, and a Certificate of Welcome from the City of Los Angeles. Along with his wife, Dr. Tasneema Ghazi, he has been recognized as one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims for being a pioneer in Islamic education. Dr. Ghazi is a well-known community activist, speaker, poet as well as author of several Islamic textbooks for children.
Dr. Tasneema K. Ghazi
Dr. Tasneema Ghazi received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with specialization in Reading and Language Arts from the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis). She earned three masters’ degrees from Aligarh Muslim University (India) and the University of London. She also received a post-graduate diploma in Child Development from Harvard University. Before teaching as a professor of reading and language arts as well as child development at Governor State University (Illinois) and University of Illinois at Chicago, she taught in several elementary and senior high schools for 15 years.
Dr. Tasneema Ghazi has been involved in the establishment and teaching of Islamic weekend and full-time schools in North America since 1968. Dr. Ghazi has devoted most of her time to the development of a positive and contemporary curriculum in Islamic Studies for young children. She authored and edited more than 300 books, both textbooks and workbooks, dealing with curricula as well as Islamic education, and conducted numerous teachers’ training seminars and workshops. Of the many accolades received, she is the 2007 recipient of Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) prestigious Life Time Achievement Award. Along with her husband, Dr. Abidullah Ghazi, she was named one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims for pioneering work in Islamic education.
Samana U. Khan
Samana is a certified teacher with a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education specializing in business and technology in the classroom. For over 15 years she has worked within the Islamic school sector as a teacher and administrator assisting with weekend school curriculum planning and academic events for grades K – 12.
In 2010, Samana took her passion for working with Islamic schools and joined IQRA’ International Educational Foundation to oversee Islamic school projects at a national level. For almost a decade, Samana has facilitated projects related to national Islamic school curriculum development, assessments, and instructional design. She has also authored and edited several classroom texts utilized in schools today and delivers professional development workshops and seminars for teachers and administrators privately and publicly at national educational conferences.
In recent years Samana has expanded her passion for education and high-level training skills to other professional industries, working as an Instructional Designer and Principal Trainer for Northwestern Medicine developing training for physicians, nurses, and clinical staff.
Board Members
Dr. Abidullah al-Ansari Ghazi
Dr. Tasneema K. Ghazi
Rashid Ghazi
Suhaib Ghazi
Dr. Khalid Hussain
Habeeb Quadri
Samana Khan
Dr. Shahid Siddiqui
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