Shaykh Yasir Fahmy
Keynote Speaker
Shaykh Yasir Fahmy began the study of Arabic and Islamic Sciences in his high school years under the guidance of local teachers. At the age of seventeen, he traveled to Amman, where he spent a year studying at the Islamic University of Jordan. He returned to the US and completed a Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University. After working in corporate America for three years in finance, he returned to the Middle East and enrolled in the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo.
After seven years of intensive study, Shaykh Yasir received a degree in Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar and attained numerous ‘ijazas (independent certifications) in the subjects of fiqh, hadith, aqida, usul al-fiqh, sirah, tazkiyyah, mantiq, Arabic grammar (nahu), morphology (sarf) and rhetoric (balagha). Having studied under many notable teachers including Shaykh Ahmad Taha Rayyan (may Allah have mercy on him), Shaykh Yasir Fahmy became the first American Azhari to teach in the renowned Al-Azhar Mosque in 2013. Currently, Shaykh Yasir is the Religious Advisor at AlFalah Center in Bridgewater, NJ as well as the founder of the Prophetic Living Initiative.
Through his teaching, lecturing, mentorship, and religious leadership, Shaykh Yasir aims to foster love for the deen and appreciation of the vast richness of Islamic tradition in new generations of American Muslims.
Nadirah Pierre
Entertainer
Nadirah Pierre is an American standup comedian and social media satirist who fearlessly takes on sociopolitical issues in the Muslim community and beyond. She uses her platform to convey her experience as a Black Muslim woman while boldly addressing wide-ranging issues such as racism, mental health, and relationships with a unique, humorous perspective. Her outspoken style is exemplified in her catchphrase: “Nobody else wants to talk about it, so I have to talk about it.”
Ibrahim Muhammad Heshaam Jaaber is a former professional basketball player born in Elizabeth, NJ. He played college ball at the University of Pennsylvania where he won the Ivy League Player of the Year in his junior and senior years. A devout Muslim, Jaaber made a watershed stand by forgoing a lucrative career path in European basketball due to the prevalence of suggestive entertainment and advertisement that plagues the league.
Jaaber is an author, spoken word poet, teacher, mentor and student of knowledge. He is currently the youth director at IECPA (Islamic Educational Center of Pennsylvania) in Allentown, PA.
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