Scholars
Scholars associated with AMJA are amongst the highest of knowledge and experience in the United States.
Secretary General
Salah Alsawy Ph.D
Previously, the shaykh assumed various prominent positions some of which were: Professor in the Faculty of Legislation and Law at Al-Azhar University, Professor at Umm Al Qura University, a visiting professor in the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Sciences in Washington DC., President of the American Open University and a VP to its Board of Trustees.
Currently, the shaykh is the President of the Sharia Academy and the Secretary General for the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America.
Dr. Salah Assawy is an Egyptian born in Fazarah village. In 1976, he completed his bachelor degree in the faculty of Legislation and Law in Al Azhar University and in 1985, he earned his Ph.D in Islamic Religious Sciences at the faculty of Legislation and Law. He earned his degree with distinction and the highest level honors.
The Shaykh participated in many Islamic conferences about Islamic da’wah in general and particularly in the field of the scientific miracle in Qur’an and Sunnah in Saudi Arabia, Cairo, Islamabad, Britain, America, Kenya, Senegal and other world countries. He held numerous specialized jurisprudential workshops in the fields of legislative politics, guidance of Islamic awakening and in the fields of Doctrine, Jurisprudence and Creed in the UK and US a number of African countries. He also supervised the project of intellectual heritage facilitation which aims at spreading the utilization of heritage books of by rendering their material concise thus achieving their objectives and also re-organizing their contents and adding commentary where needed.
He co-founded the American Open University which offers undergraduate and post graduate level education in all fields of the Islamic and Arabic studies for English and Arabic speakers, through distant leaning means. The university expands the base of Islamic knowledge utilization through its virtually unlimited capacity. He also co-founded the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America.
Some of his publications:
- A Reconsideration of the Fatwa Permitting Interest-Based Mortgages
- Unassailable matters and variables on the path of Islamic work.
- Revisions on the path of Islamic work.
- Belief Fundamentals (1)
- Commentary on Aqeeda Tahaweya Explanation.
- Religious Extremism: The Other Point of View.
- The Issue of Investments in the Islamic Banks and the way Islam Dealt with it.
- Basic issues on the Path of the Islamic movement.
Senior Committee Member
Main Al-Qudah Ph.D
Dr Main is an experienced lecturer in Islamic Studies. In his teaching career, he has provided instruction and training to learners at schools as well as college level. He also served as an Imam of several Islamic centers throughout the United States and abroad. Additionally, he is a certified as a memorizer of the whole Qur’an with an Ijazah (License) to teach it to others.
He obtained his Ph.D. in 2004 in the science and technology of Economics in Islam from the American Open University. His received his masters in Islamic Studies in 1996 from Al-Yarmook University, Jordan and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics, 1991 from Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. He has a certification to recite and teach Quran (Ijazah) and memorization with an uninterrupted chain of correct readers that continues back to the Prophet Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him.
Currently the shaykh is an assistant professor of Islamic studies in the American Open University and an Imam of MAS Katy Center in Houston Texas. He was the acting academic dean and Assistant professor at Islamic American University and a research assistant at Al-Yarmook University. Some of the courses taught by the shaykh:
- Islamic Jurisprudence of Financial Transactions
- Islamic Jurisprudence of Worship
- Analytical Interpretation of Hadith
- Muslim Family Law
- Islamic Economic System
- Islamic Financial System
- Hadith Sciences
- Reasoning Analysis of Muslim Jurists Disagreements
- Quran Recitation and Memorization, basic, intermediate, and advanced level
Senior Committee Member
Senior Committee Member
Hatem AHaj M.D Ph.D
Dr. Hatem was born in Cairo, Egypt and currently resides in the United States of America. He was granted his PhD in Comparative Fiqh from al-Jinan University, Tripoli, Lebanon and his Master’s Degree in Islamic law from the American Open University. He graduated top of his class with a summa cum laude grade. He is also a board certificated in Pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics. He has a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B., CH.B.). He graduated with honors from Alexandria University Medical School, Alexandria, Egypt.
Dr. Hatem currently teaches Fiqh at Sharia Academy of America and an attending pediatrician at the Albert Lea Medical Center (Mayo Health System). He is a senior member of the Fatwa Committee of AMJA, Islamic Jurisprudence Council of Minnesota, North American Imam Federation (NAIF), and a fellow at the American Academy of Pediatrics. He founded the “Building Blocks of Islam” and is currently its president. Some of the shaykh’s publications:
- Fiqh of Worship (Book, Published)
- Al-Basmalah (Article, published, IslamOnLine.net)
- Religious Institutions (Article, Published, IslamOnLine.net)
- Islam or Muhammadanism (Article, Published, IslamOnLine.net)
- Muhammad, Mercy for All. (Article)
- Why only Palestine. (Article)
- Women’s Role in Society. (Paper)
Senior Committee Member
Waleed Al-Maneese Ph.D
Dr. Waleed was born in Alexandria, Egypt and is currently residing in Minnesota. Currently the shaykh is a senior member of the Permanent Fatwa Committee, of the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA), vice president of the Islamic University of Minnesota, Member of the Educational Committee at the American Open University, Imam and president of the board of trustees of Dar-al-Farooq Islamic Center, and a member of the board of trustees of the North American Imams Federation (NAIF).
He received his Bachelor Degree in Arabic Language from Alexandria University in Egypt, and his Master’s degree in Islamic Jurisprudence from the American Open University with the highest honors (summa cum laude), and his PhD in Islamic Jurisprudence from the Graduate Theological Foundation.
Amongst the scholars that the shaykh studied with were shaykh Ben Baaz, shaykh Ben Uthaymeen, shaykh Ben Jibrin and was the recipient of two letters of recommendations (تزكيتان) from both Sheikh Abd al-Razzaq Afifi who was the vice president of the permanent committee for Islamic research and Fatwa in Saudi Arabia and Saleh Al-Sheikh who is currently the minister of Islamic endowments and propagation in Saudi Arabia.
Shaykh Waleed memorized the Quran in the ten recitations according to the Shatebia and Dorra methods, as well as the Tayyeba method. He also completed the four Shawaadh (irregular) recitations. He received Ijaazah (certificate of transmission) of by many scholars with continuous chains linked to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The chain of narrators of Dr. Waleed is of the shortest to the Prophet (PBUH).
Publications:
- Rules of Proving and Seeing the New Moons, PhD Dissertation.
- The Impact of the Differences of the Fourteen modes of recitation on the Islamic Creed and Jurisprudence, Master’s Thesis.
- The summary of the as-Siraat al-Mustaqeem
- Biography and Collection of Fatwas’ issued by Shaykh Abdul Razak Ofaify
- Poetry on Islamic Laws of Inheritance and commentary
- Poetry on the Science of Quranic Recitation
- Etthaaf as-Suhba bi-Rewayat Shu’ba (Poetry)
- Judicial Work Outside of the Islamic State
Senior Committee Member
Waleed Basyouni Ph.D
He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Islamic Sciences from Al-Imam Muhammad University, KSA; did his Masters in Islamic Theology, World Religions and Modern Religious Sects from Al-Imam Muhammad University; and acquired a Doctorate in Theology. Shaykh Waleed has Ijaazahs in reciting the Holy Qur’an and in several books of Hadeeth, awarded by various scholars. He studied under great scholars of our time such as Shaykh Ibn Baz, Abdul-Razzaq Afify and others.
Shaykh Waleed Basyouni has made an appearance in media around the world including Al-Huda Channel, Islam Channel, PeaceTV, and many other radio talk shows and television programs in both the English and Arabic languages. He is also a member of the North American Imam Federation (NAIF), Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA)-Fatwa and Research Committee, Director of Texas Dawah Convention, and Advisor to numerous Islamic Societies/Organizations around the US.
He is the Vice President of AlMaghrib Institute and the Head of our Aqeedah and Adab Department
Senior Committee Member
Mohammad Naeem AlSaei Ph.D
Dr. Mohammad Saei is a PhD holder in Islamic Studies, with a specialization in Fiqh. He has been teaching Fiqh Sciences at the American Open University (AOU) since 1997. He is also a visiting Islamic History professor at the University of Texas. He has been working in da’wah and teaching in the United States and the East since 1973. He is a specialist on the issues of Muslim Minorities in the West. He is also the author of many books in Hadith, Fiqh, Aqeeda, and Da’wah, such as “Masa’il Al-Jamhour” and “Fiqh Al-Sunan”.
