Sh. Jaffer H Jaffer
Sheikh Jaffer H Jaffer joined ISIJ as the Assistant Resident Alim to Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi and as the full-time Alim at Masumeen Islamic Center in 2011. He graduated from the Hawza Ilmiya in Syeda Zaynab AS, Damascus in 2011 and has a Masters Degree in Islamic Education from Winchester University.
Maulana Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi
Maulana Rizvi earned his MA in History in 1990 from Simon Fraser University. In 1991, he moved to Toronto where he served as the Director of the Islamic Education & Information Centre, providing a variety of religious services in North America. During this time, he was also involved in the founding of the As-Sadiq Islamic School, the first full-time Shia Islamic school in Canada. Since 1996, he has fulfilled the responsibilities of Resident ‘Ãlim of the Ja’ffari Islamic Centre of the Islamic Shia Ithna-‘Ashari Jamaat of Toronto. Beyond his usual role of Resident Alim, Maulana has spent considerable time devoted to the local and global Shia community through various facets: individual and family counselling, interfaith initiatives, awareness programs with public schools and the police, advisory roles for countless other communities, publishing books, delivering keynote addresses, and much more. Maulana is also recognized for his unique approach to topics that affect the Shia community at large. This includes medical ethics, khums, business ethics, practical marriage issues, end-of-life matters, and many more. These, and other topics, have led to the creation of countless lectures and seminars, over 50 books and informative articles, as well as a universal curriculum.
Sr. Tahera Kassamali
Sr. Tahera Kassamali provides religious guidance for women based on the Islamic Shariah and Ja’fari Madhhab tenets. Originally from Kenya, Sr. Tahera studied at the Islamic seminary in Iran before migrating to Canada. She has a B.A. with Honours in English literature from the University of Alberta and a B.Ed from the University of British Columbia. Sr. Tahera has worked as a teacher at the Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy in Richmond B.C. (2005-2006) and as the Islamic Studies Guide at the As-Sadiq Islamic school in Toronto (2008-2015). Apart from her work at ISIJ, she presently works as the Outreach coordinator and Instructor at the Academy for Learning Islam. She has also published a series of Dua books for various occasions under Tayyiba Publishers. Sr. Tahera has spoken at many different communities around the world and brings many years of experience as a lecturer and teacher.