Ahmed Saad Al-Azhari

Ahmed Saad Al-Azhari (; born 20 August 1978) is an Egyptian born, British Islamic scholar, and is the founder and director of the Ihsan Institute.He is an advocate of teaching traditional Islamic sciences; which he has taught in various parts of the world.
He is a graduate and associate of Al-Azhar University, Egypt.
Early life
Saad was born in the northern Egyptian Governorate of Monufiya. His father was a scholar who graduated from Al-Ahzar University, Egypt - faculty of Arabic Language. Their family are descendants from the Prophet Mohammad through the grandson Hasan ibn Ali.
In 1988, he enrolled into Al-Azhar system of schools where he graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in Islamic Studies in English, from the Al-Azhar University. Throughout his career, Saad has studied Islamic sciences with senior scholars and specialists in Egypt and around the world; the most notable are the former Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, Habib Abu Bakr al-Mashhur and Habib Umar bin Hafiz.
In 2007, Saad settled in the UK after being appointed the Imam of the North London Central Mosque. The mosque was previously known as the Finsbury Park mosque, which gained notoriety when Abu Hamza al Masri was the Imam of the mosque. During Saad's time as Imam, he served on the panel of various interfaith forums, and delivered community projects tackling extremism. Since Saad’s appointment, it was reported that his efforts have bought greater diversity to the mosques worshipers, and played an important part in successfully integrating local Muslims into London life. Saad’s efforts at the Finsbury Park Mosque were recognised by the current Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and MP Catherine West.
Saad currently is a visiting scholar for the Seekers Hub.
Views
Saad is well known for his track record in interfaith work, promotion of tolerance, and peaceful co-existence.

In April 2012, Saad appeared on Doha Debates forum which is aired on the BBC World Service. The debate was entitled "This House believes Arab governments need to take urgent measures to protect religious minorities", where Saad argued for the motion, and expressed the need for stable democratic, pluralistic Arab governments. Saad advocates a traditional approach to learning the Islamic Sciences from qualified teachers and has written …"a unique feature of this Ummah which links its generations of scholars, keep it connected to its tradition, keep the religion preserved from intruders and self-claimed "scholars" and revive in the students of knowledge the honour of belonging to great generations of scholars and make them realize their duty".
Personal life
Saad currently resides in London, and is married with 4 children. He writes poetry and frequently writes in Arabic and English.<ref name="ihsaninstitute1"/>

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu