About Ihya Foundation

Maulana Yasar Hayat Khan was born in Pakistan and raised in Paterson, NJ. He attained impressive accolades from a young age, including being President of his high school Class of 2013, President of Future Business Leaders of America, and the President of the National Honor Society, among numerous other achievements.
‍
Despite a bright future ahead of him in secular studies, including a dual Master’s degree by the age of twenty-one, and numerous scholarships from prestigious universities, he sacrificed everything to pursue Islamic Studies. He enrolled in Jamia Al-Husnain, Indianapolis, and studied Arabic, Literature, Hadith, Tafsir, Islamic Theology, Jurisprudence, etc. He then completed his studies at Darus-Salam Seminary, Chicago, where he studied the six major books of Hadith under renowned scholars.
‍
He joined Jamia Falah-id-Darain/ICC in 2019 as a teacher and Dean of Student Affairs; despite his short tenure, he was given the position of Youth Director due to his passion and extensive prior experience in public relations. He is also an active member of the community and served as a member of the Islamic Council of Dayton. After two years of serving the community at ICC and teaching the students at Jamia Falah-id-Darain, Yasar traveled to Turkey to start Takhassus(Specialization) in Seerah-an-Nabawiyyah and Islamic History. He returned to America not long after to continue the blessed work of teaching the students of Deen and serving the community with increasing enthusiasm. He enrolled in the Chicago Theology Seminary in an effort to continue pursuing higher education in Islamic Sciences under prestigious professors and luminaries. Ustadh Yasar is also currently working towards his Master’s in Education. He is presently working on many literary works, which will benefit the generations to come.

Maulana Ismaael Iqbal was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and moved to Arlington, Texas as an infant, where he grew up. While memorizing the Holy Quran, he decided he needed to dedicate his life to studying Islamic Studies in depth. His ethnically diverse background motivated him to pursue the path of knowledge. Most of Maulana Ismaael’s maternal relatives are Christians and he wanted to be able to discuss Islam in-depth with them.

He enrolled at Jamiatul Husanain in Indianapolis. With the Grace of Allah, he studied for five years covering advanced Arabic literature, Tafseer of the Holy Quran, Sciences of Hadith, Interfaith and comparative religion, Fiqh, and Laws of Jurisprudence and Aqeedah. He further pursued his studies in Pakistan at al-Husnain, where he completed the Alimiyyah program. He studied with many scholars and benefited immensely from Maulana Tariq Jamil, Maulana Ubaidullah, Sheikh Ramzi Al Habib, and others.

After graduating, He moved to Centerville, Ohio, where he served as an instructor at Falah ud Darain and taught subjects such as Arabic grammar, Arabic Literature, Spoken Arabic, Fiqh, and Hadith. After two years, he decided to move back to his hometown of Arlington, Texas, and help establish Ihya Foundation. He is currently an instructor at Ihya Institute.

Maulana Ibrahim Raqeeb was born in Fairfax, Virginia. His father was very concerned about his Islamic upbringing. Therefore, his family moved to South Africa and then to Pakistan. He became a Hafiz of the Holy Quran at the age of 12 and pursued his basic Islamic Education.

He developed the desire to bring Islam to the American society and wanted to fulfill the dream of his father (who passed away رحمه الله ) so he enrolled in Jamia Hasanain in Indiana where he studied the Alamiyyah program for five years. He completed courses in Arabic, Quranic sciences, jurisprudence and more then went on to pursue further education in Pakistan where he enrolled in Jamiatul Hasanain in Faisalabad and completed the six books of Ahadith under the great scholars, Maulana Tariq Jameel, Maulana Ubaidullah and Sheikh Ramzi.

He received his Ijaza in Ahadith from many great scholars with the help of his mother who worked tirelessly to see her son become a great scholar of Islam. May Allah continue to give him tawfeeq to impart Sacred Knowledge to the next generation of Muslim youth in America and make him sadaqa Jariya for his father. Ameen

Muftī Abrar Habib was born and raised in New York City, where he began his Islamic studies locally. After pursuing the Alim course at Darul Uloom New York, he transferred to DarusSalam Seminary (Lombard, IL); he graduated from the seven-year Alim course in 2019 and received ijaza in the six books of hadith.

Thereafter, he enrolled in the Takhassus of Iftaa in Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah (South Africa) and studied under world-renown scholars such as Muftī Ebrahim Desai and Muftī Husain Kadodia. After a rigorous two years program, he was granted his ijaza in Iftaa and authorized with the title of Muftī in 2021.

Muftī Abrar then joined Madinah University and studied under the faculty of hadith. Eventually, he moved to Egypt to specialize in the fields of tafseer, Arabic literature, syntax, and rhetoric under the tutelage of al-Azhar and Cairo University scholars. He also holds ijazah in the 'Asharah Qir'ät.

Having returned to America after over a decade of studying, Muftī Abrar was invited to join the American Fiqh Academy, where he still serves. With the passion for knowledge alive and unmoving, he looks forward to pursuing a specialization in 'Aqīdah in Turkey at some point in the future.

Maulana Hassan Zindah grew up in Michigan to parents of Palestinian and Indian origin. As a child, he traveled with his family to the Middle East where he learned Arabic, memorized the Quran, and became acquainted with Islamic culture and society.

While studying at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, he developed the zeal to pursue higher Islamic education, and after studying locally for some time, he enrolled in Madrassah al-Hassanain Indiana. He excelled in his studies, and after a few years traveled to Egypt where he attended the lessons of notable scholars from Azhar University. He benefitted immensely from their piety, knowledge, and wisdom.

Upon returning to the United States, Maulana Hassan completed his traditional alim course at Darussalam Seminary (Lombard, IL) in 2023 with honors, and received ijazah in the six canonical works of hadith. Maulana Hassan is passionate about learning and disseminating Islamic knowledge, and is currently teaching at Ihya Institute while pursuing a Masters in Divinity, specializing in Islamic Chaplaincy.