Sayyid M. Rizvi
Imam of Jaffari Islamic Community of Toronto and the Secretary-General of the Council for Shia Scholars of North America. He completed his ten years of traditional Islamic studies at the Islamic Seminary of Qom in 1982 and graduated from Simon Fraser University, Canada, Department of History in 1991.
Sayyid Rizvi has authored many books on Shi’a Islam including:
Marriage & Morals in Islam (1990); Shi’ism: Imamate & Wilayat (1999);
Islam: Faith, Practice & History (2004);
Business Ethics in Islam (2007).
Some of Sayyid Rizvi’s publications have been translated into many languages. From 1983 to 1991, he was the Imam of the Shi’a Muslim Community of Canada and served as the Director of the Islamic Education & Information Centre of Toronto from 1991 – 1996. Sayyid Rizvi has been the Imam of Jaffari Islamic Community of Toronto since 1996.
Cyrus Zargar
Al-Ghazali Distinguished Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Central Florida. His most recent book, The Polished Mirror: Storytelling and the Pursuit of Virtue in Islamic Philosophy and Sufism, was published in 2017 by Oneworld Press. His first book, Sufi Aesthetics: Beauty, Love, and the Human Form in Ibn ʿArabi and ʿIraqi, was published in 2011 by the University of South Carolina Press. Zargar’s research interests focus on the literature of medieval Sufism in Arabic and Persian, including metaphysical, aesthetic, and ethical intersections between Sufism and Islamic philosophy.
Sayyid M.B Kashmiri
Founder and Religious Director of I.M.A.M: Sayyid Kashmiri is a representative of ten late and living jurists in Qom and Najaf seminaries including His Eminence Ayatullah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani. He is the founder of I.M.A.M, an organization aimed to support the Muslim community followers of Ahl al-Bayt (p) in North America by being the central point of communication between the community in North America and their spiritual-religious leadership (marjaeya). He has published various Islamic books and booklets, including:
“Shia Muslims: the Identity, the Mission, and the Way Forward”, 2017.
“Grand Ayatullah Sistani jurisprudence on Will”, 2018, “Grand Ayatullah Sistani jurisprudence on Expiation”, 2018.
“Grand Ayatullah Sistani jurisprudence on Food and Drink”, 2019.
Sayyid Kashmiri is also a member of the Consultative Committee of the Council of Shia Muslim Scholars of North America and the National Religious Relationship Committee on Scouting of BSA.
Sayyid Sulayman Hassan Abidi
Religious Director at the Baitul Ilm Academy: Sayyid Sulayman Hassan was born in Medina, NY. Growing up, he attended religious classes at the Hawza Ilmiyya Wali al-Asr in Medina. After graduating from the University of Buffalo with a degree in business administration, he proceeded to the Seminary at Qum, Iran, in 1997. In Qum, Sayyid Sulayman specialized in fiqh and history, and he returned to the United States in 2007. Since then, he has served as Religious Director at the Baitul Ilm Academy and as the President of the Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary in Streamwood, Illinois. He also serves as the Religious Director of the Imam-e Asr Islamic Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. Sayyid Sulayman holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago.
Rasoul Naghavi
Director of Mufid Academic Seminary: Dr. Sheikh Rasoul Naghavi is the founding director of Mufid Academic Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. from Georgetown University, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, and a second Ph.D. equivalent from the Islamic Seminary of Qom-Iran where he studied and taught Islamic law, legal theory, and logic for 16 years. Rasoul’s academic interests also includes spirituality, mysticism, and peace-building. He has published the following books and many articles:
Contemporary Shia Jurisprudence: A Reader, Huzeh Khāharān Press, Qom (Iran), 2009.
By God In-Person, Astan Quds Razavi Press, Mashhad (Iran), 2009.
Two Rakats Story, Ketāb Āshnā Press, Tehran, 2008.
Dr. Naghavi has also a second M.A in Peace-building and Conflict Resolution and is active in inter-intrafaith dialogue. After the meeting of Pope Frances and Ayatullah Sistani in Iraq, he organized a series of interfaith projects between the representatives of Ayatullah Sistani and Pope Francis in the U.S.