Meet Our Speakers

Dr Imam Hamid Slimi

Dr Imam Hamid Slimi has been serving as an Educator, Imam, Chaplain and Counselor in North America for more than 28 years and in Canada since 1997 in different religious and educational institutions.

Dr. Slimi’s traditional and academic specialty is in Islamic studies and Jurisprudence as well as Comparative World Religions and Anthropology.

In addition to the traditional degrees known as Ijazah, he holds two Masters degrees with High Honors in both disciplines from Morocco and the US and a PhD in Islamic Law from the U.K. He received both his traditional and academic learning in the Kingdom of Morocco and attended other renowned institutions and universities in other parts of the world.

From 2009 till 2019, Dr. Slimi has been featured by Georgetown University as one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World for his community development and building as well as his spiritual leadership and interfaith work.

Dr Munir El-Kassem

Dr. Munir El-Kassem was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1955.

He was educated at Al-Maqasid Islamic Institute where the Foundation of his Islamic knowledge was established. He was the top student to be admitted to the Pre-medicine program at the American University of Beirut.

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Dr. El-Kassem has helped numerous Muslim communities fundraise for mosques, Islamic schools, and humanitarian projects all over the world. He is recognized as a passionate speaker, youth leadership trainer, and family counselor, and marriage officer.

Dr. El-Kassem is the recipient of many medals and awards. Recognized among them are the Diamond and Golden Jubilee awards and the outstanding volunteerism award in the Province of Ontario.

Sheikh Muhammad Jaaber

Sheikh Muhammad In Heshaam Jaaber is a second generation indigenous Muslim & a "forensic" historian with a special interest in Islamic, African, and American History as it pertains to Indigenous Muslim Affairs.

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He is the author of Color Me Muslim, an autobiography of his life experiences growing up Muslim in the Jim Crow South, in New York City, and abroad in the Muslim world.

The History of Islam in America and Bilal In Rabat, His books and talksinspired thousands of Muslim youth, giving them hope and courage in times of despair.

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Currently, he is the Executive Director of B.I.M.A.- Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs Inc. He is best known for his unrelenting pursuit in the preservation of Islamic history.

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan.His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age.

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He is the author of Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004. Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Imam Abu Noman Tarek

Imam Tarek is a trained counselor, public and motivational speaker, consultant, part-time teacher, and humanitarian worker both in Canada and around the globe.

He received the YMCA Peace Medal in 2022, and the Learn, Lead and Inspire award from the Grand Erie District School Board in 2023. From 2013 to early 2023, he worked as the faith leader at the Brantford mosque.

He continues to work as an imam in Mississauga, but still lives and contributes in Brantford as well. His role as an imam includes many layers such as being an employee of a mosque, a spiritual leader, a worker, and a community leader for all.

Prof. Dr Aliya Khan

She is a Professor of Medicine, McMaster University & Director of the Calcium program at McMaster University.

She graduated from the University of Ottawa Medical School with Honors. She completed postgraduate training at the University of Toronto.

She has over 200 scientific publications, books and book chapters and over 400 international presentations. She has received numerous international awards including the International Clinician Instructor of the Year 2011 award by the International Bone Society.

The Oueen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for 2012 for excellence in clinical care, research and teaching, International Hypoparathyroidism Award for 2014 and the International Osteoporosis Foundation award for publishing excellence in 2017.