Arkview Essentials

Dr. Shadee Elmasry was born and raised in New Jersey. He began studying the traditional sciences rigorously at age eighteen. He studied in Yemen, Mecca and Madina, London and Cairo under several veteran ulama. He studied Arabic Maliki fiqh, usul, aqida and suluk. Among his teachers are Mahmoud Shabieb, Rami Nsour, Salek bin Sidna, Muhammad al-Jindi, Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki, Habib Umar bin Hafiz, and Hafiz Ghulam Yasin.

In addition to traditional learning, Dr. Elmasry has received a masters and PhD in religious studies, completing his masters thesis at The George Washington University and his PhD at The University of London, SOAS on Da’wa in the Works of Imam Abd Allah bin Alawi al-Haddad.

Dr. Elmasry went on to teach at several universities including Yale, The University of London SOAS, Trinity College, Hartford Seminary and Manhattanville College. Currently, he has found his way back home as Scholar in Residence and Director of Education at the New Brunswick Islamic Center in New Jersey. He is also the founder and head of Safina Society—an institution dedicated to disseminating Ahl al-Sunna & Jama knowledge live and online.

Sheikh Mahdi Lock is a professional freelance translator of classical Arabic Islamic texts into English. He has a BA in Arabic and History from the University of Leeds, an MA in Arabic Linguistics from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and a Diploma in Translation from the Chartered Institute of Linguists in London, of which he is also a Member (MCIL). He has been studying theology, law, and other Islamic sciences for several years with teachers in England, North Africa, and the Middle East.

To date, his translated works include:

Kitāb al-Ḥalāl wa al-Ḥarām by Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī 

Kitāb al-Waqf from al-Mughnī al-Muḥtāj by al-Khaṭīb al-Shirbīnī 

The introduction to al-Majmūʿ by Imam Yaḥyā al-Nawawī

Sharḥ al-Ṣudūr by Imam Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī

Almost 2000 pages of the Khawāṭir of Imam Muḥammad Mutawallī ash-Shaʿrawī (http://www.elsharawyreflections.com)

La Dhukūriyyah fī al-Fiqh by Imam Muḥammad at-Tāwīl

Manhaj al-Ḥaḍārah al-Insāniyyah fī al-Qurʾān by Imam Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī

For Nawa Books, he has translated the following: Al-Wāfī: A Thorough Commentary on the Forty Nawawiyyah by Imams Muṣṭafā al-Bughā and Muḥyī ad-Dīn Mistū Man and Allah’s Justice on Earth, Inward Sin, A Unique Pedagogical Approach in the Qurʾān, To Every Young Woman Who Believes in Allah, Islam and the Problems of the Youth, all of which are part of the Pinnacle Papers series by Imam Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī The first volume of al-Fiqh al-Manhajī ʿalā Madhhab al-Imām ash-Shāfiʿī, by Imams Muṣṭafā al-Bughā, ʿAlī ash-Sharbajī, and Muṣṭafā al-Khin The Rights of the Husband and Wife by Shaykh ʿAbdul Hādī al-Kharsah Remembrances & Etiquettes of The Prophet ﷺ

Mahdi has also been teaching English and Arabic for about two decades, from primary school through to the university level. He teaches other sciences privately, mainly fiqh, and regularly does online study circles, such as the Halaqah Book Club. 

Nuh Saunders was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the grandson of converts to Islam who were sure to instill in him a love of Islam. As an aspiring Student of Knowledge, he began his studies in Arabic and Quranic studies at the Quba Institute in Philadelphia. He then began an in-depth study of Aqidah and Dawah with Shaykh Abdur Rahman Sondalani privately. During this time, he was privileged to study Shafi'i Fiqh with Imam Muhammad Amin of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

At the advice of Imam Amin and many others, Ustadh Nuh set out to the Islamic world to further his pursuit of knowledge. At first, this led him to Egypt where he had the opportunity to study Arabic grammar and Tajweed with scholars of Al-Azhar University. After that, he moved to Tarim, Yemen to enroll in the world-famous Dar Al Mustafa Islamic Seminary. He has studied the various Islamic sciences including fiqh, hadith, seerah, and Tassawuf.

His main area of study is Quranic recitation. He was given the opportunity to study privately with such great Quran reciters such as Sayyid Ali Ba Alawi of Tarim Hadramawt and Shaykh Bashar al Riz, who is one of the great reciters of Damascus and a direct student of Abul Hassan al Kurdi. He has memorized the main text in the science of Tajweed and received ijaza. He has been been in Tarim for the past six years where he is studying full time with the intention of specializing in Dawah, and Quranic recitation, along with the variant modes of recitation under the tutelage of great scholars such as Habib Umar Bin Hafidh and many others.