Our Scholars
Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick
Historian, Social Activist, and Religious Leader Impacting Global Communities
Dr Abdullah Hakim Quick is a historian, social activist and religious leader of African and Native American descent. He has travelled to over 58 countries doing research and delivering lectures to various communities. His qualification in Islamic Studies comes from a BA from the Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia and his history background is shaped by an MA and PhD from the History Department of the University of Toronto, Canada.
Scholar, Filmmaker, and Prominent Islamic Leader
He has a number of scholarly presentations and publications but his recent focus has been on documentary films such as Timbuktu, the Empire of Knowledge, Untold Ethiopia and Reflections from the Western Sunrise (Quick Answers) that all aired on national television in South Africa. Previously, Dr Abdullah was the Director of the Discover Islam Centre of Cape Town , South Africa and a special advisor to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Presently, Shaykh Abdullah is residing in Toronto, Canada and is the Head of the History Department of Al Maghrib Institute and the Director of Outreach for the Canadian Council of Imams.
Sr. Rebecca Hankins, MLIS
Professor & Certified Archivist
Is the Wendler Endowed Professor and a Certified Archivist, receiving her (terminal) degree from Louisiana State University. She has been at Texas A&M University since 2003, receiving tenure in 2010 and promoted to Full Professor in 2019. She is housed in the Department of Global Languages and Cultures in the College of Arts and Sciences, where she researches and teaches courses in Africana and Religious Studies.
In December of 2016, U. S. President Barack Hussein Obama appointed her to the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) of the National Archives and Records Commission from 2017-2020. She has presented widely about Islam, science fiction/fantasy, archives, diversity, inclusion, cultural competency, social justice, and academic equity. Her publications have appeared in science fiction, libraries/archives, other peer-reviewed journals, and book chapters. She has presented nationally and internationally, including a recent Fellowship at The West African Research Center in Dakar, Senegal.
Dr. Jimmy Jones
Title
Is a member of the American Academy of Religion, Prof. Jones holds a bachelor’s degree from Hampton University, a master’s degree from Yale Divinity School and a doctorate in ministry from the Hartford Seminary.
Dr. Jones is a professor of world religions with a concurrent appointment in the African studies program. A member of the American Academy of Religion and the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies, Prof. Jones appears frequently in the media and is often invited to speak about religion, Islam, African American studies, and diversity in the United States and abroad. Overseas venues where he has either taught, lectured, or served as an institutional consultant include Bahrain, Bosnia, Bermuda, Egypt, India, Jerusalem, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Trinidad Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
In addition to his work as a higher education professional, Prof. Jones has a background in civil rights advocacy, community and family mediation, diversity consulting and training, and prison chaplaincy. He has been chairman of administrative hearings on student discipline for his local public school board, and served as dean of the annual in-service training program held for chaplains and clergy at Yale University since 2011.
Ustadha Ieasha Prime
Director of Women's Programming at Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center
Is the Director of Women’s Programming at Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia and the founder of the DC Muslim Women’s Conference. She converted to Islam more than 20 years ago after being a Youth Ambassador to Morrocco and Senegal.
Ieasha Prime is the Director of Women’s Programming at Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia and the founder of the DC Muslim Women’s Conference. There she developed a thirst for knowledge that would cause her to sit at the feet and learn from some of the top Islamic Scholars of our time. After having participated in several circles of knowledge in the US, Ieasha decided to pursue religious studies abroad.
She studied Arabic, and Quran at the Fajr Institute in Cairo, Egypt. Later, she moved to Hadramaut, Yemen and enrolled in Dar al Zahra, an Islamic University for Women. There she studied Aqeedah, Quran, Hadith, Arabic, Jurisprudence (Fiqh), Islamic law, Purification of the Heart and other religious related learning. She has received several scholarly licenses (ijaza). Ieasha Prime is a proud wife and mother of three children.
Dr. Ihsan Bagby
Associate Professor, Arabic and Islamic Studies
Dr. Bagby obtained his PhD from the University of Michigan in Near Eastern Studies (1986) with specialty in Islamic Law. His research for the last 10 years has focused on Muslims in America.
In 2001 he published the results of the first comprehensive study of mosques in America, entitled The Mosque in America: A National Portrait. (available at www.cair-net.org). Based on the 2001 study, Dr. Bagby has published four articles, “Imams and Mosque Organizations in the United States,” in Muslims in the United States, “A Profile of African American Mosques” in Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center, “Attitudes of Mosque Participants Towards America,” in the forthcoming book A Nation of Religions: The Politics of Pluralism in Multireligious America, and “The Mosque in the American Public Square,” in Muslims’ Place in the American Public Square.
Sheikh Muhammad Jaaber
Imam & Forensic Historian
Imam Muhammad Jaaber is an Imam and a forensic historian. He was born to the legacy of his father, Shaikh Heshaam Jaaber, the man who performed Malcolm X’s final Janazah rites.
His acclaimed work, “I Buried Malcolm, ” co-authored alongside his father’s narrative, sheds light on these personal ties. In his autobiography, “Color Me Muslim,” he delves into his life’s journey from the Jim Crow South to New York City and the broader Muslim World. As the Executive Director of the Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs (B.I.M.A.), Imam Muhammad’s dedication to preserving Islamic history is unwavering.
