Teachers
Azima H. Abdul-Azim
Founder and Teacher
Azima H. Abdul-Azim migrated to the USA as a child war refugee after the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area then earned her B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California at Davis. She then studied Arabic, Fiqh and Hadith sciences at Zaytuna Institute. Her love of sacred knowledge grew; so she and her husband traveled to Damascus, Syria for a year to study Arabic at the University of Damascus. While there, Azima also earned an ijaza in Tajweed (science of the proper recitation of the Qur’an) from the late Shaykh Muhiuddeen al Kurdi (r.a.).
After returning to the USA to raise her three children, she enrolled in Zaynab Institute’s online alimah program and earned her alimah degree in 2021. Azima has been teaching Qur’an, Fiqh and other Islamic sciences to children and adults for over 10 years in person and online for over 5 years. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and 3 children.
Maryam B. Masud
Teacher
Maryam B. Masud is an author and artist from Arizona. She formally studied Islamic Law and Theology at Zaytuna College in Berkeley as part of the Class of 2019, and at the ALIM (American Learning Institute for Muslims) Summer Program in Illinois as part of the Class of 2018.
Maryam has professional experience working with students between the ages of 5 to 18. She taught English, Islamic Studies, and Qur’an at ACA (Arizona Cultural Academy) as a full-time faculty member from 2019-2021. She also worked as a virtual instructor at The Rahmah Foundation in the Summer of 2020, after having previously volunteered there from 2015-2017 at MCC (Muslim Community Center) East Bay in California.
Currently, she is a core mentor for Muslim Corps’ Youth Empowerment Program, having led the Art and Islamic Studies workshops in the Summer of 2020 and 2021. She also volunteers as a mentor for the Friday Night Out youth halaqa at ICEV (Islamic Center of the East Valley) in Arizona, which she herself attended in 2011 and has been working at since 2019.
Rozana Rahman
Teacher
Rozana graduated with an undergraduate and master’s degree in Islamic Studies from Zaytuna college in Berkeley, CA. She is trained in various Islamic sciences, liberal arts, and research. She is passionate about education and design, and hopes to make Islamic education as accessible as possible to all age groups. In her free time, you can find her taking a stroll on California sands or snuggles in a cozy corner with a book.
