aboutadmin team profiles

With over 50 official members, the foundation is managed by an administrative comittee chaired by Shaykh Haitham al-Haddad. Profiles of those within the admin committee can be found below.

Shaykh Haitham al-Haddad
Chairman & Operations Advisor

Haitham al-Haddad is a London-based Islamic Scholar and prominent Muslim community leader. He was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and is of Palestinian origin. Shaykh Haitham sits on the board of advisors for a number of key Islamic organisations in the United Kingdom including the Islamic Sharia Council and currently holds the position of chair and operations advisor for the Muslim Research and Development Foundation. He has studied for a number of decades and gained proficiency in many Islamic sciences under the tutelage of world-renown scholars. Shaykh Haitham holds a BSc Honours in Law and Sharia from Omdurman University in Khartoum, Sudan. He also holds a Bsc in Computer Science from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Saudi Arabia) and is currently reading his PHD in Islamic Law at SOAS in London. Shaykh Haitham is qualified to deliver religious verdicts. He is a specialist of Islamic Jurisprudence and its principles, Islamic law and Islamic finance. The Shaykh is also one of the trustees for MRDF.

Yunus Abdullah
Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

Yunus Abdullah was born and raised in the UK and graduated in computer science from the University of East London. His involvement in Islamic da’wah stemmed from the time he spent as president of the Islamic society in university. After completion of his degree, Yunus spent some time in Egypt and gained a diploma in Arabic at the Fajr Centre. Throughout the years he has had the opportunity to study various Islamic Sciences under a range of Shaykhs and learned students. Yunus currently holds the position of Chairman for an after school project for Muslim children (ASPIRE). He is on the board of trustees for London Isoc, which acts as an umbrella organisation for university Islamic societies, and he regularly delivers the Friday sermon at the University of East London. He is also a director for one of the UK’s leading Hajj groups and in addition to this; he plans to complete his Masters in Change Management and Consultancy at the University of London. Yunus is a trustee of MRDF and leads the administrative department within MRDF.

Jamil Rashid
Media consultant and manager

Jamil Rashid is a business and technology graduate who is presently working in the Islamic media sector. Jamil, who was born and raised in the UK and has worked for several years as a business operations manager for one of the leading telecommunication distributors in Europe. Having gained extensive operational experience Jamil turned his effort to Da’wah and worked as a manager for one of the UK's largest Islamic charities. Currently Jamil works as a senior presenter for Huda TV, an English language Islamic TV channel where he is a presenter of several shows including the flagship ‘Ask Huda’. Jamil heads MRDF's media unit and aspires to present a new face representing Islamic media in the West. He is also a trustee of MRDF.

Abu Taher Chowdhury
Financial strategist

Abu Taher Chowdhury is a Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA) who has worked for a number of large listed companies and has previously worked as an external auditor for an organisation in the 'Top 50' practice of Chartered Accountants. Abu-Taher is currently working for a FTSE 250 company in the finance department. Abu-Taher completed his studies in the UK attaining a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Essex and went on to complete his professional accountancy exams and became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Certified Accountants. After completing his degree in the UK he went to the University of Madina, where he completed the Arabic Language course and grounded himself in core Islamic sciences by sitting in the study circles of leading scholars of Madina. Abu Taher has been involved in the propagation of Islamic teachings since the early 1990's and has also translated several books into English language as well as taught various topics. Abu Taher heads the finance and accounting section of MRDF.

Mujahid Khalid
Strategy Manager

Mujahid was born in the UK spending his early years there prior to immigrating to the West Indies, the birth place of his parents. Mujahid returned to the UK to attend University where he was greatly engaged in the Islamic Society eventually becoming president of Cambridge University Islamic Society. On graduating from university as an engineer Mujahid worked in the Petroleum Industry while being actively involved in various dawa organisations in the UK. In 2001 Mujahid completed an MBA at INSEAD in France. On returning to London he worked in Business Development / Strategy with especial focus in the Middle East and became a founding member of MRDF.

Shafiq Shafi
Projects Manager

Shafiq Shafi was born and bred in High Wycombe. He studied at Imperial College where he read a degree in Physics and a Masters in Computer Science. Since his graduation he has travelled to several countries including Yemen and Egypt to study the Arabic language and various religious sciences. He has also gained a diploma in Arabic Language at the Fajr Centre in Cairo. He currently works as a manager for Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. He also teaches part-time at the At-Taawun institute. Among other roles, Shafiq is MRDF Projects Manager.

Farid Haibatan
Web consultant/developer

Farid Haibatan graduated in Electronic Systems Engineering and holds a bachelors in Engineering (B.eng) from the University of Essex. After graduation Farid spent a number of years at the Islamic University in Madinah where he studied the Arabic Language and other religious sciences. Since his return from Madina, Farid has been involved in Islamic da'wah and has for many years taught the Arabic language and Islamic Studies. Farid has also translated Arabic books into the English Language some of which have become household names within the Muslim community such as Fortification of the Muslim through Remembrance and Supplication (Hisn al-Muslim). Farid currently works as an IT consultant and web developer. On a local level, He is part of SIAP, a community organisation that manages numerous projects and services for the local community both Muslim and non-Muslim. Although Farid plays a role in many areas of MRDF he currently manages MRDF’s websites including the islam21c site.

Asif Uddin

Asif Uddin was born and raised in the UK and graduated in Business and Information Technology from the University of North London. He further pursued a Masters in Information System at Brunel University. He has been involved in the dawah from the time he was at university. Asif spent some time studying Islamic science in Mauritania, Egypt and Qatar. He gives weekly circles on aqeedah and tafseer. He is currently working in the field of Human Resources. Asif is working on the Sabeel project which caters for Islamic knowledge and development.