Author's Biography

Spending many days of running the streets of Toronto, Windsor and Detroit, attending the night club scene, the author got extremely bored and felt an inner void which needed to be filled with something more fulfilling. After a great deal of deep reflection, the author at the age of 19 accepted the Deen of Islam.

He was born into a Christian family that had diverse religious differences amongst the elders and different sides of his family. His grandmother was Irish Catholic, his grandfather on his father side was Episcopalian Christian, and his grandfather on his mother side was Jewish and Native American, a religion who has belief in the God of Maanatu. Because of this, he found religion very confusing and sought to study his ancestral links back to his great grand fathers' great migration from Jamaica to Canada in the early 1900s. Knowing his ancestors were stolen by force from somewhere in West Africa, he started to study about the slave trade, the great Muslim empires and the rich Islamic heritage. It had been stated that from the area where his great grandfather hails from, certain West African tribes settled and lead a revolt (with some of the other tribes) against the European slave masters. Much can be said about the history of the stolen peoples of West Africa, but this is not the time or the venue to get into that for now.

Not knowing about pure Islam from the beginning, the author came across 2 stray groups. These were the Nation of Islam and the Nubian Nation-Nubian Islamic Hebrews movement. He used to attend with them in their Saturday and Sunday sermons. He later denounced these groups, since 1987.

Before Islam, the author grew up playing semi-pro hockey in the junior leagues. He was scouted and asked to write his (stats) to play hockey in the USA. Because of some unforeseen circumstances, he was tested with many difficult forks in the road and he had to make certain discussions that eventually made him aware of Allah. He became more God-conscious which lead him on his soul searching path to the purpose of life and the meaning of existence.

It has been said that Abu Shahadah has a tremendous competitive edge and is one who tries to be involved with helping the spread of Islam with great enthusiasm and conviction.

Islamic studies and Dawah initiatives

Abu Shahadah met a lot of brothers who were involved with many Dawah organizations, street outreach programs and prison Dawah initiatives.

He studied Kitab Ul Tawheed under Shaik Abdullah Hakim Quick, which they reviewed three times between 1991 and 1993. Abu Shahadah received an Islamic scholarship to the Islamic university of Medina, as well as Al-Azhar University. But once again due to some trials, he was not able to accept these scholarships to further his Islamic studies at that time.

He worked in the infamous Don Jail from 1995 to 2001, where he served as a religious guide and Imam for hundreds of inmates. He delivered lectures, Khutbahs, and did counseling for them, as well as spiritual empowerment programs to aid the Muslims who found themselves incarcerated. He helped develop a program called "Purification of the Soul" for the brothers which helped many brothers in accepting Islam. This also helped many brothers ask repentance for their sins, which lead them to be in prison.

Abu Shahadah spent 4 years studying Arabic with his close friend and teacher, Abu Ibrahim Yilmaz Al-turkee. From him, he also learned the basics of researching the books of Arabic and the basics of Hadeeth research on the weekends.

He also had the chance to learn Dawah techniques from his other close friend, Abul Munthir Alfaaz Karamat, who has helped many people accept Islam. This friend also assisted in developing a food bank, and many Islamic dawah book stores in the city of Toronto. Abu Shahadah also studied Aqeedah and Manhaj with the famous exorcist, Salim Basher. They studied one on one and in private sessions, which was very beneficial for the author.

Abu Shahadah spent 10 years attending the lectures, workshops, and seminars in Canada and the USA. These lectures were held by various organizations that brought together various scholars and students of knowledge. From then he has learned, Aqeedah of Ahl Ul Sunnah Wal Jamaa, Fiqh, Manhaj, Arabic, Ebadat and Akhlaq, as well as the Fiqh of Dawah.

In the year 2001, Abu Shahadah was blessed to finally get the chance to go overseas briefly, where he got a chance to further his understanding of the Arabic language. It also gave him a chance to sit with some students of knowledge and some of the scholars of Hadeeth and Tafsir. He benefitted from his experiences with them via question and answer exchanges.

While He was in Egypt he had the chance to meet the following:

• Shaik Usamah Al-Qusee hafidhahullah
• Shaik Amr Abdul-Muneim Saleem hafidhahullah
• Shaik Abdul Atheem Al-Badawee hafidhahullah
• Abu Sufyan from Libya, Student of Shaikh Muqil rahimahullah

After returning from overseas, Abu Shahadah furthered his Arabic studies with The Institute of the Quran Language, under the supervision of the famous professor, Dr. Ustah Fuad Abdur Raheem. This professor was the one who wrote the 3 well know Arabic books for students of the Islamic School of Medina. Abu Shahadah completed the 2-year program, a 1-year intense program, and the advance program with Allah's permission.

Abu Shahadah has been delivering Jumuah Khutbahs in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for almost 20 years. He delivers them in universities, as well as Masjids, locally and internationally.