About

Zaynab Academy was founded in 2005 by Sobia and Kamaluddin Ahmed as a nonprofit, nonpartisan and nonpolitical educational institute dedicated to classical Islamic learning and Spirituality. The Classical Islamic Learning courses offered by Zaynab Academy are designed to introduce women to the classical methodology of Islamic knowledge and scholarship through a modern educational approach.The philosophy of the courses offered is distinct in its embrace of the entire academic tradition of the Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’a with respect for all scholars of Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, and Usul al-fiqh. Moreover, our courses highlight the importance of spiritual purification (tazkiya) and inner reform (islah).

Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City. He received a BA in Political Science and Arabic & Islamic Civilization from the University of Chicago. Shaykh Kamaluddin then spent many years in Pakistan studying full-time classical disciplines of Islamic learning including tafsir of the Qur’an, Hadith, Arabic Grammar, law and legal theory. He received the ‘alimiyyah degree as well as formal authorization to transmit legal opinion (ifta). From 2005-2010, he was a lecturer of Islamic intellectual history, legal theory, spirituality, and ethics at one of the Pakistan’s leading universities. In 2012, he completed a Master’s degree from the University of Oxford and currently is a Doctoral Fellow in Islamic Intellectual History at the Berlin Graduate School.

For over seventeen years, Shaykh Kamaluddin has consistently remained in the close company of the highly respected Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad and was granted ijaza by him in Tasawwuf (Islamic Spirituality) in 2002. Since then, he has continually tutored seekers on the path to becoming closer to Allah. Shaykh Kamaluddin divides his time between the UK and Pakistan, guiding students and delivering lectures at masajid, universities, and institutions of learning.

Alimah Sobia Ahmed was born and raised in the US and received her BA in Sociology and Arabic and Islamic Civilization with double honors from the University of Chicago and Masters of Education from the University of Illinois. She went on to study the Dars-e-Nizami course full-time for four years at Jamia Zainab, Lahore and received the Alimiyya degree. In 2005, Sobia founded Zaynab Academy in Lahore, where she teaches classes in Quran, Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, and Arabic. Sobia also delivers talks on Islam and drawing closer to Allah. Her students include students and alumni of LUMS, LSE, Kinnaird, FAST, BNU as well as young professional women.