Ustadh Taha Abdul-Basser

Shariah Scholar, USA

Born and raised in New York City, Taha bin Hasan Abdul-Basser is an independent consultant, researcher and translator in the field of Islamic ethics and law. He is Chaplain of the Harvard Islamic Society & Muslim Chaplain at the Harvard Chaplains; former Senior Tutorial Instructor at Harvard University; formerLecturer in Arabic at Boston University; Instructor at the Fawakih Institute and Managing Partner at Straightway Ethical Advisory. He has served as a financial ethicist and consultant to Fajr Capital Ltd, Javelin Exchange Traded Shares (JETS), The Datestone Group and other financial, commercial and non-profit entities. As lead researcher and contributor to the “Sharī‘a Database,” the Harvard Islamic Finance Information Program’s electronic database on Islamic financial ethics and jurisprudence, Taha translated and annotated more than 100 ethical-legal responsa (fatāwā) on finance. He received an A.B. in the Comparative Study of Religion from Harvard College, a Certificate in the Advanced Study of the Arabic Language from the Spectra Institute of Language Studies (San‘a, Yemen), a A.M. in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University and is an ABD in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. He has been studying traditional Islamic disciplines since 1994, in Yemen and the US, with teachers from the Sudan, Yemen, Tanzania and Bahrain. He has traditional licenses (ijazāt) from several teachers, including Shaykh Nizam Ya‘qubī (Bahrain). He currently resides in Eastern Massachusetts with his wife, Monifa Matthew (Harvard College ‘98) and their children.

Join us this Saturday for our weekly lectures. Our guest speaker is Imam Abdullah Faaruuq. He is currently the resident Imam of MasjidAl-Hamdu Lillah, aka Mosque for The Praising of Allah, one of the oldest mosques in Boston established in 1973. The mosque is located at 724 Shawmut Ave, Roxbury, MA 02119. He is one of the pioneering Muslims of Boston, a bridge builder,and an example of the caring American citizen and a defender of the rights of Muslims in America. He is a member of the Islamic Council of New England and the Center for Jewish-Muslim Relations, serves as the Muslim Chaplain of Northeastern University as well as in various interfaith and social associations.