Sheikh Kabbani

Sheikh Kabbani was born to a prominent family in Beirut, Lebanon, and is an influential, respected scholar, writer and speaker. He graduated from the American University of Beirut in Chemistry. From there he went to Belgium, to continue his Medical Degree in Louvain. Then he received his Islamic Law Degree (Shari'ah) in Damascus. He is entitled to issue fatwas (juridicial rules). He studied Islamic Spirituality under the supervision of two internationally recognised spiritual guides of the worldwide Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order.

As a keynote speaker Sheikh Kabbani has given lectures at the University of Oxford, Harvard, Columbia, UC Berkeley, McGill, Georgetown and Howard. Since his arrival in the United States, in 1991, he has converted tens of thousands of Americans to Islam. He has founded a number of national organisations to support his continuous efforts to unite, educate en serve Muslims.

Sheikh Kabbani is chairman of ISCA (Islamic Supreme Council of America), a religious non-profit organisation based in Washington DC. ISCA has organised important conferences, is actively supporting the interreligious dialogue and stimulates traditional, moderate Islamic points of view among decision makers in the United States and other countries and through publications. ISCA has advised world organisations, like the UN, and governments worldwide on current Muslim issues and the societies they live in. After 9/11 Sheikh Kabbani appeared on The Today Show, Dateline NBC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, and NPR and in Time Magazine, US News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Detroit News and other publications.

In November 2001, ISCA hosted the grand opening of Sheikh Kabbani's As-Siddiq Institute and Mosque (ASIM), devoted to education, interreligious dialogue and understanding Islam, in Burton (Michigan, VS). So far the institute has been praised by cardinal Adam Maida, the arch bishop of Detroit; Rabbi David Nevins, chairman of the Council of Rabbis in Michigan; lieutenant-governor Dick Posthumous; Senator Carl Levin; Senator Debbie Stabenow; Congressman Mike Rogers and Dr Nanette Reynolds, administrator of the Department for Civil Rights in Michigan.

Sheikh Kabbani has founded the Kamilat, an international Muslim women's organisation, to bring awareness to Muslims on the issues women and families are confronted with. The sheikh advocates equal rights for men and women and accessibility of education, politics, policy making and all levels of community affairs to women. Therefore he was one of the hosts of the second International Conference on Islamic Unity in Washington DC. Experts from all over the world and ten panels on contemporary Muslim-specific issues discussed the role of women in the 21st century.

AFSA (As-Sunnah Foundation of America) is another institution founded by Sheikh Kabbani. The Foundation publishes English translations of classic Islamic works. The ASFA-website is the most visited Muslim website in the world (approx. one million hits per month).

Interviews with Sheikh Kabbani have been published in almost every important newspaper and newsmagazine in the United States and broadcasted on channels such as CNN, C-Span, A&E and Odyssey Channel. His efforts have been praised by the American Senate, the American Congress, the Senate of California, the Governors of California and Michigan, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and the National Press Club.