Imam Zakir Ahmed was born in Bangladesh and moved to the U.S. at the age of three where he was raised and educated. He completed the memorization of the Holy Quran under the tutelage of the renowned Qari, Shaykh Hassan Saleh, at the Muslim American Society’s Quran Institute in New York. He graduated with a B.A. in History and Education from Queens College where he also served as the president of the Muslim Students Association. In 2013, he obtained a certificate in Arabic language and Qur’anic recitation from the Iqra Institute in Cairo, Egypt. In 2014, he completed an intensive course on classical Islamic texts under the instruction of Shaykh Dr. Akram Nadwi and was awarded a diploma from Cambridge Islamic College, UK. Imam Zakir Ahmed continues to serve his community through teaching, activism, and youth empowerment. He delivers Friday Sermons and lectures every week in his community and across various other communities in NY. He holds a M.A. in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary, Connecticut, and is employed with the New York City Dept. of Education. He served as a religious life fellow at Columbia University and now serves as a lecturer and advisor at Fordham University. Zakir has served a number of organizations and institutions in various capacities. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Quran and Sunnah studies at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. He enjoys reading, traveling, and playing with his 2 year old daughter, Maryam