My name is Nihal and I am an instructor and the founder of Maktab Academy. Though there are a few other teachers, I do the bulk of the teaching. I was born and raised in New Jersey, but currently live in Istanbul, Türkiye with my wife, where I am completing a PhD in Islamic Studies at Ibn Haldun University. I have been teaching Arabic, Islamic studies, and Quranic recitation since 2012. When I was in America, I worked as an Imam, chaplain, and youth director throughout the country. 

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I thoroughly enjoy teaching adults. It was that passion that birthed the Quran For Professionals program which has been running for 8 years. I also teach Arabic for Fawakih Institute.

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I believe that teachers ought to be training especially when teaching Islam. Hence, for the sake of transparency, my credentials are below.

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As many do, I began my studies with the memorization of the Qur’ān from Dār al-’Ulūm New York in Jamaica, Queens, and completed it at the Saut al-Furqān Academy in Teaneck, New Jersey. I then graduated from the first class of the Bayyinah Dream program in Irving, Texas with a diploma in the Arabic language.  Aftewards, I graduated with a BA in Psychology & a minor in Business from Montclair State University, wherein I served on the board of the Muslim Students Association. I moved to Lucknow, India after college and studied at Dār al-’Ulūm Nadwatul ‘Ulamā’, wherein I received an ‘ālimiyya degree in the Islamic sciences. I enrolled at the Hartford Seminary (now known as Hartford International University) and graduated with a MA in Islamic Studies, during which time I also completed coursework and research at Harvard Divinity School. My research focused on how Islam uses scriptural, legal, and psychospiritual means to safeguard the mental health of Muslims. In Türkiye, I studied at Ma'had Dār al-Funūn for about a year. While at Ibn Haldun University, I am also continuing my studies in 'ilm al-kalām, Arabic, Persian, law, and other subjects privately. Along with English, I speak Urdu, Arabic and Turkish.

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Feel free to connect with me through the contact page on this website, or through my social media links at the top of the page.

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