ISNA Welcomes new Board of Directors

Assalamualaikum,

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is happy to announce the new Board of Directors who were elected in its recent election. They will begin their term on Monday September 7, 2020. We wish them the best and pray to Allah (SWT) to give them the strength to take this organization to new heights, Insha Allah.

Brother Safaa Zarzour – President

Safaa Zarzour is an educator, attorney and a community activist and leader. He is the Superintendent of Universal Schools in Illinois and Indiana. Previously, Brother Safaa has served as the Secretary General of ISNA, General Counsel and Chief Operations Officer of Zakat Foundation of America, Chief Executive Officer of IQRA International Educational Foundation, and as an adjunct law professor at Loyola University Law school. Brother Safaa is the co-founder of the ISNA Education Forum, former Chairman of the Council of Islamic Schools of North America (CISNA), member of the Board of Advisors of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving, Vice Chair of the Mosque Foundation, elected board member of Oak Lawn Community High School and President of the Syrian Forum USA.

Sister Magda Elkadi Saleh – Vice President USA

Magda Elkadi Saleh is in her 29th year as an Islamic School administrator. She headed both Universal Academy of Florida (UAF) and American Youth Academy (AYA) in Tampa for 11 years each. She led both schools through two successful accreditation visits and gained IB Diploma School authorization for AYA. She is currently Head of School at Bayaan Academy, an innovative school focusing on achieving excellence in both Arabic/Qur'an/Islamic Studies and Academics.

Heading schools, Magda Elkadi Saleh spearheads and oversees Strategic Planning, Marketing & Fundraising, the development of new programs within the school, training teachers and other administrators and building relationships with other schools and organizations in the region. Sr. Magda has been consulting with Islamic schools and with communities contemplating opening Islamic schools since 1998 and served on accreditation evaluation teams for both FCIS and AdvancEd from 2009 - 2015.

In 2014, Sr. Magda became President of Radiant Hands, a non-profit, social services organization, whose mission is to help empower women and families in the community, who are facing various struggles in their lives and are in need of education, counseling and/or financial assistance. In October 2015, Radiant Hands took on the additional task of serving refugees coming to Tampa Bay from Muslim or Arabic-speaking countries.

She has been and continues to be involved in community activities and sees it as her personal goals to empower others to reach their utmost potentials and to help raise people's awareness of and increase their knowledge about Islam and how much Islam truly values humanitarian work and service to all.

Brother Mohammed Jalaluddin – Vice President Canada

Mohammed Jalaluddin is a life member of ISNA and has served MSA/ISNA since 1972 in various capacities such as a Board Member and Secretary, Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers (AMSE). Speaker/Moderator at ISNA Conventions.

He has served many Islamic organizations in Canada as a Board member such as, Islamic Foundation of Toronto, North American Muslim Foundation, Al-Amin Association. He is currently the President of Indian Muslim Relief and Charities Canada.

Mohammed Jalaluddin has a Master of Science Degree from the University of Texas at Dallas, and has over 30 years of experience in Islamic Finance and Senior Business Management. Mohammed Jalaluddin is the founding member and currently the President of Ansar Financial Group, Toronto that offers interest-free investments which are Sharia Compliant. He is also the Vice Chairman of Islamic and Ansar Cooperative Housing Corporations in Toronto. Mr. Jalaluddin is the founding member and president of the first Public company in North America that is Sharia compliant and listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. He is also the founding member of a Takaful (Islamic Insurance) program in Canada set up in collaboration with THE COOPERATORS, second largest Insurance Company in Canada that offers Home and car Insurance to Muslims.

Dr. M. Affan Badar - Board Member

M. Affan Badar, PhD, CPEM is a tenured professor and former chair of the Applied Engineering & Technology Management department at Indiana State University. He was chair of the Industrial Engineering & Engineering Management department at University of Sharjah from 2016 till 2018. He is also an ABET/ETAC commissioner and Editor-in-Chief of an InderScience journal. He earned a PhD degree in Industrial Engineering (IE) from Univ. of Oklahoma, MS in Mechanical Engineering (ME) from King Fahd Univ. of Petroleum and Minerals, and MS in IE and BS in ME from Aligarh Muslim Univ.

Before getting elected on the ISNA board in 2020, Dr. Badar had served on the board from 2014 till 2018 and on the election committee from 2014 till 2017. Besides ISNA, he served on the Operations Management Board of Jahangirabad Institute of Technology (2014-18) and was president of Islamic Society of Greater Indianapolis (2012-14). He is immediate past president of AMSET, vice chair of MET-India N.A., IMEFNA board member, Al-Ilm Weekend School vice principal, and IAMC-Indiana secretary. He is also serving on few boards in India.

Sister Malika Khan – Board Member

Sister Malika Khan received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Madras, India and M.S. Biological Science from California State University at Fullerton. She has been actively working in the Muslim community including Muslim Community Association (MCA) board, MCA Renovation committee, MCA Women’s committee, Senior Club of MCA Board, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) SF Bay Area Executive Board, MSA and ISNA, ISNA West Zone Conference Program Chairperson, and has helped in the establishment of mosques and Islamic Schools; organized fundraisers and other community events. She has been politically active - meeting and writing to Government officials on various local, state and national issues. She has also worked as a precinct captain during presidential election and volunteered with local Congressmen and public officials.

Brother Mir Khan – Board Member

Brother Mir Khan received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Public Administration and Political Science from Osmania University, Hyderabad, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.

As an experienced IT professional with over 30 years in Project Management, Br. Mir has led dozens of teams in the implementation of software projects at such leading companies as Deloitte, Siemens, Whirlpool, Kimberly Clark, Northrop Grumman, Johnson Controls, Allstate, etc. He is a results-oriented individual with a track record of increasing operational efficiency and team building.

Br. Mir has been active in the Muslim community. He served as President of MSA at Northeastern Illinois University during his college years. He has been active in the local Muslim community for many decades. Br. Mir previously served as a school board member for almost a decade at the MCC Academy in Chicago and later served as a board member and President of Averroes Academy, a Muslim private school in the suburbs of Chicago. He is also the founding member & President of the "Glory of Hyderabad" organization in Chicago.

Br. Mir Khan has been involved with ISNA since 1983 and has served on several convention committees as Chair, Vice-chair, and Co-Chair of the ISNA Convention steering committee. He has played an important role in the convention outreach and media relations.

Dr. Iqbal Unus - Board Member

In community service since 1970, Dr. Iqbal J. Unus has served as the President of Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada (1975), ISNA Secretary General, Member of ISNA Majlis, Vice President and Trustee of All Dulles Area Muslim Society, President of Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers, Executive Member of Council of Muslim Organizations of Greater Washington, and member or chair of several local and national committees. He is a trustee of Amana Mutual Funds Trust and director-at-large of United Nations Association of National capital Area. He has received community service awards from CAIR National (2011) and ISNA (2012).

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