Zakaria Badat
Molana Zakaria Badat () (b. 1970 in Gujarat, India) is an Imam and peace-promoter who leads a Muslim congregation in Kendall, Florida and who previously served as the chief Imam and Khateeb of Masjid-al-Falah in Leicester, England for 10 years.
Education
The Sheikh lived in England for many years where he attended the Institute of Islamic Education in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. This is where he memorized the Qur'an to become a Hafiz and qualified and graduated as a Qari. He also studied Islamic theology for six years to graduate as a Muslim scholar of Islam. He then went to study at madrasahs (Kashif Uloom and Miftah Uloom Taraj) in Delhi and Taraj, India . The Sheikh holds a Master's degree in Islamic Studies and Politics from the University of Portsmouth. Molana Zakaria is fluent in Arabic, English, Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu. He has travelled around the world promoting peace in many countries including Saudi Arabia, India, North America, Belarus and Russia.
Activities
Imam Zakaria has been a visiting Imam in British prisons, and was part of the multi-faith Leicester Council of Faiths. He was a presentrer on Radio Ramadhan Special in Leicester for six years. His friend Molana Ibrahim Mogra still presents on Ramadhan Special (now known as FMO Radio Ramadan) which only broadcasts in Ramadan on FM and on the internet. Imam Zakaria has lectured at the University of Leicester, De Montfort University, the University of Miami and at Florida International University. In July 2006, Molana Zakaria Saab gave a speech at a peace conference organized by Shree Morari Bapu of India in Leicester, and in November 2006 he gave a speech at a world peace conference in Miami. He is a follower of the Sunni Hanafi school of thought and is opposed to any form of extremism. Sheikh Zakaria has performed several Hajj pilgrimages, and takes groups of Hajjis to Saudia Arabia from Florida, New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago.
Personal life
Molana Zakaria and his wife Fatima have three children - Mohammed, Khadija and Safiyyah.
See also
- Quran
- Qirat
- Tajweed