About

Academic and intellectual pursuits have the power to transform the world. The modern era pays testimony to their impact. Ideas are the lifeblood of civilization and they begin the moment ink has been spilled. However, thoughts are not imprisoned on the paper they are written on, they penetrate the hearts and minds of people, subsequently changing their behaviour. A cursory glance at the history of ideas is enough to show how powerful they are.

Ideas take time to develop and filter down to the general population. They require inspired minds and liberated hearts to share them to all levels of society. In the perennial war of ideas, they also require defending. Sapience Institute was created to dedicate itself to articulate message of Islam using intellectual and academic methods, with a focus on developing and creating intellectual and academic activists and leaders to engage in this important work.

Sapience is dedicated in living up its values of compassion, truth and tolerance.

Sapience means wisdom, insight, great intelligence or knowledge. The name is inspired by the following Qur'anic verse: Say, “This is my way; I invite to God with deep insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is God; and I am not of those who associate others with Him.” The Qur’an, Chapter 12, Verse 108

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Our Vision

A world that receives the message of Islam and where people can academically share the faith.

Our Focus

To provide a compelling, convincing case for Islam; to empower, educate and mentor others to share the faith academically.

Our Values

Integrity. Compassion. God-consciousness. Tolerance. Forbearance. Fairness. Truth.

Our People

Shaykh Mohammad Idrissi

Shakyh Mohammad Idrissi began his Islamic studies in Morocco and completed them at the Institute of Islamic Education in England in 2013. He completed the memorization of the Quran and graduated in Arabic and Islamic Studies, specializing in Fiqh. He received Ijazah in the authentic books of Hadith and in the Seven Qira’at. He acquired his teacher's endorsement from Bradford College in England.

Upon returning to Seville in 2014, he founded Al-Andalusia Education, which is the first center for Arabic and Islamic Studies and Dawah in Andalusia.

He is an imam in the Al-Hidaya Mosque in Seville and in Rociana. He has written several books related to learning Arabic and Islam, designing a methodology for Islamic schools. Among his books are ‘Al-Qurtubia’ and ‘Essential Guide for a Muslim’.

Dr. Osman Latiff

Dr. Uthman Lateef is Senior Researcher and Instructor at Sapience Institute. He has a BA in History, an MA in Crusader Studies, and has completed a PhD in the 'Place of Fada'il al-Quds (Merits of Jerusalem) and Religious Poetry in the Muslim effort to recapture Jerusalem in the Crusades'. He has delivered many papers in the UK and internationally at renowned academic institutions. His book on the crusades, ‘The Cutting Edge of the Poet’s Sword: Muslim Poetic Responses to the Crusades’ was published by Brill in 2018. He has also written and continues to write academic articles and book chapters in the field of history.

Further to his PhD he conducted post-doctorate research in Politics and International Relations ('The effect of war media iconography on US identity: disruptive images, counter hegemony and political syncretism') - considering bottom-up, grassroots humanistic values and affective principles of empathy and syncretism, and the power of the visual dimension in war and conflict. His second book, on the place of empathy in challenging attitudes of otherness in human societies, entitled ‘On Being Human: How Islam addresses othering, dehumanisation and empathy’ was published in February 2020 and launched in Christchurch New Zealand on the anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shootings (2019). His most recent work, ‘Navigating War, Dissent and Empathy in Arab/U.S relations: Seeing Our Others in Darkened Spaces’ (Springer, 2021) is a comparative, multimodal study that helps to explain shifting self-identities within the U.S and relationally through the representation of an Arab 'other'.

Dr. Lateef is a lecturer and teacher at Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre, Slough, and is a regular speaker at mosques and universities in the UK and internationally.

Hamza Andreas Tzortzis
Hamza Andreas Tzortzis is the author of 'The Divine Reality: God, Islam and The Mirage of Atheism'. He has an MRes, MA and a PgCert in philosophy from the University of London. He is currently continuing his postgraduate studies in the field. Hamza has studied Islamic thought and theology under qualified scholars. He has delivered workshops, courses and an accredited diploma course on topics related to Islamic thought. He has over 15 years of experience of intelligently and compassionately defending and sharing Islam.

Hamza has spoken at many universities all around the world. He has debated prominent academics and thinkers on Islam and atheism, his interlocutors have included Professor Lawrence Krauss, Professor Peter Simons, Dan Barker and Professor Simon Blackburn. Hamza converted to Islam in 2002.

Hamza has a professional background in project and programme management, charity governance and operations. He was the CEO of iERA from April 2017 until February 2020 where he and his team developed sector-leading robust systems, processes and procedures, and grew the organisation by over 500%, with an international operational growth of over 1000%.
Mohammad Hijab
Mohammed Hijab is an author, comparative-religionist and philosopher of religion. He is the co-founder of Sapience Institute and is a researcher and instructor for the organisation. He has a BA in Politics and master’s degree in History. He has also acquired a second master’s in Islamic Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies. Hijab has also completed a third master’s degree in Applied Theology from the University of Oxford where he focussed on the Philosophy of Religion in applied settings. Hijab is now doing his PhD in the Philosophy of Religion on the Contingency Argument for God’s existence.

In addition, Hijab has undergone formal training in Islamic studies, with a focus on the Qur’an, Prophetic traditions, and legal reasoning. Hijab has completed Islamic seminary courses and been given formal permission to relay Islamic knowledge on selected Islamic fields. Hijab is one of the very few Muslim public figures who deal comparatively with political, philosophical and theological issues and as such has amassed a following of many subscribers on YouTube in English and Arabic.
Yusuf Ponders

Yusuf Ponders has a 1st class B.A. in Philosophy. His focus has mainly been on Nihilism and the meaning of life, for which he wrote a dissertation on and made many videos about discussing this subject.

He runs a Youtube channel called "Pondering Soul", which focuses on Philosophy and Theology. He is also a co-host on the up and coming Youtube channel "Thought Adventure Podcast", as well as regularly featuring on many other da'wah channels.

Yusuf took embraced Islam in 2014, and has since then studied Islam formerly with a qualified shaykh, and hopes to continue these studies along side his studies into Philosophy.

Yusuf is a researcher and Sapience Institute's Lighthouse Mentoring manager.

Adnan Rashid
Adnan Rashid is an international lecturer from London (UK). He specialises in Muslim history and Islamic numismatics. He attained his BA with Honours from Birkbeck College (University of London) and completed his MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London). He is currently pursuing further studies in London.

Adnan has studied hadith sciences and holds Ijazahs (certificates) in that field. He has also participated in debates and dialogues with high profile Christian theologians and appears occasionally on major media outlets such as the BBC, BBC Asia Network, Islam Channel, ITV (South Africa) etc.

Adnan has travelled extensively and has conducted history tours to a number of Islamic monuments. He is an avid book collector and also takes a keen interest in studying ancient/medieval coins. He has taught many Islamic as well as history courses around the world.

Adnan is currently working on a book on the history of the Muslim Civilisation. He also writes poetry in the Urdu language occasionally and admires poets like Mir, Ghalib and Iqbal.
Subboor Ahmad
Subboor Ahmad is the author of the forthcoming book. "A Failed Hypothesis". He is a public speaker, debater and writer. He focuses on engaging with New Atheism and has also traveled extensively across the globe teaching Muslims how to articulate Islam to non-Muslims.

Subboor specialises in the philosophy of science with a focus on Darwin's theory of evolution. He has debated many prominent atheists over the years, including professors, atheist activists and internet personalities, on the topics of science, God's existence and Darwinism. He has given talks across North America, Latin America, Australia and Africa.

Subboor has a BSc in Engineering, a MA and PgCert in Philosophy from Birkbeck College (University of London). He is currently a PhD candidate specialising in the philosophy of biology.
Imran Hussein

Imran Hussein is the author of the forthcoming book, "Dying to Believe". He is a public speaker, instructor and writer. He focuses on engaging new atheism and presenting a positive case for Islam. He travels across the UK addressing local communities and delivers outreach training courses across university campuses.

Imran's specific focus is on facilitating an understanding of atheism and its existential implications, a topic he has formally debated. He also seeks to bring a Quranic-centric discourse in the Islamic outreach. Imran regularly delivers talks on various topics, including God's existence, the purpose of life, the existential implications of atheism and the miracle of the Qur'an. Imran has a BSc in Engineering and is pursuing further studies in Quranic arabic.

Fahad Tasleem

Fahad Tasleem holds a BA in Economics, Graduate Studies in Middle Eastern Studies with a focus on Islamic Theology and an MSc in Business. He is a student, researcher and teacher of various Islamic sciences.

His areas of interest include Islamic Theology, Dawah, History, Economics, Entrepreneurship and Quranic Studies. Fahad studied Arabic at Georgetown University and the University of Texas at Austin.

All of our personnel are committed to the well-being of all people and adhere to, and agree, a set of principles and ethics that have been detailed in Sapience Institute's Code of Conduct. This is available upon request.

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