ABOUT US
Oasis Institute
Oasis Institute for Outreach and Education is a humble effort to meet increasing demands for Islamic educational programs and courses.
Our mission is to promote Islamic education and divine values. We hope to help turn hearts to God and each other by deepening our understanding of Him and ourselves. We aim to build bridges, support educational institutions, and nurture skills that allow us to thrive in different areas of our lives.
Sayyidah Israa Safieddine
Sayyidah Israa is a teacher and educational consultant from Michigan who specializes in Islamic instruction and educational training. She has conducted a range of educational workshops in various locations. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she earned an MA in public administration with a focus in assessment and evaluation. She also studied at Jami`at al-Zahra in Qom, as well as al-Qaem Institute in the US. She taught theology at the Hawza Ilmiyya of England (2016–2018) and is a founding member and an instructor for Workshops for Islamic Educators (WIE). She currently coordinates educational and interfaith activities for Risalat International Institute.
Linda Charara
Linda has decades of experience in various educational roles ranging from teaching to administration. Her roles include being the NWEA professional educational consultant from Michigan, assistant principal, instructional coach, curriculum director, resource teacher, and K-8 teacher. She directed the Religious Diversity Journey where students learn about other religions by visiting different places of worship. In addition, she taught health and development classes to adolescents for both girls and boys.
Linda believes in a results-oriented approach to education and has worked tirelessly to coach teachers, develop curriculums, and even led the accreditation effort at MAYA School in Dearborn, Michigan. She believes in tangible results, often measuring the success of her curriculums, coaching, and teaching by the success of her students and the teachers she instructs. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she earned a BA in elementary education. She also holds an MA in education with a second MA in educational leadership underway. Linda's passion is unmatched; she aims to use her experience in education to help others effectively seek knowledge both within the traditional classroom setting as well as outside of it.
Guest Instructors
Hujjat al-Islam Dr. Mohammad Ali Shomali
Hujjat al-Islam Dr. Mohammad Ali Shomali is a graduate of the Islamic Seminaries of Qum, Iran. After completing his BA and MA degrees in western philosophy at the University of Tehran, he earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Manchester.
He is currently the founding director of the Risalat International Institute, which is devoted to Islamic curriculum development and educational training, among other initiatives. He has led numerous Islamic educational courses and seminars in over 60 cities across four continents.
Dr Shomali is the editor-in-chief of two journals: Message of Thaqalayn: A Quarterly Journal of Islamic Studies and Spiritual Quest: A Biannual Journal of Ethics and Spirituality.
His interest and participation in interfaith dialogue over the past 25 years led him to share panels with key figures in the US, Canada, UK, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Sweden, France, Poland, Kazakhstan, Georgia, the Philippines, Kenya, Brazil and Argentina.
Some of his publications include:
- Ethical Relativism: An Analysis of the Foundations of Morality (2001)
- Self-Knowledge (2nd edition, 2006)
- Shi‘a Islam: Origins, Faith & Practices (2nd edition, 2010)
- Principle of Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Methodology of Fiqh (2nd edition, 2012)
- Self Development (2016)
- Lessons on Islamic Beliefs (2016)
- Unity of God and Unity in God (2017)
- The Second Fatimah: The Spiritual Role of Lady Ma'sumah and a Study of Her Ziyarah (2nd edition, 2019)
- Lessons on Islamic Morals (2nd edition, 2017 - Reprint 2020)
- Discovering Shi‘a Islam (9th edition, 2020)
- Lessons on Imamah and Wilayah (4rd edition, 2020)
- Lessons on Knowing the Qur'an (1st edition, 2020)
- Tasbih of Lady Fatimah (a) (1st edition, 2020)
For more information, please visit Shaykh Shomali's official website.
Shaykh Rizwan Arastu
Shaykh Rizwan Arastu is a graduate of the Islamic Seminary of Qum and Princeton University. He is the founding director of the Islamic Texts Institute, a non-profit aimed at making Islamic sources accessible to non-specialists. He is also the founder of Islamic-Literacy.org, a web-based educational platform that aims to help all Muslims become Islamically literate. He is also on the faculty of Hawza Online. He lives with his wife and six children in Elgin, IL.
Sayyidah Shahnaze Safieddine
Sayyida Shahnaze Safieddine earned a BA in English literature and an MA in English as a Second Language from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, with a certificate in secondary education. In the following years, she studied at Jami`atul Zahra in Qum, where she launched an ESL program, conducted educational workshops, and taught English with Islamic integration for six years. She was also the managing editor of Message of Thaqalayn, a quarterly journal of Islamic studies. From 2015 to 2017, she taught practical ethics at the Hawza Ilmiyya of England. She is currently authoring a high school Islamic reading textbook and completing a thesis on creating a culture of truthfulness in our educational system.