Shakhsiyah Education and Consultancy is committed to providing a Islam-centric and holistic curriculum with educational resources for high-quality academic learning with the timeless values of classical Islamic culture.
Our aim extends beyond academic achievements; our materials are designed to nurture the inherent nature (fitrah) of each child, fostering the development of their personal character (shakhsiyah). At Shakhsiyah Education and Consultancy, we equip learners with a strong, confident Islamic identity that acts as a guiding light throughout their future endeavors in contemporary society. We aspire to shape future leaders who actively contribute to their diverse local and global communities.
Director of Education, ISF PhD, FHEA, FCCT Research Fellow, University of Cambridge
Farah Ahmed is founder and Director of Education and Research at Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation She is also a Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. She convenes the Cambridge Dialogues: Renewing K-12 Education in Islamic Contexts academic network. Her current project is: Reorienting Education in Muslim Contexts towards Awe and Wonder: The Power of Dialogue, Science and Art which involves developing further courses on the IELC platform. Farah has published widely on Islamic education and has worked for over 20 years on research driven curriculum development and teacher education for Muslim teachers.
Arabic & Halaqah Curriculum Developer
Nadia Ameen is a founding trustee of Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation, Deputy Head Teacher and Head of Arabic at Shakhsiyah Schools. She has led the development of the unique Shakhsiyah Arabic & Halaqah Curriculum and trains and leads our team of Arabic teachers. Nadia has a BA in Linguistics and over twenty years of experience in education. Nadia is currently developing the Halaqah Tafsir for Kids Educational Resource, a family halaqah resource to connect parents and children while reading and understanding the Quran.
EY Thematic Curriculum Developer
Sajeada Ahmed is the Head Teacher of Shakhsiyah Slough School. Sajeada previously led the Early Years programme in Shakhsiyah Schools for over 19 years. Her commitment to ensuring a holistic implementation of our Islamic and homeschooling ethos is evident in the practices adopted from the Sunnah in our Primary and Early Years provision. Sajeada has developed our model of tarbiyah, centering the unique individual characteristics of each child through play based learning. She is currently developing the Early Years theme lesson plans and training teachers from other schools on how to incorporate them in their curriculum. Under Sajeada’s leadership our Early Years work has been recognised as 'Outstanding’.
Curriculum & Courses Developer
Maya Shaaban is a Curriculum & Courses Developer at Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation. She is also a course facilitator and consultant with SEC. Maya holds an M.A. in Educational Studies with a concentration in Design & Technology for Learning Across Culture & Context from the University of Michigan and a BS.Ed. in Integrated Language Arts Education from The Ohio State University. Maya served as a high school teacher for three years, gaining valuable classroom experience and insight into pedagogical tools for student engagement. Her passion lies in developing innovative curricula rooted in Islamic values, aimed at empowering students and educators alike to reach their full potential.
Communications Manager & Curriculum Developer
Lamis Karim is a Curriculum Developer and Middle Leader four our Secondary provision at Shakhsiyah Schools in London. She has five years of experience as a teacher for primary, secondary and high school students, also teaching English as a second language in Pakistan and Turkey. She also has worked with publishing companies, AFAQ (Association for Academic Quality) in Pakistan and Canterbury Education in the UK as a curriculum designer, author and voice over narrator, developing new holistic teaching methodologies integrated with Islamic understanding. She is currently developing our Halaqah, English and Science curriculum for our secondary provision.
ACDT Curriculum Developer
Taqwa Sadiq has a BA. in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies from Cambridge University and a MA. in Ethnographic and Documentary Filmmaking from UCL. Taqwa has developed a de-colonial, non-Eurocentric Art, Craft, and Design and Technology (ACDT) curriculum for learners aged 5-14. This curriculum empowers Muslim children and young people to express themselves creatively through bringing Islamic heritage and visual culture into ACDT. Islamic art, architecture and material culture is notably absent from school curricula in the Anglophone world and internationally. No other publication of this kind has yet been produced. Resources draw upon respected academic research to make this accessible to teachers, educators and pupils
Research Associate
Dunya Habash holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge, UK. The daughter of Syrian immigrants to the United States, she grew up in Birmingham, Alabama where she studied. After completing an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at the University of Oxford in 2017, she pursued her interests in forced migration and Syrian politics through her ethnographic study of Syrian artists and musicians in the new diaspora. She has also produced curriculum materials on Islamic heritage and culture for UK teachers during her work as a Public Engagement Coordinator at the Woolf Institute, Cambridge. Dunya is currently a Research Associate on Dr Farah Ahmed's project "Reorienting Education in Muslim Contexts towards Awe and Wonder through Dialogue, Science, and Art" at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.
Research Assistant
Arwa Al-Qassim is a PhD student at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Her project is looking at educating for hikmah through dialogue in UAE Islamic Studies classes. She previously worked as a Projects Manager at the Future, Foresight and Imagination department at the Dubai Future Foundation. Al-Qassim holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) with a major in International Relations and a minor in Psychology, as well as a master’s degree in Islamic Studies from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) in London, UK.
Research Assistant
Usama studied Physics and Philosophy at LUMS (Pakistan), and Education as a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. He is an experienced educator and social entrepreneur. He is researching science and religion education in Pakistan at the University of Cambridge as a PhD student in Education on the Gates Scholarship. Usama leads on IELC’s Science, Islam and Education activities.
