People
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Faraz Fareed Rabbani is a researcher and teacher of the Islamic sciences, specializing in Islamic Law. Besides being the Managing Director of ReliefWorks, He is the Educational Director of SeekersGuidance, and a partner and legal advisor with StraightWay Ethical Advisory. He has two published books: Sufism & Good Character and Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.)
Shaykh Faraz was raised in Canada and obtained a Bachelor's in Economics & Commerce from the University of Toronto in 1997. Subsequently, he spent ten years studying and teaching Islamic sciences in Damascus, Amman and Karachi under leading Islamic scholars including Shaykh Adib Kallas, Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, Shaykh Muhammad Jumuah, Shaykh Akram Abd al-Wahhab, Shaykh Nuh Keller, and Mufti Mahmud Ashraf Usmani. He currently lives and teaches in Toronto, Canada, with his wife and three children.
He has lectured at many leading Western institutions of learning, including Harvard, Yale, McGill, LSE, Cambridge, Berkeley, University of Toronto, and many others, and continues to speak regularly at many major conventions and seminars across Europe and North America.
Sidi Nader Khan
Nader Mohammed Khan is a Canadian Muslim singer & social activist who's the Programs Director of ReliefWorks. Nader has been singing all his life - from his birth in Hyderabad, India, to the many stops the caravan of his life took until he arrived in Canada in the early 90's. Singing is a part of him and a passion.
Nader attended the University of Toronto (UTSC) and graduated at the turn of the century with a degree in Management and Economics. Throughout his time at university and also upon graduating, he remained actively engaged with the Muslim community on and off campus through various endeavours including running the campus Muslim Students' Association, making a memorable cameo appearance in a popular children's educational video series, teaching basic Islamic Studies and Qur'an Recitation to teenagers at summer camps, singing backup and lead vocals in studio recordings and staged concerts, and conducting orientation workshops and seminars for first year university students.
Nader is widely-traveled and has spent time with people from a variety of cultures and traditions throughout his life. This is reflected in his work through the fusion of various genres, and the blending of many different styles, tunes, rhythms and modes. He has performed at concerts, conventions, seminars, and zikr gatherings.
Nader lives in the east end of the glorious city of Toronto. He sings in English, Arabic, Urdu, and some Farsi. His first album was released in December 2008 in Toronto. For more information about his performances and appearances, please visit www.NaderKhan.com.
