Hajj Seminars:2010

Will be held October 24th and October 31st after Duhr prayer.

Imam Alaa Elsayed

Sheikh Alaa was born in Cairo and lived in Egypt until he was 15 years old. During his youth, he spent his time as the goalie for the Junior National Team and moved to Canada in the late 1970’s, where he lived in Toronto.

Sheikh Alaa worked as a Vice-President of Business Development for an international company, and during this time he competed and placed first in the 1992 Bermuda Triathlon.

Sheikh Alaa has studied for his Bachelors in Shari'ah from the American International University, and has earned a scholarship from the Shari'ah Academy in Egypt/Florida. Sheikh Alaa has also received his Ijazah of Qur’an recitation for Hafs an Asim, studied comparative religion for five years through the IPCI in South Africa, and was on the board of director of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.

Sheikh Alaa currently lives in GTA (Greater Toronto Area) with his wife and three children. He is a member of Canadian Council of Imams; he’s also a member of Horizon Interfaith Communication Media Council. Prior to this he was an Imam for Muslim Council of Calgary and acted as its media spokesperson. He has hosted Vision of Islam, a weekly television show which runs throughout Alberta, Canada. He also appeared as a speaker on Islam on various television channels. Sheikh Alaa was a member of the Calgary Multi-Faith Committee, and a member of the Muslim Christian Dialogue Committee. Sheikh Alaa received the Alberta Centennial award by the Alberta Government in 2005, granted to him for his outstanding service to the Alberta community.

Currently Sheikh Alaa is the Director of Religious Affairs for the Islamic Centre of Canada-ISNA. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director for the Canadian Islamic Congress.

Abdalla Idris Ali

Abdalla Idris Ali is a well-known American Muslim public speaker, successful fund-raiser and served as ISNA's President from 1992-1997. Additionally, Sheikh Abdalla co-organized the Canadian Islamic Banking Conferences for 1996 and 1997.

He also serves as a member on the Board of Trustees for the Islamic Teaching Center (ITC) and North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).

Additionally, he is also on the Board of Advisors of the American Muslim Council (AMC) and past-Board member of the Council of Islamic Schools in North America. As an ISNA School principal, he developed and implemented Islamic and Arabic Studies curricula for elementary and junior high students. He has written various articles in Islamic Horizons and is a member of the ATP Editorial Board. His expertise is in the area of Islamic education in North America.