ISNA MATTERS
ISNA Presents its new 2020-22 Leadership Team ISNA’s new 2020-22 leadership team was inducted during the ISNA’s 57th — and first virtual — Annual Convention. Outgoing president Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Syeed said, “We, as members of ISNA, celebrate the fact that no other Islamic organization in the world and no Muslim country has had uninterrupted and regular elections for choosing their leadership for more than half a century as ISNA has. This is a proud legacy of ISNA that we will reinforce for the future.” Dr. Mohamad Rajabally served as the election committee chair. The new team is composed of Safa Zarzour (president), Magda Elkadi (vice president-USA) and Mohammed Jalaluddin (vice president-Canada). The board members are Dr. Iqbal Unus, Dr. Affan Badar, Malika Khan and Mir Ziauddin Ali Khan.
Safa Zarzour, an educator, attorney and community activist, is cofounder of the ISNA Education Forum, superintendent of Universal Schools in Illinois and Indiana and principal of Zarzour Law LLC. A former ISNA secretary general (executive director), he has worked with the Zakat Foundation of America (general counsel and COO), IQRA International Foundation (CEO) and Loyola Law School (adjunct law professor). In addition, he is affiliated with CISNA (chairman), the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving (member and board of advisors), the Mosque Foundation (vice chair), Oak Lawn Community High School (board member) and the Syrian Forum USA (president).
Magda Elkadi Saleh, in her 29th year as an Islamic school administrator, is head of school at Bayaan Academy, an innovative school focused on achieving excellence in
Arabic, Qur’anic and Islamic studies and academics. As head of Universal Academy of Florida and Tampa’s American Youth Academy (AYA) for 11 years each, she led them through two successful accreditation visits and gained International Baccalaureate Diploma School authorization for AYA. Among her responsibilities are spearheading and overseeing strategic planning, marketing and fundraising, developing new school programs, training teachers and other administrators, as well as building relationships with regional schools and organizations. She has consulted with Islamic schools and with communities that want to open Islamic schools since 1998 and served on accreditation evaluation teams for both FCIS and AdvancEd (2009-15). In 2014, she became president of Radiant Hands, a nonprofit social services organization that helps empower needy women and families. Deeply involved with the community, she strives to empower others to achieve their full potential and help raise people’s awareness and knowledge of Islam and how much it values working for and serving all people.
Vice President-Canada Mohammed Jalaluddin, an ISNA life member, has served MSA/ISNA since 1972 as a board member and secretary of AMSET and as a speaker and moderator at ISNA conventions. With over 30 years of experience in
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Islamic finance and senior business management, he is founding member and president of Ansar Financial Group, Toronto, as well as vice chairman of the Islamic Cooperative Housing Corporation in Toronto and president of IMRC Canada.
Serving the community since 1970, Dr. Iqbal J. Unus has worked with MSA (president), ISNA (secretary general; member, ISNA al-Majlis Shura), ADAMS (vice president; trustee), AMSET (president), the Council of Muslim Organizations of Greater Washington (executive member) and as member or chair of several local and national committees. He is a trustee of Amana Mutual Funds Trust, directorat-large of the UN Association of National Capital Area and recipient of community
