New Leadership Orients Zaytuna Toward Community

Earlier this year, the Zaytuna College Board of Trustees sought to fill the role of vice president. This key figure needed to be someone with a deep understanding of Zaytuna’s mission, proven leadership skills, and strategic vision. In September, President Hamza Yusuf announced that the Board had found the ideal candidate: Dr. Aisha Subhani, a former member of the Board. Dr. Subhani is the longtime director of the Deen Intensive Foundation, an organization committed to teaching the sacred sciences through intensive retreats such as the well-known annual summer Rihla program. She is also the director of Sandala, Inc., a pioneering platform for teaching Islam through publishing, online learning, and podcasts. Her combination of experience is perfectly suited to Zaytuna’s institutional needs and future plans. “I have been blessed to work with Dr. Aisha for over twenty years and know well her sincere work on behalf of our faith and the great gifts she brings with her,” said President Yusuf in the announcement. “As a trained and practicing ER doctor, she is used to triaging and maintaining equilibrium in the most stressful situations and adroitly managing any crisis she finds herself in. We are extremely fortunate that Dr. Aisha has decided to commit her exceptional talents to helping all of us take Zaytuna College to the next level.” Dr. Subhani arrives at Zaytuna as the College sharpens its focus on engaging the broader community through many public-facing

initiatives, from plans to invest in community education through producing a robust catalog of distance learning courses, to the development of its upper campus into a destination—for all visitors—that represents the beauty of the Muslim civilization, to the growth of a dynamic membership program for the College’s most consistent supporters. This fall also saw the addition of another new member of the College’s leadership team, the long-time San Francisco Bay Area community leader and teacher Sidi Feraidoon Mojadedi, who joins Zaytuna to manage its events and its enthusiastic volunteer base. Sidi Feraidoon, also a student of the poetry of Dr. Aisha Subhani, Rumi and Persian poetry more Vice President generally, brings with him vast organizational experience, from founding and managing the Rumi Bookstore, to directing the annual Sacred Caravan trips and Grand Mawlid celebration. “I have often quipped with some seriousness that Feraidoon is the real founder of Zaytuna,” said President Yusuf in a statement to staff. “He started the Islamic Studies School in Hayward that became the Zaytuna Institute, which then, with the addition of Imam Zaid, became the Sidi Feraidoon Mojadedi, Seminary, and then in 2009, the Event and Volunteer Manager College. Feraidoon has many years of events management and has done so much volunteer work for the College over the years that he comes on board with our indebtedness and gratitude.” d