Muneer Goolam Fareed (born 1956) is a Muslim scholar and the former secretary general of ISNA (

Islamic Society of North America The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is a non-profit Muslim religious organization based in the United States and serving North America. It provides a number of programs and services to North America's Muslim communities and broader societ ...

Biography

Muneer Fareed is a South African citizen of Indian descent. He studied Arabic language and literature at

King Abdulaziz University King Abdulaziz University (KAU) () is a public research university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1967 as a private university by a group of businessmen led by Muhammad Bakhashab and including author Hamza Bogary, it was named after ...

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

and got a theological license in Islamic studies (

Ijazah An ''ijazah'' (, "permission", "authorization", "license"; plural: ''ijazahs'' or ''ijazat'') is a license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject, which is issued by someone already possessing such authority. It is particul ...

) from the

Darul Uloom Deoband Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic university and seminary ( darul uloom) in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, India, at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. Established in 1866 by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Fazlur Rahman Usmani, Sayy ...

, India. Fareed moved to the U.S. in 1989 and obtained his Ph.D. in 1994 from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, with his dissertation entitled, "''Legal Reform in the Muslim world: The anatomy of a scholarly dispute in the 19th and the early 20th centuries on the usage of

Ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' ( ...

as a legal tool.''" He worked as an

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

of the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit from 1989 to 2000 and was an associate professor of Islamic studies at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

until 2006. He succeeded

Sayyid Syeed Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed (born 1941, Kashmir) is the former President and former national director for the Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances for the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a national umbrella organization which has more th ...

as the new secretary general of the

in late 2006. Fareed is also a member of the

Fiqh Council of North America The Fiqh Council of North America (originally known as ISNA Fiqh Committee) is an association of Muslims who interpret Islamic law on the North American continent. The FCNA was founded in 1986 with the goal of developing legal methodologies for ado ...

External links

Muneer Fareed ResumePortrait at the American Learning Institute for MuslimsMuneer Fareed former ISNA Secretary General (2007-2008)Interview of Diffused Congruence podcast, 7 February 2014
1956 births University of Michigan alumni Wayne State University faculty Living people Muslim scholars of Islamic studies {{Islamic-scholar-stub