Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson was born in Walla Walla, Washington, and grew up in Northern California. Shaykh Hamza embraced Islam in 1977 in Santa Barbara, California, when he was still a teenager and set off almost immediately to study Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence, philosophy, and spiritual psychology with masters in the Muslim world. He first studied for four years in the United Arab Emirates and then moved to Madina, followed by Algeria, Morocco, and then finally to a unique madrassa in the Saharan desert of West Africa to study with the remarkable scholar Shaykh Murabit Al-Ha

Imam Zaid Shakir is amongst the most respected and influential Muslim scholars in the West. Born in Berkeley, California, the second of seven children, he accepted Islam in 1977 while serving in the United States Air Force. He went on to obtain a BA sigma cum laude in International Relations at American University in Washington D.C. and later earned his MA in Political Science at Rutgers University, where he emerged as an active leader in campus activities, helping to revive the Muslim Student Association. During his tenure, he co-lead a successful South Africa divestment campaign and was a co-founder of a local Islamic center, Masjid al-Huda. After a year of studying Arabic in Cairo, he settled in New Haven, Connecticut and continued his tireless community activism co-founding Masjid al-Islam, the Tri-State Muslim Education Initiative, and the Connecticut Muslim Coordinating Committee.

Imam Tahir Anwar is the Imam and Director for Religious Services at the South Bay Islamic Association, in San Jose, California. He is also the Head of the Islamic Studies Department at Granada Islamic School, a full-time Islamic school in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Imam Tahir has previously published and compiled a CD on the practical aspects of Hajj, titled: Performing Hajj- A Practical Guide to the Journey of a Lifetime. Much of his time is dedicated to teaching Islamic Shari'a, which he teaches at the world-renowned Zaytuna Institute. Imam Tahir frequently lectures at various mosques and universities around the world, and has recently delivered a series of lectures in the UK, including Oxford.

Ustadh Yahya was born and raised in America's midwest. At the age of 19 he became Muslim in the San Francisco Bay Area and began studying with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and other distinguished scholars visiting from Mauritania, namely, Shaykh Khatri & Shaykh Abdullah Ould Ahmadna. In 1998, he traveled to Mauritania to further his studies of the Islamic sciences. There he spent more than 2 years learning with some of Mauritania's greatest scholars, including Shaykh Murabit al-Hajj. In 2000, he moved to Yemen to continue his studies. In 2005, he returned from his studies overseas to serve as a full-time teacher at Zaytuna Institute. 'He currently resides in Yemen with his wife and children where he continues to augment his studies, teach and work on various projects.