Shaykh Ammar Shahin is an instructor for Zidni Islamic Institute. He was born in Cairo, Egypt where he began his Islamic training at a young age under the supervision of his father who was the sheikh of their village. He memorized the Qur’an at the age of twelve in various modes of recitation. He continued his Islamic education, graduating from the Institute for Preparation of Preachers with a B.A. in Islamic studies and earning an associates degree from al-Forqan institute. He then traveled to the United States in 1999 where he earned his B.S. in Computer Engineering. He then returned to Egypt where he completed his Islamic education by studying with some of the top scholars in the country, receiving from them ijazaat (licenses) in the various Islamic sciences, including ijazah to teach and narrate the Shaafi’ madhaab. He also pursued a third B.A. at Al-Azhar University in the Islamic Sciences and Arabic language, and a fourth B.A. and an M.A. at the Islamic University of Minnesota in Islamic Studies where he is a PhD student. He has been an imam in various mosques across the United States, and currently he is the imam at the Islamic Center of Davis.
