Camp Sunnah Scholar Biographies
Previous Camp Sunnah Scholars
Dr. Reda Bedeir
Dr. Reda Bedeir has had an avid and extensive academic career in Islam and dawah work. Born and raised in Egypt, Dr. Bedeir received a B.A in English at Ain Shams University in 1987 and an M.A in Simultaneous Interpretation and Written Translation in 1991 from the same university. He then moved forward and earned his Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics at al-Azhar University in 2000. For his Ph.D. thesis, he completed a comparative study of four English translations of the meanings of Surat Yusuf in the Noble Quran. Upon the completion of his Ph.D. he served as Associate Professor in the departments of Linguistics and Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar University. During this time he also served as the Chairman of the English Department in the Faculty of Humanities for Women at Al-Azhar University.
In the United States, he taught courses on Islam at Wake Forest University in North Carolina where he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in 2004. Currently, he is residing in Calgary, Alberta where he teaches at the University of Calgary; is the Muslim Chaplain at Mount Royal College; and is the Imam of the Calgary Islamic Centre.
Furthermore, he holds the position of Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at the Sharia Academy of America and is an interpreter with the United Nations. Aside from all of these accomplishments, Dr. Bedeir has also translated a number of books from Arabic to English and vice versa; written a number of scholarly papers within the field of Linguistics and Islamic Studies; and has appeared at a number of international conferences worldwide.
Aside from his extensive academia, Dr. Bedeir has also been actively part of the dawah efforts in Western Canada. He has helped organize and execute many dawah programs in Calgary including lecture series and dawah training workshops. He has also been very active in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where he has been a key note speaker at several events, as well as one of the main speakers at the University of Saskatchewan Islam Awareness Week. Last but not least, he also served as one of the main scholars during the Generation Muslim Conference 2008 in Calgary and during Camp Sunnah 2007/2008.
Sheikh Islam Ali
Sheikh Islam Ali has been active in Islamic work for approximately 30 years. During the course of his dawah work, he has placed a great emphasis on educating Muslim youth and is keen on their achievements in the field of dawah.
Prior to coming to Canada, Sheikh Islam was a part of the Islamic revival movement in the Caribbean and South America. With much of his work in Guyana, he held the position of ameer in the county of Berbice for seven years, and also served as an Imam for two mosques for seven years as well.
During his educational ventures, he has studied under various scholars from the Islamic University of Madina, as well as scholars from the Alimiya Institute in Pakistan. Additionally, he has studied the science of tajweed with Sheikh Saeed Gharsuddeen of Egypt, who has an isnaad of 25 people going back to the Prophet (PBUH).
Aside from being active in his locality, Brampton, Ontario, Sheikh Islam has taken an active role in supporting dawah efforts in Western Canada. He has been actively involved in workshops, camps, conferences, and with Muslim Student Associations across Western Canada. Some of his active engagements in Western Canada include:
- MSA National Conference 2004 in Calgary, AB
- University of Saskatchewan Islam Awareness Week 2004 & 2005 in Saskatoon, SK
- Islamic Studies Symposium 2005 in Edmonton, AB
- AIYC Time Management Workshop for Muslims 2005 in Edmonton, AB
- Camp Sunnah 2005, 2007 and 2008
- Generation Muslim Conference 2008 in Calgary, AB