Zaynab Ansari is a native Southerner with Northern roots. She spent several years studying the core Islamic sciences, including Arabic, jurisprudence, Qur’anic recitation & commentary, Hadith, and Prophetic biography in Damascus, Syria at Abu Nour Masjid’s college preparatory program. Upon her return to the United States, she continued her Islamic studies privately with Shaykh Khalil Abdur-Rashid, Imam of New York’s Iqra Masjid, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Educational Director of SeekersHub Global Islamic Seminary, Shaykh Jamal Ud-Deen Hysaw, and Dr. Fareeha Khan, Assistant Professor of Religion & Anthropology at Willamette University.

From 2004 to 2009, she volunteered, answered questions, and taught at SunniPath Academy. She currently answers questions for SeekersHub, writes for Azizah Magazine’s Deen Department, and volunteers with the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta. Upon her return to the United States, she earned degrees in history and Middle Eastern Studies from Georgia State University.

Since 2014, Zaynab Ansari has served as a scholar-in-residence for Tayseer Foundation, offering enrichment courses and halaqahs to women and youth in the Muslim Community of Knoxville, and working on interfaith dialogue. She is currently an instructor at Tayseer Seminary, which features a one-year intensive in Islamic Studies, drawing students from Tennessee and all regions of the United States.

Courses Taught