Fatima Aitettaleb

Fatima is originally from Morocco where she attended the University of Sciences and Humanities but did not complete her degree. She taught Arabic and Qur’an for five years at an elementary school in Morocco and volunteered at a mosque for women.

In 1989, she came to the US and attended the Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in America (IIASA) in Fairfax for two years. She followed that by studying tajweed and Qur’anic sciences with Sh. Khadeejah Akyurt at Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church.

Fatima has earned several certificates of excellence in Sh. Khadeejah’s courses, and has volunteered to teach women Qur’an and tajweed at Dar Al-Hijrah for more than four years.

Khadeejah Akyurt

Khadeejah memorized the Qur’an when she was 16 years old, and after several rounds of reviewing it and perfecting her tajweed, she earned an ijazah in the narration of Hafs by reciting the Qur’an in its entirety from memory to her teacher, Dr. Adel Abushaar, who had recited it to his shaikh, Dr. Ayman Suweid, with a chain connected to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

After moving to Virginia in 1996, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and continued her education in Islamic Studies for three more years at the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies in America (IIASA).

In 2016 Khadeejah earned an Ijazah in the narration of Shu’bah from Assim, and in 2019 she earned an Ijazah in the Ten Qira’aat from Shaikha Lina al-Kadri of VA. By 2022 she had earned ijazahs in Khalaf, al-Susi, and al-Asbahani from several shuyukh including Adnan al-Ordi of Riyadh, and Subhiyah al-Nimr of UAE.

Mrs. Akyurt has been teaching tajweed and the sciences of Qur’an since her arrival in the US, mostly at Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, as well as at other locations such as the MAS Community Center, IQRA Learning Center, ICM in Maryland, and through the MSA at Howard University. In 2017 she founded ITQAN, where she teaches and mentors students to become teachers themselves.

Bushra Alsadi

Bushra learned tajweed in 2004 at Abu Bakr Alsiddiq Masjid in Baghdad by Um Dina. She then taught children aged 12-15 for three years at Albar-Alraheem Masjid in Baghdad, beginning in 2006. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Economy from Al-Mustansyria University in Baghdad, Iraq.

After coming to the USA, Bushra earned an ijaza in Al-Jazariyah from Sh. Khadeejah Akyurt. She successfully completed the second and third levels of tajweed with her as well. Bushra has several ijazahs in hadeeth from Dr. Mahmoud Hussein, and attended his workshops in the common mistakes in the recitation of Qur’an.

She has been tutoring Arabic and Qur’an since 2011 for different ages. She joined the McLean Islamic Center’s Sunday school in 2016, and taught Qur’an and Qaida Nooraniah to elementary school children.

She started memorizing the Qur’an recently, and prays that Allah helps her in the path of hifdh and tajweed.

Badia Mrhaoual

Badia is originally from Morocco and is a mother of two daughters. She came to the US in 2009 and worked as a deputy manager for ten years at an international company specialized in intellectual property. She has a BA in English Literature as well as many certificates of general knowledge and electronic commerce with regard to intellectual property.

Badia started learning tajweed rules with her beloved teacher Sh. Khadeejah Akyurt in 2013, and has earned three pre-ijazah certificates from Sh. Khadeejah to teach tajweed rules in the recital of Hafs from Asim, an ijazah in Al-Jazariyah, and a certificate of completion of the Qaida An-Nooraniyah with Sheikh Arraee, multiple certificates from Dr. Mahmoud Hussein with regard to mechanisms of sound utterance and the Forty Nawawi Hadeeths, among others.

Badia’s teaching experience started at Dar Al-Hijrah where she taught Qaida Nooraniyah lessons to kids followed by another teaching year with Marhoom Institute. She also served as a Qur’an and Islamic Studies teacher at Washington International Academy for different levels.

Her goal in this life is to memorize and teach the holy Qur’an. "The best of you is the one who learned Quran and teaches it to others." She is happy to share the best of her modest experience to those interested in learning the Quran.