Our community is filled with incredibly amazing people, all of whom continue to inspire and empower those around them through their creative expression and work. Below is just a snapshot of the awesomeness we have as a collective Ummah.
Soraya Syed
Soraya is a classically trained Islamic calligrapher who pushes the paradigm of classical calligraphy, while respecting the traditional foundations of the art. For Soraya, her practice is a process of disciplined freedom and she enjoys the constant tension between remaining true to her classical training while exploring further possibilities. She takes great pleasure in finding new solutions to unusual commissions and her client portfolio ranges from the British Museum to the Saudi Royal Family. She resides in Greater London with her husband and children
Omar Regan
Omar Regan was born and raised in Detroit. He started writing songs at the age of 9 and debuted on the professional music scene along with his brother as a member of the group S.O.A at the age of 11. S.O.A opened for renowned artists including, Redman, Method Man, Wu Tang Clan, KRS-One, Royce da 5’9”, Proof, and Eminem. In November 1999 Regan jumped on stage as a stand-up comic in local Detroit Comedy Clubs and soon after was awarded the leading role in a Regional Ford Focus Commercial and knew acting was his passion. Regan decided to leave Detroit and moved to Hollywood to pursue his passion.
Amira Rahim
Originally from New Jersey, Amira discovered her love for art like many artists in the quiet spaces of her childhood. She immersed herself with drawing things from life and honed in on her technical skills for realism. She holds a degree in Sociology, a minor in Portuguese, and traveled to 10 countries while completing foreign learning programs in both Brazil and Europe. All the while, she fed her appetite for art with university courses in drawing, painting, and art history.
Ian Abdallateef Whiteman
Ian Abdullateef Whiteman is a creative pioneer, whose elegant design, inspirational typography and incredible music spans the last few decades.
“Mostly I have just tried to climb past all the clichés that seem to haunt this special field. It seems a graphic design course and a computer gives anyone a licence to easily design anything nowadays and the result is Photoshop anarchy. A lot of what’s out there makes me cringe as if people have never learnt any lessons from mainstream design and believe that throwing a dome, a minaret and an octagon, at whatever, qualifies it as Islamic art (a phrase I prefer to avoid)! This applies especially to arabic calligraphy and type and the almost universal paucity of understanding about the subject amongst designers in this field.”
Hana Tajima
Hana Tajima is a designer and visual artist. Her blog hanatajima.com fast became a new and unique voice in fashion and is a widely read reference the world over.
Born and raised in the UK, her parents both artists, she was raised in a highly creative environment with an emphasis on aesthetic and expressive freedom.
“There is a strange juxtaposition of cultures in my life and I’m constantly looking for that strange beauty in what I design. There is a side of me obsessed with simplicity and the beauty of the unseen that is very Japanese, and then this rebellious, rather eccentric aspect that comes out of my experiences growing up in England.”
Baraka Blue
Baraka Blue is a highly acclaimed rapper and poet hailing from Seattle and based in Oakland, California. He has performed all over North America as well as the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe. He is highly decorated within the global artist community for his original synthesis of spoken word poetry with the tradition of mystical poets such as Rumi and Hafiz.
Nermin Moufti
Nermin is a designer and brand specialist whose work is multidisciplinary, integrating a graphic design practice with art, craft and illustration. Nermin has lived and worked in Dubai, New York, Toronto and Phoenix and has worked with a range of Middle Eastern and North American clients and helped shape major brands in the cultural, educational and technology industries. She loves to collaborate with startups to help build narratives and brand experiences that inspire social impact. This passion saw her co-founded and become the lead designer of The Friday Collective, a paper goods company that celebrates timeless wisdom.
Ruh Al-Alam
With a background in typography and design, Ruh found a natural and familiar channel of expression in calligraphic letterform and art. Ruh’s artwork isn’t limited to calligraphy, he regularly works with photography, videography, installation, motion graphics and sculpture. Ruh has worked on large and high profile commissions from both local projects such as Sony PSP, album artwork for Outlandish, BBC and luxury hotel Tamani Hotels (Dubai) to name a few.
Ascia
Ascia is a fashion blogger with over a million followers on Instagram. She is credited with bringing the turban style to Kuwait and being a source of style inspiration for many women who wear a headscarf. She is remarkably open with what she shares on her social media accounts(which include a blog, Twitter, and YouTube), sharing everything from her personal insecurities to her experience of motherhood and of course, fashion inspiration.
Wajahat Aly
Wajahat Ali is a lawyer, writer, playwright, editor, professional speaker, and currently the co-host and digital producer of The Stream by Al-Jazeera. The bulk of his work has centered on the Muslim experience in America, from academic essays to light-hearted plays.
He is also well-versed on contemporary affairs, politics, the media, popular culture, and religions — with his essays and interviews on these topics frequently appearing in the Washington Post, The Guardian, Salon, Slate, McSweeney’s, Wall Street Journal Blog, Huffington Post, CNN.com, among other outlets.
Yuna
In a remarkably short period of time, Yuna has risen from regional D.I.Y. notoriety to full-on international stardom. In the process, the charismatic young singer-songwriter from Malaysia-who makes her Verve Records debut with Nocturnal-has become the first artist from her homeland to conquer the American market.
The ease with which Yuna has transitioned to border-defying mainstream success shouldn’t be surprising, considering the effortlessly universal appeal of her organic blend of contemporary pop, acoustic folk and soulful R&B. The artist’s personally charged songs are deeply felt yet melodically irresistible, combining her engaging voice and expressive songcraft with imaginative production to create wholly distinctive music that’s won her comparisons with the likes of Feist, Adele and Norah Jones.
Saif Adam
Born in Essex, Saif was brought up in a traditional Muslim family where teaching was the main profession. Originally hailing from Iraq, they were keen to instill spiritual and Islamic values. Throughout his childhood, Saif demonstrated a keen interest in music and performance. He taught himself to play the guitar and cajon drums. His years at college and university gave him the impetus and drive to perfect his musical skills. It was during this time he combined performance, composition and his love for the spiritual. He progressed to write his own lyrics resulting in fully crafted tracks and the debut single ‘Believe’ that strikes a chord in all of us.
Nimah Ismail Nawwab
Nimah Ismail Nawwab was born in a Meccan family with a long history of scholars. As a writer, editor and poet as well as photographer, her interests have led her to venture in various fields and work on diverse projects. Her writing is often augmented with photography, as she enjoys building both sensory word and image impact for readers. Her poetry has been published on several websites, translated into numerous languages, included in anthologies and taught at schools and colleges in Arabia, the U.S, Canada, Singapore, Japan, India and others. Her work has been included in anthologies. She is also a poetry judge and facilitator of poetry sessions and workshops in several countries.
Sami Yusuf
Sami Yusuf is a British singer-songwriter, composer, producer and an accomplished musician. Endowed with a strong cultural affiliation to music; privileged with a musical background and having studied music with several renowned composers, including those from one of the world’s most prestigious music institutes – the Royal Academy of Music in London, “music is his destiny” was an unsurprising prediction made by his acquaintances.
Shea Rasol
Shea is an international fashion blogger and has her own clothing line. Shea is based in the capital city of sunny Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur and always tries to imbue positivity in everything she does. “I am always drawn to young and contemporary fashionable looks… combining fashion with faith is not an easy thing to do, and I believe that with the right intention, beauty will prevail without so much effort at all.” Through her love of fashion, Shea aims to share with the world just how amazing Muslim women can be inside and outside.
Yaseen Mohamed
Yaseen is a UK-based Artist specialising in traditional and non-traditional art, creative works and assemblage arts. With over 85 thousand followers on Instagram, his unique and inspirational artwork is known and loved by many. He is also a passionate humanitarian who has collaborated with UNRWA and IsraSpeaks (Washington DC) in a highly successful campaign to raise almost $30,00.00 in support of humanitarian aid for the suffering victims in the Palestine crisis.
Medina Tenour Whiteman
Medina is an Anglo-American mother of two, born into a Muslim convert family, raised on Jacques Tati, the Goon Show, Rickie Lee Jones and ecstatic Andalusi song. She is a Musician, singer, songwriter, poet, storyteller, novelist-in-progress, occasional essayist, blogger, linguist (Spanish, French, Swahili, bit of Arabic, Farsi and Portuguese), translator (Spanish-English), permaculturist, herb lover, wonderer, wanderer, nomad, crafter and general creativity-addict.
The Narcicyst
Yassin “The Narcicyst” Alsalman is a leading Arab musician, actor and multimedia artist who has shared his work in forums like TedEx, the Dubai International Film Festival, the Melbourne Festival and the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Currently a solo artist, Yassin has performed across North-America, Europe and the Middle East, sharing the stage with influential Hip Hop acts like Kanye West, Wu-tang Clan, IAM, Public Enemy and Mos Def to name a few. His acting career includes roles in cinema and television, including a nominated role in Dubai-based feature film CITY OF LIFE.
Khadija Annette O’Connel
Khadija Annette is a community creative who produces inspires creativity with her eye for beauty and detail. She is passionate about making a positive impact on the world by connecting people with beauty.
“Life, creativity, and making a home all happen in layers and the way we compile, edit, and rebuild our layers is utterly imperfect. But I believe that beauty doesn’t come from perfection: it comes from the process. That’s where meaning comes from, too. In fact, when I look back, I see that I’ve been guided by beauty and the sense of what could be my whole life. Growing up in Alaska, I was certainly surrounded by natural beauty.”
Yusuf Islam
Yusuf Islam, also known as Cat Stevens, he has been in the music industry since the early 1970s, and has sold over 40 million records. In the mid-’90s Yusuf Islam founded his own label, Mountain of Light, on which he released spoken-word albums. The albums A Is for Allah (2000) and I Look, I See (2003) contain songs for children in addition to spoken pieces. He followed those with the concert disc A Night of Remembrance: Live at the Royal Albert Hall. In 2000 Yusuf Islam, who has supported humanitarian efforts in Bosnia, oversaw the release of a Stevens retrospective and began to resurface in the music press. Twenty-eight years after he left the major-label pop world as Cat Stevens, he returned on Atlantic Records as Yusuf Islam with An Other Cup (Number 52, 2006), a set of folk-pop songs that hearkened back to his pop-star days but with clear religious messages. He continues to release religious albums and music for children independently.