Bayan Benefit with Prof. Bilal Ware| Dallas

Join Bayan for an illuminating evening with Professor Bilal Ware, as he explores how the teachings of love and compassion in the Qur’an and Sunnah can transform our communities.

About this Event

Experience a transformative night as we reflect on the realities of love within the sacred Islamic sources with the guidance and wisdom of our distinguished speakers whose words cannot be missed. This event is a unique, historical opportunity for intellectual engagement, spiritual reflection, and community building. Your participation supports the advancement of Muslim leadership, rooted in the core values of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and ensures the ongoing impact of Bayan Islamic Graduate School.

Keynote Speaker: Professor Bilal Ware 

Featuring Professor Bilal Ware, a distinguished American educator, acclaimed author, and renowned historian of West Africa and Islam at the University of California, Santa Barbara and visiting faculty at Bayan Islamic Graduate School. He first began teaching at Northwestern University, and later at the University of Michigan. He received his Ph.D. in history in 2004 from the University of Pennsylvania. His expertise covers a range of disciplines, including history, anthropology, African Studies, along with themes on epistemology, Qur’an schooling, Muslim Mysticism, slavery and abolition, and Islamic devotional poetry. Professor Bilal is the vice presidential nominee of the Green Party in the 2024 United States presidential election.

Feature Speakers

Alongside Professor Ware, we are excited to feature Dr. Jihad Turk, the founding president of Bayan Islamic Graduate School. A dynamic leader and sought-after speaker, Dr. Turk has been at the forefront of addressing critical issues facing Muslims in America. His work on ethical leadership, community service, and the spiritual development of Muslim youth makes him an essential voice in this conversation. His insights will provide practical ways for us to live out the values of love and compassion in our communities.

In addition to our keynote, you will hear from Bayan’s faculty, alumni, and students who are living out Islamic values every day. Through their stories, you will witness how the principles of love and compassion from the Qur’an and Sunnah are being applied in real-world contexts and how Bayan is using these to develop Dallas’ leaders one class at a time. 

About Bayan

Bayan was established in 2011 as an independent, not-for-profit Islamic educational institution that offers accredited graduate degrees in Islamic Studies—with the aim of creating a world that understands Islam in a modern context. Bayan’s mission focuses on cultivating today’s leaders and scholars for Muslim American communities, building capacity grounded in Islamic values and effective at impacting society at large.

Over the past decade, Bayan’s graduate degree programs have expanded. Bayan offers a Master of Arts (MA) in Religious Studies with a concentration in Islamic Studies, and additional MA specializations in Islamic Leadership, Islamic Theology, and Islamic Education. Furthermore, over half of Bayan’s students are enrolled in Bayan’s unique professional Master of Divinity (MDiv) in Islamic Chaplaincy program. Bayan launched its first doctoral program this year, the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Islamic Leadership. Bayan’s degree programs are offered in partnership with the Chicago Theological Seminary, through which they are fully accredited.

Bayan provides professionalization and education to those Muslim Americans in leadership positions across the nation, such as imams, scholars, community organizers, chaplains, and teachers to be more effective and relevant to the needs of the community. To date, Bayan boasts 95 graduates and over 150 currently enrolled students who are working to enhance human capacity in these institutions to navigate the ever-evolving challenges in our communities.

Bayan Dallas Students & Alumni: 

Irslan Ahmad | Class of 2024

Mawlana Yasar Khan | Class of 2024 

Muhammad Abdul-Jami | Class of 2024

Hedaiah Aishat | Class of 2024

Irum Maharaj | Class of 2024

Saadia Ahmed | Class of 2025 [VERIFY] 

Shuhdi Hashim | Class of 2025 

Baqir Shah | Class of 2025

Salvy Ahsan | Class of 2025 

A special thanks to the host and planning committees: 

Soraya Mohammed

Zuhaira Razzack

Tara Turk-Zaafran

Imam Tyerre El-Amin Boyd

Heather Elsayed

Shaykha Rukayat Yakub

Sadia Jalali

Thank you to our generous sponsors: 

MUHSEN

Sachse Muslim Society 

Sponsorship: To become an individual, nonprofit or corporate sponsor of this gala, please go to www.bayanonline.org/sponsor

DISCLAIMER: Bayan is a not-for-profit organization that neither endorses nor denounces any political candidate. For this particular event, Bayan sent a formal invitation to all Vice Presidential candidates requesting their attendance. 

Host or Publisher Bayan