Resident Aalim
Hujjat-ul-Islam Maulana Ghulam Hurr Shabbiri is a globally-recognised and renowned scholar, who has completed over 15 years of education from Pakistan and the Islamic Seminary in Qom, Iran.
In 1979 (the year of the Islamic Revolution of Iran), Maulana joined Darul Uloom-e Muhammadia in Sargodah, Pakistan1, and under the guidance of Marhoom Allamah Naseer Hussain and Marhoom Allamah Syed Ijaz Hussain Kazmi, he continued his Arabic & Islamic studies there for four years.
In 1982, Maulana joined the Islamic Seminary of Qom in Iran, where he continued his studies for 10 years and attained his MA at Wifaq ul Madares, Punjab University, Pakistan.
Maulana has been serving communities in the West by sharing his knowledge and experience for over 3 decades.
Notable Teachers
At the Islamic Seminary, he studied under several noteworthy scholars such as:
- Ayatollah Vojdani-Fakhr
- Ayatollah Etemadi
- Ayatollah Payani
- Ayatollah Hadavi Tehrani
- Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi
- Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli
- Ayatollah Sobhani
- Ayatollah Meshkini
- Ayatollah Mazaheri
- Ayatollah Hosseini Bushehri
- Ayatollah Khatami
- Ayatollah Nekoonam
* During his time in Pakistan as a student, he was under the direct supervision of Shaheed Allamah Arif Hussain Al Hussaini and worked in proximity with him.
Service History
1992: Maulana arrived in the UK in 1992, where he started activities for the youth in Birmingham, at the Idaara Maarif-e-Islam, also known as Hussainia Birmingham. He decided to reside in the UK following the advice of his teachers and mentors from the Islamic Seminary.
1993: Maulana was the Resident Scholar at KSIA community in Leeds, England, and then later moved to the West Midlands and established Masjid-e-Ali in Wolverhampton, England.
1994–1995: Teacher in Hawza Jamia-tul-Qaim Sudbury, London, and at served at various religious centres in the UK. Teacher in Imam Hussain Institute which is now known as Hawza Ilmiye London.
1994–1997: Founding member of Majlis-Ulama-Shia Europe, working alongside scholars from the UK on various projects.
1995–1996: Founding member of Bab-ul-Ilm Institute, Birmingham, UK.
1997: Maulana went back to Qom for his further studies; however, upon further advice of his teachers, he returned to the UK.
1998–2005: Maulana continued his duties as the resident scholar Masjid-e-Ali, Wolverhampton, where he founded the community centre and helped successfully purchase a building for the Masjid.
2005–2015: The Islamic Education Center (IEC) of Houston, Texas, had formally invited Maulana to serve as a community leader. Maulana was directly appointed by the office of the Supreme Leader as Imam-e-Juma and Resident Aalim of IEC. Maulana served at the IEC for 10 years, supervising the centre and Al-Hadi School of Accelerative Learning. Maulana taught in the Farsi school as a teacher and taught seminary classes and supervised religious activities.
Maulana co-founded the Muslim Congress, USA, and served as its Chairman for 5 years; and is currently the Founder Trustee of Muslim Congress, USA.
During his time at the IEC, Maulana founded the Mizan Institute, which offers Hawza classes. With the help of the community and under his supervision, they succeeded in buying a 13-acre land for Al-Hadi School in Houston. During this time, he also helped establish Al Zahra Foundation in Nottingham, UK.
2015-2017: Maulana moved back to England and served 2 years at Masjid-e-Ali, Luton, as a Resident Aalim.
2017: Maulana was invited to Bab-ul-Ilm Society (Azakhana-e-Zahra) in Dublin, Ireland, to serve as Resident Scholar and served the community there for 3 years. During his tenure in Ireland, Maulana founded the Bab-ul-Ilm Quran Academy and organised family and youth camps, conferences and seminars.
2020: With the invitation of Islamic Centre of England, Maulana moved back to the UK and was appointed as director of Al-Mahdi Islamic Centre in Glasgow, UK. During this period, Maulana co-founded ISRA International UK.
2021‒Present: Currently Resident Alim of Al Zahra Foundation, Nottingham.
* In 2006, Maulana founded the Al Zahra Foundation, Pakistan, and also founded Al-Mustafa Public School for Orphans, in Islamabad, Pakistan. He is also currently a Founder Trustee of Jamiat-ul Wilayah in Pakistan, and continues to relay his services as a Founding Member of MWM, Pakistan.