Our Imam

Our Imam, Dr. Mohamed Yacoub, was born in Egypt but moved to live in Saudi Arabia at the age of 8 to the age of 18 with his parents where his father used to work as a Quran teacher and Mua’azin in Prince Sultan Masjid in Riyadh. Imam Yacoub finished memorizing the Quran at the age of 16 in Saudi Arabia. While in Saudi Arabia, Imam Yacoub accompanied his father to attend lectures by different scholars including Sheikh ibn Baz, ibn Uthaimeen, ibn Jibreen, Saleh Al Fawzan, Saleh Assadlan, Nasser Al-Omar, Abdullah Al-Mutlaq, Abdulaziz Al-Asheikh, Abdullah Assa’d, and other scholars.
Imam Yacoub has an ijaza of Quran in Riwayat Hafs 'an 'Asim from Sheikh Abidalrahman Alshmari (2018), has an ijaza in Warsh 'an Nafi' from Sheikh Ahmed Tantawi (2022). These two ijazat both were from Tariq Al-Shatibbyah and for the whole Quran cover to cover by heart. He has an ijaza in Azthan and other ijazaat by tests from different sheikhs and scholars. He studied the ten Qiraat from Al-Shatibbyah and Al-Durrah for two years. Imam Yacoub has received Quran through ”Mushaffahah” مشافهة from more than twenty sheikhs from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Burma and sheikhs who come from other countries. Imam Yacoub studied Tajweed, Aqida, Fiqh, Tafsir, Hadeeth with different Muslim scholars in both Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Imam Yacoub has a Bachelor’s Degree in the Arabic Language and Islamic Studies from Dar Al-Oloum in Cairo University in Egypt (2011-2021) through Open Education system, in which he studied Usool al-fiqh, Hadeeth, Aqida, eloquence and rhetoric of Quran, Islamic history, Arabic syntax, phonology, morphology, Arabic poetry and literature, and Islamic philosophy. In addition, Imam Yacoub has a PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (May 2015 to August 2020), a Master’s Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Missouri State University (August 2012 to May 2014) where he was a Fulbright Scholar in the first of these two years. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Education from Ain Shams University from Cairo, Egypt (2003-2008). Currently, our imam is a PhD candidate in the field of jurisprudence and its principles (Fiqh and its Usool) at the Islamic University of Minnesota (IUM).
Prior to coming to ICWP, Imam Yacoub served as the Imam at the Islamic center of Indiana, PA (2015 to 2023) and prior to that he also served as the Imam at the Islamic Center of Springfield, MO (2012-2014). He also worked as a part time Imam at multiple prisons in the State of Pennsylvania including Allegheny County Jail, SCI Smithfield, SCI Fayette, and SCI Mercer throughout the years 2017-2023.
Imam Yacoub is active in academia and he publishes academic articles on language issues, students’ identity, Muslim international students, and on other language and identity-related arguments in academic journals. He also has an active agenda in attending academic conferences and presenting on different related topics to his field. He has teaching experience at three different universities in the USA: Missouri State University, the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Florida International University. He also taught English composition in Dalian (a city located in China in the southern tip of China’s Liaoning Province) at the Liaoning Normal University-Missouri State University joint program for one academic year, September 2014 to June 2015, and then he came back to the States for his PhD.
Finally, Imam Mohamed Yacoub is married and has four kids: Jumana, Anas, Saphia, and Fatimah.
Imam Yacoub has an ijaza of Quran in Riwayat Hafs 'an 'Asim from Sheikh Abidalrahman Alshmari (2018), has an ijaza in Warsh 'an Nafi' from Sheikh Ahmed Tantawi (2022). These two ijazat both were from Tariq Al-Shatibbyah and for the whole Quran cover to cover by heart. He has an ijaza in Azthan and other ijazaat by tests from different sheikhs and scholars. He studied the ten Qiraat from Al-Shatibbyah and Al-Durrah for two years. Imam Yacoub has received Quran through ”Mushaffahah” مشافهة from more than twenty sheikhs from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Burma and sheikhs who come from other countries. Imam Yacoub studied Tajweed, Aqida, Fiqh, Tafsir, Hadeeth with different Muslim scholars in both Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Imam Yacoub has a Bachelor’s Degree in the Arabic Language and Islamic Studies from Dar Al-Oloum in Cairo University in Egypt (2011-2021) through Open Education system, in which he studied Usool al-fiqh, Hadeeth, Aqida, eloquence and rhetoric of Quran, Islamic history, Arabic syntax, phonology, morphology, Arabic poetry and literature, and Islamic philosophy. In addition, Imam Yacoub has a PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (May 2015 to August 2020), a Master’s Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Missouri State University (August 2012 to May 2014) where he was a Fulbright Scholar in the first of these two years. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Education from Ain Shams University from Cairo, Egypt (2003-2008). Currently, our imam is a PhD candidate in the field of jurisprudence and its principles (Fiqh and its Usool) at the Islamic University of Minnesota (IUM).
Prior to coming to ICWP, Imam Yacoub served as the Imam at the Islamic center of Indiana, PA (2015 to 2023) and prior to that he also served as the Imam at the Islamic Center of Springfield, MO (2012-2014). He also worked as a part time Imam at multiple prisons in the State of Pennsylvania including Allegheny County Jail, SCI Smithfield, SCI Fayette, and SCI Mercer throughout the years 2017-2023.
Imam Yacoub is active in academia and he publishes academic articles on language issues, students’ identity, Muslim international students, and on other language and identity-related arguments in academic journals. He also has an active agenda in attending academic conferences and presenting on different related topics to his field. He has teaching experience at three different universities in the USA: Missouri State University, the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Florida International University. He also taught English composition in Dalian (a city located in China in the southern tip of China’s Liaoning Province) at the Liaoning Normal University-Missouri State University joint program for one academic year, September 2014 to June 2015, and then he came back to the States for his PhD.
Finally, Imam Mohamed Yacoub is married and has four kids: Jumana, Anas, Saphia, and Fatimah.