Taha Jabir Alalwani Iraq & US of A..
Al-Alwani has 3 children from a previous marriage, Dr. Zainab Alwani, Dr. Ruqaya Alwani and Ahmed Alwani all of which are active in their fathers methodology. He still plays an active role in his late wife's Mona Abul-Fadl work on Muslim's Women Studies and promotes her book, "Arab Regimes".
He founded a library and think-tank in Cairo named Zahra and Mona Rewaq. He is the main supporter of the Arab Association of Women and Civilization Studies which was established by Dr. Mona Abul-Fadl. He enjoys listening to maqaam Iraqi and classical Arabic music (especially Umm Kalthoom). Since he was a child, he has played the musical instrument 'Al-Qanoon' (similar to the piano). He speaks Arabic, English, Persian, and Turkish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Juxj0RFwcrUFollowing his undergraduate studies, Al-Alwani returned to Iraq and became a lieutenant in the Iraqi Military Reserves. He taught in the Military Academy of Iraq in Baghdad and also taught in the College of Islamic Studies where he was a professor for 6 years. While in Baghdad Al-Alwani studied with some of Iraq's most prominent figures including: Sheikh Amjad al-Zahawi, Sheikh Qasim Al-Qaysi, (Grand Mufty of Iraq), Sheikh Mohammad Fu'ad Al-Aloosi, Sheikh Abdul 'Aziz Salem Al-Samerai, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Qazilchi. Al-Alwani led Jummah (Friday Prayers) in the famous Mosque of Hajja Haseebah Al-Pachatchi from 1953 until 1969. He was forced to leave Iraq in 1969 due to his opposition of the Ba'ath party.
He returned to Al-Azhar in Egypt where he earned his PhD. After his PhD graduation he taught for 10 years at the Imam Muhammad ibn Sa’ood University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Al-Alwani then decided to immigrate to the United States in 1983 where he settled down in Northern Virginia for 23 years.
Dr Zainab Alwani, reclaiming gender equality in Islamic scholarshiphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CtsTnvvjnwhttp://www.zainabalwani.com/ Dr. Zainab Alwani is an Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at the Howard University School of Divinity. She is an Islamic scholar, speaker, researcher, and community activist. In addition to being the first female jurist to serve on the board for the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), Dr. Alwani currently serves as the Vice President of the FCNA. Her research focuses on Quranic studies, Islamic jurisprudence, the relationship between civil and religious law in the area of family and gender, comparative religions, and inter-religious dialogue.
Prior to joining the School of Divinity, Dr. Alwani was the Program Director and Adjunct Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Northern Virginia Community College. She was also an Adjunct Professor of Arabic Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She developed courses in Arabic Studies that focused on the link between Islamic philosophy, language, and culture. She also taught Islamic history, inter-religious dialogue, and comparative religion at Wesley Theological Seminary and the Washington National Cathedral.