| Professor Syed Ahmad Hussain Shah Tirmezi سيّد احمد شاه ترمذي |
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Syed Ahmad Hussian Shah Tirmezi, c. 2004 |
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| Born | March 31, 1950 Gujrat District, Pakistan |
Syed Ahmad Hussain Shah Tirmezi (Arabic: {} Syed Ahmad Hussain Shah Tirmezi[1] is currently the Chief Imam of Al-Jamia Al-Zahra in Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK. He is the grandson of Shaykh Pir Syed Walayat Ali Shah from Gujrat District in Pakistan. Shaykh Tiremzi is a descendant of Muhammad from both his mother and father. He has previously been the vice-president of Markazi Jama'at-e-Tafdiliyat UK & Europe (part of the British Muslim Forum, BMF). Professor Tirmezi was brought up in a very strict Islamic atmosphere. He delivered the Jumu'ah (Friday) khutbah (sermon) since the age of 12. At that age he was a fluent speaker in many languages including Arabic, English and Urdu. He later worked in Saudi Arabia whilst still studying and teaching Islam. Then in the mid 1980's he migrated to Halifax, England to teach Islam. He has been the Imam of the central Madni Mosque in Halifax for more than 12 years. In his time serving as the head Imam of the mosque he was the first Muslim in Halifax to openly celebrate the birthday of Muhammad in the streets of Halifax along with the Sunni Muslim community in Halifax. In addition, he set the foundations on how the mosque had to expand to accommodate the ever-growing Muslim population in the area. He also he encouraged the Muslim teenagers to take part actively in the spread of Sunni Islam and encouraged everyone to learn more about Islam. In 2002 he felt the need for a dedicated international charity to help with the propagation of Al-Islam so he established "Shah Walayat Foundation". In addition, there was a need for a dedicated Islamic school so he established "Al-Jamia Al-Zahra". Al-Jamia Al-Zahra is the central Islamic school for the West Yorkshire area. Currently there are over 300 students studying in Al-Jamia Al-Zahra.