Imam Dr. Salahuddin M. Muhammad is a retired Chaplain having served at Fishkill Correctional Facility (Beacon, NY) for 28 years, as Senior Imam of Masjid Al Ikhlas, (Newburgh, NY) for 26 years and as a Contract-Chaplain at Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) for 17 years. Presently he serves as President of the Alumni Council and an Executive Board member of Hartford Seminary, President of the Association of Muslim Chaplains, and an Associate Imam of As Salaam Islamic Center in Raleigh, NC. Additionally he is an Adjunct Professor at Wake Tech Community College, Raleigh, NC, where he is also the Adjunct Advisor for The Muslim Student Union (MSU). Imam Muhammad is member of Muslims for Social Justice (MSJ), and also a member of the Muslim American Public Affairs Council (MAPAC). His areas of expertise include: Islam, general Islamic studies, Islamic theology, Motivational Speaker, Christian/Muslim relations, criminal justice issues, and inmate advocacy. In addition to his work, he is a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather and brings this sensitivity to his work. He received his Masters of Professional Studies degree in Theology and Counseling from New York Theological Seminary and BA in the Social Sciences from SUNY at New Paltz. Imam Muhammad holds a D.Min. in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary as well as a Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy.

Seher was born and raised in California where she completed her undergraduate degree in Religious Studies and Psychology at Santa Clara University. She is currently a student at Hartford Seminary where she is finishing her M.A. in Islamic Studies with an emphasis in Muslim-Christian Relations and a Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy. Seher has been deeply involved in her local Muslim and Interfaith communities; being a part of both and building bridges is one of her biggest passions. In addition to her studies she is currently a Chaplain-in-Residence at Georgetown University serving a dorm of 300+ students.

Imam Raqeeb Abduljabbar was raised Muslim by his father, who accepted Islam in 1955 at State Street Mosque in New York City. Raqeeb later served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1980-1986. After receiving an E-5 Honorable Discharge, Imam Raqeeb earned his BS in Electronics. Between 1987 and 1991 he studied Fiqh, and the Islamic History of al-Tabari in Malayisia, Fiji, and Australia. In 1993 Imam Raqeeb began serving the Washington D.C. community as the Amir at Gallaudet University. There, he established the first deaf/ hard of hearing, hearing impaired MSA in the US. In 1996 he established the Masjid Al Islam musalla in Columbia, South Carolina, and ran an Islamic cable access program, Islamic Perspective, from 6/96-3/97. From 2003-2007, he helped to establish a youth study program in Senegal. Raqeeb served as the Imam at Masjid Umm Barakah in Richmond, Virginia Aug 2010 -2014. At present Imam Raqeeb is working on his Bachelors in Family Counseling, at Fresno State, while working as a Full Time Chaplain at Corcoran State Prison.

Mustafa Boz holds a Master’s in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, and a Graduate Certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy from the Hartford Seminary. His formal religious education began in a Turkish madrasa where he memorized the Qur’an, becoming a hafiz, and then later obtaining his Bachelors in Islamic Studies from Ankara University. Mustafa worked for five years with the Connecticut State Prison System providing chaplaincy services and now serves as a Muslim Chaplain for the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan.  Mustafa is also passionate about interfaith and community work. While in Connecticut he was actively involved with the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut, new to the Michigan metro-Detroit area, he is working to establish relations with the local communities.

The son of a Roman Catholic father from the Dominican Republic and a Baptist African-American mother from South Carolina, Chaplain, Captain Rafael D. Lantigua, Jr., accepted Islam at the age of 17 in November 1994, four days after enlisting into the U.S. Air Force. Having been to 14 duty stations around the world, Chaplain Lantigua is currently assigned to the 502d Air Base Wing, Basic Military Training Branch, at Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland, Texas. He is responsible for ensuring the free exercise of religion and providing worship, confidential counseling, and other spiritual activities to 39,000 recruits annually. Chaplain Lantigua is also assigned to the 320th Training Squadron where he facilitates religious accommodation, pastoral care, unit engagement, and advising leadership to a 60-person staff. Additionally, Chaplain Lantigua oversees the Global Ministry Center; supporting the largest Muslim congregation in the Department of Defense.

Dr. Matin presently serves as a staff educator, coach and on-call Muslim Chaplain. She conducts extensive research in regards to the role family history plays in shaping identity, community, and the ways in which they intersect. In recognition of her work in intercultural dialogue and civic engagement, Dr. Matin was appointed Ariane de Rothschild Fellow, a position focused upon developing social entrepreneurial initiatives that serve faith-based leaders and nonprofit organizations through an Urban Ministry Collective. Additionally, Dr. Matin serves on the editorial board of the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, and boards of the Kansas Institute for African American and Native American Family History, and the Muslim Community Network (MCN). Dr. Matin has an MS in Education from Fordham University. She was ordained as an Interfaith Minister in 2006 and received a Certificate in Interspiritual/Interfaith Counseling in 2010 from One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. She earned her D.Min. from New York Theological Seminary in 2012 in Multi-faith ministry. Dr. Matin has been called by some as a “woman who walks through walls.” She sees her work as her calling and a continuation of her family’s tradition in ministry, education, and health, and the fulfilling of the civil rights and social justice dreams of her ancestors.

Nisa Muhammad is the Assistant Dean for Religious Life at Howard University. She is responsible for religious programming that serves the various needs of the campus, advocates for the religious needs of Muslim students on campus, teaches non academic personal enrichment classes on Islamic tradition and works closely as part of the staff in the Office of the Dean of the Chapel to foster inter religious dialogue and cooperation. Her other responsibilities include organizing Muslim worship and devotion, counseling and advising students, faculty, staff, and answering a myriad of questions and challenges from race to religion to relationships. She is also the advisor to the Muslim Students Association. She works closely with young Muslims by helping them strengthen and affirm their faith in the midst of challenging circumstances like being Black and Muslim. Mrs. Muhammad is a graduate of Hartford Seminary, Class of 2017. She received a Master’s Degree in Islamic Studies and a graduate certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy. She is currently a Doctor of Ministry student at Howard University’s School of Divinity.

Sharif Rosen is the Muslim Chaplain and Assistant Director for the Center for Learning in Action at Williams College.  Prior to this post, he was the Muslim and Multi-Faith Advisor at Dartmouth College.  Sharif studied classical Arabic and traditional Islam in Amman, Jordan for five years.  In Amman, he completed the Qasid Arabic Institute’s language program, several foundational works in Hanafi and Shafi’i fiqh, Aqida, and an ijaza in tajwid.  With the encouragement of his teachers, he is translating Arabic works for English readership, and composing original treatises, including “A Muslim Student’s Companion Book of Prayers.” Before going overseas, he led community relations for the UMMA Community Clinic in Los Angeles, CA. There, he worked with affordable healthcare advocates, the Muslim American community, local officials and the media to draw attention to the dire healthcare needs of the area, and develop strategies towards increasing healthcare access.   Most recently, Sharif has volunteered as a Muslim Chaplain in the Vermont Department of Corrections, offering pastoral care and religious education to the incarcerated.  Sharif is currently a graduate student at Hartford Seminary with a focus in Islamic Studies.

Matiniah Yahya is an active community chaplain in the New Haven, CT area. A Master Disaster Chaplain trained by Islamic Relief, she is also a former lay midwife who has been a volunteer hospital and prison chaplain for more than a decade. In 2010, Matiniah began her Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) at Yale-New Haven Hospital where she obtained four units of CPE (including a one year full time residency). She has also been the Program Director of the Al-Azhar University (Cairo, Egypt) Summer Arabic Intensive for Americans (2005-2010). Matiniah is currently on the board of the Muslim Endorsement Council of Connecticut (MECC), past chair of the Sisterhood at Masjid Al-Islam (New Haven CT) where she continues to work as a chaplain with administration organizing educational programs  and retreats.  Chaplain Yahya is one of the founding members of AMC. She continues to be a supporter and has been active with AMC on several levels present and in the past. She holds a Masters in Education from Wheelock College and BS in Human Services from Southern New Hampshire University.

Abdulmalik Negedu, Membership Chair, Founding member
Abdus-Salaam Musa, VP of Health Care Chaplains
Aisha McCord, Secretary
Heba Yussef, VP of Health Care Chaplains
Ibrahim Long, VP of Health Care Chaplains & Website Manager
Kamal Abu-Shamsieh, VP of Health Care Chaplains
Mumina Kowalski, Secretary, Founding member
Mustafa Boz, VP of Corrections Chaplains *
Omer Bajwa, VP of Education Chaplains
Rabia Terri Harris, President, Founding member
Salahuddin M. Muhammad, VP for Corrections Chaplains *
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, Secretary
Shareda Hosein, Treasurer, Founding member

* Currently serving in a different capacity