Shaykh Ismail Bowers
Born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father is an American convert to Islam, and his mother is from Fes, Morocco. He completed an ‘Alimiyyah (License in Islamic Scholarship) degree at the University of Al-Qarawiyyin in Fes, graduating from its renowned 12-year program. His studies spanned a traditional curriculum, including Qur’anic Exegesis (Tafsīr), Hadith Sciences (Al-Ḥadīth wa-‘Ulūmuh), Comparative Islamic Law (Al-Fiqh Al-Muqāran), Principles of Jurisprudence (Uṣul al-Fiqh), Legal Maxims (Al-Qawā‘id al-Fiqhiyyah), Objectives of Islamic Law (Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah), Prophetic Biography (Sīrah), and Arabic Philology (Fiqh al-Lughah). He also studied under some of Morocco’s most prominent scholars, receiving Ijāzah (license to teach) in multiple disciplines
After nearly a decade in Morocco, he earned a Master’s degree in Theology with a focus on global religions from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, graduating at the top of his class. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Theology and Religion, where he is researching Hadith and Islamic theology.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Shaykh Ismail has extensive experience in teaching and community engagement. He is the co-founder of Pillars Seminary, where he has instructed hundreds of students in the Islamic sciences and Arabic. His academic background, combined with practical teaching experience, uniquely positions him to guide and inspire the community as Resident Scholar, offering both spiritual and intellectual leadership rooted in classical Islamic scholarship and its contemporary application.
