Senior Leadership

Shaykh Muhammad Faraz Ahmad is a Muslim scholar, mentor, and founder of al-Mahmood Foundation and the Hikmah Academy in the Twin Cities. Al-Mahmood Foundation was established to preserve the Muslim civic model and to promote healthy coexistence with others as part of God’s will on earth. Baitul Hikmah Academy is rooted in our hope for the future, an accelerated platform with a productive study environment for Muslim youth.

Shaykh Muhammad Faraz was born March 13, 1975, in Lahore, Pakistan. He moved to Milwaukee, WI, in 1988, where his family had settled in the mid 60’s, and enrolled in 8th grade at Casimir Pulaski High School. He graduated in his junior year with honors and got a scholarship for the engineering program at Marquette University. It was during the Shaykh’s years at Marquette that his path in life took a more favorable turn, and he began his formal journey in Islamic education. He traveled to Pakistan and completed an intense, traditional program of Arabic and Islamic studies.

After four years of studying foundational Islamic subjects with various scholars, Shaykh Muhammad Faraz commenced his education in Quranic exegesis, the discipline of hadith, Islamic law, and other essential sciences. He completed a formal ‘Alamiyyah degree (equivalent to masters in Arabic and Islamic studies) in the year 2000. After completing his studies in Pakistan, Shaykh Faraz returned to his home in Milwaukee, from where he relocated to the Twin Cities in 2010.

Since settling in the Cities, Shaykh Faraz has served the Muslim community in various capacities: as a community leader, a teacher, and as an advisor for Muslim organizations. During his four-plus years of serving as an Imam at Masjid ar-Rahman, the Shaykh felt a pressing need to organize a coherent Islamic educational system for Muslim families in order to address their anxieties and needs in religious matters.

In 2014, al-Mahmood Foundation was established. Using any available space, Shaykh Muhammad Faraz continuously advised and steered his community towards a more active and effective existence in society and towards encouraging noble character and virtuous actions among individuals, families, and congregations.

The exposure acquired through the constant partaking in public and private services, the mentorship in personal and collective situations, and the influential role among both young and old, convinced the Shaykh of the compelling need for an exemplary private Islamic school in the Twin Cities. With extremely limited resources, but very committed friends, he was then able to pursue higher ambitions, and the Baitul Hikmah Academy came into existence in 2017.

Shaykh Faraz has devoted much of his time in the past few years to the success and development of the Academy. Finding time to conduct meetings, create strategies, and pursue projects. Despite all this, the Shaykh continues his weekly classes on tafsir, hadith, and other essential subjects and makes time to maintain relationships and offer counsel.

Alhamdulillah, the Muslim community of the Greater Twin Cities area, is fortunate to have Shaykh Faraz in their midst. In him is a resource that embodies the true nature of scholarship, giving generously of his time and knowledge in the everyday service of Muslims and the dedicated preservation of the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.