Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah (Wymann-Landgraf) is an American Muslim, born in 1948 to a Protestant family in Columbus, Nebraska. He grew up in Athens, Georgia, where both parents taught at the University of Georgia. Dr. Abd-Allah did his undergraduate work at the University of Missouri with dual majors in History and English Literature. He made the Dean's list all semesters and was nominated to the Phi Beta Kappa Honorary Society. In 1969, he won a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and entrance to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York to pursue a Ph.D. program in English literature. Shortly after coming to Cornell, Dr. Abd-Allah read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which inspired him to embrace Islam in early 1970. In 1972, he altered his field of study and transferred to the University of Chicago, where he studied Arabic and Islamic Studies under Dr. Fazlur Rahman. Dr. Abd-Allah received his doctorate with honors in 1978 for a dissertation on the origins of Islamic Law, Malik's Concept of ‘Amal in the Light of Maliki Legal Theory. From 1977 until 1982, he taught at the Universities of Windsor (Ontario), Temple, and Michigan. In 1982, he left America to teach Arabic in Spain. Two years later, he was appointed to the Department of Islamic Studies at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah, where he taught (in Arabic) Islamic studies and comparative religions until 2000.

Sidi Nazim Baksh has contributed critically to the revival of the Traditional Islam in the west over the past 12 years. Here are some of writings that seeks to express a rather unique perspective in our time. Sometimes his views maybe said to be jarring but these pieces are undoubtedly insightful and presents the view of a well travelled, well read and immensely experienced and award winning journalist. Nazim Baksh is a broadcast correspondent with the CBC, has most recently been producing and reporting for news documentaries focusing on the root causes of terrorism and the motivations of those who support or become members of terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda. Nazim joined CBC National TV-News in 1990 after completing his Master’s Degree in Journalism at the University of Western Ontario. He holds a B.A. Hons. in Political Science from York University. In his 17 years at CBC, Nazim has worked in both radio and television news and has covered numerous stories of national and international significance. In the last year Nazim has worked on the production of two full-edition documentaries, “Nuclear Jihad,” and “Land, Gold and Women.” He has also contributed to the production of “A Secret History of 9/11,” a two hour documentary aired on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. He is also a Canadian Journalism Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto.