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Sheikh Shahnawaz Mahdavi was born in Mumbai, India, in 1969. His parents Najmul Husain and Noorjehan, and his younger sister were all born in Mumbai, where they presently continue to reside.
His primary and secondary education was at St. Peter’s School, and then he went on to Ruparel College for his Higher Secondary Education, to obtain top grades. At the University of Mumbai, he studied and graduated with a BEng in Engineering (Electronics), in 1991.
It was around this phase that he that got interested in Theology and Religious Studies, and his full-time involvement in Religious education started in 1992-93 at Madrasah Al-Sayyid Al-Khoie –Stanmore. He then proceeded to Iran, in 1995, for a further eight years of studies in the Seminaries of Qum and Mashhad, with a specialisation in the field of Tafsir al-Qu’ran (Commentary of the holy Quran) and Uloom al-Qur’an (Sciences of the holy Qur’an).
He delivers lectures and majalis, and has recited in various cities around the world, in English, Gujarati and Urdu. Since 2004, he has been associated with the Mombasa Jamaat as its Director of Religious Affairs, where he also heads the IRE (Islamic Religious Education) at Jaffery Academy, Mombasa.
Sheikh is also actively involved in translation of religious books from Arabic and Persian into English and which, incidentally happens to be his passion. He is presently associated with the Edexcel Curriculum Committee of the Islamic Education Board of the World Federation that caters to the Edexcel International Examination Board’s GCSE IRE curriculum. |
