Muslim Founder

Mariam Ahmed is the co-founder of Menza, an AI intelligence platform for consumer brands.  Born and raised in New York, she studied computer science at King's College London before joining Goldman Sachs. Today she's growing Menza toward a billion-dollar company, backed by Y Combinator and featured in Forbes.  ------------------- Subscribe to the Muslim Founder Newsletter: https://muslimfou...

Iqbal Nasim is the former CEO of the National Zakat Foundation. He studied economics at Cambridge before going into investment banking, then left a seven-figure package to build NZF, transforming how Muslims across the country give their zakat. He's the founder of Transform My Prayer, helping Muslims connect with their salah, and the Last Day Leadership program, helping them find purpose. Over...

Abu Lahya is a Muslim entrepreneur specialising in influencer marketing agencies. He spent 3 years failing in business before making his first $100K. Today, after building a multi-6-figure marketing agency, he runs one of the biggest business mentorship programs in the Muslim space - with over 40,000 applications and students who've changed their lives, quit their jobs, and made hijrah. In thi...

Sh Mustafa Briggs is an Islamic historian, author, and specialist in Arabic and Islamic texts. He converted to Islam at 13 and went on to study across West Africa, Mauritania, Morocco, and Al-Azhar University in Cairo.  Today he's a leading voice for uncovering the hidden, forgotten, and erased stories of Islamic history, having delivered over 100 lectures across 50+ universities worldwide and...

Omar Waseem is the 21-year-old CEO of Alif, an investment fund for Muslim founders based in Silicon Valley. By 19, he had built multiple seven-figure businesses and served as CMO of Fei Protocol, a startup that peaked at a $2B valuation. Today he invests in early-stage Muslim founders and runs an ecosystem that hosts entrepreneurs and investors from across the world. In this episode, he breaks dow...

Humza Yousaf is a Scottish-Pakistani politician and the former First Minister of Scotland - the first Muslim to ever lead a Western nation.  The son of Pakistani immigrants, he entered politics at 22 and, over 15 years rose to the top of Scottish politics. During his time in office, he became the first Western leader to call for a ceasefire in Gaza - while his own wife's family was trapped the...

Yousef "FaZe Apex" is a Palestinian-American YouTuber and entrepreneur and co-founder of FaZe Clan, one of the biggest gaming and entertainment brands in history. He joined at 14, grew his channel to over 6 million subscribers, and over 15 years helped build it into a cultural phenomenon that peaked at a $2 billion valuation.  After the company collapsed, he walked away. Throughout his c...

Yusuf Adam is a 24-year-old entrepreneur from Blackburn who's done over £3 million in sales.  He started scanning £1 products in clearance aisles with his dad, scaled to £450,000 in profit, rejected a £200,000 deal with an Israeli company on principle, and built a software company along the way.  He now mentors young Muslims on building real wealth outside the traditional 9-to-5 blueprint. Fol...

Mohammad Taher, also known as "The Airport Guy," is a content creator, entrepreneur, and former aerospace engineer who built a following of hundreds of thousands by sharing his journey through the aviation industry. He started by documenting his graduate program at Heathrow Airport, eventually becoming an Aviation Ambassador for the UK government.  After being told at 16 that "they...

Sheikh Sajid Umar is a qualified judge, scholar, and educator who has spent the past two decades working with Muslim communities worldwide. He's helped Muslims navigate Islamic principles in modern contexts - from Islamic finance and business to family life and personal development. Sheikh Sajid is also the author of several books, including his commentary on Surah Yusuf as well as his latest...

Peter Gould is a designer and author who has spent over two decades integrating Islamic spirituality with contemporary design. He's the founder of Gould Studio and author of "The Heart of Design," developing frameworks that apply Islamic principles to creative work. His influence extends from designing products for Muslim families to teaching Islamic design concepts to big tech compa...

Adil Abbuthalha is the Founder of Boycat, an app that has diverted over $200 million from companies supporting Israeli interests. Adil studied at UC Davis, California, before starting his career in Silicon Valley, where he worked at a number of notable tech companies.  In 2023, after the ongoing events in Palestine, he launched the boycat app that would put him on government watch lists worldwide....

Mohammed Paracha is a Partner and Head of Middle East at Norton Rose Fulbright, one of the world's largest law firms. He began his career in the early 2000s and has become a pioneer of Islamic Banking. Beyond his law career, he’s also the co-founder of Nester, a regulated Shariah-compliant investment platform in the UK. Earlier this year, Mohammed also completed nearly 10 years of Islamic stud...

Thom Defilet is an entrepreneur and revert to Islam from the Netherlands. His path to Islam began through friendships with Muslims and participation in Ramadan while still identifying as an atheist.  He officially embraced Islam in 2022, taking the name Rayan - meaning "Gate of the fasting people" in reference to one of the eight gates of Paradise. Connect with Thom: https://www.youtube....

Shinaz is the founder of Niyyah, an Islamic education app that is transforming how Muslims connect with the Quran. He studied at the London School of Economics before launching his career in consulting and subsequently transitioning into the venture capital world. In 2023, he founded Niyyah, which now has over 70,000 users across 170 countries and has raised over $2m from investors. Download the N...

Hasan Kubba is a business coach and co-author of "The Unfair Advantage."  He studied economics at SOAS University before building his career in marketing, startups and entrepreneurship. His book hit #1 on Amazon's bestseller list across multiple categories and is now featured in multiple MBA programs across leading universities.  He now helps entrepreneurs and creators become bestselling published...

Mohammed Faris is the founder of The Productive Muslim and author of the book "The Barakah Effect."  In the mid-2000s, he started the Productive Muslim blog, becoming a pioneer in bridging Islamic spirituality, productivity and personal development.  Beyond his writing and speaking career, he's developed frameworks like the "Barakah Culture", which frames spiritual growth a...

Ibrahim Khan is the co-founder of Islamic Finance Guru and Cur8 Capital, a shariah-compliant investment platform. He studied PPE at Oxford University before starting his career as a corporate lawyer, where he gained experience working in private funds. In 2019, after running IFG as a blog, he decided to leave his corporate career to go full-time on the company.  Since then, IFG now educates millio...

Abdul Rahman Abbas is a medical doctor and the founder of Pillars, a prayer app used by over a million Muslims worldwide. More recently, he's launched Jibreel, the "Duolingo for Fiqh" - teaching Islamic knowledge through bite-sized lessons. Abdul Rahman is also a pioneer of the Muslim tech community and is known for his "building in public" approach. He’s now left medicine...

Iqbal Nasim is the former CEO of NZF, the National Zakat Foundation. He studied economics at Cambridge University before starting his career in investment banking, which he left to join NZF. Under his leadership, NZF transformed how Muslims distribute their zakat, emphasising local impact and institutional development. He’s now the founder of Transform My Prayer, a program which helps muslims spir...

Dr. Salah Sharief is an entrepreneur, a student of knowledge, and the founder of Chaptrs, the first audiobook platform for Muslims. He studied law at university, completing his Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD, before spending four years in Egypt studying Islamic knowledge.  His first business, Wordsmiths Press, was in translation and editing for Islamic publishers. This expertise also led hi...

Abu Musa started his career working in recruitment before starting his own business at the age of 25. Since then, he now runs a portfolio of companies making over $50k a month. This includes a recruitment company, an education platform, an AI Saas startup and a call centre operation in Pakistan.  He’s also a social media influencer who educates Muslims about starting businesses and achieving finan...

Faisal Choudhry is the founder of Freshly Grounded, one of the world’s most popular Muslim podcasts with over 100 million impressions. Faisal is also a social media master guru, a marketing genius and has inspired a generation of muslim influencers. He was also the Head of Marketing at Tarteel, an AI Quran learning app. Connect with Faisal:https://www.youtube.com/@FreshlyGroundedhttps://www.instag...

Sunny Araf is a serial entrepreneur. He started his career in the West Midlands Police before transitioning into the business world, where he now runs an 8 figure security company.  Sunny is also an active philanthropist and runs his own charity the ISA Foundation.  In 2022, he was named in The Time Top 50 Most Ambitious Leaders.  Connect with Sunny: https://www.instagram.com/sunnyaraf1/ https://w...

Omar Khaleil is the founder and CEO of the Riba Free Foundation, an organisation created to educate people about the negative impact of riba. The foundation provides financial training and promotes ethical alternatives through education and awareness campaigns. Omar started his career in financial services, working across the Middle East and the UK before launching the organisation. Connect with O...