Muhammad Bayazid

Director

Muhammad Bayazid is a Syrian film-maker. Bayazid studied film-making in Los Angeles Film School, London film school and other institutions and studied screenwriting in BBC and NYFA.

Bayazid is known by directing "Mujaddidun", a reality show presented by Egyptian public figure Amr Khaled, he is also known for directing Maher Zain's latest music video "Muhammad (PBUH)", Bayazid has directed many TV commercials, public service announcements, TV programs, documentaries. He's also known for giving film-making courses around the world.

When he was asked, what inspired the creation of the Inspiration series? Bayazid explains, when many Muslim Youth listen to the stories of our beloved prophet (saw) some say “Hey, he is a nice guy and everything, but his life is completely irrelevant. Today we have totally different challenges”.
So we created this series to show everyone that we are facing very similar challenges to what the prophet (saw) has faced, only appearances has changed.
Zeyara represents each one of us, his challenges are ours, and he always finds inspiration (and answers) in the life of the prophet (saw).

Samah Safi

Assistant Director and Story Editor

Samah Safi, a 26-year-old Jordanian filmmaker and screenwriter, is one of the first professional hijab-wearing filmmakers in the industry. She has a proven track record for presenting compelling and emotionally gripping stories with her husband director Muhammad Bayazid. Together, they’ve merged their passion in faith with filmmaking to produce unique Islamic entertainment for audiences in the West and East.

In just four years, Samah has worked on more than 34 high budget media projects with celebrities from the Middle East and the U.S. She was one of the masterminds behind Maher Zain’s latest music video “Muhammad,” which has more than 12 million views on YouTube.

Her portfolio includes several documentaries, television shows, short films, music videos and public service announcements.

Her most recent work, “Inspiration,” a drama series starring Imam Omar Suleiman and Mohamed Zeyara, has garnered national and international attention and support. As a result, the series has been translated into 8 different languages.

In December 2014, Samah shared her experiences filming “Inspiration” at the MAS-ICNA Convention in Chicago, one of the largest Islamic conferences in North America.

When Samah isn’t filming projects, she is administering creative writing workshops for short films around the world. She completed her education at the New York Film Academy in New York City where she studied filmmaking and screenwriting. Currently, Samah is based in Washington, D.C.

Omar Suleiman

Islamic scholar

Shaykh Omar Suleiman is a world-renowned Islamic scholar from New Orleans, Louisiana. Over the last 14 years, his journey of pursuing traditional Islamic learning has led him to spend years in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Malaysia, etc.

Upon becoming certified in various traditional sciences, he completed a Bachelors degree in Islamic law, Accounting, a Masters degree in Islamic finance, and is in the process of completing his PhD from the Islamic University of Malaysia.

Upon returning to New Orleans, He served as the Imam of the Jefferson Muslim Association in New Orleans for 6 years and was also the Director of the Muslims for Humanity Hurricane Katrina Relief effort. It was in this time that he was noted on a national level as being a strong advocate of community service, interfaith dialogue, and social justice. He co-founded the East Jefferson Interfaith Clergy Association and was awarded for his outstanding civic achievement by the Mayor and City Council of New Orleans in 2010.

In the year 2012, Imam Omar moved to Dallas where he established the Islamic Learning Foundation of Texas and dedicated himself fulltime to teaching with several prestigious international institutions of higher learning such as Mishkah University, Al Maghrib institute, and Bayyinah Institute.

Mohamed Zeyara

Medical Student, Public Speaker

Born in Canada. Raised in the city of angels and heroes; Gaza. Medical student in Chicago. Humanitarian Activist. Public Speaker. Board member of charitable Organization Pious Projects of America

Based in Toronto, Ca., Mohamed Zeyara is a Muslim youth advisor, film maker, and mostly known for his online, educational and motivational videos. Most of his knowledge is acquired from the 8 years of experience living in Gaza City during his adolescence. His videos have been watched by millions of Muslims and non-Muslims across the world. Inspiring youth with motivational and inspiring stories. He completed his Pre-Medical Sciences and is currently on his path to finishing his Medical Degree.

Fahim Aref

Executive Director of Pious Projects of America

Fahim Aref born and raised in the Chicago land area, beat the odds of falling victim to his environment which was filled with gangs, drugs, and other temptations. Married now and a father of four children, Fahim excelled as an entrepreneur. He has established numerous successful business enterprises in the wireless communications, oil and gas, IT and real estate sectors.

As a pious Muslim he realized that there is more to life than accumulating material possessions. This realization lead him to founding his charitable organization, Pious Projects of America, where he serves as Executive Director.

In His role as Executive Director Fahim oversees the day-to-day operations of Pious Projects of America, along with its strategic planning to ensure that the organization achieves its mission. His most recent project "Al-Najwa Villages in Mali, has raised close to a Million dollars in donations to bring water to over 100,000 people in Africa and also motivated many of the youth to take initiative in doing more volunteer work and getting involved in their local community. His charity is also Co-Sponsor of the Inspiration 2 series and is currently working on creating an online platform to spread this educational series across the globe in as many as 12 major spoken languages

Fahim is also Co-Founder of Ummah Labs which is the creator of the Scan Halal app which is a free app that allows users to know the status of what they are eating whether it is Halal or not, instantly based on scanning the barcode and is projecting over 3,000,000 scans just this year alone.