Our Faculty
Our teachers are at the core of what we do here at Tayseer Seminary.
Dr. Hassan Lachheb is the founder and president of Tayseer Seminary. He holds a Ph.D in Religious Studies from the University of Indiana, Bloomington, with a focus on theory of religion and Islamic studies. His research is focused on the intellectual history and religiosity of the Muslims in the Maghreb and Andalus.
Dr. Lachheb completed his M.A. in Islamic Theology, Islamic Legal Theory, and Maliki Jurisprudence at Dar al-Hadith al-Hassaniyyah for Higher Islamic Studies in Rabat, Morocco with honors in 2000. In addition, he completed his B.A. with distinction in Arabic Language and Literature at Mohamed V University in Rabat. He also attended the Madrasa of Shaykh Abdullah al-Talidi in Tangier, Morocco where he extensively studied several disciplines including Principles of Jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh), Arabic Grammar, Philology, and Literature. He has also received many ijazaat (licenses to teach) from prominent scholars in Hadith, Comparative Jurisprudence (fiqh), and the Sciences of Qur'an. He has studied under several of the foremost Islamic scholars in Morocco. Dr. Lachheb is a resident scholar of the Muslim Community of Knoxville.
Ustadha Zaynab has served as a member of the core faculty of Tayseer Seminary and women’s scholar-in-residence since 2014. Originally from Atlanta, Ustadha Zaynab relocated to Knoxville, TN to take on this pioneering role for a Muslim community. As a full-time instructor at Tayseer Seminary, Ustadha Zaynab teaches courses in Islamic law, Qur’anic sciences, Qur’anic exegesis, Prophetic biography, American Muslim history,
women in Islam, and reading and interpretation of Arabic texts.
Ustadha Zaynab also serves as an adjunct instructor at several distinguished institutions, including Boston Islamic Seminary, Rabata, and Jannah Institute. Prior to her joining Tayseer Seminary, Ustadha Zaynab spent many years in the burgeoning field of online Islamic education as a consultant, writer, volunteer, and instructor.
Ustadha Zaynab was blessed to have studied in the Middle East, spending her formative years in Damascus, Syria, where she was introduced to the foundations of traditional Islam and the etiquette of knowledge and spiritual purification. Upon her return from the Middle
East, she enrolled in Georgia State University where she focused on interdisciplinary studies in the humanities with an emphasis on history and Middle Eastern Studies.
In addition to her work as an instructor, mentor, and public speaker, Ustadha Zaynab also contributes to her local community as a board member for both Tayseer Seminary and the Muslim Community of Knoxville where she is committed to the concept of Prophetic
community in action as the sister organizations strive to provide spiritual support and educational programming for local Muslim residents as well as the diverse students who have flocked to beautiful East Tennessee over the years to learn, grow, and become
stronger believers.
Ustadh Nadeem is a local investor and advisor to businesses ranging from healthcare, IT services, real estate, and hospitality industries.
