Shaykh Adeyinka Mendes 

Imam Adeyinka Mendes was blessed to embrace Islam at the age of 17 after a trip to Jerusalem 30 years ago. He is co-founder of the Bilal Spiritual  Center and the African-American Healing, Ancestry, and Development (AHAD) Collective. He has studied Arabic, Islamic Sciences,   meditation, and peacebuilding with Muslim scholars from around the world.

He works as an interpreter of sacred texts, teacher of Arabic and Islamic Sciences, and community Imam, as well as a rites of passage leadership consultant who continues to read with scholars and students. Imam Mendes is a recipient of the Center for Global Muslim Life "2020 Spiritual Impact Award" and his latest work, "The Spirits of Black Folk: Sages Through the Ages", a translation of Imam as-Suyuti's renowned text, "The Excellence of Black People" (Raf'u Sha'ni'l-Hubshan, was published in 2021 by CelebrateMercy.