Ustadha Zaynab Ansari

Ustadha Zaynab has served as a member of the core faculty of Tayseer Seminary and its first women’s scholar-in-residence for the past ten years. Originally from Atlanta, Ustadha Zaynab relocated to Knoxville, TN to take on this pioneering role under the visionary leadership of Tayseer Seminary co-founders, Ustadh Nadeem

Siddiqi and seminary president, Dr. Hassan Lachheb. As a full-time instructor at Tayseer Seminary, Ustadha Zaynab teaches courses on Islamic law, Qur’anic sciences, Qur’anic exegesis, Prophetic biography, American Muslim history, women in Islam, and the Sira of Ibn Hisham in Arabic throughout the academic year.

Ustadha Zaynab also serves on the boards of Tayseer Seminary and the Muslim Community of Knoxville where she is humbled to see the ethic 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 Knoxville over the years to study. In addition to her work in her local community, she spent many years in the pioneering field of online Islamic education as a consultant, writer, volunteer, and instructor, and travels widely across the United States.

Ustadha Zaynab Ansari 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 brilliance of the Islamic epistemological framework. A strong believer in women’s education and leadership training,

Ustadha Zaynab is a contributor to the Ribaat curriculum, a four-level certification program for women, led by Shaykha Dr. Tamara Gray, one of her original teachers in Damascus. Ustadha Zaynab was also honored to join the dynamic team at Jannah Institute under the leadership of Shaykha Haifaa Younis, where she contributes to the Year of Knowledge academic program.