Scholarship in continuity

Members

Come to know the members behind our Department - men who have dedicated their lives to studying the Sacred Law.

Department scholars consulting legal texts during the Majlis al-Iftāʾ
Members of the Department gathered after a weekly scholarly session
Open Arabic legal texts used during scholarly review
Department scholars · Collective review

The Department

The Department convenes weekly sessions known as the Majlis al-Iftāʾ, during which its members deliberate on legal questions, review draft fatāwā and research papers, and engage in collective discussion to ensure that every legal opinion and research paper is thoroughly scrutinised and refined. This practice stems from a profound reverence for the Sacred Law and reflects the Department's commitment to ensuring that every fatwā issued is as accurate, rigorous, and reliable as possible.

Department members

Scholar profiles

Portrait of Sayyid Aḥmad al-Kahf

Department member

Sayyid Aḥmad al-Kahf

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Sayyid Aḥmad is one of the students of Ḥabīb ʿUmar bin Ḥafīẓ and has benefited from many other senior scholars in Tarim, Yemen; Egypt; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and many other places. He is well grounded in Shāfiʿī fiqh and other religious sciences. He currently lectures at Dār al-Ṣafā (DTI) and Tanwīr Institute in Cape Town.

Portrait of Mufti Abdurragmaan Khan

Department member

Mufti Abdurragmaan Khan

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Mufti Abdurragmaan completed the memorisation of the Qurʾān under Shaykh Ismail Londt at the Dār Ubaiy Institute in 2000. He went on to graduate from the Dār al-ʿUlūm al-ʿArabiyyah al-Islāmiyyah (DUAI) in Strand in 2006, benefiting greatly from its lecturers, particularly its founder and former principal, the late Mufti Ṭāhā Karaan.

After graduating, Mufti Abdurragmaan served as a lecturer at the same institute from 2006 to 2015. In 2009, he established Dar al-Turāth al-Islāmi (DTI), where he continues to serve.

In 2011, Mufti Abdurragmaan co-founded the Maḥabbah Foundation. In 2013, the late Mufti Yusuf Karaan invited him to join the Fatwā Committee of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) of South Africa. He also served as Imām at Masjid Raghmah in Garlandale from 2010 to 2017 and at Masjid Ghiedmah al-Islām from 2018 to 2025. He served as Mufti of the MJC from 2021 to 2026. In addition, he has taught on several online platforms, including SeekersGuidance, Siddeeqa Institute, and Muslims Connected.

Mufti Abdurragmaan has received ijāzah ʿāmmah from various luminaries, including Ḥabīb ʿUmar bin Ḥafīẓ, who has had a significant impact on him and changed his relationship with Allah; Mufti Yusuf Karaan, former Mufti of the MJC; Ḥabīb ʿAli al-Mashhūr, former Mufti of Tarim; Ḥabīb ʿUmar al-Jaylāni, former Shāfiʿī Mufti of Makkah; Ḥabīb Ahmad bin Abi Bakr al-Ḥabshi; Shaykh Maḥmūd Saʿīd Mamdūh; Maulana ʿAbdul Ḥafīẓ al-Makki; Shaykh Ala al-Din al-Afghāni; and Shaykh Yaḥya al-Ghawthāni, among others.

Portrait forthcoming

Department member

Shaykh Muhammad Philander

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Shaykh Muhammad received his foundational Islamic education at Al-Azhar Primary School in Egypt and under his father, Shaykh Shahīd Philander, with whom he began and completed the memorisation of the Qurʾān. He has also read to other scholars in Egypt, such as Shaykh ʿAbd Allah Bayyūmī, and locally to scholars including Shaykh Harūn Moos, from whom he received ijāzah in Qirāʾāt.

Shaykh Muhammad obtained a degree in law at Al-Azhar University in Egypt, where he studied under scholars including Dr Ṣalāḥ Zidān. He also studied under Shaykh ʿAli Jumʿah and Shaykh Aḥmad Ṭāhā Rayyān at the Al-Azhar Maḍyafah.

Shaykh Muhammad served as Qāḍī at the MJC. He currently serves as Imām at York Road Mosque in Lansdowne and as a lawyer. He is also the founder of Tanwīr Institute and co-founder of the Maḥabbah Foundation.

Portrait of Shaykh Yusuf Philander

Department member

Shaykh Yusuf Philander

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Shaykh Yusuf learnt to read the Qurʾān from his parents, after which he began memorising the Qurʾān under Shaykh Fuād Ghabier and eventually completed its memorisation under Shaykh Shahīd Philander. He has also received ijāzah in Qirāʾāt from Shaykh Muḥammad Philander and Shaykh Iḥsān Davids.

Shaykh Yusuf graduated from Al-Azhar University in 2005 in Islamic Law and Contemporary Law. He has also studied under scholars including al-Ḥabīb ʿUmar bin Ḥafīẓ, Shaykh ʿAli Jumʿah, and Shaykh Aḥmad Ṭāhā Rayyān.

Shaykh Yusuf served as a researcher in the MJC's Fatwa Department. He currently lectures at Dār al-Ṣafā and Mustafa College (DTI), and serves as Imām at the Dār al-Islām Mosque in Surrey Estate.

Portrait of Shaykh Anees Omar

Department member

Shaykh Anees Omar

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Shaykh Anees completed the memorisation of the Noble Qurʾān at Dār Zayd bin Thābit in 2004. He later pursued formal Islamic studies, completing a two-year Higher Islamic Learning programme at Dārun Naʿīm before graduating from the six-year ʿĀlimiyyah programme at Dār al-ʿUlūm al-ʿArabiyyah al-Islāmiyyah (DUAI) in Strand in 2018.

In 2019, he furthered his studies at Dār al-Muṣṭafā in Tarim, Yemen, with a particular focus on Shāfiʿī fiqh, benefiting from numerous scholars there, including its rector, Ḥabīb ʿUmar bin Ḥafīẓ. He also received sanad and ijāzah in the narrations of Ḥafṣ and Warsh from Shaykh Sāmī Shaḥḥātah al-Azhari.

Alongside his Islamic studies, Shaykh Anees holds a National Diploma in Engineering: Computer Systems from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

Shaykh Anees has been involved in Islamic education for many years, serving as both a part-time and full-time teacher at Dār al-Ṣafā and Mustafa College (DTI). He has also taught Islamic jurisprudence at various masājid, presented courses on Islamic inheritance, and serves as Principal of Masjid al-Tuba Madrasah in Panorama.

Shaykh Anees served as a researcher in the MJC's Fatwa Department from 2022 to 2026, contributing to research on contemporary Islamic legal matters.

Portrait of Shaykh Masrur Rylands

Department member

Shaykh Masrur Rylands

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Shaykh Masrur completed the memorisation of the Qurʾān under Shaykh Majdie Essa, Shaykh Faheem Jackson, and Hafith Abdul-Khaaliq Parker at Dār Zayd bin Thābit in 2009, and subsequently read to Shaykh Ismail Londt. After receiving his foundational Islamic education primarily from his father, Moulana Faruk Rylands, as well as at Dār Zayd bin Thābit, he enrolled at the prestigious Dār al-ʿUlūm al-ʿArabiyyah al-Islāmiyyah (DUAI) in Strand in 2011, where he benefited from the guidance of many distinguished teachers, including the late Mufti Taha Karaan.

During his time at Dār al-ʿUlūm, Shaykh Masrur also studied Qirāʾāt and received ijāzah from Shaykh Mustaqim Paulse and Moulana Saleem Gaibie. He has also received ijāzah from Shaykh Yaḥyā al-Ghawthānī and others.

After graduating from DUAI, Shaykh Masrur travelled to Tarim, where he benefited from the great scholars of Dār al-Muṣṭafā, particularly its rector, Ḥabīb ʿUmar bin Ḥafīẓ. Since returning to Cape Town in 2018, he has continued to benefit from the lessons of Sayyid Aḥmad al-Kāf.

He has also completed postgraduate studies in education at the Two Oceans Graduate Institute (TOGI) in Cape Town and served as a researcher in the MJC's Fatwa Department from 2024 to 2026. He currently teaches at Al-Tanzil Institute of Qurʾānic Sciences.

Portrait of Doctor Rafeeq Fakier

Department member

Doctor Rafeeq Fakier

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Doctor Rafeeq studied Qurʾānic recitation and tajwīd, and memorised portions of the Qurʾān under the tutelage of Shaykh Iḥsān Abrahams of Dār an-Naʿīm in Wynberg. While in his second year of medical studies at Stellenbosch University, where he graduated with an MBChB, he began studying the basics of the Arabic language at Dār an-Naʿīm on a part-time basis.

Doctor Rafeeq has benefited from various local scholars, including Moulana Muḥammad Carr and Moulana Waasief De Vries, and particularly Sayyid Aḥmad al-Kahf, with whom he has studied a wide range of Shāfiʿī fiqh. He also served as a researcher in the MJC's Fatwa Department from 2022 to 2026. In addition, he is the owner, sole proprietor, and sole medical practitioner at Fakier Medical Practice.

Portrait of Shaykh Anshaaf Sauls

Administrator

Shaykh Anshaaf Sauls

From question to publication

Scholarly Review Process

A connected process designed to ensure that every published answer is researched, deliberated, and refined.

  1. 01

    Question Received

    The legal question, context, and relevant facts are recorded with care.

  2. 02

    Initial Research

    Evidence, precedents, and established legal principles are gathered.

  3. 03

    Scholarly Deliberation

    The draft is discussed collectively and reviewed in light of relevant areas of expertise.

  4. 04

    Review & Publication

    Wording, references, and conclusions are reviewed and formally approved before publication.

Published work

Explore the Department’s archive

Browse the Department’s published fatāwā.

Browse Fatāwā