Sh. Omar Suleiman

Shaykh Omar Suleiman teaches Islamic Creed II, Muslim Sects, and Comparative Religions. The current imam of Masjid Abu Bakr As-Siddique in New Orleans, LA, he is also ICNA Relief`s Outreach Director in Louisiana and a sitting member of the ICNA Shariah Council.
 
Books you`d advise all your students of  knowledge to read?
Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd: Hilya Taibul Ilm (The Etiquette of the Student of Knowledge)
Imam Ahmad Ibn Qudama: Minhajul Qasideen (The Attainment of the Objective)

Some of the best advice you ever received as a student that you`d like to share?
If the "knowledge" you are attaining is serving your ego instead of your humility, and causing you to be satisfied with your status rather than fear Allah more, you are like a diseased person taking pain killers rather than treating the disease. You are becoming less alarmed with your situation, but taking fewer strides to correct it because you`re no longer recognizing its danger. 

Favorite Islamic topic to study or to teach?
Hujjiyatul Sunnah (The Authority of the Sunnah). The biggest threat to our community comes from those who claim that the Sunnah holds no authority and bring forth odd, loose interpretations of the Quran that have no basis. This threat is manifest in several groups who either implicitly or explicitly reject the authority of the Sunnah of our beloved Messenger (pbuh). This subject is what causes the person to establish himself upon the correct methodology of Ahlul Sunnah Wal Jamaah. If the person only flirts with this methodology but doesn`t make himself firm upon it, then he is like a bloodied man surrounded by sharks, being the people of innovation, who are ready to prey upon his instability and lack of understanding.

Scholars who have really influenced you as a student of knowledge and teacher?
Perhaps no other scholar has influenced me more than our beloved Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy upon him). He constantly used to bring himself down to the level of his students. If you were younger than him and were his student, he talked to you like a son. If you were his age, he treated you like a Shaykh. If you were older then him, he treated you like a father. Rarely in our time does a man who combines knowledge, humility, and passion at that level come along.
 
Favorite activities when you`re not teaching at SAA?
I love to hang out with the youth of our masjid and gain their trust by engaging them through mediums other than the masjid. I play sports and hang out with Muslim teens in New Orleans on a weekly basis walhamdulillah. Allah blessed me to have people around me who saw potential in me and who went out of their way to extract it. Far be it for me to not do the same to others who are in those same shoes today.
Get to know Sh. Omar more here