Safina Society was established in 2010 to solve a simple problem: the absence of accessible institutions of knowledge in New Jersey. We started with weekend classes at the New Brunswick Islamic Center, which continue to this day. Dozens of young students of knowledge were developed in those classes. This morphed into Darul Fath, which is more exclusively for those who can read Arabic and are ready to dive deep into the classical books.
As we were emergin out of covid, two amazing opportunities opened up. We acquired a property in New Brunswick that served two purposes. We opened a soup kitchen down stairs and what would become a very successful livestream upstairs.
Meet our founder…
Dr. Shadee Elmasry
Born in raised in the great state of New Jersey, Dr. Shadee was inspired to study Islam in the traditional manner, traveling to places such as Makka, Madina, Egypt, Morocco, and Yemen, learning Arabic, aqida, and fiqh. He also completed an MA from The George Washington University with a thesis on Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki, and a PhD from the University of London on Imam al-Haddad.
He taught Arabic at Yale for four years before moving back to his home state of New Jersey to serve as Religious Director at the New Brunswick Islamic Center and founding Safina Society which hosts a popular livestream and a successful online learning platform.