The Sirat School aims to provide a classical education that blends Islamic sciences and Arabic with the rigorous study of mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies - all in an environment that builds spirituality and character.
Talha Ali was born in Chicago and grew up in the Chicago suburbs. For high school, he attended the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), a highly selective ‘pioneering educational community’ that is reputed for its unique curriculum focusing on critical and multi-disciplinary thinking. He then attended Cornell University where he received a Bachelor degree in Materials Engineering and a Master degree in Operations Research.
In addition to studying tajwid and other Islamic sciences in early childhood in a seminary setting, he studied Arabic and Persian in Pakistan after completing his college degrees. He then privately studied various classical texts in Arabic, fiqh, hadith, and tafsir, such as Nur Al Anwar, Hidayah, and Mishkat Al Masabih with senior scholars, primarily Mawlana Aziz Ahmed.
Talha has a deep interest in Islamic education for children and curricular development. He has traveled internationally and nationally to receive training in and observe institutional best practices and pedagogy for Quran and Islamic studies education. He also regularly consults with senior scholars in the field. As a founding member and president of Masjid Uthman, he collaborated with Uthman Academy teachers to develop Uthman Academy’s maktab, hifz, and adult studies curriculums and pedagogy. He regularly advises other institutions locally and nationally in establishing similar systems in their own communities. Talha has also taught the Arabic language and Arabic grammar as well as Arabic works of fiqh to children and adults.
Professionally, Talha is Senior Director for Business Intelligence and Data at a public company. At Masjid Uthman, he serves in a volunteer capacity.
Shaykh Bilal Ali Ansari was born in and grew up in the Chicago area. He graduated from Hinsdale Central High School and received his undergraduate education in Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL, and in the Applied Behavioral Sciences at National-Louis University in Lisle, IL. He graduated from there with a Bachelor of Arts in the field of Applied Behavioral Sciences, with a focus on adult learning theory (andragogy).
Shaykh Bilal acquired an education in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Jāmiʿat al-Ḥasanayn in Faisalabad, Pakistan, where he studied classical and modern texts in Arabic, Islamic Theology, Islamic Law, Qur’anic Studies, and Hadith. He completed his Dars Niẓāmī studies at the Jāmiʿat Dār al-ʿUlūm in Karachi, where he received certification (ijāzah) in Hadith from Mufti Muḥammad Taqī al-ʿUthmānī and Mufti Muḥammad Rafīʿ al-ʿUthmāni among other senior scholars. Mawlana Bilal performed specialization-level research in Hadith studies supervised by the critical scholar ‘Allamah Dr. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm al-Nuʿmānī (al-Chishtī).
Shaykh Bilal has a deep interest in Islamic education and has researched, written, and presented at conferences on topics such as the concept of divine unity in Islamic knowledge, the theory and foundations of knowledge in Islam, and the interplay between science and religion in Islamic education.
He is a Supervisory Board member at Masjid Uthman, with an interest in curriculum development. He is Chair of the Department of Hadith and instructor at Darul Qasim College.
Shaykh Zahid Chowdhury was born in Los Angeles and raised in Chicago. He attended Lincoln Park High School, the only Chicago public school at the time to offer the highly competitive International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma program. The IB curriculum is internationally recognized for its academic rigor, emphasizing critical thinking, independent learning, and global perspectives—an experience that shaped his strong educational foundation. After graduating with an IB diploma, he pursued a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering.
Following his studies, he worked as a Filtration Engineer at one of the largest water purification plants in America. During this time, he also began studying Islamic sciences part-time with local scholars. In 2008, he moved to Bangladesh with his family to pursue full-time Islamic education.
For three years, he studied the Madani Nisab, a unique and famous Arabic- and Quran-focused syllabus developed by Maulana Abu Taher Misbah (db), a renowned scholar. Under Maulana Abu Taher’s direct mentorship, he completed his studies in Dhaka. His journey for further knowledge then took him to Zambia, where he spent a year specializing in Hadith and Tazkiya.
Shaykh Zahid has extensive experience teaching Arabic and Islamic studies both to children in several local schools and seminaries and to adults. He utilizes the unique methods he was trained in (under the Madani Nisab) to obtain Quranic Arabic fluency not typically attained in a rules-based approach to Arabic language learning.
Shaykh Zahid also has conducted research in the classical methods of education and learning.
Sarah Ali is from the Chicagoland area, where she attended high school at Hinsdale Central in Hinsdale, Illinois. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Chicago in Public Policy, with a focus in Educational Policy. She also acquired her Masters Degree in Secondary Education at National Louis University.
She has taught English Literature at the high school level at Islamic Foundation School, and was a founding member of Al Ihsan Academy in Libertyville, Illinois. She was also a teacher for over 10 years at Al-Iman Institute’s weekend program at Islamic Foundation North (IFN), and has worked as a youth advisor for various age levels in the community.
Sarah received her ijazah in tajwid from Damascus in 2000 and continues to teach tajwid on a part-time basis.