Our Team.
Asalaamu Alaikum! We are the MFC Board - responsible for governance of the organization and working closely with leaders in our community and volunteers to execute MFC’s Mission and Vision. What is most important to us is to please Allah (swt), to live our values and see our community thrive. If you’d like to get involved, please email us at info@muslimfamilycenter.org.
Executive Team
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Ehab Hassan
Executive Director
Ehab Hassan has been involved with several Muslim organizations on both a national and local level, and has been doing Islamic work in the DMV area for over 20 years. He has served on several boards of various Islamic organizations. He strives to motivate and connect with the Muslim community by working on an organizational level, developing creative community activities, leading discussions, and delivering sermons. Ehab is also a writer and delivers uplifting messages through his writings. He enjoys traveling, acting, and hanging out with family.
By day, Ehab is a Mechanical Engineer, and by night he is a family man trying to maintain his status as the world's best dad.
Ehab lives in Howard County with his supportive wife and three amazing kids.
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Wardah Athar
Executive Team Member
Wardah grew up in Texas and Saudi Arabia, but has happily put down roots in the East Coast since moving here for college. She completed a BS in Neurobiology and a minor in Islamic Studies from Georgetown University, where she also served as MSA president and worked on a national campaign to establish Muslim chaplaincy offices at universities around the country. She then attended medical school at the Yale School of Medicine and moved to Maryland in 2020 to complete her residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Wardah co-leads the MFC Care Committee with the goal of strengthening the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood within our community and helping forge relationships rooted in the love of Islam and the love of Allah. She believes strongly in cultivating a welcoming environment and facilitating friendships centered around the masjid to nurture a strong sense of Muslim identity in our children and our families.
Wardah and her husband, Umar, are both physicians and live in Columbia with their two daughters. They enjoy traveling, hiking, and trying out new board games (a recent favorite is Splendor!) in their spare time.
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Tamim Sookoor
Executive Team Member
Tamim Sookoor was born in Sri Lanka and obtained his BE in Computer Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2006. He received his MS and Ph.D. in Computer Science from UVa in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Currently, he is a Senior Professional Staff Member at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. While a graduate student at UVa he served as the secretary on the board of the Islamic Society of Central Virginia (ISCV). Since graduating, he has continued to serve masajid and Islamic organizations by developing and updating their websites. He is a runner and loves spending his free time reading and learning, traveling with his wife and son, and going on walks and hikes. Tamim lives in Howard County.
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Gizala Ali
Executive Team Member
Gizala was born in India and grew up in Montreal, Quebec where she graduated from McGill University with a BS in Microbiology & Immunology and attended the Graduate Program in Education of the Gifted and Talented. Gizala is a longtime resident of Howard County, where she lives with her husband and daughter. She has worked for a local minority-owned business based in Ellicott City for over twenty years. Her role in the company has allowed her to expand on and strengthen her managerial and organizational skills which she tries to incorporate into her personal and volunteer activities. Gizala has been actively involved for many years with her daughter’s school’s PTAs and her Muslim Girl Scouts troop. She is excited about expanding her volunteer engagement further within our community. In her free time, she loves to garden, read, and try her hand in whichever craft catches her attention.
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Mohammed Najmuddin
Executive Team Member
Mohammed Najmuddin (Najam) was born in India and moved to the USA in 2001 and has been a resident of Howard county for the last 20 years. He works in the electrical industry as a sales executive, is married, and has 3 beautiful kids. He enjoys volunteering with his family at community events.
Board of Directors
Ehab Hassan
Board Member
Ehab Hassan has been involved with several Muslim organizations on both a national and local level, and has been doing Islamic work in the DMV area for over 20 years. He has served on several boards of various Islamic organizations. He strives to motivate and connect with the Muslim community by working on an organizational level, developing creative community activities, leading discussions, and delivering sermons. Ehab is also a writer for MuslimMatters and delivers uplifting messages through his writings. He enjoys travel, acting, competitive sports, and hanging out with family.
By day, Ehab is a Mechanical Engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and by night he is a family man trying to maintain his status as the world's best dad. Ehab lives in Howard County with his supportive wife and three amazing kids.
Sami Zaharna
Board Member & Lead Imam
Sami Zaharna wears multiple kufis in his role as Lead Imam and MFC Board Member. He is a native of Maryland from Palestinian heritage. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in Computer Science, he began his journey of learning the traditional Islamic Sciences. He holds multiple Ijazah (religious licenses) across the different disciplines of the Islamic tradition, including the memorization of the Quran, study of Hadith, and Islamic Jurisprudence. He completed his Seminary studies and received a Shahadah Alamiyyah from Al-Salam Institute under the tutelage of Sheikh Akram Nadwi.
Sami is passionate about reviving the Prophetic model of Tarbiyah (nurturing) in community development. He believes that growth happens when everyone is in the same space and is forced to interact with another.
Sami is married with 4 beautiful children.
Yasmeen Abou-Sayed
Board Member
Yasmeen grew up in Texas, until she moved to Maryland in 2003, where she earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. She is a practicing pharmacist working full-time at the FDA, and moonlights in the community setting with CVS. She is married with two boys, who keep her on her toes. Some of her favorite ways of engaging with the community include volunteering at her sons' schools and working with single mothers to get on their feet. In her free time, she loves reading, taking long walks with her husband, and going on bike rides with her boys.
Ayman Rahman
Board Member
Ayman grew up in Houston, Texas, where he was active in the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) until he moved to Virginia to earn a BS in Polymer Chemistry from the College of William & Mary and an MS in Medicinal Chemistry/Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Medical College of VCU. Ayman is currently a pharmaceutical executive responsible for North American Sales and Technical R&D teams working on novel pharmaceutical products to alleviate human suffering. Ayman is married to Yumna and they have 3 children, Yusuf, Yasir and Aaliya.
Ayman enjoys volunteering with his family in community programs and attending Islamic education programs.
Khaled Helmi
Board Member
Khaled is a New York transplant but has been in Maryland since he was six years old. He went to school at the University of Maryland and graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor's degree in Information Systems and later received a Master's Degree in Finance from University of Maryland University College. Khaled has a passion for finance & investments and works to try and create Halal investments for Muslims with an emphasis on purity in investments. Additionally, he is heavily involved with local new Muslim programs to try and help them navigate their new religion and find a place in the community.
Khaled is an avid amateur gardener who loves to get his hands dirty and is married with three boys and one girl.
Tubah Sultan
Board Member
Tubah Sultan grew up in Maryland and graduated from the University of Maryland in 2011, with degrees in Accounting and Information Systems. Upon graduating she spent nearly a decade working in Big 4 Public Accounting as well as in the community establishing the Muslim Alumni of Maryland Network and as a Founder of the Center for Muslim Life at Maryland (CMLMD), an organization that provides counseling, mentorship and advocacy for area Muslim College Students. She is an (exhausted) new mom, happily married to a volunteer firefighter/EMT. When she finds free time she enjoys reading, traveling, and contemplating on the intersection between psychology, faith and metaphysics.
Hussein Ezzeldin
Board Member
Hussein Ezzeldin was born in Egypt and obtained his BSc and MSc from Cairo University in 2004 and 2006, respectively. He received his PhD from UMD in 2012. Currently, he is a Senior Staff Fellow at the FDA. He is married to Hala Salama and has 3 beautiful children, Ali, Mariam, and Hamza. He has worked with children and youth for over 10 years. He loves teaching and outdoor activities such as camping, is an avid runner, and has taken up cycling and swimming recently.