Shaykh Wesam Charkawi Shaykh Wesam Charkawi has been tirelessly serving the community for well over a decade. He began his studies at a young age, traveling abroad to study the Islamic Sciences in the Fatih Institute in Damascus under traditional scholars. He also completed a Masters in Islamic Sacred Law at the University of Islah in Lebanon. More recently, he began undertaking a PhD in Social Psychology, focusing on identity, at the Western Sydney University. The Shaykh is known across the world, in no small part due to his translation and commentary on texts used worldwide such as Nur-Al Idah (a primer in Hanafi Fiqh) and Risala an-Nafi’a wa Hujatul Qadi’a fi ‘Ilm at-Tawhid (a primer on Islamic belief). He is involved in a wide variety of initiatives locally, and recently spearheaded the production of Before 1770, a film looking at Aboriginal Australian contact with Muslim Makassan peoples pre-colonisation.

Shaykh Haisam Farache Shaykh Haisam Farache grew up on Sydney’s North Shore. He commenced his undergraduate studies in the USA, before completing a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Sydney, after which he completed his Masters in Applied Family Law from the College of Law, Sydney. The Shaykh has practiced in the law industry for two decades, and is currently the principal solicitor at Garrison Lawyers. Alongside this, the Shaykh has spent years pursuing Islamic learning, earning ijazas from scholars around the Muslim world, including Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. He also completed a Diploma in Sharia (Hons) at Dar al Mustafa in Yemen. He is a Minister of Religion (Islam) and also an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner.