CMCO Operations Committee

Born and raised between the heart of the Canadian Prairies and the Rocky Mountains, Dr. Syed ibn Iqbal’s primary passion in life has been to uplift and enhance himself and the people around him through the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

Dr. Syed seeks to bring excellence and care not only to his profession, but also to Islamic outreach initiatives and Positive Activism. His extensive experience and expertise have allowed him to contribute towards community development and enhancement. Having almost 20 years experience with Islamic education and outreach at both the community and institutional level, Dr. Syed continues to build upon this and explore new and engaging ways of sharing the message of Islam.

Dr. Syed is an instructor and frequent guest lecturer for a number of schools, mosques, churches, universities, and other not for profit organizations. Dr. Syed primarily specializes in leadership training, youth development, life coaching, mentorship, community development and youth empowerment. He has developed several courses and lecture series that cover various topics. These include a three-day workshop focused on Effective and Informative Engagement of Muslims Living as Minorities, The Path to Success: A Leadership and Development course, Road to Redemption: A course on self-improvement through the Islamic concept of Repentance, Heroes: Creating a positive identity through Islamic History and many more. His speaking engagements include lectures and sermons delivered in Islamic Centres and Mosques throughout North America.

In addition to presentations delivered in Islamic institutions, he has accepted invitations to engage in meaningful discussions to inform and educate our fellow Canadians about Islam in Universities, colleges, high schools, hospitals and other institutions.

Dr.Syed has authored several Islamic publications for University campuses across Western Canada and continues to develop new material to bring accurate information about Islam and Muslims to the broader community. He has written on the topics of Islamic monotheism, the Muslim belief system and purpose, an introduction to Islam, Women’s rights and social justice in Islam, Islamophobia, Islamic history and other interfaith topics and issues to mention a few.

Dr. Syed has served as Muslim Chaplain at the University of Saskatchewan and has held this position for the past 11 years. As the current director for the Canadian Muslim Chaplain Organization, he provides various services to universities and other public and private institutions including the community at large. Some of these services include the following:

• Counselling and Support
• Islamic Education for community members
• Guest lectures and Q&A sessions
• Representation and advocacy for Muslim students, faculty, and staff
• Religious accommodation and anti-discrimination policy, procedure, and regulations
• Interfaith programs and initiatives
• Consultation and resource support for organizations wanting to learn and implement best practices and training programs to better accommodate employees and service clients/ students/ customers/ members of the public from the Islamic faith.
• Leadership in community outreach programs, outreach initiatives in prisons, hospitals, government, non-profits, police, secondary, and post-secondary institutions.

Prior to being Muslim Chaplain, he was also actively involved in the Muslim Students Association for several years in both the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Alberta. He volunteered for these MSAs in a variety of capacities including the role of MSA President.

Dr. Syed considers himself a perpetual student of knowledge and has a long and dynamic history in studying Islam. He has taken courses and completed summer programs from Islamic University of Al-Azhar (Bekaa, Lebanon), Al- Madinah International University and Knowledge International University. Furthermore, he has studied key subjects under highly qualified and respected Scholars. Examples include: Fiqh of Muslim Minorities, Usul al Fiqh, Aqeedah. He has been given Ijaza (Islamic authority) on various collections of Hadith (Traditions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)). Examples include Arba’een Anawawi and various hadith from the Saheeh Sitta. He continues to expand his horizons and seek knowledge in all forms and across several domains.