Meet the board
Usul.AI is a project of the Seemore Foundation, whose board comprises distinguished experts in Islamic research and in new technology. Each are leaders in their respective fields, with decades of experience in pioneering the way we access and engage knowledge. Together, they ensure that the organization advances its mission.
Intisar Rabb
She is a Professor of law and history at Harvard, specializing in criminal law and interpretation (usul al-fiqh). She leads the Program in Islamic Law and the SHARIAsource Lab , and IslamicLawBlog.
Zeki Mokhtarzada
He is a serial entrepeneur and technology innovator. He has served as CTO to various start-ups and has co-founded multiple ventures, including webs.com (acquired by Vistaprint) and Truebill (now Rocket Money).
Adnan Zulfiqar
He is a Professor of law at Boston College Law School, where he teaches and writes on criminal law and the laws of war. He helped draft the Islamic criminal codes for the Maldives and Somalia.
Meet the Team
The Usul team is made up of engineers, designers, and researchers passionate about building digital tools to transform Islamic research.
Engineering & Operations
Software Engineer
Anas Hassanien
He is a software engineer with full-stack experience, who previously served at Simli AI. He leads the development of core products as Usul.AI.
Director of Operations
Abtsam Saleh
She is a PhD candidate at Harvard University researching the social dimensions of human-centered technologies. She directs operations and bridges engineering with research at Usul AI.
Research & Digitization
Research Advisor
Issam Eido
He is a scholar of Qurʾān, Ḥadīth Studies, and Sufism who formerly served on the faculty of Islamic Studies at the University of Damascus and established the Dalalah Institue for teaching Islamic studies in Syria. He is now an Assistant Professor of the Practice on the faculty of Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University.
Research Advisor
Mohsen Kadivar
He is a scholar of Islamic law, theology, philosophy as well as a reformist thinker and writer of modern Islamic thought. He formerly taught taught at the Qom Seminary (Madrase-ye Razavieh and Madrase-ye Ayatollah al-Uzma Golpayegani). He is currently a research professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University.
Research Lead, Research Advisor
Intisar Rabb
She is a scholar of Islamic and comparative law, history, and Qurʾānic manuscripts--with emphasis on interpretive methods in legislation and adjudication, using legal canons (Qawāʿid fiqhiyya). She previously lived and studies in Iran, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, and elsewhere. She is now a Professor of law and history at Harvard, where she leads the Program in Islamic Law and the SHARIAsource Lab , and IslamicLawBlog.
Digitization Lead
Ahmet Aktan
He is a researcher who holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar University. He leads the digitization team and efforts to expand the collections at Usul AI.
Researcher
Ryad Ramo
He is a researcher of Islamic knowledge and history, holds a BA in Islamic Studies, and founded the publication the Gems of Al-Andalus. He works on book-digitization and annotation at Usul AI.
Researcher
Ismail Safadi
He is a researcher who specializes in Hanafi fiqh. He studied at the University of Jordan and in Turkey. He works on book digitization and annotation at Usul AI.
Usul AI Alumni
Former CEO
Abdellatif Abdelfattah
He is an engineer who served as a co-founding engineer at Tarteel AI and our own Usul AI. He previously lead engineering at Quran.com and worked at Twitter.
Localization Lead
Rahma Fateen
Rahma lead Arabic localization at Tarteel AI. She was a translator at Human Rights Watch.
Former Lead Engineer
Ahmed Riad
He is a software engineer who served as founding-engineer at at several start-ups (including Remail AI, Betterbook, and our own Usul AI). he also served as an engineer at Qur'an.com.