Meet our team

Dr Sohail became National Zakat Foundation’s Chief Executive in November 2021. Prior to this, he held the position of BA Manager and Lecturer at Cambridge Muslim College. From 2015-17, he was NZF’s Head of Research and Development and has also held the position of Head of Sciences at Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman.

He brings to the role expertise in Islamic law, having studied extensively with traditional scholars, and holds a PhD from Oxford University. His PhD thesis, which explores Islamic legal epistemology, won the 2019 prize of the British Association for Islamic Studies. He has lectured widely on Islamic law and Qur’anic studies in academic, public and traditional settings.

In his new role, Dr Sohail succeeds Iqbal Nasim MBE, who led NZF from 2011-2021.

Shakil Sidat is the Director of Operations at the National Zakat Foundation (NZF), bringing over 13 years of expertise from the international development and charity sector. Shakil's career is marked by his unwavering commitment to improving lives through strategic and impactful humanitarian work across the globe.

Before joining NZF, Shakil served as the Director of Programmes at an international charity, where he led a team managing a £30 million programme portfolio to reach those in need across various countries with vital aid and services.

Shakil’s leadership was pivotal in improving the programme and operational effectiveness through implementing innovative management tools and frameworks.

Reflective of his exceptional leadership and strategic capabilities, Shakil holds an Executive MBA and a Senior Leaders Masters Degree from Nottingham Trent University. He is also a Chartered Manager recognised by the Chartered Management Institute.

Shakil’s academic background is complemented by a Bachelor of Science in Economics and International Development from the University of Bath.

Ultimately, Shakil’s work and leadership are driven by a passion for creating sustainable change and empowering communities to overcome poverty and hardship.

Anisa is a corporate and commercial lawyer with over ten years’ experience in private practice – she specialises in complex, often cross-jurisdictional, mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and operating model restructurings.

Anisa studied Law at Oxford University before completing her training contract at Slaughter and May. She is now Associate General Counsel at McKinsey & Company where she advises on M&A activity for the firm in EMEA.

Sultan is the former CEO and Director of Al Rayan Bank. He has over 20 years’ professional and financial services experience in the UK, and is a member of various Community and Government advisory groups. He has also contributed significantly to developing Islamic Financial Services in the UK.

Sultan was a founding member of UKIFS (UK Islamic Finance Secretariat), a body promoting the UK Islamic Finance industry. He previously held roles at Charles Schwab Europe, Barclays Private Bank and Deloitte. Sultan holds a BA (Hons) in Economics and Econometrics and an MBA.

Sheikh Abu Laila is a technology entrepreneur and innovator who helped launch startups, scaled mid-sized businesses and transformed some of the largest publicly listed corporations. He generated over £200m in incremental revenue for some of the best-known global brands including Microsoft, lastminute.com, Coca-Cola, Unilever, UCAS, Virgin Trains, Pfizer, Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Avis through generation of new revenue streams, product development, new lines of business, and monetising intellectual property & thought capital. He specialises in disrupting business models through digital, data and technology transformations as a C-level Executive and Board advisor.

Sheikh Abu Laila received his ijazah in Qur’an from Sheikh Baha in Egypt with an isnad including Abdullah ibn Ma’sud (ra). Semi-retired now, he engages in public speaking and teaching courses on Ulum-ul-Quran, Usul-ul-Fiqh, Asbab-ul-Nuzul, Tafseer, Seerah and Islamic Finance.

Mufti Amjad M. Mohammed is a British Islamic Scholar. He is Chief Shariah Officer for National Zakat Foundation Worldwide and conducts monthly Shariah and Quality audits of NZF UK. He is dean and head scholar at the British Olive Foundation, an umbrella organisation which oversees multiple projects and organisations including the Institute for the Revival of Traditional Islamic Sciences (IRTIS). He has written and lectured extensively on fiqh, Shariah, jurisprudence for Muslim minorities in the West, Muslim education within the West, usul-al-fiqh, and Islamic finance. He sits on multiple Sharia and fatwa boards and holds advisory positions at several financial institutions pursuing Islamic banking or finance.

Ashar is currently the Chief Data Officer of a leading FTSE 50 renewable energy company. Over the last 10 years his previous roles included working as the Chief Technology Officer, Business Transformation Director, and Head of IT Strategy.

Prior to this he spent almost 20 years as a consultant with Accenture and Capgemini across a range of industries from Energy & Utilities, Banking, Public Healthcare, and Pharmaceuticals. Ashar specialises in implementing technology and business change programmes and has spent a significant amount of time living and working outside the UK (in Europe, the USA, the Middle and Far East).

Ashar is a TOGAF9 certified architect and is a Member of the IET and registered with the UK Engineering Council for 30 years.

Councillor Saima Ashraf has been Deputy Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council since 2014.

As Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement is responsible for with responsibility for empowering the community in the wake of the Covid pandemic. This includes tackling inequalities and engaging different faiths and communities.

In recognition of her long-standing work in the community, Councillor Ashraf won the Community Champion Award at the 2020 Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) awards.

Dr Shorful Islam is the Founder of Subatomic Analytics, a data analytics consultancy. He is also the Chief Product & Data Officer at OutThink, the world’s first predictive human risk management solution, and also serves as Chief Data Scientist for Tribal Worldwide leading its Data Science Practice.

He has worked at, and advised, some of the world’s largest organisations on data strategy, data analytics and data science. His previous roles included, Managing Director and co-founder at Stream Intelligence (a Data Science Consultancy based in London and Jakarta), Managing Partner, Data and Insights, at Wunderman, Head of Data at adam&eve/DDB, and Head of Business Information and Customer Data Strategy at ITV. He has also worked across the NHS and local government

Dr Shorful started his career as a lecturer after completing his PhD in Psychology, his dissertation focusing on predicting accidental injuries in children.