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Imam Tahir Anwar Born in London, England, he moved to San Francisco Bay Area in 1983. While going to school, where he performed outstandingly, he received his initial studies of the Qur'an and the Arabic language. These were conducted under his father, also a scholar of the sciences of the Islamic Shari’a (code). In 1991, he traveled to Gujrat, India where he was enrolled in a traditional Islamic University called Darul Uloom Falah e Darain (The House of Knowledge that benefit in both the worlds). This was located in his native town of Tadkeshwar.

For the next seven years he was engaged in an intensive curriculum that comprised of the memorization of the Holy Qur’an, the perfection of the art of reciting the verses of the Holy Qur’an, the comprehensive study of the Arabic language including syntax, etymology, and literature; the study of Prophetic Traditions, the study of the translation, exegesis and elucidation of the Holy Qur’an, and the study of Islamic Jurisprudence. In recognition of his academic achievements at this institution, he was given the title of ‘Aalim: a title given to a person who successfully completes the abovementioned studies at an accredited institution.

After graduating with a B.A. in Islamic Theology in 1999, Tahir Anwar has been serving as the Imam and Director of Religious Services at the South Bay Islamic Association in San Jose, California. He is also the head of the Islamic Studies Department, and an Islamic Studies teacher at Granada Islamic School, in Santa Clara, California. He has also taught Hanafi fiqh at the world-renowned Zaytuna Institute.

A lot of his passion is in doing outreach work, due to which he also serves as on different panels and commissions:

Human Rights Commissioner for the City of San Jose
Muslim Chaplain at the Santa Clara County Correctional Facilities, and has been licensed by the State of California.
Community Advisory Panel for KQED, a local PBS radio and television channel.


The Imam is frequently invited to speak at open forums at various Universities and religious institutions. For these and other related purposes, the Imam has had the opportunity to travel to many different continents. He is fluent in English, Urdu, Arabic, Hindi, and Gujarati.

He currently resides in San Jose, California with his wife and two sons.