Yahya (John) Ederer

(USA)

Imam John (Yahya) Ederer was born in Oklahoma City , USA . He accepted Islam in 1998 after trying to reconcile his life and spirituality. This self/spiritual search began as a result of going through some tough times being involved with a rough group of individuals, yet at the same time having a strong innate spiritual inclination to Almighty God.

In early 2000 he began attending the Masjid as-Salam in Tulsa (USA) and became a regular member. By the end of 2000, he had become a very active member in the Islamic Society of Tulsa and in 2001 he was hired as a P.E. instructor at Peace Academy (the local Islamic elementary schol). During this time he became attached to the school and mosque libraries. In the summer of 2002, he accepted a scholarship offer from the Islamic American University (IAU) where he moved and stayed studying for 3 years. The IAU also sponsored him for a year in Cairo , Egypt studying an intensive curriculum of the Arabic language as well as Qur'anic memorization and recitation. In his last few months in Egypt he was blessed with the opportunity to study traditionally in the lectures held by various scholars in the grand mosque of al-Azhar.

In 2005 he was recruited by the Islam Presentation Committee in Kuwait to work as the head of the English Da'wa department. While in Kuwait , he attained a diploma from the institute for Islamic Studies. He also followed a traditional study schedule in weekly study circles with various scholars of Islamic Law. In 2008 he finished his memorization of the Qur'an and attained an Ijazah that put his name on a list of 29 other people who are in the chain of narration of the Qur'an based on memorization and the recitation of the Qur'an by Hafs according to Asim by way of Tayyibah.

Imam Yahya (John) currently serves as an Imam and is leading the Islamic efforts of his community in Florida . Amongst other things these fforts encompass teaching of Arabic, Seerah, Tafseer and delivering various talks. Al Hikma Media are honoured to be the first to bring Imam Yahya to Europe in order to benefit our community.