Our Story

MFA is the final project initiated under the advice and guidance of Sajida Abid Faruqi, co-founder and principal of Madrasa Ayesha Siddiqua (Karachi), a few weeks before her demise in early 2021. She was the granddaughter of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, and was the first in Pakistan during the late 1980's to build a streamlined system for females in mastering the Arabic language alongside the main Islamic Sciences. She completed her Islamic studies under the likes of Shaykh Abdur-Rashid Nu'mani and Shaykh Muhammad Anwar Badakhshani, and specialised in Islamic jurisprudence and ifta' under the tutelage of Mufti Taqi 'Usmani. She is the co-founder of Maktaba al-Bushra, a globally-known publishing house, and the author of many works, including the popular Lisaan-ul-Quran, a three-volume book in Arabic grammar distinguished in its field.

With her visionary training, her students were empowered to facilitate and teach the same standard of Islamic academia across the globe, including at Darul Ulum College of Victoria. Subsequently, all female 'alimat graduated locally in Australia through the Deobandi methodology (a total of 79 as of 2024) have been trained either by her immediate students, or by her grand-students.

Today, MFA is led by three 'alimat — each formally trained in Islamic jurisprudence and ifta’ — who strive to preserve Ustadha Sajida's visionary training and uphold the same rigourous standards of Islamic academia.