About Us
Our Mission
El Encuentro seeks to develop a healthy, centered and spiritually grounded community in which people learn to live Islam based on traditional understandings of the faith and a recognition of our current cultural context. We aim to instill in our community a passion to love and serve others, regardless of who they are and where they come from. We believe it is our duty as viceregents of the earth not only care for it and it’s inhabitants with our hands and words, but also to empower people with the intellectual, spiritual and community resources in order to care for themselves and others.
Our Purpose
To provide for Muslims and everyone interested in Islam a safe space to explore, learn, and interact with the religion.
To provide Islamic educational opportunities and content to the Spanish-speaking Muslim community in Colombia and abroad.
To provide traditional prophetic knowledge on Islam as it has been taught by our teachers from their teachers in a chain leading back to the Prophet SWAS.
To serve our community in Colombia with love.
To care for our environment with love as stewards of the earth.
Board Members
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Faisal Ghias
Faisal Ghias is one of the founding directors of the Oasis Initiative. He helped launch the Zawiyah program, a holistic spiritual and educational retreat that brings together leading scholars, thought leaders and Muslims from around the world to discuss relevant issues facing the community. He received his Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration, where his interests included nonprofit management, philanthropy, and strategic planning.
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Yusuf Alwattar Botero
Yusuf Alwattar Botero is an attorney from southern California with several years of experience with Islamic non-profit management. He has been blessed to study with scholars from the United States, Syria and Egypt.
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Al-Hasan Alwattar Botero
Al-Hasan Alwattar Botero is seeking a master’s in theology from Bayan Islamic Graduate School and has studied traditionally and academically with a number of notable scholars, including Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, Dr. Sherman Jackson, Sheikh Jamaal Diwan, Sheikh Fouad Elgohari, and Sheikh Walead Mosaad.
Advisory Board
Sheikh Muhammad Haydara al-Jilani
Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah