I was born Benton Allen Purcell on May 4th, 1969 in Miami, Florida USA. I was also born with a rare genetic disorder known as PKU – in short, my body doesn’t process protein like yours. In could have led to severe mental and physical retardation. Due to the ultimate wisdom of Allaah’s plan I was identified (quite miraculously) at birth and immediately put on a special no-protein diet for the next 8 or so years. I was able to thrive both physically and mentally – however, the PKU was still there. Now I’m back managing my condition successfully and undoing decades of damage of having been off diet.

I converted to Islam on January 1st, 1993 – this was after nearly two years of actively learning about Islam. I was reading the Quran almost daily and attended the local Masjid regularly for Jumu’ah for over a year. I was blessed to be part of a community that stressed knowledge and began my journey early. Almost at the same time as I begin my university studies in Islamic Sciences I was pulled into to teaching; 30 years later I’m still doing that (al-Hamdulillaah). In that time I’ve completed two degrees in Islamic Studies (in English), done some graduate level work, and completed multiple ‘Ijaazaat in various Mutoon (most recently Al-Adab al-Mufrad). I’ve preached for over two decades in various communities across the USA. And currently I’m serving as the Senior Consultant for Outreach at the Islamic Center of Irving (one of the largest in the US). Some of my additional studies have been in Islamic Psychology and Couples Counseling. Most recently, I’ve started work as a Spiritual Advisor for Nafs Healing in Canada and will be assuming Social Media content roles as well.

I look forward to learning from each of you and growing in my knowledge and experience in giving Da’wah.

BTW; I’m also a trained and experienced professional fundraiser.