Muslim Community Leaders Retreat

Sughra’s expertise lies in religion, plant medicines, and Muslim cultures. Working in a range of spiritual and religious capacities, she has spent time in the UK and USA exploring contextual theology, religious expressions and plant medicines across communities of faith and belief. As Associate Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University, her role included preaching, research, and pastoral care, with a focus on person-centered care for staff and students. She has actively worked in and led Muslim communities for over 25 years.

She leads Ruhani, a Muslim psychedelic network, is a public speaker, and enjoys discovering connections between Islam and plant medicines. She has an MA in Islamic Studies, a Diploma in Islamic Jurisprudence, and is a Chaplain.

Malahat is a Muslim South Asian immigrant American educator and researcher-activist with over 20 years’ experience supporting individuals, couples, families, and organizations. She currently collaborates with academic institutions to advance academic justice for Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and other marginalized students and scholars, addressing issues such as Islamophobia, bias, belonging, dignity, and well-being in higher education. Her emerging interests include culturally and spiritually informed curriculum development for psychedelic-assisted therapy and promoting dialogue between mental-health professionals, faith leaders, and communities around ethical healing.

Russell Khan is an inner leadership coach and guide whose work focuses on self-awareness, emotional resilience, and helping people build a deeper relationship with themselves. For more than a decade, Russell has explored the intersection of personal growth, leadership, and transformation. After a successful career in strategy and entrepreneurship, his own inner work led him to a different question: what happens when we stop building our lives around who we learned we needed to be and start discovering who we actually are? Today, Russell works with individuals and groups to uncover the patterns, beliefs, and survival strategies that quietly shape how they live, love, lead, and relate to themselves. His approach draws from nervous system awareness, contemplative practice, embodied inquiry, and years of work in transformational spaces.

As a practicing Muslim and the son of Bangladeshi immigrants, Russell brings a perspective shaped by faith, culture, family, and the experience of navigating multiple worlds. He is especially interested in the conversation between deep inner work and Islamic spiritual tradition, and what it means to pursue transformation without losing connection to where we come from. At the heart of Russell’s work is a simple belief: transformation isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about seeing clearly enough to stop abandoning who you already are. Russell brings this lens to the retreat team, supporting participants through reflection, integration, and a grounded presence throughout the experience.

Karim Lotfy brings a background in mental health and mindfulness practice to his work leading group sessions and educational content on consciousness and integration. With years of clinical experience in mental health, he offers a grounded, thoughtful presence for participants exploring these practices, with an emphasis on presence, self-inquiry, and practical tools for integration.

Karim has long been drawn to the study of non-ordinary states of consciousness across spiritual traditions, with particular interest in how contemplative and communal practices, including those rooted in Islamic tradition, inform how people process these experiences.

Sundiata Salaam-Bey has dedicated his life to human development and to human rights. During his time completing a Master’s Degree in Pan-African Studies at Syracuse University, Sundiata began his work with children. Through teaching students the Autobiography of Malcolm X, Sundiata got his first glimpse of the power of teaching. This experience took him to Prince George’s County, where he taught 8th-grade ELA at Walker Mill Middle School. After teaching for two years at Walker Mill, Sundiata moved to Memphis to serve as Freedom Prep’s founding Dean of Students.

Using the elements of a strong student culture, Sundiata then moved into the role of Head of School in order to sustain student culture and grow student achievement, while also fostering a strong adult culture. He later served as Chief Schools Officer and then Chief People Officer, leading leadership development, talent recruitment, and talent retention. Currently, Sundiata works for RedefineEd as an Associate Vice President of Innovative Schools. He is also the founder of Ubuntu Leaders Institute, a leadership development institution dedicated to coaching and working with leaders to help them realize their highest self.