Shaykh Zahir immigrated to Canada with his family from Guyana when he was five years old and attended Islamic classes in Toronto from a very early age. After high school he completed a degree in Zoology with a minor in history at the University of Toronto. During his years on campus he was actively involved with the Muslim Student Association assisting in organizing many important events such as hosting the Mayor of Sarajevo during the tumultuous years of genocide against Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovinia.
After attending a one-week Deen Intensive Program in Connecticut in 1995 Shaykh Zahir returned to Toronto consumed with the desire to go on a rihla in search of sacred knowledge. In 1996 he said goodbye to his family and friends in Toronto and left for Amman, Jordan to study Arabic. The following year he enrolled in the Arabic program at the University of Damascus and it is in Damascus that he would spend the next six years of uninterrupted study. In the years he spent in Damascus, Shaykh Zahir had the blessing of meeting and sitting in the company of some of the premier scholars of Damascus, learning Hanafi fiqh, aqida (science of beliefs), mantiq (logic), usul (critical intellectualism), hadith, and tafsir.
In October 2003 he said farewell to Damascus and returned to Toronto. Shortly after returning he was conducting several classes for Muslims in the greater Toronto area, fulfilling the purpose for the years of dedicated study.
Currently Shaykh Zahir is the founder/director of the Lote Tree Foundation (an educational initiative) in Brampton, Ontario.
