Mahad Qamar and Safiya Ravat are an American couple from Houston, Texas – of Pakistani (Mahad) and South African (Safiya) heritage. They co-founded the SUHBAH Institute in 2018 and have been married for over a decade, with one son – Noah.

Mahad and Safiya began their Islamic Studies journey in 2008 under Shaykh Isam Rajab at Arees Institute, and continued on to attend the Bayyinah Dream Arabic Program. They then pursued their Bachelor’s degrees in Islamic Fiqh and Usul al Fiqh (Islamic Law and Jurisprudence) from the International Islamic University of Malaysia and finally completed their Master’s in Pastoral Counseling in Marriage and Family Therapy. Safiya also holds a degree in Journalism from the University of Houston (Go Coogs!).

After Malaysia, they served as the head instructors of Tafseer and Quranic Arabic at the Bayyinah Dream program in Dallas, and later served as the Religious Directors at Maryam Islamic Center in Sugar Land. Mahad and Safiya are currently the lead instructors at the Suhbah Seminary, pre marital training facilitators for Suhbah’s Strong Couples program, and will serve as the inaugural Chaplains at the University of Houston’s Muslim Students Association. 

Suhbah offers Islamic seminary courses, counseling, avenues for singles looking to get married, as well as pre-marital training for engaged couples and newlyweds. “Strong Couples” is Suhbah’s state certified online Islamic pre-marital training course that combines pre-marital training from both the counseling and Islamic realm. “Conversations” is Suhbah’s online singles platform and discussion based halaqa. 

Mahad and Safiya have been teaching classes and offering seminars locally and nationally for over a decade.

They have a zeal to help breakdown misconceptions, realign with the Prophetic model, and accompany and inspire individuals along their journey of growth by providing quality, nurturing and easily accessible Islamic learning and counsel that is applicable to our ever changing lives and circumstances – whether that be in our relationships with others, with ourselves, or with our Lord.