Shaykh Nuh Lavotte Saunders grew up in Philadelphia, a place he describes as having a lot of Muslims but very little Islam. As a teenager, he lacked good suhba, the right kind of friends. But one day, he heard a recording of a khutbah by Shaykh Abdur Rahman Sondalaani in his grandmother’s car and broke down in tears. Shaykh Abdur Rahman— whose grandfather was part of the first Muslim community in Philly— talked about the challenges of growing up as a young Muslim in the city, something Shaykh Nuh could relate to. A month later he met Shaykh Abdur Rahman, who became his mentor, teaching him aqidah, introducing him to Imam Amin Muhammad from Atlantic City, and taking him to meet Habib Omar during his 2011 visit to the United States. For the past eight years, he has been studying in Tarim, Yemen at Dar al-Mustafa. His kids are still there, while he is taking a break to study Quranic recitation in Lebanon. He also founded Dar Al Qurra, an online institute dedicated to connecting yout...