The Gracious Center of Learning and Enrichment Activities (GCLEA), a registered non-profit organization, officially began operations in 2010 with the intention of providing the Muslim Community of Southern New Jersey with a variety of services and programs which would see to their spiritual, educational, and social needs. Since its opening, GCLEA has been welcomed to the area with open arms and has seen exponential growth due to the nature of its services and programs. GCLEA has become an integral part of the Southern New Jersey Community and hopes to continue to serve the area.
Imam John Starling is a graduate of NCSU’s College of Management and the Islamic University of Al-Madinah’s Arabic Language Institute and College of Islamic Doctrine and Mission. In the past, he has worked at the C-level in both for-profit and non-profit sectors here at home and abroad. He has served as an executive director of a private Islamic endowment and Chief Editor of an outreach periodical. He has done extensive work as a translator for several Islamic publishing companies and worked as an instructor and curriculum developer in New York City.
Shaykh John is currently the full-time Executive Director of GCLEA and volunteers as an on-call Muslim chaplain at both Virtua Marlton and Voorhees Hospitals. He is a regular lecturer at several universities and Islamic centers throughout the northeast. He is a presenter on TV Imaan, Tanzania and dedicates his spare time to publishing a variety of works.
Dr. Tahir Wyatt is from Philadelphia, USA. He is a graduate of the Islamic University of Madinah, having graduated from the Institute of Arabic Language, the Faculty of Hadith, PGDip in Da’wah, and both a Masters and Ph.D. in ‘Aqidah. In addition, he has been appointed by Royal Decree, as the first American, to teach in the Prophet’s Masjid in Madinah. He currently serves GCLEA as the resident scholar.
Shaykh Rashid is a California native. He grew up just outside of Sacramento in a religious household and completed memorizing the Quran at age 16. After his high school graduation, he was admitted to the world-renowned Islamic University of Madinah.
During his 14 year stay in the Prophet’s City, he earned 4 degrees; an Associates in Arabic, a Bachelors in Hadith and Islamic Studies, a Post Graduate Degree in Dawah, and a Masters in Teaching Arabic to Speakers of other Languages (TASOL). Additionally, Shaykh Rashid benefited greatly from traditional studies with numerous major scholars studying classical texts in fiqh, hadith, and tawhid etc.
As a hafiz of the Quran, Shaykh Rashid has a passion for the various modes of recitation. While in Madinah he obtained an Ijazah/License in “Hafs an Asim” from a renowned scholar and master of the Quran and is currently pursuing a license in “Warsh”.
During Shaykh Rashid’s stay in Madinah he was blessed to work in the Prophet’s Masjid as a translator/interpreter for the Friday prayer services under the supervision of Shaykh Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais, the Imam of Masjid al-Haram in Makkah.
Shaykh Rashid is happily married with 5 boys. In his spare time, he enjoys sports such as football, basketball, and baseball.
"The most beloved people to Allah are those most helpful to mankind." - Prophetic Teaching
GCLEA was founded to serve God by serving the faithful and the greater community of South Jersey. We currently offer a wide array of services that address the most pressing needs of our members and guests. We hope that you find our services to be helpful and enriching.
To encourage connection to God, we offer a wide array of religious services including the following:
With family as a focal point of the community, we offer a full list of life-cycle services including:
To support fellow community members in need, we offer a number of growing social services such as: