Introducing Imam Tom Facchine, Research Director of Islam and Society

Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research is pleased to announce the newest addition to our team, Imam Tom Facchine, who will be joining us as the Research Director of Islam and Society.

Imam Tom Facchine (fuh-KEEN-ee) brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the team, serving as the resident scholar of Utica Masjid (Utica, New York), as well as the Imam of Hamilton College where he does chaplaincy work. He also teaches Tafseer to middle-schoolers online through Legacy International Online High School. He is excited to join the team and help us achieve our goals of tackling contentious societal issues impacting the faith of Muslims.

Imam Tom completed his BA in Political Science from Vassar College in 2011 and was granted the opportunity to study at the Islamic University of Madinah from 2015-2020, where he obtained his BA from the Faculty of Shariah.  He is eager to bring his academic and classical Islamic studies background to help contribute to our success.

“I'm excited to be joining Yaqeen to help articulate Islamic contentions, responses, and solutions to the myriad issues that affect contemporary society,” said Imam Tom. “I look forward to collaborating with the great minds and souls at Yaqeen who have already done so much to this end.”

Imam Tom is from Southern New Jersey. Brought up a Christian, he left Christianity as a teenager and became an atheist. During this period he had a political awakening and developed a passion for leftist political theory and activism, particularly Marxism, anarchism, and feminism. It wasn’t until he reached university and began studying European colonialism and secularism that his commitments started to loosen, leaving him open to the influence of Malcolm X and Islam. This culminated in his conversion to Islam in 2010.

Imam Tom’s research interests remain secularism, European colonialism, feminism, and all things political theory, but now his research is anchored in an Islamic paradigm and informed by the Islamic scholarly tradition.

When not engaged in study or dawah, Imam Tom enjoys espresso, hiking, and bird watching.

Please join us in welcoming Imam Tom Facchine to Yaqeen!