The Sanctuary is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity.
At The Sanctuary, we believe that leadership is a sacred trust— an Amanah. Our stewardship team is comprised of glob ally recognized thought leaders and scholars dedicated to the preservation and ethical transmission of authentic wisdom. Together, they work to ensure this space remains a gentle refuge where science and soul are brought back into harmony.
Technology cannot see or hear the future, but the heart can see and hear the past, the present, and the future.
— Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
Meet the team
Dr. Maliha Hashmi
Chief Steward & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Maliha Hashmi is an award-winning, globally recognized thought leader and system-builder shaping the future of health, wellness, and human well-being at the convergence of science, technology, ethics, law, business, creativity, and the inner life. Her work is grounded in a unifying belief that transcends borders and disciplines: that wellness is universal and interconnected—health for everyone, everywhere—and that true healing emerges when science and soul are brought back into harmony.
Recognized from an early age as a child prodigy, Dr. Hashmi’s journey has been defined by a rare ability to integrate vision with execution, intellect with empathy, and innovation with meaning. She holds doctorate and master’s degrees from Harvard, with additional advanced training at MIT, grounding her leadership in academic rigor, ethical reasoning, and systems thinking—while remaining deeply human, reflective, and spiritually anchored in its expression.
Consistently recognized for her global impact, Dr. Hashmi is ranked #1 among the Top 10 Female Innovators & Leaders Globally and named one of America’s Top 50 Most Influential Muslims for consecutive years. She is most recently ranked #6 among the Top Global Women Thought Leaders for 2025 by NBC Washington. She was officially titled as an Ambassador representing the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and presented with the Trailblazer Award for International Leadership at CSW69 in New York City as part of the 1001 UN Women Network. Across her career, she has delivered over 200 keynote addresses and high-level talks across more than 50 countries, engaging world leaders, governments, global institutions, academic bodies, legal and policy forums, and business leaders on the future of health, longevity, equity, sustainability, and human flourishing.
Her presence on the world stage—including the World Economic Forum (Davos), the United Nations, UNESCO, the G20 Presidency and V20 forums, and Harvard University—is marked not by performance, but by depth.
For Dr. Hashmi, longevity is not a luxury—it is a responsibility. The body is an amanah, a sacred trust. When people feel well, they treat others well. Healing oneself is the first act of service. Her life’s work is guided by a principle she lives by: “If we touch even one life, we prevent what might never be seen. That is the true intervention.”
Dr. Gibril Fouad Haddad
Resident Scholar
Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad was hailed in the inaugural edition of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World as “one of the clearest voices of traditional Islam in the West.”
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, he studied in Lebanon, the United Kingdom, the United States—where he took shahāda in December 1991—France, and Syria. He holds two doctorates: one in Hadith from Kolej Universiti Insaniah in Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia, and another in French literature from Columbia University in New York. He holds scholarly authorizations (ijāzas) from over two hundred shaykhs.
In 2017, he received Qatar’s Shaykh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding for his translation of Ḥizb One of the Commentary on the Qur’an by al-Bayḍāwī.
He has authored four dozen books and hundreds of articles on Qur’anic hermeneutics, doctrine, Hadith, Sufism, biography, and Islamic intellectual history, including The Meanings of the Inimitable Qur’an, Bayḍāwī’s Complete Commentary of the Qur’an, and The Lights of Guidance.
A disciple of Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani and Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Shaykh Gibril received signed ijāzas authorizing guidance, admonition, spiritual companionship, and remembrance.