He identifies himself as a multicultural Muslim having lived in England, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mauritius and the US.
He first became aware of being Muslim in 1966 through his Senegalese tutor, Abdullah Diop, who came to their apartment daily to teach him the Arabic Script and stories about the prophets.
A year later the family moved to Singapore where he attended an international school, the United World College of South East Asia.
[2] In 1981 he left Singapore to pursue a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Oriental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
He returned to the university in 1998 to pursue a Ph.D. in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Islamic Near East) with distinction.
[4][5] It moved to Willard Straight Hall in 2013 where with the assistance of the Browsing Library Director, Brandon Pierotti, the programme garnered much continued success.