Dr. Ashhar Ali grew up in Troy, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, where, in 1994, he completed the memorization of the Qur’an at eight years of age. He graduated high school in 2004 with an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, and subsequently enrolled in the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor to complete a Bachelor’s of Science with a dual concentration in (1) Arabic & Islamic Studies and (2) Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Sciences. He graduated from medical school at Michigan State University in 2012 and completed his medical residency in neurology, with a sub-specialization in headache and facial pain, at the Cleveland Clinic. He is currently a practicing neurologist in Detroit, Michigan, and an assistant professor at Wayne State University, School of Medicine.
During his college years, he began studying Classical Arabic, Fiqh and other disciplines under local scholars, and in 2008, joined the Sacred Learning program to begin formal studies of the traditional Islamic sciences, under the instruction of Shaykh Dr. Husain Abdul Sattar.
He currently resides in Farmington Hills, Michigan with his wife and four children.