Meet Our Instructors
Adab Academy provides a holistic education that blends our inherited Islamic tradition with the classical Western liberal arts. Our aim is to nurture students into well-rounded individuals who possess the intellectual and moral virtues and to instill in them a reverence for the Divine.
Explore Our Courses
John Ropoulos
Instructor
John Ropoulos grew up in Fremont, CA, and began his higher education at St. John's College, Santa Fe, New Mexico and Annapolis, Maryland where he received a B.A. double major in Philosophy, the History of Mathematics and Science, and a double minor in Comparative Literature, and the Classics. While at St. John's, he converted to Islam after reading the Qur'an. After graduating, he matriculated into Zaytuna College where he completed his B.A. in Islamic Law and Theology.
After Zaytuna, he traveled with his wife to Cairo, Egypt to continue Arabic and Islamic studies. After approximately three years in Egypt, Turkey, and Mauritania, he returned to California and entered Zaytuna's M.A. program in Islamic Texts in the Philosophy and Theology segment. He completed his M.A. in May 2022 with a thesis on the concept of justice in Ibn Khaldūn's Muqaddimah.
Currently, he is a doctoral student at Ludwig Maximillian University in Munich, Germany, researching the divine attributes in post-classical Kalām and falsafa.
Courses Taught
Reading, Writing, English Grammar, Rhetoric, Comparative Literature, Literary Analysis, History, Geography, Geopolitics, Logic, dialectic, Euclidean Geometry, Astronomy, History of Math and Science, Philosophy, Ethics, Political Theory, Philosophy for Kids, Latin, Classical Arabic, Islamic Studies (Seera, Akhlaq, Mālikī fiqh, Aqīda, Kalām, falsafa, Islamic History).
Ayesha Darab
Instructor
Ayesha Darab grew up in the suburbs of Washington D.C. in Northern Virginia. She attended Zaytuna College where she received her bachelor's degree in Islamic Law and Theology. Shortly after graduating from Zaytuna, she attended St. John's College to pursue an M.A. in Liberal Arts spending her time reading great books from the Western Canon in a seminar setting. She wrote her St. John's master's thesis under the tutelage of Dr. Eva Brann on the concept of phusis (nature) in Martin Heidegger's Introduction to Metaphysics. After completing her M.A., she traveled to Egypt to continue Arabic and Islamic studies for several years. Upon her return to the United States, she enrolled in Zaytuna College's M.A. program in Islamic Texts focusing on Islamic Theology and Philosophy. She wrote her M.A. thesis on Mulla Sudra's concept of existence.
Currently, Ayesha teaches Arabic, continues to read great books, and works with the Catherine Project as a tutor introducing new readers to the life of the mind.
Courses Taught
Reading, Writing, English Grammar, Comparative Literature, Literary Analysis, History, Geography, Logic, Euclidean Geometry, Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy for Kids, Classical Arabic, Islamic Studies (tajwīd, Aqīda, kalām, falsafa).
