Amal Abdalhakim-Douglas

The author was born in the UK of Jamaican parents and schooled in the UK until age thirteen when the family moved/returned to Jamaica. He spent many a long hour working in the family businesses, alternating between shopkeeper, bartender and bus conductor. After high school, university and time as a very young civil servant he returned to the UK.

After continuing his professional accounting studies he held various posts in that profession and ended up in the "The City", London's centre of international finance. His first solo business venture in the UK was as a travel and shipping agent in London's West End. Since then he has had a varied and colourful business career that spanned wholesale distribution, production of health products, computer sales, telephony services and event production & management.

All this has proved invaluable in his current role as an enterprise and fundraising consultant in which he advises major UK & international charities & NGOs, SMEs, new business startups and numerous trade bodies and organisations. He has developed and delivered numerous training courses, some of which can be found online at Muamalat College and School of Business & Enterprise. He always finds the time to continue his longstanding practice of teaching mathematics, business studies, Islamic studies and English to both children and adults. His work has taken him to across Africa, the Caribbean, North America and throughout Europe.

As an author he has written several books and countless articles, and also wrote and produced the play Diary of a 'Son of Africa.' Hajj Amal is Founder of the Open Trade Network, an original member of the League of the Black Stone, a respected community leader and activist, and has served on the board of many charitable, social and strategic organisations & enterprises. He had a key role in setting up the Norwich Academy and both taught and served as the Director of Finance.