There are seven thousand Muslim dentists in America. We have never had a home of our own. Here is what we are building — and why.
There are over seven thousand Muslim dentists practicing across the United States today. We own multi-location practices. We chair specialty departments. We teach the next generation. Our patients know our names. By every individual measure, this is the most accomplished generation of Muslim dentists in our profession's history.
And yet, collectively, we have never had a platform of our own. There is no shared standard. No shared story. No collective voice in the conversations shaping the future of our profession.
We have organized regionally. Chicago in 2010. Pockets in Dallas, Houston, the Bay Area, the Northeast. Each effort earnest, each one local. None of them connected to the others. None of them institutional.
This is not a complaint. It is an observation about a generational opportunity that has been hiding in plain sight: we have the people, the credentials, and the resources to build something real — and we have not yet built it.
MDLA exists to build it. Not as a directory. Not as a conference. As an alliance — one with standards, with stewardship, and with the seriousness this generation deserves.
We owed this to each other. We just hadn’t built it yet.Dr. Saqib H. Mohajir, DMD Chairman · MDLA
Every decision we make is anchored in three commitments. They are not aspirational. They are the standard.
A space where our values are not a footnote. Where decisions about practice, patients, and people are made with the same care we bring to our prayers. Where our children can see that excellence in our profession and faithfulness to our deen are not in tension — they are the same project.
Not titles. Stewardship. MDLA is built around the dentists who are already leading their cities, their study clubs, their specialty associations — and the ones who will lead the next decade. We exist to amplify what is already happening, and to build the bench for what is coming.
What we build now becomes the standard our successors inherit. The next generation of Muslim dentists deserves an alliance that already exists when they arrive. They deserve mentors who are easy to find, frameworks that are battle-tested, and a story they can step into. That is the work.
To build a trusted network of Muslim dental leaders that fosters professional growth, mentorship, and community service — while preserving Islamic values and creating lasting impact for future generations.
To unify and elevate Muslim dentists across the United States through leadership, collaboration, and mentorship grounded in Islamic principles and professional excellence.
The discipline begins with who is in the room. Membership is by invitation. Candidates meet at least three of six criteria and are sponsored by existing members. We are not building a directory — we are seating an alliance, and the seating is deliberate.
Once seated, members teach members. The faculty are not retired lecturers or paid speakers. They are practitioners actively running practices, treating patients, and shipping the work. Programming is led by the people for whom the work matters most — because the conversations that move a profession forward only happen when the people in the room are still in the chair.
Membership is renewed by what each member does, not what they paid. Every member contributes once a year — through teaching, mentoring, peer referral, written work, or storytelling — and reconfirms their commitment annually. There is no passive roll. The roster stays current, accurate, and small by design.
The founding cohort is being seated. Once seated, the role does not reopen.
