For the past four years the siblings have been working as an institutionally contracted team in research projects led by Dr Jakub Zbrzezny at the University of Aberdeen, enabled by internal university funding and external grants from academic institutions such as the British Academy, Royal Society of Edinburgh, or Cornell University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies. Their work concerns pre-modern Arabic translations of Jewish and Christian Scriptures and their contemporary understanding among Muslim communities. You will see Ahmad co-presenting with Jakub at conferences and seminars, in person or online.

Building on Ahmad’s extensive experience in privately teaching Khalili Arabic, the siblings have started to develop didactic materials for Eed-b-Eed, thanks to grants from the Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Fund of the Scottish Funding Council and from the UK-based Al Tajir Trust, both administered by the University of Aberdeen. In due course, Eed-b-Eed learners will meet the siblings during live practice sessions. In future, the Hroub sisters will facilitate the recruitment of further local team members from among university-educated local women, and Ahmad’s training in economics will significantly help in making this model sustainable in the local ecosystem.

Originally from Poland, Jakub completed Interdisciplinary Individual Studies in the Humanities at the University of Warsaw, and later gained a PhD in Divinity at the University of Aberdeen. In his doctoral research he investigated correlations between early textual traditions of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Scriptures. In his current research, he explores how the traditional knowledge and cultural intuitions of rural Arab communities in Palestine can shed new light on ancient biblical traditions associated with the region. In line with the University of Aberdeen’s ethical principle of ‘Sustainable partnerships with stakeholders’ expressed in its Institutional Ethical Statement, Jakub’s Palestinian research partners receive for their intellectual work fair and appropriate remuneration at a level comparable to that of University research assistants.

Jakub’s long-standing passion for the Scriptures led him first to Latin and Greek, then to Hebrew and Syriac, and ultimately to Arabic, in both its ancient and modern manifestations. Thanks to the linguistic hospitality of Ahmad Hroub, Jakub speaks Khalili Arabic and is passionate about its study. Indeed, he strongly believes that research on the “Holy Land” in antiquity should be attentive to the lives of its modern inhabitants across Israel and Palestine, Jews and Arabs alike.

Anthony holds a first-class joint honours degree in Oriental Studies, (Arabic and Persian) from the University of Manchester, and a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Salford. He began his career in Egypt, teaching English in a small primary school in Shubra, a working-class district of Cairo, and later taught Arabic at the universities of Salford and Manchester.

During his time with the British Council, Anthony led educational and cultural programmes in Libya, South Sudan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf countries. He brings this experience to Eed-b-Eed, helping to build partnerships and shape inclusive learning that responds to local needs.

Grant Coutts (History & Theology and Religious Studies) helps with managing our social media. Duncan Jackson (Philosophy) and Wilhelm Wildner (Theology), who learn Modern Standard Arabic, contribute to the development of our didactic materials, bringing the perspective of an Eed-b-Eed Learner who wants to level up their Arabic.

Originally from India, Sapna spent most of her early years in Bahrain. Although trained to be an engineer, her interest in the field of education and belief in the collective work of social development led her to become an educator. Sapna's passion for how to make learning engaging has led her to work as a teacher and curriculum designer. Her experience teaching and designing learning programs has allowed her to work with young kids in primary schools to adult learners in universities.

She began teaching in low-resourced communities in India, designed education interventions for programs in Kenya and Sierra Leone and most recently taught graduate students and executive leaders at Harvard University.

As a Harvard student, Sapna had the opportunity to visit Palestine and Israel that contributes to her interest in livelihood development for young women in the region.

Nick was born in Chicago and currently works as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Ruhr University Bochum’s Institute for Arabic & Islamic Studies. He is a former Gates Cambridge scholar and previously worked as a Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cambridge Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies. His research focuses on interfaith contact and intercultural exchange in the history of Middle Eastern languages, especially in Egypt and Palestine.

Nick studied Arabic at the University of Chicago as well as at local language institutes in Jordan and Morocco. With experience in multiple pedagogical and university systems, he has helped test Eed-b-Eed’s teaching materials and build its international academic support network.