Abu Usamah, Khalifah At-Thahabi was born and raised in Passaic, New Jersey, the third eldest of 4 children. He converted to Islam in 1986 and applied to attend the University of Madinah as was the practice of many new converts to Islam at that time. He completed his BSc in Usool-Ul-Deen and learned the Arabic language. After his graduation from the University, Abu Usamah went to teach in the UK before returning to the US in 1996 in order to pursue his first position of Imam in Orlando, Florida. He was an imam at a mosque in Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Peoria before he moved to the UK, where he surfaced briefly in Keighley before moving to Birmingham to take up his place as Imam at Green Lane Mosque.