Joshua Charbonneau is an American Muslim. He was born in 1982 in Sumter, South Carolina. He is of French Canadian and American descent. He was born into a Christian family, and later chose to revert to Shi’a Islam at the age of 17, having studied both faiths. After reverting to Islam, he chose the name Mateen which in Arabic means strong, firm and unshakable. His first language is English and he also learned Qur’anic Arabic. At age 26 he moved to Washington, DC area and has been an active part of the Muslim community. He took part in a documentary by Al-Anwar Husayn TV entitled Journey of the Spirit where he narrated his incredible story on how he became a Shia Muslim.

In 2012 and 2015 he had the opportunity to travel with the members of Al-Anwar Husayn TV to visit the Holy shrines of Imam Ali (‘a) and Imam Husayn (‘a) in Iraq for Ziyarat Arbaeen. Since March of 2013 he has been studying Howza (Islamic Seminary) classes under the guidance of Sheikh Mustafa Akhound at the Imam Ali Center of Springfield, VA. Mateen has also compiled and published some very in-depth books entitled The Suffering of the Ahl ul Bayt and their Followers (Shia) throughout History, Christians who defended and died for Prophet Muhammad and his Family, Mystery of the Shia and a Study Guide to Logic.

These titles are available at Yasin Publications and Amazon. In 2014 he co-founded a publication company entitled Yasin Publications and also a program to send free books to prisoners entitled 2nd Chance Books.

• Converted to Shia Islam on July 2nd 1999 at the age of 17

• Learned Qur’anic Arabic in the year 2000

• Independently studied Islamic books full time from the year 1999-2007

• Filmed a documentary for al-Anwar Husayn TV entitled The Journey of the Spirit in 2011

• Made the pilgrimage to Iraq for Ziyarat Arbaeen; Visited Najaf and Karbala in January 2012 and November-December 2015

• Authored three books in 2012 entitled; The Suffering of the Ahl ul Bayt and their Followers (Shia) throughout History, Christians who defended and died for Prophet Muhammad and his Family and Mystery of the Shia

• Founded an online library on Facebook in 2013 entitled; Shia Books for Free Download that now has close to 75,000 members

• Started studying Howza classes in March 2013 at Imam Ali Center in Springfield, Virginia. His teachers include Sheikh Mustafa Akhound, Sayed Abbas Shamsudin, Sheikh Saed Ali Kulayni and Sheikh Muhammad BagherNejad.

• 2013 & 2014 filmed several short videos about Imam Husayn (‘a) for Stand with Dignity in New Jersey

• Co-founded Yasin Publications in January of 2014

• Co-founded a program to send free books to prisoners in March 2014 entitled; 2nd Chance Books

• Filmed a documentary for Ahlulbayt TV entitled Faith Behind Bars

• Lectured in various centers in Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina and universities such as George Washington University and Rutgers University

• Achieved a certificate from Harvard University in Islamic Studies

• Received his turban from the hand of Sheikh Ahmad al-Haeri on the martyrdom of Muslim ibn Aqil (ra) / Day of Arafat in 2016

• 2017 started teaching for Imam Mahdi Howza founded by Sheikh Muhammad BagherNejad