In 2005, Mawlana Arif Kamal began his journey of acquiring sacred knowledge at the Institute of Islamic Education (IIE) in Elgin, IL. At IIE, he successfully completed his memorization of the Holy Qurʾān. At the request of one of his teachers, he began teaching memorization of the Qurʾān. After teaching for over a year, his thirst for higher studies drove him to enroll in the Shariah program at IIE, where he successfully completed the ʿĀlim program.

As a result, he had the blessed opportunity to study under erudite and recognized scholars such as Mawlana Ubaidullah Saleem, Mawlana Sulaiman Saleem, Mufti Yasir Nadeem, and Mawlana Bilal Ali Ansari (may Allah bless them all).

Mawlana Arif’s passion for Qur’an led him to further specialize in the field of Qur’anic recitation. He successfully obtained multiple ijāzāt in the riwāyah of Ḥafs by way of Ạsim, the Qirā’āt al-Sughrā, and Qira’āt al-Kubrā. His qiraʾāt teachers include highly qualified and world-renowned reciters such as Shaykh Walīd al-Manīsī, Shaykh Mustafa Muftāḥ, Shaykh Mustafa Tolba, Shaykh Uthman Khan, Shaykh Ahmad Hazim, Shaykh al-Qurrā of Syria Shaykh Kurayyim Rājiḥ, and the Shaykh al-Qurrā of Egypt Shaykh Aḥmad Īsā al-Maʿṣarāwī.