ingrid mattson, the sixth of seven children, was born in 1963 in kingston, ontario, where she spent her childhood and attended catholic schools. she credits the catholic women who educated her with providing "a fantastic education" and "a place to explore and develop this early, youthful spirituality". she studied philosophy and fine arts at the university of waterloo in canada from 1982–87. as part of her course of study, she spent summer of 1986 as a visiting student in paris, france. during this time, she befriended west african students from a sufi muslim community. on reading the qur'an, she found, "an awareness of god, for the first time since i was very young." after returning to waterloo, she converted to islam in 1987. she completed her studies in waterloo and earned combined bachelor of arts degrees in philosophy and fine arts in 1987.