The Importance of Female Scholarship

“The Indonesian situation is different, nearly unique among Muslim countries. Indonesia has thousands of institutions where women can become specialists of Islam. For example, in Islamic boarding schools called pesantren, male and female students spend years studying the Islamic sources.  These schools produce female preachers, intellectuals and activists who are equipped with deep Islamic knowledge.  Many of these women have  focused for years on the heart of this knowledge, the law and its jurisprudence (Shari’ah and Fiqh) and go on to become professors in Islamic universities.  Not only can these women debate with extremist Muslim groups who propose a different interpretation of the holy texts concerning gender issues, they participate equally in the interpretation and reinterpretation of these texts.”

~ Women Shaping Islam: Reading the Qur’an in Indonesia, by Pieternella van Doorn Harder.

The Qur’an is a Response to the Dua in al-Fatihah (Ayah 6 of Surah Fatihah with Nouman Ali Khan)

Now we know what the path is, now we know where we have to go, we ask Allah, “Have there been others who have gone on this path?” When in college, you ask advice for graduates who have already found a job, the ones have already succeeded because people who are with you, you have no guarantees and therefore they have no guarantees.

This surah says: past tense. The path up, the straight path up, the one taken by those You showered favour upon. Past tense. So the real role models of Islam are not the ones alive, are the ones who have gone, because the ones who are alive are as volatile as you and me. The anchors who will not go away are the actual graduates not the students. Graduation ceremony is death. And then the certificate is issued by Allah. And there are some people who Allah already issued their certificate, told us all their transcript. This is what gave them their credit so that they could graduate. Learn from them.

So we ask Allah to show us the path of those who have already gone before. But in the language we say those who You showered favour upon. In other words, we didn’t say the path taken by those who already made it up all the way. Instead of giving them credit, gave Allah credit. The Muslim realizes that this path is really hard, isn’t any way to do this without Allah making it easy. So the Muslim asks, “Ya Allah, who did you make it easy for before?

The word An-amta.

• Come from softness. Something soft and relaxed. Word for cows comes from this. Cows are relaxed. Allah says that I made this path so relaxed for them, will be like cows. Allah says that this is such a hard journey, the more you go up, the more danger you’re in, but with My favour it will be relaxing. And Allah describes these people all throughout the Qur’an. The stories of the righteous, the story of the Prophets, the story that’s mentioned of good people, all this is Allah answering just that one dua of show me the previous graduates.

Gems from Lives of Man with Sidi Amjad Tarsin (Class 2)

Recently on my commute I’ve been listening to a wonderful set of lectures by Sidi Amjad Tarsin from the Muslim Chaplaincy at the University of Toronto on Imam Haddad’s text “Lives of Man” and alhamidullah, this has transformed my journey home into a beautiful and beneficial experience. The full set of lectures can be found here, and so far (I’ve heard two of the four classes) I really can’t recommend the series enough. Masha’Allah even through a recording, Sidi Amjad’s kind, gentle teaching style shines through and though the material is grave (pun not intended), the examples given are memorable, accessible and relatable, and you feel hopeful, not discouraged, at the end of each session.

Do benefit and share these lessons – as even if you’ve read this text before, this is a wonderful review. And to learn more about the Muslim Chaplaincy at the University of Toronto, you can find out more here.

Below, some notes from the second class. These notes were mostly taken on the bus, so they aren’t complete, and as always, all mistakes in notetaking are my own.

Exploring the Qur’an with Shaykh Yahya Rhodus (Class 7 Gems)

From the March 31st session.

• The nafs is you. It’s your internal state.
• Hawa is the entity in which the nafs manifests. Hawa is your internal inclinations, your desires.
• True religion is about character, going against yourself.
•  The more you pray, the more you’re around good people, the more you do dhikr, the more your desires begin to change. You will always have desires, but the idea is for your desires to confirm to sacred teachings. It’s so important to have environments that cultivate this.
• First need to be able to govern our souls before we can lead anyone else.
• Need to be aware of the politics of the soul.
• Religion is beautiful, but not necessarily easy.
• We have a faculty of anger and a faculty of desire – both relate to caprice.
• While we are in this world, we’re supposed to know Allah in times of hardship and in times of ease. We are supposed to know Him in His Majestic manifestations and in His Beautiful manifestations.
• We should never be embarrassed to ask Allah for anything, no matter how small. Even if it is for salt in the food, if our sandal strap breaks, for whatever it is, big or small, we should ask Allah.
• Whenever we are in need, anytime we need help, we should turn to Allah.
• Know your Lord in a state of prosperity so that He will know you in a state of difficulty.
• Use good times of health to know Allah

On Reading Islam and the Destiny of Man

A few weeks ago I read Gai Eaton’s book “Islam and the Destiny of Man”, and since then, I’ve been unsure how to summarize the experience of reading it. It’s a book that simply needs to be experienced for itself.

The aim of the book is to introduce the reader to an Islamic worldview, and the book is separated into three sections to complete this task. The first section “An Approach to the Faith” addresses the historical relationship between Muslim lands and Europe, and core principles (such as Truth and Mercy) that animate Islam. The second section “The Making of the Faith” addresses the world of the Qur’an, the life of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the history of the successors who followed him, and history of the people who followed the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. For me, this section was an education in the depth of the Islamic tradition, and a reminder that there is so much to learn! As I read the historical sections of the book for instance, I realised that I really didn’t know anything about the lives of the successors of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. To rectify this, I’m going to insha’Allah start with a lecture series by Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad, available through the Quilliam Press website here.

The third section is titled “Fruits of the Faith”, and describes the example of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Islamic law, Islamic art and mysticism, and the worldview of the hereafter that should structure how Muslims understand their experience in the world. Being reminded of where we are headed and the purpose of our lives was on a personal level, very very needed, and a reminder that one needs to constantly reflect on the beliefs/ideas that determine your response to events in your life. So often we act unthinkingly, and don’t realise that there are faulty beliefs/ideas fuelling our reactions.

Despite the gendered language, the book is a powerful and beautiful read, and a book that reminds you that you need to study. On every page, Gai Eaton demonstrates the richness and beauty of the Islamic tradition, and teaches the reader that one needs to have a coherent study plan in place of Qur’an memorisation, Arabic study, tafsir, fiqh, learning more about the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and personal character refinement. The book is a proof for the need for sustainable sequential learning.

The book was also a reminder that to strive for what is good in this world, but not to put the world in one’s heart. There is no time for envy, or feeling sad about not having something.  Paradise is the goal to work towards.

Below: here are some of my notes.

Exploring the Qur’an with Shaykh Yahya Rhodus (Class 5 Notes)

Apologies for the delay in posting these notes! I haven’t been at home much this past week.

Verse 15: Has the story of Moses reached thee?

• Rhetorical purpose: see Allah bringing solace to the heart of His beloved.
• Makes us ask: What is the station of this creation that when Allah sees his prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) troubled, He reveals a verse to comfort him?

• General point: the story of Moses and Pharoah appears many times in the Qur’an. Very important story. In different junctures we hear different aspects of this story. Many meanings ot this story that are very relevant for our time. One lesson here: some person can attain great status even being in the belly of the beast. Some people wil grow up in societies that in themselves are societies of unbelief, and yet they themselves will be the means for the demise of unbelief.

V16: When his Lord called out to him in the holy valley of Tuwa.

• Allah called out to Moses in this sacred valley of Tuwa. Allah spoke to Moses. Learn from this that there are sacred places. There are places that are special and we deal with special places and special people and times with tadheem (exaltation)
• If Ramadan comes and goes and we don’t have tadheem, our heart is dead. If we don’t have tadheem for jumu’ah, our heart is dead. If we don’t have tadheem for the mosque, our heart is dead. If we don’t have tadheem for our Muslim brothers and sisters, our heart is dead.
• We have to have tadheem in our heart for the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. We exalt him. We respect and honour him.
• Saying the name Muhammad is not like saying other names. We are supposed to say Rasulullah and all of his other beautiful names
• To have tadheem means that in our hearts you esteem it.
• If you have a bottle of water with water from spring and bottle with zam zam water, though we shouldn’t waste water and mistreat any of Allah’s creation,  we use zamzam in a different way. We are going to pour it  in different cups and stand up and face qibla before drinking, and going to say special dua. Will have increased amount of esteem
• When walk in house, different than when we walk in a mosque.
• Tadheem: it translates into respect and honour for these things.

Exploring the Qur’an with Shaykh Yahya Rhodus (Class 4 Notes)

For this week’s lesson, my notes are brief. I was mostly listening to Shaykh Yahya speak, and I had to depart about an hour in the class, at 5:30. So as always, for the complete reminder of what Shaykh Yahya taught us, please refer to the recorded session.  Till next week.

Q and A

• When you incline towards something, have to be wary. If  the nafs desires to do something, have to be hesitant. Greatest criteria of whether we should do something is the sacred law.
•  Also have istikhara to guide you in this matter
• Start by praying five daily prayers on time.
• Doing salawat and istighfar are two of the greatest things that a person can do.
•  Salawat – is said that salawat is shaykh for person for person who doesn’t have a shaykh
• Q: What is an advised translation of the Qur’an? A: If had to suggest one, would suggest the translation by Abdul Haleem. Other translations used in this course include Thomas Cleary’s translation, the Majestic Qur’an, and others. In this course, have used up to seven different translations.
• Q: how can we expose ourselves to Allah’s mercy?
• A: by praying the 5 daily prayers firstly.
• By doing anything where that thing would be means of Allah’s mercy.

Surah Naziat

• Name of surah is from 1^st verse: By those who wrest violently (refers to removal of the soul). Word Naziat refers to the angels that remove the soul.
• This is a Makkan surah, revealed before the Hijrah
• 46 verses. 
• Correlation to chapter that came before: both of these chapters are discussing Day of Judgement
• Starts with description of Yawm Qiyamah, and then emphasizes various events that are going to take place.
• “By those who wrest violently”.
• Our soul is what makes us truly human. Once soul leaves the body, then human being is dead. Soul is what determines life. Soul’s existence in the physical body is life. Soul has a connection to every aspect of the body. Taking of the soul is intense. For the disbeliever, it is not pleasant, the way that their soul is taken out.

Exploring the Qur’an with Shaykh Yahya Rhodus(Class 3 Notes)

In this week’s class, we finished Surah Naba. This week I was mostly trying to take in what Shaykh Yahya was saying and so wasn’t able to take comprehensive notes. Still, here are a few gems that were mentioned during the session. Till next week…

Exploring the Qur’an  (Week 3 Notes)

• 2^nd degree of taqwa : to set a barrier between yourself and unlawful things, whether they are internal traits of the heart like arrogance or outward actions like backbiting
• A higher stage of taqwa: not only have you left the haram, the disliked matters, but you leave the doubtful matters too.

Note: Another meaning of doubtful matters: matters regarding which there is a difference of opinion among scholars. In this stage of taqwa, you leave them out of scrupulousness

• Fourth stage: Did what you were asked to do with the permissible. Did you give you the right of gratitude to what you were given?

• Remember: to the degree that you don’t give thanks, the Day of Judgement will be lengthened. So we have to constantly remind ourselves to give thanks, to give thanks, to give thanks

• Zakat of having a car: give people rides when they don’t have a car
• Zakat of having a home: opening it to people to study
• Zakat of owning own medical practice: serving people who are underinsured, or not insured

• If you choose to leave the permissible out of a desire to prefer the next life, it is good.

A Beautiful Loan

“Spending in the cause of God is called metaphorically “a beautiful loan”. It is excellent in many ways: 1) it shows a beautiful spirit of self denial 2) in other loans there may be a doubt as to the safety of your capital or any return thereon,: here you give to the Lord of all in Whose hands are the keys of want or plenty; 3) giving, you may have manifold blessings, and withholding you may even lose what you have. If we remember that our goal is God , can we turn away from His cause?

~Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Commentary on 2:245

Accepting Invitations is Good Adab

Accepting invitations is good adab. Important to acknowledge spirit of the gift being offered by expressing gratitude for gift. We are social animals. What counts is not your view on the weather or your children’s health, what counts is your courteous and appropriate response. Its about parting and the subsequent atmosphere. The end should be better and feel better. The real alim, knowledge doesn’t just stick in their brain, it shapes the entire mode of their being.

- Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad, July 23rd 2008, Rihla