SeekersGuidance has effectively done away with all excuses against pursuing Islamic knowledge. Along with the convenience of accessing this vast tradition from the comfort of your living room, we now bring you unprecedented affordability in online Islamic learning.

Fall ’08 courses are set to commence on November 1st 2008. If you haven’t signed-on yet, register for our courses in Islamic Law (Fiqh), Beliefs and Understanding (Aqida), Prophetic Guidance, and Qur’anic Studies. Be sure to see our discounts schedule before registering, to see if you qualify (especially relevant to current and past students).

Don’t miss out: register for our FREE 6-week course on Imam Ghazzali’s Manners of Qur’anic Recitation. Please register early – 220 people from all corners of the globe have registered for this course, and we’re nearing capacity.

These courses are endorsed by Imam Zaid Shakir. Please see his comments at http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=2ud__jwUakA

Tags: distance learning, shaykh faraz rabbani, imam zaid shakir, imam ghazzali, islamic

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Imam Siraj Wahhaj speaks about the Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA) organization; from the roots at Masjid Taqwa to MANA.

** Imam Siraj reminds us not to drop the baton. **

Recorded in Santa Clara, California, October 25, 2008.

Support MANA: http://mana-net.org/

Original video link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/islamcrunch/videos/4/
You can add tags and comments to the timeline of the video.

Tags: imam siraj wahhaj, video, islam, islamic, muslim, web 2.0

Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Their aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

Their aim (and our aim) is to raise awareness of poverty. We would like to focus on poverty on a macroscale and on a microscale. Here are some examples of how YOU can contribute to reduce poverty.

Poverty on a macroscale

We previously posted about the Global Food Crisis. Read that post and help to feed the poor. Also, the Washington Post has a good platform discussing the food crisis.

Consider joining the Muslim team on Kiva: http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam/?team_id=890.

Kiva Muslims (Updated as of Oct 15, 2008 11:02 am)

Number of Team Members : 34

Number of Loans : 67

Number of Loans per Member : 1.97

Total Amount Loaned : $2,375.00

“Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

The people you see on Kiva’s site are real individuals in need of funding – not marketing material.”

For more info about the poverty on a worldwide scale, please visit: http://site.blogactionday.org/resources/

Poverty on a microscale

This is where YOU can really make a difference. Seek local organizations that provide relief to the impoverished in your region. Have some extra wealth? Donate with a good intention. Other ways to help besides finances? Volunteer! Work for the sake of our Creator, make the right intention and reap the rewards.

For Muslims, we know (or can easily find) the teachings of the benefits of charity. An eternal reward? Indeed.

For us in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are blessed with the Rahima Foundation, who handle the following:

• Monthly Food Distribution (basic non-perishable foods)
• Zakat and Fitra Distribution
• Meat Distribution (from Eid-ul-Adha / Festival of the Sacrifice & other occasions)
• Used Car Distribution
• Scholarship Assistance (limited)
• Referrals for family counseling & employment (limited)

How you can make a difference

Copy and paste is so last century. Are you still using Ctrl + C or CMD + C on IslamCrunch? Many of our readers are using the Madkast sharing option instead of the archaic ‘copy’ & ‘paste’. See that little green icon and the word ‘Share’ next to the title of this post? If you click on that, you will be given an option to share any post with your family, friends and networks.

You can share our posts via email, mobile phone text message, social networks and other web 2.0 sites.

Thanks to our readers, IslamCrunch is one of the top 5 Madkast sites. We are listed on the front page of Madkast, alhamdulillah. You can see our stats here: http://www.madkast.com/analytics/default.aspx?feedid=3512

Here are 4 choices (amongst others) that we feel need attention in the Muslim ummah. If you have other suggestions, drop a comment and we can conduct another poll. Thank you for contributing!

Direct link to the poll : http://www.polldaddy.com/p/992046/

Please ask your friends & family to vote. Click on the green ‘Share’ button/link next to the title of this post, you will be offered to share this poll via email, social networks and other networks.

Tip: if the results reflect your perspective, share the results with your local scholar, teacher, imam to discuss at the Friday sermon, study groups, gatherings, etc.

Keywords: adab, etiquette, tasawwuf, spirituality, humility, humble, understanding, sacred knowledge