Assalamu Alaykum,

Dear Seeker,

There is still time to register for SeekersGuidance’s fall semester. We have many wonderful courses to suit everyone’s personal needs. What kind of Seeker are you? Read below to see. Registration ends on October 25. Find a Course, Register, and Begin Learning.

Beginner’s Seeker

If you are a Beginner’s Seeker, then Fiqh of Life: Essentials of Halal and Haram is perfect for you. Taught by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, students will learn about the limits of Allah related to everyday life, and will get answers to a variety of critical life questions on food, dress, gender interaction, work, earnings, relations, speech, and the avoidance of sin. Student will also gain an understanding and appreciation of the wisdom of the Shariah related to the halal and haram, and the way of Prophetic excellence in everyday conduct.
Beginner’s Seekers may also be interested in Absolute Essentials of Islam: Beliefs & Worship.. Also taught by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, this course covers the fundamentals of the religion that all believers are obligated to know and practice: sound beliefs, valid purification and prayer, zakat, fasting, and the key principles related to one’s life and dealings. Students learn the basics of the religion in an approachable and practical format, making it an ideal course for new Muslims and all those wishing to learn how to perfect their faith and religious practice.

Islamic Law for Seekers: Transactions (Hanafi) is a perfectly suitable course for entrepreneurs. Taught by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, this course covers the fiqh of commercial transactions. Students will learn details of the required knowledge for commercial transactions, including sales, leasing, or hire.

Entrepreneurs and other professionals alike will greatly be interested in and benefit from taking Money Matters: Islamic Finance in Everyday Life is perfect for you. Taught by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Muslims will learn how to ensure that their daily financial dealings are legitimate and pleasing to Allah Most High. This unique course is based on both classical and contemporary texts, such as Mufti Taqi Usmani’s Islamic Finance: An Introduction. Students will acquaint themselves with the basic principles of Islamic finance; several contemporary issues will be covered as well, such as investing in financial securities and Shariah-compliant financing.

Spiritual Seekers would greatly benefit from Seeking Allah: Imam Muhasibi’s Treatise of the Seekers of Guidance Explained. Taught by our new instructor, Imam Afroz Ali, students through go through Imam al-Muhasibi’s Treatise for Seekers of Guidance. Using Imam Zaid Shakir’s masterful translation and commentary as a springboard, students will explore the richness of Islamic moral psychology, leading to an in-depth understanding of the foundational principles, attitudes and conduct of the true seeker of knowledge.

Imam Ghazali is known as the great spiritual masters in Islam. Spiritual Seekers would greatly benefit from him as an example. This is why Ghazali’s 40 Foundations of Religion Explained – Part 1: Excellence in Faith & Action is a great course to take. Taught by Ustadh Faraz Khan, this course will help students make the essential connection between sound belief and their daily practice of Islam. Ustadh Faraz Khan will take students through the first half Imam Ghazali’s treatise, The Forty Foundations of Religion. This crucial text provides a detailed introduction to the things that all Muslims must believe about their Creator, then explores how to apply that knowledge in one’s own day-to-day worship and conduct.

*** Don’t Delay. Registration Ends on October 25th. ***

Even if you register after classes start, our convenient downloadable lessons allow you to catch up quickly and easily. Browse our Course Catalog.

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By the grace of Allah, SeekersGuidance has reached its current level of success with a largely volunteer staff. In order to sustain our current level of service and to continue to strive towards our long term goals, a firm foundation of financial support is needed.

Now you can help SeekersGuidance continue to fulfill the communal obligation (fard kifayya) of cultivating individuals and communities through the spread of knowledge. Since you’ll be supporting the spread of knowledge, your contribution will continue to earn you blessings as long as those you’ve helped learn continue to benefit benefit.

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Imam Abdullah bin Alawi Al-Haddad said:

“Know that the path of the Sadat of the family of Abi-’Alawi is the straight path of Allah. They are among those to whom He has granted the favours of His obedience and that of His Messenger, and the company of the Prophets, siddiqin (truthful), shuhada (witnesses), and salihin (pious), and they are the best of companions.”

Read more about Bani ‘Alawi here: Biographies

Bonus: also available a basic Shafi’i fiqh text used by teachers for those beginning the path - Fiqh eBooks [click on Safinat al-Naja - The Ship Of Salvation]

Much thanks to Ustadh Ramy Abu Farouk Najmeddine for posting this on his website: http://www.ustadh.com/

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf recently appeared on the the morning edition of MSNBC. He introduced Zaytuna College and the mosque controversy in New York (mislabeled as the Ground Zero Mosque, correctly known as Park51). Read the full transcript below:

JANSING: Meanwhile, the controversy prompted Time magazine to ask, Is America – if America is Islamophobic. A time poll found that 46% of Americans believe Islam is more likely than other faiths to encourage violence against nonbelievers. And a small college in Berkeley, California, may become the new battleground in America’s uneasy relationship with Islam. Zaytuna College in Berkeley is the first accredited Muslim college in the U.S.. The first classes were held this summer. I’m joined by Zatuna College founder Hamza Yusuf Hanson. Thanks very much for joining us, good morning.

HAMZA YUSUF HANSON [FOUNDER, ZAYTUNA COLLEGE]: Thank you, good morning.

JANSING: Yeah, classes began this summer, I think people are just starting to hear about this. Tell us a little bit about the mission of the college, why did you find it – found it?

HANSON: Well, first of all, just to clarify, it’s not actually accredited. It’s – we’re in the process of accreditation and that takes a considerable amount of time. But, I mean, basically the idea behind it is the Muslim religious community is quite extensive now in the United States and every religious community in America eventually develops institutions in order to train people and teach people and colleges, Harvard began as a seminary, Yale began as a seminary, so we tend to forget that actually many of our greatest colleges began as religious institutions.

JANSING: So, let me ask you why you think that there was a need for a Muslim university. As I understand it now, if you want to be an imam and you want to have a mosque in the United States, you have to leave the country to study, right?

HANSON: Well, that’s the problem. I mean, we have foreign imams that often come to the country and many of then are very fine, decent people but they don’t understand the nuances of the American society. They haven’t studied the traditions of our own country. And it’s important, I think, to have those two elements. You have to have people that are Muslim, but – here teaching. But also people that understand the culture that they’re living in, understand the community itself, the young people, the immigrant children that are born here, they’re Americans, they’re not from Cairo, they’re not from Rawal Pindi in Pakistan, so, it’s really important.

JANSING: And in fact, you, yourself, grew up Christian, as I understand it. Both in Walla Walla, Washington and Northern California. Do you understand the unease among many Americans, and we are seeing a lot of it come out with this mosque controversy?

HANSON: I – know you, I think there’s a lot of fear and some of it’s justifiable in that over the last ten years there has been a concerted effort by a certain segment. It’s a very small minority, but their powerful and vocal, to demonize the Muslim community. Abdul Rauf, who – Feisal Abdul Rauf, who’s the imam there, is an extremely gentle person and to frame him as an extremist means that the whole community is mad because, you know, if you take somebody like that or Daisy Kahn, I mean these are people that have spent their life in interfaith dialogue and really trying to attack the very ideology that I think people are afraid of.

JANSING: You know, you heard that poll, 46% Of Americans see Muslims as more likely than other religions to be violent against nonbelievers. I wonder what your reaction is to that poll and what can be done to turn it around?

HANSON: Right. I would look at, there’s a paper on Google called ‘Body Count,’ which shows that Islam, actually, out of the seven major religions, the only religion less violent, historically, is Hinduism. And I think people tend to forget Muslims historically have lived very well with people. You know, I think Muslims are not redefining America here. And there’s a lot of fear that they are. I think that we’re reasserting the original definition of this country, which is about religious freedom. So it’s really important.

My own great, great-grandfather, Michael O’Hanson, his greeting to America coming from Ireland was the nativist, anti-Irish, Catholic, anti-Catholic Irish riots in 1844 in Philadelphia. But those riots actually led to the consolidation of the city of Philadelphia and the Irish Catholics now are fully enfranchised. One out of every four Americans has Catholic roots in this country now, even though they were 1% of the population at the founding of the country. So, I think Muslims now are new kids on the block and every community that comes to this country, you know, they have to really find their place at the table and I think that’s what Muslims are negotiating now. America is a process of negotiations. And I think-

JANSING: And you, as you say, are part of that renegotiation process with this new university. We have to leave it at that. But Hamza Usef Hanson, thank you so much for being with us today.

HANSON: Okay, well, thank you very much.

Source: MediaPolitics

United For Change – Our Families, Our Foundation – Imam Zaid Shakir from MQube on Vimeo.

http://www.UnitedForChange.com

Exclusive first showing of Imam Zaid’s video invitation to the 2nd annual United for Change event: Our Families, Our Foundation. This year the event will be held in Montreal, Canada, oui oui. Yes, this bi-lingual event will be held in French and English. Magnifique!

Full details here: Our Families, Our Foundation

Full HD video here: http://1.mqu.be/IZSufc (Please click on Share & Like)

We have just confirmed that Nader Khan from Toronto, Canada and Hamza Robertson from the UK have arrived in Malaysia. They will be performing at the Selangor Islamic Song Festival in Malaysia. Nader will be touring Malaysia and Singapore, to meet him please contact: http://scr.im/mqube

Find more information here: http://semua.my/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137722552904886