Yet Another Almaghrib Course in Toronto

[Haneefah]

 

I know we don't have many Torontonians on board or Ontarians for that matter, but I was wondering who's enrolled for the upcoming Seerah course?

 

Alhamdulilah, I've managed to encourage couple of friends to take the course and I'm working on convincing one at the moment. I'm very excited and can't wait Insha'Allah; I've missed the awesome Almaghrib atmosphere!

 

Check out the trailer, Masha'Allah the Majdians are doing an excellent job in promoting the course.

 

Hope to see some of you there in March, Insha'allah.

[Ameen]

Assalam alaikum Haneefah

 

I’ve been excited about this soon to come Almaghib class for some time now. I’ve been campaigning the class and promoting it like a Member of Parliament trying to get a seat in the House of Commons. Let’s just say, I’ve been working hard trying to convince as many people as I can to sign up and benefit from the knowledge.

Alhamdulilah I’ve noticed some success and inshallah I pray we will have the biggest class Almaghib has ever witnessed. May Allah grant us the knowledge that will benefit us in this world and in the hereafter.

 

And Allah knows best

[Pucca]

i'll be there in spirit..but since you're both attending how bout sharing with us (that cant attend) what you learn each week ...

 

good luck!

[Haneefah]

^Insha'Allah. Try your best to attend though, it'll be worthwhile.

 

Ameen,

 

That's very commendable Masha'Allah. That's basically what Almaghrib thrives on: the hard work of sincere students who want to partake in proliferating the sacred knowledge. I never knew you were Almaghrib student though...the classes are for some odd reason usually short of Somali brothers while they are glittering with the abundant presence of beautiful Somali sisters

[Ameen]

Haneefah, sister, is that so?

 

I would like to think that Somali brothers are among the most active in the community but than again, I find it hard to lie so I would rather say, every great movement starts somewhere and the Somali brothers takeover of all active duties (regarding Almaghrib) is every approaching so be patient with us.

 

Personally I’ve been to four classes so far and every time I have attended a new class someone new has joined me just as I accompanied the person who persuade me to attend the first time I decided to “sit in”.

 

Alhamdulilah Haneefah that you are attending because sister I need a favor. Its simple so here it is. The large Somali sister population at Almaghrib has its benefits but also some negatives for example can you make sure or ask politely for them (SOMALI sisters) to keep the noise to a very minimum. I mean, I find it every hard to concentrate with all that noise that Somalis make

 

And Allah knows bes

[Pucca]

^lol

 

i couldnt attend haneefah dear..since i'm too far.

[Haneefah]

^that was a good point you edited there; the many wandering eyes! Though it's mostly (I noticed) from the Paki bro's

 

But that brings me to this question Ameen, how do you distinguish the Somali sis's noise from that of the others unless you, ahem, are eying up the sisters yourself

 

On a serious note, I agree with you on the level of noise and constant chit chats among the girls; I don't know whether it's a Torontonian behaviour or it has something to do with younger age as some of the girls are still in their teen years, but it's definitely a behaviour that I myself don't tolerate well.

[Ameen]

Haneefah your ability to create new questions with such little to work with is incredible. Matter fact sis, you should consider a career in Homicide and use your interrogation ability to benefit the community. As for your question, how do I distinguish the noise from among the sisters? That’s a good question. Well it becomes easy due to the fact that our well-respected Somali sisters chose to speak Somali rather than english and due to that, I can hold them accountable for their actions. As for the wandering eyes, well what can I say. Even though the sisters are caused to sit (in luxuries, well patted seats) behind us, they're still a fitnah. Do you have any solutions to that problem? Besides Somali brothers are well behaved due to the fact that hooyo set us straight when we were younger and gave us the guidelines to respect.

 

And Allah knows best

[Haneefah]

LoL@career in homicide. If you call that interrogation, then perhaps you have yet to experience the real stuff (I hope you never have to).

 

About that little dilemma, well, it's really not the sisters who are at fault in this case. Sisters in and of themselves are not a fitnah, however, due to a brother's spiritual instability, he may perceive them to be a fitnah for his well being. In other words, if one is suffering from ailments of the qalb, which is most likely the case if he views a perfectly hijabified sister as a threat to his emaan, then the problem lies within him! He needs to first address that issue, and the remedy is simply tazkiya (invaluable skills every sincere student of knowledge needs to employ in order to implement successfully the knowledge they set out to attain).

 

As for your last comment, I'm just gonna let that slide. Clearly, you haven't been amid Somalis much.

 

Anyways, I just found The Sealed Nectar online, didn't think it was available. A great way to review the seerah and prep for the course.

[Ameen]

^^^MashAllah

 

Well I suppose there are a few things I would like to comment on from your post but I know wisdom can also be found in silence, therefore I will like to quote the words of a sister who recently said, "I'm just gonna let that slide"

 

lol@ perfectly hijabified (is that even a word lol) sister

 

On the real though, please sister don’t hold us responsible for the fact that our hearts have suffered the negative effects of a society that offers more evil than good. But even that’s no excuse to allow the eyes to wander freely, which in return, causes the heart to suffer pain so may Allah help to succeed in dunya wal ahkira.

 

Personally, The Toronto Raptors are more of a fitnah to me than women (who am I kidding )

 

The Sealed Nectar in English is an alright book (I own it and read a big chunk of it) but I suggest the series on the Life of Muhammad (saw) by Imam Anwar Al-Awalki which covers the life of our beloved prophet in great detail.

 

Just one question. I assume the shiek will not be able to cover the entire Seerah in two weekends so is he just going to cover the main events of the Life of the Prophet (saw) and share some lessons that were learned?

 

And Allah knows best

[Haneefah]

^So? How did the 1st weekend go?

 

Subhanallah, I was quite impressed with the huge turnout, masha'allah. Unfortunately, some friends of mine were turned down b/c the class was sold out

 

I loved the location alhamdulilah, I find Ryerson so much more convenient than U of T campus.

 

Oh, am I ever excited about the upcoming course, seriously, I was incredibly happy and nearly screamed when I discovered Aqeedah 102 is our nxt class. This is the immense influence Shaikh Yasir Qadhi has on anyone that learns under him, hafidahullah. I can't wait to see him on Friday, Insha'Alalh. :cool:

[Ameen]

Assalam alaikum

The first weekend had its ups and downs. As for the ups of the weekend, I really liked the environment. Studying with so many people just makes the learning experience that much greater. I liked the fact that there were two different prayer rooms so that when it came to salat time we weren’t distracting each other before it was time to stand before Allah and so many other good things that happened during the weekend (alhamdulilah I

must say that I am thankful I was among those that Allah had chosen for this seminar).

 

As for the negatives, there are a few. I was surprised with the first time I opened my binder for the course and saw the outline. The first word that came to my mind was, “different” (which alhamdulilah is not always a bad thing) but it seems like he was

rushing through a lot of the material.

I listened to the series of the Life of Muhammad (saw) by Anwar Al-Awalki and he was amazing and I also read the Sealed Nectar so alhamdulilah I knew most of the stories he spoke about but the point is, that doesn’t mean the brother sitting beside knows them also. I was more interested in the lessons that the shiek would share but even when it came to that, I felt like he just rushed through the lessons without really going into detail. But being a brother I had easy access to the shiek which I fully took advantage of. I asked questions about his statements and his lessons and so I cant really complain.

 

He mentioned that the Meccan period is a boring period which needs patience (when examining and learning) but I remember when I first started reading the Sealed Nectar, the Meccan period was interesting and the encounters that the Prophet (saw) had with Jibreel were full of excitement but than again, maybe that’s just me. As for the Light Upon Light course to come (inshallah) the knowledge of that seminar had reached me before the start of this seminar (you can say that I have some people working on the inside for me but don’t tell Almaghrib) and Im really looking forward to it inshallah.

[Ameen]

Assalam alaikum

 

I suppose since the seminar is now over, I can reflect on the class with better understanding.

 

Anyways...I once heard a man say, "it takes a real man to admit his mistakes" which leads me to say, I wanna take back some of those negatives comments that Ive mentioned above and thank Allah for the opportunity to learn about our Prophet (saw). This passed weekend was amazing and all Im left to say is, I need an encore. Let’s gather all those students again with the exception of maybe 148 sisters (just joking ) and do it all over again. Well since I probably won’t get that wish granted, Im left with one more option and that is, patience until next time. Where I can come into a class, take my seat and put my Mujahid scarf over my head and direct my focus towards the teacher. May Allah (alone) be worshipped and glorified and exalted until the Last Day and may He grant us the highest of levels in Junnah, ameen.

 

And Allah knows best

[Haneefah]

^Allahuma aameen. Indeed, the class has come to an end, and what an emotional ending it was! You should've seen the sisters, none of us could contain ourselves. The emotional impact of remembering the last few days of the prophet (sallahu alayhi wasallam) was added to the realization that the class was about to end, and thus tears kept flowing and noses running

 

I agree, it turned out to be an incredible learning experience, alhmdulilah. It offered precious and memorable gems to adopt and a great opportunity to reflect and develop our minds and souls. I've absolutely enjoyed having the opportunity to immerse myself in such a blessed and spiritual environment; a great gift from Allah subhanahu wata'ala that we all undoubtedly cherished.

 

I too have been a little haste initially and frowned upon the structure of the course. Therefore, I understand why you reached your previous conclusions, and I also understood that you didn't mean to illustrate it as a 'negative' point. Surely, we all form certain expectations when embarking on a journey, most likely influenced by our previous experiences, but in doing that, what we fail to realize is that we're setting ourselves for a disappointment if that particular expectation is not met. Well, I've discovered that such expectations can in fact hinder the learning process at times. Subhanallah, more than anything, this class has been a journey of self-discovery for me, and alhamdulilah, I've been able to detect a particular weakness of mine (wrt being a student of knowledge) that I hadn't realized before. In retrospect, I now know that it was because of this very weakness that I was left unfulfilled with some other experiences of mine, and I was attributing it to outside sources when indeed, I was the problem all along!

 

I'm glad the Shaikh chose the route he did to teach this course, perhaps some will still remain indifferent, but I'm sure many others have seen it as an opportunity to learn the Seerah from a completely unique perspective and thus benefited. An eye-opener it was! I loved his keenness on extracting lessons rather than just offering narration after narration. This truly made me see a whole new quality of Shaikh Muhammad that I must've overlooked in previous classes. However, I've always appreciated his pragmatic approach to teaching and his dedication to motivate, and encourage others to excel and to implement the lessons. May Allah reward him for his hard work, and all the students who have worked selflessly to make this class a success.

 

I pray that we can all reflect upon the lessons learned over and and over again, and strive to adorn oursleves with the superior and dignified qualities our beloved Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wasalam) and his companions (radiyalahu anhum) exemplified. The more we learn about him, the more we love him and the harder we work to emulate his excellence. May Allah give us the tawfeeq insha'Allah.

 

PS: Unfortunately, I missed a whole half day of the best day (this sunday). I felt terrible but it was by the mashee'a of Allah Azza wajal, and I actually figured it was a punishment for going out the night before (with a friend I hadn't seen for a while) and staying out till 3:00am (absolutely unbefitting of a student, I know). Lessons keep ringing in my mind . So how was the lecture before lunch? Obviously, I missed quite a bit

 

PPS: I see you're not too fond of your fellow student sisters, tough luck eh, they're not going anywhere

[Ameen]

Originally posted by Haneefah:

I actually figured it was a punishment for going out the night before (with a friend I hadn't seen for a while) and staying out till 3:00am (absolutely unbefitting of a student, I know). Lessons keep ringing in my mind

. So how was the lecture before lunch? Obviously, I missed quite a bit

Shame on you for going out the night before :rolleyes: , but I cant be one to talk cause perhaps, I did the same thing (but for the record, I didn’t stay out as late as you of course )

 

In regards to the morning session(s), I have to be honest so…its only fair that I mention, I had basketball playoff game at 9:30 am that I couldn’t miss due to a promise I made to my teammates (I know, I know, I should walk away from the dunya when it preventing me from my akhira, but a promise is a promise right? Besides, one of the characteristics of a hypocrite is that he breaks a promise when he makes one, so I couldn’t break this one ) But anyways, alhamdulilah we lost our playoff game (but don’t tell any of my teammates that I said that cause I wasn’t giving my 100% due to the fact that I was afraid we may win and I would have to stay even longer. But as soon as the final horn went, I was out the door faster than you can say, “what time does the Situation Room come on?” )

 

Due to the ball game, I missed the session on “Accusation” but alhamdulilah I got most of the notes and I knew the incident quite well but again, shame on you for staying out too late the night before…(just joking) but I hope your feeling a lot better tho.

 

Now its time I share a little secret but don’t tell anyone ok? (especially my boys if you ever run into them ). When the shiek started speaking about the last days of the Prophet (saw) life, I felt like I was there. It really hit me for a second that we (the companions) were about to lose our messenger for good and so “the water in my eyes” started to form. The sheik spoke about the incident when the Prophet (saw) informed the wife of Jafar (ra) of his death and that led me to tighten my mujahid scarf even tighter, anticipating an all out “eman rush” (if you know what I mean). And so it happened, the same conclusion when the words of the Quran touch my heart directly or when I commit myself to the worship of Allah during Ramadan or when I sincerely stand in prayer during the last hours of the night. The same conclusion, the same out-come, the same result when the heart of man connects with its Lord. I realize that I am a slave of Allah and the Last Day awaits me on the other side, so I let the “eman rush” flow with ease. But that was than and now is now, (its my way of trying to say, Im a man lol) and fighters don’t cry. We stand on the front line, no emotion, no confusion, just straight focus and commitment to the Cause.

I trust you (and the thousands of Sol that will read this) to not pass on my little secret.

 

And Allah knows best