The Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary: Hawza in America

36 المشاهدات· 24/07/31

Muslim Group of USA and Canada
مشتركين

في آخر

Featuring Sayyid Sulayman Hasan Abidi and Shaykh Rizwan Arastu
Presented at the 2014 Muslim Group Conference

أظهر المزيد

Transcript

[0:11]our first speaker will be sayeth suleiman hassan abadi has attended the

[0:20]islamic seminary in khomiran completing the major texts in various disciplines says

[0:23]loman went on to specialize in in advanced field studies in islamic

[0:27]history he is currently completing his phd at the university of chicago

[0:32]in near east civilization and serving as the director of the bethlehem

[0:37]islamic seminary the first fully fledged islamic seminary in the united states

[0:42]of which he is the current dean tonight said sulaiman will be

[0:48]addressing the topic transmitting islamic knowledge in the west one of the

[0:52]strengths of the muslim community in the west is the emphasis we

[0:55]place on higher education when composed when compared as a demographic muslims

[1:01]are among the most affluent and highly educated group in the united

[1:05]states however muslims have been far less successful in directing alternatives to

[1:10]secular models of education in this critical lecture said solomon has an

[1:17]ability will discuss the importance of transmitting islamic knowledge in the west

[1:21]placing emphasis on what the islamic tradition has to offer that is

[1:26]absent from the western context please help me in welcoming saith salman

[1:39]hasan abidi to the podium with a loud salaat foreign muhammad we

[3:27]are coming now to the closing of the conference and in several

[3:33]senses this is perhaps the most important session the closing of any

[3:39]event like this is when we have an opportunity to think about

[3:43]what it was that brought us here what motivated us what we

[3:48]hoped to accomplish what we have gained and now what we need

[3:53]to do with what we have learned and committed to and what

[3:57]we want to take with us and so in that sense even

[4:01]though there are some of us who because we came from out

[4:04]of town or have to check out may have had to have

[4:05]already left or may need to be leaving very soon after this

[4:12]program this is perhaps the session which is of greatest significance significance

[4:17]and that's why it's appropriate for us to be devoting it to

[4:22]thinking about the preservation and the transmission of our islamic knowledge and

[4:29]our values in this society and so i hope this session will

[4:33]be insightful and that it will be practical and it will not

[4:38]be something which is only about an institution or a seminary or

[4:45]a specialized field that appeals to and interests and seems relevant to

[4:49]some of us but that it is something that each and every

[4:53]one of us present every participant in this conference and every member

[4:57]of the xi'i community can feel is very intimately related to our

[5:06]life our goals and our priorities and so i want to start

[5:12]by asking all of us to contemplate for a moment about what

[5:15]would motivate all of these wonderful individuals whom we saw to come

[5:23]to a conference like this the organizers the speakers the participants all

[5:31]of these people what was it that brought them together to create

[5:37]this forum to engage in that labor of love and the value

[5:45]system the important goal that we will find everyone will have shared

[5:54]is to be able to better understand and to pass on a

[5:59]certain system of ideals a system of values a series of beliefs

[6:07]and practices that we consider to be what define our humanity and

[6:13]therefore are more important to us than our own life and anything

[6:17]that we might have or that we might acquire during our life

[6:24]that is the weight of what we come together to accomplish as

[6:31]believers and so if that is what brings us to a conference

[6:33]like this if that is what is motivating what motivates the volunteers

[6:37]and the individuals who will put the effort into organizing and into

[6:45]facilitating a forum like this there are two questions that i would

[6:51]like us to think about the first is assuming that this isn't

[7:00]the end days and that the black flags that we see right

[7:10]now are not necessarily the black flags that were prophesied and that

[7:14]will spell the last few months or weeks of the worldly existence

[7:19]of humanity let us say that for the sake of argument 200

[7:25]years from now 300 years from now we have human beings and

[7:31]maybe even our own descendants who are present in this part of

[7:38]the world what will be the most important factor or what will

[7:42]be the most important factors in their having the benefit of the

[7:51]value system and the teachings and the insights of islam what can

[8:00]we think about that will ensure that this religion its teachings and

[8:06]the beauty of its values will remain in this land for long

[8:13]after our existence and our lives are all but a memory and

[8:20]a memory if we are lucky that is the first question and

[8:25]the second question is related but it's something that we don't always

[8:29]think about and it is something that is a very practical question

[8:37]what is it that makes a civilization or a culture or a

[8:46]nation or an ummah great what is it that a nation what

[8:51]is it that an ummah that a people should take greatest pride

[8:57]in above all else many of us we belong to linguistic groups

[9:01]to ethnic groups to national groups that have a great deal of

[9:08]pride in their past or in their culture or in the beauty

[9:11]of their literature we find that civilizations they do take a great

[9:16]deal of pride in their architectural accomplishments maybe in their literary or

[9:23]artistic or aesthetic or poetic or other forms of achievements and accomplishments

[9:31]and yet what we will find is that in many of those

[9:39]cases those scientific advancements those beautiful feats of human imagination and art

[9:45]and architecture and literature they were achieved at times when society at

[9:53]the very least was not at the peak of its moral performance

[10:00]in many cases some of the greatest artifacts that we look to

[10:05]in history and that many people around us will take pride in

[10:10]if it is part of their own national history or their own

[10:15]ethnic history the great empire that the sun never set on the

[10:20]great nation that was able to build great monuments they were founded

[10:26]on numerous systems of oppression there were many human lives and many

[10:36]human souls that were crushed not just beneath the palaces and the

[10:41]monuments but even in some cases beneath the institutions that allowed that

[10:49]culture that allowed that poetry to flourish now do we take pride

[10:57]in that do we repudiate that and say that it is something

[11:04]that therefore disgusts us what is important for us is to not

[11:09]be fooled into thinking that that technological advancement that scientific advancement that

[11:17]artistic or any other form of accomplishment is the primary determinant of

[11:25]what makes a people great but there needs to be a moral

[11:34]component that is the defining feature and if that moral component is

[11:37]present and if that moral component is primary then you might not

[11:43]build the tallest building in the world you might not have that

[11:49]same level of superficial advancement but you might be the greatest of

[11:59]people because the moral component is primary not that it excludes all

[12:06]of those other features of human development but it is what we

[12:14]should give the greatest importance to and perhaps when the hadith tells

[12:19]us or o that when you go forth in the morning be

[12:30]either a scholar or a student or a lover of the two

[12:36]or love the two depending on the narration of the hadith maybe

[12:39]that is a reminder that in the morning the very first thing

[12:44]that you should do temporally the very most important thing that you

[12:47]should do in terms of priority is to think about that moral

[12:56]dimension either by seeking knowledge by conveying knowledge or by loving and

[13:00]attaching yourself to the process of the preservation of meaningful knowledge knowledge

[13:07]of that which determines the salvation of the human soul the human

[13:16]being and body in mind and in spirit so the greatness of

[13:21]a human society it comes not from the superficial dimensions that generally

[13:26]get a great deal of recognition and even as muslims sometimes we

[13:35]talk about the golden age of islam we talk about all of

[13:38]the accomplishments of islamic civilization and that is something that has an

[13:44]important role in our recognition of the depth and the profundity and

[13:53]the beauty of islamic history and the application of islamic teachings that

[13:59]was attempted by muslims throughout their existence as a community that's not

[14:05]something for us to ignore but what is far more important and

[14:11]what is far more definitive of any golden age that we wish

[14:15]to speak about for islam is the history of the preservation and

[14:24]the transmission and the struggles and the sacrifices for the preservation of

[14:29]the pristine teachings of the islamic religion that is what is of

[14:39]greater importance for us so that one question then is to be

[14:46]looked at not in terms of the monuments the museums the chronicles

[14:51]but in terms of the moral weight of the accomplishments and the

[14:56]developments of a society and in light of that what do we

[15:04]think is going to have the greatest relevance in preserving our islamic

[15:12]value system in this part of the world many generations hence it

[15:18]is going to be the extent to which we develop and we

[15:28]support institutions that preserve that transmit that disseminate the scholarship and the

[15:37]values of our religion if we are able to do that then

[15:43]the economic well-being of our communities the political state of our communities

[15:52]and of our society it will go through its ups and it

[15:57]will go through its towns but we will be able to maintain

[16:01]that confidence that insha allah our religion our religion's teachings and our

[16:10]values they will still have a home in this country last night

[16:14]there was a discussion on gender relations in islam and some of

[16:19]you may have been present many of you may may not have

[16:22]been present i think some of you may have been age restricted

[16:24]out i should have been age restricted out of it but somehow

[16:29]i was allowed to slip in but there was a very interesting

[16:33]discussion and one of the things that did come up was the

[16:39]issue of the nature of privilege and the fact that there are

[16:45]certain groups in our society that are complicit in the privilege that

[16:49]they enjoy privileged groups can be on the basis of gender on

[16:53]the basis of sex or on the basis of race or on

[16:56]the basis of class or however that may be one of the

[17:02]problems that we will face in any discussion of this issue or

[17:07]the issue of race or any other issue is that the background

[17:11]because of which the issue becomes important and the terms that are

[17:17]going to be used to analyze the issue are from a school

[17:25]of thought from a culture that is alien to our islamic culture

[17:30]and the goals and the aims are alien to our own goals

[17:35]and our own aims even such a simple matter as whether we

[17:40]say that this privilege is a matter that people are complicit in

[17:44]or that they partake in and participate in but that the value

[17:49]judgment needs to be made on the basis of a set of

[17:53]standards that comes from religion certain forms of privilege on the basis

[18:00]of age on the basis of knowledge are forms of privilege that

[18:09]we as muslims believe in in one way or in another even

[18:12]if they may not have much meaning or much relevance or acceptance

[18:16]in our society and other forms are ones that we will combat

[18:22]that's just one example i wanted to mention of the type of

[18:26]question that is coming up in our own time there are many

[18:30]others that will come to your mind there are many other issues

[18:35]that will come up 10 years from now 50 years from now

[18:39]100 years from now and how are we going to be able

[18:42]as muslims not just to respond defensively and apologetically but to be

[18:48]able to ensure that we can defend that we can convey that

[18:56]we can triumph over challenges and be proud of our heritage and

[19:02]have a proactive and a constructive message to give to others if

[19:07]we don't have institutions that are concerned with the preservation and the

[19:18]dissemination and in some cases the reformulation of our religious heritage in

[19:24]a manner that speaks to and is relevant to this society i

[19:28]hope that in that brief time i have been able to convey

[19:35]somewhat the importance of this project the importance of this set of

[19:41]goals and if we think about it then that is perhaps the

[19:44]most important thing that all of us can be doing and it

[19:48]doesn't mean that we all need to then quit our jobs and

[19:52]say well i want to become a student because in order for

[19:57]this to be a collective responsibility that we can acquit ourselves of

[20:01]in the best possible way we all need to be thinking about

[20:05]what it is that we can do to support the dissemination and

[20:11]the preservation of islamic knowledge in whatever capacity and with whatever resources

[20:16]allah has placed at our disposal for some it means to devote

[20:22]themselves full time to the study of islam for others it means

[20:26]for them to play a supporting role by giving their time and

[20:29]their own expertise for others it might mean to facilitate forum that

[20:37]allow for the exchange and the dissemination of islamic knowledge for others

[20:43]it might be to provide financial support for others it might be

[20:50]primarily to give their their and their aspirations and their verbal affirmations

[20:56]of support to those who are carrying out this task but every

[21:04]one of us has a role to play i would like to

[21:09]conclude my talk and i want to do so a little bit

[21:10]ahead of time so that we don't get rushed towards the end

[21:15]of the session by just mentioning three points that distinguish the islamic

[21:24]system of preservation and dissemination of knowledge what is different about an

[21:32]islamic center of learning from an academy or from a scholarly institution

[21:40]is it an academic institution or is it something else why do

[21:46]we as she are referred to our institutions of learning as a

[21:53]hausa or miya and hausa comes from the same root as the

[21:58]arabic word to get and to have control over i say that

[22:08]sometimes the best translation of that word hausa to evoke its proper

[22:12]sense and significance is to say that it is the wall around

[22:18]the city of islam the protective wall the citadel one of the

[22:22]distinguishing features there are three one of them is that a hausa

[22:27]strives and aspires to give primacy to the moral feature the moral

[22:37]aspect of human learning not knowledge for the sake of knowledge but

[22:43]knowledge for the sake of furthering a moral goal some of you

[22:50]may have read in history and even in modern times of scholars

[22:54]who spent a lifetime engaged in study and engaged in research and

[23:00]then on their deathbed they said to their heir do me a

[23:06]favor and destroy all my books and from the perspective of the

[23:12]academy that seems to be a very difficult to understand decision i'm

[23:17]not saying it's justified in all cases but why would somebody not

[23:21]publish a work that they have written you might know of ulama

[23:26]and who have unpublished works although they can afford to publish them

[23:30]why would somebody be motivated to in a sense erase their name

[23:35]from history and say that i want my books to be destroyed

[23:39]except to say that the decision right or wrong that is not

[23:43]what i am trying to assert at the moment except to say

[23:49]though that it wasn't ambition that motivated them it wasn't a career

[23:54]it wasn't a profession but it was the moral effect of the

[23:58]research that they have conducted and for the fact that a scholar

[24:03]could say that i did all that research and yes it would

[24:05]make me famous for me to publish it but instead i'm not

[24:09]quite sure if it is developed i'm not quite sure if it

[24:13]is going to morally benefit my society in this current form and

[24:17]so i will spread those seedlings among my students i will teach

[24:21]it and then i will let them develop it and once it

[24:24]is developed they will publish it in their own names and i

[24:27]will burn my books because i am serving a moral mission not

[24:32]trying to make a name for myself not trying to make a

[24:37]superficial legacy not trying to make sure that people know that i

[24:41]was the one who originated that is something that is an aspiration

[24:46]that you can see alive within institutes of islamic learning and that

[24:52]animate and that inspire those institutions and you won't find that in

[24:58]many other places and i say that as an understatement the second

[25:03]is that the hausa ania expect emphasizes the collective life and destiny

[25:13]of us as a muslim ummah when the going gets tough the

[25:20]lebanese muslims and the iraqi muslims and the iranian muslims and the

[25:27]pakistani muslims and the west african muslims they don't have a separate

[25:33]destiny sometimes we have created cultures centers and institutions that do divide

[25:42]and separate us but if we believe that we are an ummah

[25:45]if we believe in the primacy of our ethical and our moral

[25:51]identity and affiliation then our destiny is primarily determined on the basis

[25:57]of our identity as muslims first and as followers second salah and

[26:10]what institution is there that can aspire to be able to preserve

[26:20]that affiliation and that collective identity and destiny and third it is

[26:25]the aspiration of the hausa to preserve the integrated and the holistic

[26:33]nature of islamic teaching not just studying about islam not just teaching

[26:41]about the religion but aspiring to practice it to live it to

[26:47]be a role model and this is something that even within other

[26:50]schools of thought within islam you will not find reflected as completely

[26:56]and as beautifully there are places where there is a tariqa and

[27:00]there is a spiritual tradition but then the scholarship might be lacking

[27:03]you will find places where there is an academic institution within the

[27:08]islamic world but then that visible focus on taqwa and self-development is

[27:14]lacking the aspiration of the hausa is to integrate the two now

[27:20]soon we'll never be able to do so perfectly but we don't

[27:24]need to come back and say well this hausa that you are

[27:28]speaking of with the primacy of the moral order with the primacy

[27:30]of that collective destiny with the primacy of that holistic and integrated

[27:34]approach where is it because i don't find it if you don't

[27:40]find it then create it if you don't find it then support

[27:44]it and when you want to step in that path believe me

[27:49]you will find that it exists within our history and you will

[27:53]find that it exists even today read the biographies of our that

[27:58]were written by their adversaries look a figure who was quite antagonistic

[28:07]towards followers of bait for abu hayan grudgingly in some cases described

[28:14]shaykh mufid look at how sharif allah was described look at how

[28:19]allah mahidi was described and look at how and i won't name

[28:21]contemporaries for various reasons but look at how people from various schools

[28:26]of thought and even no religious affiliation will describe even our contemporary

[28:31]scholars of the highest caliber in our own time and you will

[28:36]see that that hausa is not just an aspiration that i am

[28:40]speaking about theoretically but it is something very practical and my aunt

[28:44]my hope and my call to each and every one of us

[28:46]present is that you will consider that a mission that is close

[28:51]to your heart and that you will find a way through word

[28:55]and deed and prayer to connect yourself to that aspirations thank you

[29:15]so much for your enlightening talk i would at this point i

[29:19]would like to welcome both hassan abbadi and sheikh hassan for the

[29:26]next portion of the session in 2006 sheikh haswan founded the islamic

[29:30]text institute in in conjunction with several of his teachers his most

[29:34]recent publication actually a truly unique text is god's emissaries an epic

[29:40]narrative of the almighty's tireless effort to guide mankind throughout antiquity beginning

[29:45]with adam and culminating with the life and times of jesus peace

[29:50]be upon him as for the alibaba islamic seminary it was founded

[29:55]in 2014 and is and is poised to serve as a foundational

[29:58]institution for the shii community in the united states its vision is

[30:03]to function as an institution of islamic learning that gives momentum to

[30:07]the idea of transmitting islamic knowledge in the west the elevate seminary

[30:11]is an um is an organic outgrowth of the muslim community in

[30:15]north america let's join said solomon hassan avedi swan arastu along with

[30:20]two current seminary students brother asarazy and brother brother hassan abdulkarim for

[30:27]this special presentation about the institution and its place among the muslim

[30:32]community in north america let's welcome with a loud silhouette foreign what

[31:06]i'd like to do in the time i have about 10 minutes

[31:09]and i want to give you a sense of a comparison and

[31:14]contrast between the academy that most of you are probably familiar with

[31:20]and the hosa which probably fewer fewer of you are familiar with

[31:24]um states of the mind mentioned a couple of contrasting points between

[31:28]the two i'm going to continue his list a little bit i

[31:30]want to give you a sense first of all what the hoza

[31:32]is not because oftentimes there are misconceptions about what's what goes on

[31:35]in the house and what kinds of things are taught for instance

[31:38]there's no turban tying 101 where we're taught how to how to

[31:43]tie the imam um sometimes unfortunately if you've seen seen some of

[31:48]our some of our our messes of turbines um there's no public

[31:53]speaking 101 where we learn how to give you know fascinating lectures

[31:57]um there's no dua reciting um class there's no you know how

[32:03]to lead a prayer class like those are public functions that that

[32:05]we we you know we have to fulfill and we do our

[32:08]best to try to fulfill those but those are not the core

[32:11]of the host that's not what the hosa really is is meant

[32:16]for um in a in a nutshell the hosa is an institution

[32:20]that gives um individuals who want to do the kinds of things

[32:24]that say solomon is talking about the tools to be able to

[32:30]um continue to study uh uncover knowledge and then figure out ways

[32:34]to apply that knowledge to the practical problems of life on the

[32:37]level of our beliefs on the level of our practice so it's

[32:40]a it's a training ground to help us intellectually to tackle these

[32:45]real problems of life there are a couple of i think distinct

[32:49]um uh and uh important differences between the academy and the house

[32:55]one and i think i made my list i think separately from

[33:00]say someone so i'm trying to think kind of how some of

[33:01]them overlap and i don't want to repeat him but i want

[33:04]i think these are important things to say one is this idea

[33:08]that the hosa is aiming for truth for reality right and that's

[33:13]very different it's a kind of a there's a normative approach to

[33:20]to knowledge and reality where we're trying to get to truth the

[33:23]reality of god's existence and true belief and what is real and

[33:27]what is our duty before god and it's not theoretical it's not

[33:31]simply trying to describe how things are and how how people believe

[33:34]kind of how we expressed it we're not studying about muslims and

[33:37]what muslims believe but rather what are we supposed to believe what

[33:42]is true and what are we supposed to commit ourselves to and

[33:45]that's the pursuit in in the housa there's an emphasis that one

[33:50]of the cultural aspects in the hosa there's an emphasis on learning

[33:54]what has been said before mastering what has been what has already

[34:00]been uncovered by others and making sure that you know that well

[34:03]before you even dare to say something yourself not cursory kind of

[34:11]you know getting a survey of a field and then feeling like

[34:14]i have something to offer let me let me let me you

[34:18]know say that the first thing comes to my mind and try

[34:19]to make a name for myself and put myself out there but

[34:21]rather taking a lot of care to make sure that you've already

[34:25]understood what everyone else has said and what everyone else has already

[34:28]done and once you have mastered that if you have something to

[34:31]say that very carefully very with a lot of precaution for fear

[34:35]that you know and with the idea that how can i possibly

[34:38]know something that all these other great people haven't already figured out

[34:41]so if i know something different let me first make sure and

[34:44]double check and triple check to make sure that it's it is

[34:48]actually sensible test it out discuss it bounce it off of people

[34:52]and then slowly develop the confidence that yes in fact maybe this

[34:55]is something that might be a contribution that will further further the

[34:58]effort rather than jumping on that in the first the first go

[35:04]it's a system that encourages uh humility right it encourages humility it

[35:10]encourages a kind of a connection with the whole let me i'll

[35:14]give you an example to try to describe what what i mean

[35:20]by this um in an academic setting what i find is that

[35:22]um each each is kind of every man for himself right a

[35:27]person has um a particular line that they're studying and they delve

[35:31]into it and they come up with their ideas and similar to

[35:34]how say tsuman mentioned they are interested in making a name for

[35:37]themselves publishing that and having that something attributed to them to get

[35:41]10-year tenure to get you know a publication and these kinds of

[35:46]things in the house one of the tendencies you'll see is as

[35:48]you're researching things when you come up with an idea even if

[35:53]it's an innovative idea there's always an effort to try to see

[35:56]whether it's already been said by someone else before or somehow you

[35:57]can go back and say you know this great scholar from before

[36:01]when he was saying such and such what he meant was the

[36:03]same thing i'm trying to say now and you're trying to connect

[36:06]it and say basically i'm not saying anything new it's just what

[36:09]that person said but maybe here's another another way of saying it

[36:11]this is that way of kind of joining with the whole and

[36:15]being part of this whole and not necessarily putting yourself out there

[36:17]and saying this is me and i'm so great i've come up

[36:21]with this great idea but rather this is one of the contribution

[36:22]maybe to just tweak something or offer something new but it's basically

[36:26]what someone someone before said it and amongst my colleagues sometimes we'll

[36:29]i don't know if this will make sense in english but sometimes

[36:35]we'll um we'll have a new idea and we'll we'll we'll go

[36:37]through great effort to try to see if someone else has already

[36:40]said it we always say like if if a dead person has

[36:43]said it maybe you'll have more credibility so look for a dead

[36:46]person to put to put our words our ideas in their words

[36:48]and say he already said it so we don't have to put

[36:52]ourselves out there first as some innovators in terms of the education

[36:57]process itself also it's very different from the academy the way learning

[37:00]happens in university i remember many weeks when i had you know

[37:06]a thousand pages to read in a single week of literature and

[37:10]history these kinds of things and so there's a there's an emphasis

[37:14]on on voluminous reading um uh cursory reading breadth but not necessarily

[37:19]depth depth and the hosa is very different and a house sometimes

[37:23]you know an hour will go and you might have read three

[37:26]or four lines of a text with your teacher writing that three

[37:30]or four lines of a text it's the first one's a very

[37:33]dense text often times they're texts that are written hundreds of years

[37:37]ago right and painstakingly you go through word by word trying to

[37:42]uncover the meaning of the text and try to master what has

[37:48]been said already the way the education process happens also there's a

[37:52]there's a a very beautiful part of our um the culture of

[37:54]the house which is called the mubarak is a discussion that the

[38:00]students will engage in aft before and after there's their session with

[38:04]the teacher they'll prepare themselves before a class by reading kind of

[38:08]reading ahead trying to figure out the best they can what's going

[38:10]to be discussed then they'll attend the lecture attend the class with

[38:13]the teacher go going through like i mentioned with three four lines

[38:16]half a page and then afterwards they'll sit down with their their

[38:22]classmates and they'll rehash the same material teach teach it to each

[38:25]other um if need be if they find that they're areas where

[38:28]they can they need to do some further research then they'll do

[38:30]that as well go to commentaries and these kinds of things but

[38:32]it's a it's it's you're repeating the same thing over and over

[38:37]again to the point where you've understood it completely sometimes you even

[38:41]memorize the idea and the topics i can still picture the things

[38:44]that i've studied five six years ago i can picture you know

[38:45]where in the book it was what page it was on or

[38:47]that page but like you know what side of the page and

[38:49]where it was and it's very easy to refer back to things

[38:51]like that because we've gone through it so many times but i

[38:55]can i remember thousands of pages in college and i have no

[38:57]clue even of the titles because it was such a whirlwind of

[39:00]of material that it doesn't really stick with you of course all

[39:03]right so those are some of the major differences i have a

[39:08]few minutes left and i was hoping to kind of go through

[39:11]some of the subjects that are that are studied in the household

[39:14]let me mention some of them briefly so one of the some

[39:16]of the basic studies that a house a student will engage in

[39:19]there's language of course arabic language is in a nutshell teaching you

[39:26]how to build words in arabic all right what are the patterns

[39:30]that are used and how how are those patterns manipulated to give

[39:34]new meaning now how it takes those words words those building blocks

[39:36]and teaches you how to make sentences it's very simple and i'm

[39:40]sure the students who are currently studying startup in naju and are

[39:43]sometimes mind-boggled by the detail will will think that's a very unfair

[39:48]way of representing those two but it is in fact just not

[39:54]um there's there's a study of logic kind of formal aristotelian logic

[39:57]um trying to develop them and understand the ways of arguing a

[40:03]point improving something and uncovering fallacy and those kinds of things so

[40:05]kind of that old aristotelian logic is also taught at the basic

[40:10]levels there's jurisprudence and principles of jurisprudence and in the early stages

[40:14]it takes the form of simply learning the akam learning the laws

[40:16]that have already been derived by your manager at lead and going

[40:19]through kind of a survey of that and then as you progress

[40:23]going in more detail and trying to retrace the steps of other

[40:26]much tahitin and how they've kind of understanding how they have derived

[40:29]certain laws and how they've manipulated and manipulated and understood the different

[40:34]sources to try to understand what allah wants from us by retracing

[40:38]their steps you start to learn through almost like an apprenticeship how

[40:41]how the process works and how to approach the sources and how

[40:45]to use them in ways that are beneficial and uncover truth there's

[40:50]a study of theology and philosophy um i say them kind of

[40:54]together because i mentioned earlier in one of my talks as well

[40:59]that there's there's a kind of a blending in this tradition between

[41:01]the two and many things from philosophy are used in theology as

[41:05]a way to try to uncover truth in our beliefs to a

[41:08]lesser extent commentary of the quran and history are studied in the

[41:12]hausa i say to a lesser extent because these are oftentimes seen

[41:16]as things that can be um you're developing the tools to to

[41:21]study but they can oftentimes be studied and understood um kind of

[41:24]at a later stage perhaps through independent study or through some other

[41:28]sort of engagement but there's not kind of core core discussions that

[41:31]happen which seems kind of ironic that you don't study quran in

[41:34]the hausa at these basic levels but like i mentioned before the

[41:38]the hausa is meant primarily to give us those tools um that

[41:41]we can then use to further our knowledge so hopefully with that

[41:45]you get kind of a sense of a comparison between the academy

[41:48]that you're probably familiar with and this house which we're trying to

[41:51]help you to understand thank you assalamu foreign so i was brought

[42:56]here to provide for a little bit about a motivation for somebody

[43:02]like myself to go to hausa and some of the questions i

[43:08]asked myself before i decided to come to hausa so the verse

[43:12]i just recited is from surah nahal of chapter 16 verse 125

[43:21]and i felt that this verse of quran provided the background the

[43:30]foundation for some of the basic things that i felt that i

[43:33]wanted to develop by going to hauser in this ayah commands the

[43:44]holy prophet with the verb it says call he asks he demands

[43:51]that the holy prophet call in particular in a type of way

[43:56]and fashion that would be befitting of his standing so uh there's

[44:04]three major things that come from this verse number one is that

[44:11]allah tells the holy prophet to call with hikmah wisdom so i

[44:16]felt that you know if i was going to go to hauser

[44:21]that would be one of the primary things i would want to

[44:23]gain which is this having not just islam or knowledge but to

[44:29]be able to develop hekma the next thing is to do a

[44:35]goodly exhortation or urgent communication of these ideas this message of islam

[44:42]and then third to be able to have the skills and the

[44:46]tools to be able to dialogue to discuss to debate with other

[44:53]people of different faiths different thinking processes with the best of manners

[45:00]so now that i've kind of put everything into a certain kind

[45:05]of context i want to kind of uh you know you say

[45:11]rewind a little bit so i want to get these uh i

[45:15]want to get these qualities or aspects inside myself but the first

[45:20]question that comes to my mind and i think pretty much goes

[45:23]through everybody's mind when they think about a house inside of america

[45:28]the first question that came in my mind is well i can

[45:35]gain these aspects anywhere i can go to gom i can go

[45:38]to najif and i can gain those things there so that first

[45:42]question and a lot of times people would come up to me

[45:45]and they would ask they say why don't you go to najib

[45:46]why don't you go to come and obviously those places are you

[45:50]know the places that you will attain the highest forms of knowledge

[45:53]but i came up with an answer that was simple and true

[45:59]for myself and that uh i feel uh puts things in perspective

[46:05]so these two things that i feel that i i kind of

[46:10]answers i came up with is that the house does two things

[46:15]number one by going to houses in america i i feel like

[46:19]it provides for me a certain level of grounding and what do

[46:23]i mean by grounding i mean grounding in the reality of the

[46:27]issues and dilemmas and problems that are affecting the muslim american community

[46:33]and this is important because sometimes we all often hear of people

[46:37]complaining they say oh the they don't understand us they don't really

[46:41]connect with us they don't really know our issues they don't know

[46:44]our problems well a house in america provides for feeling that that

[46:53]vacuum so if i stay here four or five years and i

[46:55]make sure i'm grounded in the reality the issues the problems that

[46:58]are affecting the muslim american community that i feel that i won't

[47:04]become insha'allah aloof to these issues if i were to study further

[47:07]in the future number two is pragmatism i feel that sometimes many

[47:14]people have studied numerous years in hausa but they come back to

[47:19]america and they seem not to be as pragmatic as they should

[47:25]be they don't really know how to apply this knowledge to solve

[47:28]some of the basic dilemmas that are affecting our community so those

[47:35]two major things of grounding and pragmatism i feel provides the foundation

[47:41]for why i decided to go to hausa in america so with

[47:47]that said i'm just going to close with this final point some

[47:51]of the aspirations that i feel that would be able to develop

[47:57]while i'm going to house it is that in the future you

[48:02]know one of the things that i see is not simply that

[48:04]we have issues inside the muslim america community that need to be

[48:10]solved by competent ole mi but there's also issues that affect that

[48:15]are a lot a larger society at uh as a whole in

[48:17]america these issues are often not addressed because they don't know how

[48:23]to address the issue you have to be aware of an issue

[48:26]in order to address it so i feel that by staying grounded

[48:30]and staying pragmatic and staying in touch with the reality that exists

[48:36]both inside of the islamic american community and the wider american community

[48:42]at large it provides me the ability to be able to connect

[48:46]and to stay in touch so i want to end on that

[48:52]note salaam alaikum want to love better kids on behalf of the

[49:17]students of the athlete islamic seminary first and foremost it's incredibly encouraging

[49:28]to see such a reputable organization and conference such as the muslim

[49:35]group being so supportive and encouraging for these efforts it's it's incredibly

[49:40]inspiring and encouraging for us those of us who have started on

[49:47]this humble journey and for that i want to extend my my

[49:52]personal thanks it really does entrench and remind us that we really

[50:00]are in this together i've been asked to speak a little bit

[50:04]about my own motivations and reasons for why i decided to move

[50:12]into the in the direction of hausa studies from a very uh

[50:20]humble beginning in mechanical engineering first and foremost if my teachers would

[50:26]allow me when we came to recognize who would be the the

[50:32]faculty and the teachers teaching here in chicago quite honestly the decision

[50:38]was a lot easier you've seen for yourself a glimpse of the

[50:44]caliber of knowledge and competence that is in the personalities of sheikh

[50:51]faizi in said suleiman hassan and sheikh radwan and so with that

[50:55]being said it was not really too difficult of a decision but

[51:01]we were honored to be here and learn as much as we

[51:08]can from them but that being said of course i don't think

[51:11]these decisions can be solely personality based at the end of the

[51:18]day we do believe in the project we have a principled commitment

[51:22]to the idea that islam should have a scholarly place in the

[51:28]landscape of america that being said of course so that the students

[51:36]have recently released their uh publication the asidara publication of the athlete

[51:41]islamic seminary and you will see a letter from sheikh arafi in

[51:47]which he shows so much support from from jammu to mustafa that

[51:54]being said there is a a real connection with with our with

[51:57]our honored institutions such as quom such as najaf and for sure

[52:04]we hope and pray that we can maintain an intimate and lively

[52:09]connection with our superiors and our fellow brothers and sisters who are

[52:14]studying abroad as well i want to close with some very humble

[52:19]advice for my brothers and my sisters who are interested in pursuing

[52:24]this path and it was something that i had struggled with a

[52:29]little bit and i hope that it will be useful for yourself

[52:33]those of us who go to university or spend time in corporate

[52:40]america oftentimes and understandably so there is a sense of disenchantment with

[52:48]the way corporations run the way universities teach the goals that these

[52:58]corporations have and we begin to sometimes see how those institutions are

[53:05]not always as fruitful as we would like them to be and

[53:10]so sometimes what happens is that we begin to have a distaste

[53:18]for those organizations we feel that they're dirty and we feel guilty

[53:22]in being in them and we seek refuge in something pure and

[53:27]something so much more noble and i think i appreciate that and

[53:33]i understand where that's coming from but the reason why you were

[53:37]to choose anything especially islamic studies or houses studies should not simply

[53:47]be a way to escape from something negative but really and truly

[53:52]it should be based on something positive that i love to learn

[53:56]i want to engage myself full time perhaps for the rest of

[54:01]my life in islamic knowledge so that being said once again i

[54:13]just want to appreciate the the organization muslim group for allowing us

[54:17]the chance to speak to you today may inshaallah may allah reward

[54:22]you for your efforts and we ask that you pray for us

[54:25]humble students here in chicago and we look forward to speaking more

[54:30]about some of the challenges and and um opportunities that we have

[54:34]here at the athlete islamic seminary i don't want to scare you

[54:51]i'm not here to give you another speech you've heard from me

[54:54]more than enough but i would like to begin by requesting please

[55:02]come to the stage for those of you who do know mawlana

[55:07]faizi it was his sacrifices and his efforts that really laid the

[55:13]foundation for the seminary and it is a matter of great pride

[55:21]and great happiness for myself and for our team to be working

[55:23]with him during this snowball project i also would like to recognize

[55:36]all of our students just to the nature of this session we

[55:39]were not able to hear from all of our current students all

[55:45]of them have a great deal of purity and insight and a

[55:50]journey that they have embarked on and myself and i'm sure all

[55:54]of us present would have derived a great deal of insight to

[55:57]be able to hear from them as well and to maybe ask

[56:01]some questions from them but i will read out their names in

[56:05]alphabetical order they have put a great deal of study this has

[56:10]been the first semester of studies which they have completed they are

[56:15]grueling subjects and we have one member of our faculty i won't

[56:22]mention who who is also a very grueling teacher and i think

[56:26]that all of us should hear their names and we will insha

[56:30]allah be praying for them to be able to continue that journey

[56:35]with tawfiq from allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala i will read their names in

[56:40]alphabetical order brother ayman mahdi for their well-being for their tawfiq and

[57:00]for their success please recite a sarawak muhammad and i think that

[57:12]uh i neglected to mention the name of trent so that means

[57:14]that he gets singled out for a salawat muhammad muhammad that list

[57:24]by the way had been triple checked but i don't know how

[57:27]that happened so now we are at the closing of the session

[57:31]and closing of the conference it was truly a pleasure to be

[57:36]working with the muslim group and as we were discussing this session

[57:40]one of the the suggestions and the aspirations that came out is

[57:45]that this could become insha'allah a regular feature of the muslim group

[57:49]conference when it brings together so many people with so much purity

[57:54]and so much inspiration and so much energy and so many talents

[58:00]and resources to try to spotlight efforts that are being made not

[58:04]just on an annual basis but that are being made on a

[58:11]continual regular day by day basis to establish and to solidify and

[58:16]to support the foundations of islam within our life these annual events

[58:20]can bring a great deal of resources and energy to bear to

[58:25]those regular events and those continuous efforts can provide a spiritual sustenance

[58:33]to these occasional events islamic insha'allah will be there to participate in

[58:38]whatever capacity it is able and insha allah other efforts that are

[58:42]also being made for the betterment of the muslim community they also

[58:47]will be able to be spotlighted in a similar fashion and that

[58:51]is my prayer and my aspiration that we will be able to

[58:57]find as a regular future so where does that leave all of

[58:59]us i hope that from what you have heard during the course

[59:04]of this conference and especially during the session from the beginning until

[59:09]now you can walk away with the aspiration that you are a

[59:16]part of this project spiritually in prayer and materially in your person

[59:22]i hope that all of you will visit our website subscribe to

[59:27]our mailing list there is a publication as brother as i mentioned

[59:33]that the students and the scholars have worked hard to put together

[59:37]to begin to explain not just the seminary but the value system

[59:45]and the culture and the priorities of our seminaries and academic and

[59:52]religious institutions in an area and in a land where some of

[59:56]those things seem very foreign and some of the things that i

[60:01]mentioned and that sheikh allah mentioned in his talk they may raise

[60:04]more questions than answers in many of your minds the reason for

[60:08]that is that in some cases our expectations and even in some

[60:16]cases our ideals are very different from what they are within our

[60:21]traditional religious institutions and our institutions of scholarship and learning and until

[60:27]there is a harmonization perhaps even some adaptation on both ends we

[60:34]will not be able to have that effective and that integrated type

[60:39]of an institution that truly is a citadel and is a support

[60:45]so i hope all of you will join our mailing list we'll

[60:50]follow that publication we'll provide your prayers your feedback and that all

[60:55]of you will personally make an effort to make a material contribution

[60:59]there is a contribute page and you can do that on a

[61:04]regular basis and also that you will continue to spread the word

[61:08]those types of support writing an email and finding out how you

[61:14]can contribute all of those things are things that will be of

[61:17]great assistance for those of you who have not already taken a

[61:20]flyer or have not visited our website please do so keep us

[61:24]in your prayers and we hope that we will be able to

[61:29]have a continued interaction on behalf of all of us i would

[61:33]like to thank first and foremost the muslim group for their very

[61:39]generous support and i would like to thank all of you for

[61:41]your attention and for your indulgence indulgence may allah grant all of

[61:49]you tawfiq and may he grant all of you a successful conclusion

[61:54]of this journey and this struggle of coming to learn about islam

[62:01]and i pray that these wonderful days i know my children were

[62:05]very inspired by it i think that some of us from different

[62:08]ages have also found something that we can take home i hope

[62:12]that is something that we try to keep alive and we seek

[62:17]ways that we can continue to support continue to learn and continue

[62:25]to do what is right we have um we're actually under time

[62:46]alhamdulillah so we have a good six seven minutes remaining for questions

[62:50]and answers if you have a question please do we have the

[62:55]mics working okay for sisters please come to the mic on this

[63:00]side of the room and brothers please line up by the mic

[63:02]on that side of the room and we can begin the q

[63:08]a if there are any questions please proceed if you have a

[63:11]question please come forward salaat muhammad i'd also like to thank muslim

[63:28]group this is my first conference here in masha'allah it was beautiful

[63:32]so again my gratitude um just a quick question i've asked questions

[63:38]to house of students who have gone overseas in the past and

[63:43]it was just a what's your goal what's your aim uh what

[63:46]are you thinking about achieving with hauza i know the brothers spoke

[63:49]about his motivation um but a lot of times i get the

[63:55]answer that i don't know so they don't know if they want

[63:58]to focus more on philosophy if they want to focus on thicker

[64:02]if they want to focus on theology i guess my question about

[64:06]the hausa inshallah in the uh that that was opened up is

[64:12]their specific focus that the house wants to take or are you

[64:18]aiming for a broad list of potential scholars our uh teachers answer

[64:27]that question for us is this directed to students i don't think

[64:34]this is one of those cases that uh speaking about where you

[64:40]find some precedent besides the you know spiritual develop spiritual dimension of

[64:51]you know going to hausa because that's the primary goal we're all

[64:55]gonna die right so that's the primary goal besides that um i

[65:01]would say that uh one of my primary goals outside of that

[65:03]spiritual component would definitely be trying to uh uh bring shia islam

[65:11]to the larger american masses your walmart american your dollar tree american

[65:17]you know i just think that it all for the most part

[65:21]you know we kind of stay insular you know we stay pretty

[65:23]much to ourselves and you know you see in other schools of

[65:28]thought that this is not the case so i feel that there

[65:31]needs to be more of a push towards developing messages in urban

[65:35]environments messages that are catering towards a larger group of people besides

[65:42]our you know four or five ethnic groups that we have so

[65:46]that's it but i guess uh just before i answer the question

[65:53]i just wanted to make sure i didn't come across as a

[65:57]as a work hater i i i'm still commit connected to my

[66:01]work in some way and that's a very blessed activity i didn't

[66:05]mean to come off that way if i did i apologize for

[66:06]that regarding goals and inspiration honestly i think that for me one

[66:15]one aspect of my journey here was a love a love for

[66:23]knowledge for its uh for for its transforming power i think meaning

[66:28]that it's a love for something that really really deepens my understanding

[66:32]and connection with with god and and god's creation particularly my family

[66:37]and the and the community and all the meaningful aspects of my

[66:41]life so i know that sometimes that's a little bit abstract for

[66:45]some people but but a love for learning really is there and

[66:48]then of course i i grew up in a very beautiful community

[66:52]in austin texas where uh honestly you you begin to realize how

[66:59]life-giving and even life-saving uh community really can be and and i'm

[67:05]i was grateful for that and then that in that capacity i

[67:07]i would like to be able to serve my community and give

[67:12]back uh in whatever humble way i can perhaps sunday school or

[67:18]perhaps teaching or perhaps and whatever other talents i may one day

[67:22]gain for myself if we could go to the system for your

[67:26]question um my question is in regards to if there is a

[67:33]hausa for a woman and the second because i we didn't i

[67:36]didn't really hear anything about women joining the hausa in the united

[67:40]states and then the second question is um you know going to

[67:45]a hausa is obviously a very difficult process as i've heard and

[67:50]i'm just wondering um what can we do on an individual level

[67:54]of course other than our own research and our own personal reading

[67:59]and education educating ourselves to kind of get to that level as

[68:05]somebody who has joined a house but maybe it's not accessible to

[68:07]a lot of us here in the us or in other states

[68:13]repeat the question can you please repeat the second question sure um

[68:18]for those that are unable to join a house because it's known

[68:22]that to enter a house it's kind of a you know somewhat

[68:28]difficult process as we've come to understand um what can we do

[68:31]on an individual level of course apart from you know reading and

[68:35]doing our own research to kind of reach that certain level of

[68:39]knowledge and education uh of someone who has entered a hausa so

[68:43]if i understand correctly the question is for those of us who

[68:47]are not able to attend how's that full-time what is it that

[68:48]we can do in our personal lives to attain that level of

[68:53]knowledge yes okay i will answer very briefly because i think we

[68:57]are coming close to the uh to the end of the session

[69:01]although the second part of your question at the very least deserves

[69:03]much more than a brief answer with regard to the first part

[69:07]of the question and uh perhaps fortunately or unfortunately i'm only facing

[69:11]the brothers right now uh in medina which was really the forerunner

[69:16]of this hausa product this hausa project which progressed under the leadership

[69:24]of malady there was a hausa for men in the house of

[69:27]four women and both of those institutions both of those parts of

[69:31]the hausa were very productive inshallah that is our goal and that

[69:36]is something that we are working towards as it is feasible for

[69:41]us based on the logistics and the resources that will be necessary

[69:49]to commence and then to sustain and support all of the material

[69:55]academic spiritual and other needs that will be attendant to that expansion

[69:59]of the project with regard to your second question and that is

[70:04]really the heart of what i was hoping to address in my

[70:09]talk somewhat briefly in our islamic conception there really is no hard

[70:19]line between scholar and non-scholar or layperson there is a hierarchy of

[70:23]knowledge and humility towards those possessed of knowledge and a great loyalty

[70:28]but it isn't the case that sometimes we might feel that well

[70:34]i as somebody who has come from a hausa i should be

[70:36]defensive and loyal towards the hausa somebody who has perhaps studied in

[70:40]another institution or studied on their own they should have a defensiveness

[70:44]or a loyalty to that institution our loyalty and the basis of

[70:51]of our affiliation with these institutions is our servitude to allah and

[70:56]our love of his religion his prophet and the akhil of the

[71:02]prophet and so we hope that as we progress we will be

[71:04]able to erase some of the boundaries that exist that shouldn't exist

[71:07]that will make the knowledge accessible to the extent possible for as

[71:13]broad an audience as possible it doesn't mean that the specialization will

[71:18]not be there the special competence should not be recognized given that

[71:23]that is still a journey and a process that will take time

[71:26]what i would recommend for anyone interested is to find a scholar

[71:30]or somebody that you can take advice from to develop a curriculum

[71:35]that meets your needs that meets your constraints in terms of time

[71:40]in terms of other commitments and your abilities and your interests and

[71:46]then to proceed in that way it might not be a perfect

[71:52]solution but it will be far better than for you to take

[71:54]where you stand right now and then to perhaps somewhat without direction

[71:59]or without the insight of having traversed the path try to develop

[72:02]a program of study or a reading list on your own and

[72:08]that is certainly a stop gap but hopefully something that will be

[72:11]useful do we have to have further questions or should we conclude

[72:14]we actually we should try to conclude although i'm very happy to

[72:17]see the enthusiasm that we have questions about the hausa uh if

[72:21]you're available maybe the questions can be addressed personally after the session

[72:26]and our website is available and the website ai seminary.org seminary.org is

[72:31]the website so please visit the website um if you could just

[72:34]be patient with me for two minutes for a few quick invite

[72:38]uh announcements first and foremost i am a part of the vital

[72:42]community and we've been waiting for this project so patiently we're so

[72:45]happy to see it and to see this project reach all of

[72:49]you may allah give this project every success and blessing let's have

[72:53]a loud salawat for our presenters it is very important that we

[73:03]maintain the cleanliness of this hotel so please take a look around

[73:06]if there's anything there that should not be there please remove it

[73:09]and we would greatly appreciate that we have donation boxes present at

[73:13]the reception desk if you would like to donate that would be

[73:18]very appreciate appreciated there's a volunteer sign up list also at the

[73:23]reception table our conference is based on volunteers it is everything that

[73:26]you do from the smallest to the biggest task that makes this

[73:28]possible so please come forward today is our last day we're having

[73:33]the closing ceremony in a little while in a little while sign

[73:36]up and we will contact you inshallah for next year's conference parents

[73:39]please pick up your children from child care the raffle is still

[73:45]open we're closing just before nine o'clock so if you would like

[73:48]to purchase a raffle ticket between three dollars each and the prizes

[73:51]include an ipad mini a nook and apple tv surveys are also

[73:56]present at the reception desk please give us your feedback the closing

[73:59]ceremony is at 9 00 pm it will be very important and

[74:04]very fun we have a few surprises as well as the raffle

[74:06]drawing so join us for the closing ceremony and with that i

[74:11]would like to conclude our final session of the 2014 muslim group

[74:17]conference salah muhammad

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التالي

The Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary: Hawza in America

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التالي

The Ahl al-Bayt Islamic Seminary: Hawza in America

Transcript

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استكشاف المزيد

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