Of course, we are spoiled.

AlMaghrib spoils us by having the instructors travel to us, in order to teach us so that we may benefit when rather it should us students traveling to them. In sha Allah, one day we will have an Islamic university here in North America, where we can travel and reside for a number of years and learn and benefit from our instructors. Bayyinah Institute is working an Arabic immersion dream, Al Huda Institute is focused on Quran, Zaytuna has a dream like the one AlMaghrib has to teach a university-level curriculum leading to a degree in a single location.

Those of us who were fortunate to attend Ilm Summit, enjoyed four-star accommodation, three well-planned and solid meals with plenty of drinks, healthy snacks, and desserts each day, our classroom was within our hotel, and our schedule began with early morning fajr salaah and continued until 10-10:30 for isha and for many of us well into the night so that we could review and study the material.

During the last week, it was rare for me to sleep before 3am and of course I was back up by 5:30-6am to start the day. Alhamdulillah, our lunch breaks were from 1pm-3:30pm so I could catch a few zzzs to feel refreshed for the rest of the day. But the schedule was too intense for some of our companions and some skipped the 6am after-fajr tajweed class and other classes and breakfast in order to sleep.

Many of us who were awake, ate our breakfast quickly so that we could stake out and reserve our seats in the front rows closest to the instructor for the day. I was almost always in the front row, I like to be close to the instructor, to learn from his manners and  to focus by minimizing distractions from the people behind me. Shaykh Yaser Birjas (hafidhullah) told us that when he was a student in Madinah, he and other students would gather in the Masjid an Nabawee with all of their books and papers from Asr time until after the taraweeh just so they could be close to Ibn Uthaymeen (rahimullah) for his post-taraweeh talks and question and answer session, which makes our gathering 45 minutes to an hour before the start of the morning session look meager.

Shaykh Yaser Birjas (hafidhullah) reflected upon his summers spent in Unayzah with Ibn Uthaymeen (rahimullah). He said, in his first year in Madinah, he asked some of the older students if he should accompany Ibn Uthaymeen to his summer retreat in Unayzah and they dissuaded him and until today, more than 15 years later, he still regrets heeding their advice. He made sure to go his second year and every year after that until he graduated from Madinah university.

The first year, Shaykh Yaser traveled light and went with a group believing that they would be well-cared for within the dormitory that housed other students but when they arrived the shaykh in charge told them that they would have to sleep in the masjid although they would be allowed to eat and shower in the dormitory. The students were not prepared for that reality nor the extreme heat of the summer nor the numerous bugs that feasted on their flesh while they slept in the masjid.

This seems to have been a natural weeding out and selection process, students that were not focused and determined would have given up at this first major hurdle. Continue reading →

As I’ve matured in Islam, my understanding and approach to the religion has also matured. This is something I have struggled with and continue to struggle with each day.

Some issues:

My name: Have blogged extensively about the name changing issue but essentially I have moved from knowing that having an Arabicized name was not obligatory but using one, mostly out of a desire for immediate recognition and to fit in to the Muslim community to a complete reversion to my birth name with affirmation that  using such a name makes it a Muslim name and that it may be preferrable for many, particularly for those of us in the west and those of us with non-Muslim families to maintain our distinctive cultural names.

Holidays: I know I’ve said it at least once on this blog that I’m content with our two Eids, and I am, but I no longer share the view of those who say it is an innovation to celebrate or participate in any other celebrations. At some point in my teenage years, well before coming to Islam, my birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Year’s Day, the Fourth of July and all the rest became rather insignificant to me and they still are for the most part so it wasn’t an issue for me to continue to marginalize them when I accepted Islam. Yet, now I feel this opinion is too harsh, I don’t celebrate Christmas or Easter but don’t have any issue joining my family on Thanksgiving Day and yes, even eating the turkey, I cannot count how many times I’ve discussed whether or not to eat the turkey with other Muslims. I don’t really celebrate the Fourth of July, per say, but do enjoy watching the fireworks.

Fitna-filled family gatherings: When my grandmother died a few years ago, I agreed to help my family set-up and bring supplies for the wake that was held in a church hall but declined to attend. There was of course the usual late-night until dawn mixing, music, dancing, drinking, Christian prayers, suspect food, video camera, etc that is common place at Ibo wakes. I thought that my helping to set-up and using my faith as a cover would be enough to satisfy my family, particularly my mother. But it was not enough, and of course some of my mother’s Muslim colleagues showed up, which never helps your case when making an argument on religious grounds with your non-Muslim relatives. The rest of my family went to Nigeria for my grandmother’s burial but my mother specifically mentioned that she did not want me to go because I most likely would not have attended some of the more problematic events. And for some time afterward, whenever my mother was upset with me, she would say, “…and she didn’t even come to my mother’s wake,” ahhh, talk about a dagger in the heart, it still pains me each time I reflect on that but alhamdulillah she hasn’t said that recently. Continue reading →

Br. Nouman Ali Khan from Bayyinah Institute,  just gave the evening wild card session reminding us that there are three main groups of Muslim youth in our communities, us, the so-called “religious” ones that have the outer accoutrements of Islam and attend seminars to learn more about our religion. Often, we are the outcasts and weirdos amongst our own families and amongst our friends, classmates, and co-workers. How quickly we forget that just yesterday, we were not that religious and how quickly we become self-righteous, full of arrogance and condescension toward those who we judge or believe are below us in religious knowledge and practice. On the other extreme are the really messed up youth and in between the two groups are those in the middle, the ones that waver between the extremes.

In all the classes I take to benefit from this knowledge, realizing the religion is so vast and so beautiful and amazing that it increases my emaan (faith), encourages me to return and increase in my good deeds and purification of my soul, I’ve struggled to implement what I have learned in benefitting others. I haphazardly volunteer my time for various projects, engage in occasional dawah to Muslims and non-Muslims and try to excel in my personal life. I’d like to make my goals less selfish, less focused solely on my inner mental stimulation and purification.

Amongst my goals for this year is a goal of making my preferred masjid more community friendly and I’ve taken some steps in that direction and to encourage and develop enriching community activities that are inclusive of the diversity of Muslims in the community, all ages, backgrounds, and levels of their Islam.

We are not the best amongst the study body of AlMaghrib Institute in totality, although some of us may be from amongst the best. Rather, a more accurate statement would be that we are of the fortunate that were able to hear about Ilm Summit,  to afford  or to find a sponsor, that were able to travel and get time off from duties at home, work, and school.

Next year, we are being asked to bring something to this summit of ilm. We are being asked to bring our Quran. One cannot be serious student of knowledge without having an attachment to the Quran and we cannot be from the people of the Quran and ad-dhikr remembrance if we are not consistent in reading the book of Allah.

In sha Allah, on next year’s application there will be a new section in addition to the current question about how much Quran we have memorized asking us how many times we finish reading the Quran from cover to cover each year. One of our teachers, Br. Wisam Sharieff from Bayyinah Institute reminded us that the science of tajweed, proper Quranic recitation is an ignored and forgotten science. Many are the students that know verbatim minor fiqh issues and their related evidences from moonsighting to halal meat or the intricacies of aqeedah but few, are those who can pronounce the Arabic letters with the right due to them and hence are content to continue reciting incorrectly, day after day, year after year.

I’ve set my goals for reading and memorization to be completed before next year’s Ilm Summit, may Allah help me to achieve it.

Thus far, Ilm Summit has been an amazing, awe-inspiring, humbling, eman-boosting, academic, and bonding experience. It has met and exceeded my expectations and motivated me to push myself to reach ever higher standards. The instructors, curriculum, wild card sessions, and khatirahs are amazing. I love starting the day after fajr with Quran and the length and timing of the sessions and breaks are much appreciated.

I’ve met and bonded with an amazing group of sisters and students, some I had met before from my travels through the AlMaghrib world, some only through the forums and email but most were new and I was able to connect on a deeper level with some sisters and form in sha Allah, what I hope are lifelong bonds.

The hotel is very comfortable, the menu is great, love the variety of meals and abundance of healthy options including fruits and vegetables. I love the fitness center, ping-pong table, and studying in the courtyard late into the night.

I have zero complaints. This is exactly why I made my intention to come to Ilm Summit, to learn this knowledge, to gain maximum benefit from our weeks in this bubble of ilm. I don’t need anything watered-down and don’t need more break time. I remember the warning and advice of Shaykh Yaser from the first day, that people will remember their regrets and disappointments and I have tried to minimize the opportunity for either of those two sadnesses to enter my life here at Ilm Summit.

May Allah reward the organizers and the volunteers with an abundance of good in this life and the next. Ameen.