The Best of Fragrances: Following the Prophetic Character
BACKGROUND
Originally started in Spring 2004,the Sacred Time Project Retreat has become an annual event held by our MSA. It has been a successful and beneficial event for attendees in which the interaction between the attendees and speakers was engaging and thought-provoking. Furthermore, it has brought people from various cities in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana to gain knowledge and build long-lasting friendships. This retreat has also allowed many students to feel connected with the tradition of Islamic scholarship. With a more intensive weekend retreat, we hope to continue this project and expand our topic selection to cover a wide array of issues from historic events, to Islamic scholarship, to contemporary issues.
PURPOSE
The objective of this year's program is to build healthy community relationships while increasing our own Islamic knowledge through a series of lectures centered around character building and effective communication based around the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) example. We will also discuss practical situations in an open discussion forum moderated by speakers who have a rich experience in social interactions and community service work. Through this, and social interactions, we hope to build strong character within attendees so they can apply these skills to the greater community while at the same time spiritually grow within.
PROGRAM DATES LOCATION
Friday, November 13th - Sunday, November 16th, 2008
Please note that the program will begin at 7:30 pm on Friday, November 13th, and end at approximately 3:00 pm on Sunday, November 16th.
University of Michigan (Chrysler Auditorium - North Campus) Ann Arbor, MI Click here for a map
CONFIRMED SCHOLARS ATTENDING RETREAT
Sidi Usama Canon
A native Californian, Usama embraced Islam in 1996 and has since been a student of Hamza Yusuf of the Zaytuna Institute. In 1998 he traveled abroad to a number of Muslim countries and studied for a period of time in Morocco and Egypt. Since 2000, Usama has been an active volunteer and member of Zaytuna Institute's staff. He serves as the institute's Outreach Program Director and as a translator for the classes of resident scholar Shaykh Salek bin Siddina. He presently resides in Hayward, California with his wife and three children.
Hafith Kamran Riaz
Kamran Riaz has an extensive background in Islamic studies. From 1995 to 1996, he studied the Qur'an, Arabic, the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and completed memorization of the Qur'an within a nine month period at the Institute of Islamic Education, based in Elgin, Illinois. Since then, he has continued studying Islamic sciences with some of the most renowned scholars in the Chicagoland area. He attended the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC) for undergraduate studies where he was the president of the Muslim Students Association in 2002 and 2003. He graduated magna cum laude from University of Illinois in Chicago from the prestigious GPPA program with dual degrees in Economics and Middle Eastern History with the highest possible departmental distinction. Kamran also leads Taraweeh prayers in Ramadan at the Downtown Islamic Center. He has served as a group spiritual leader during this past Hajj. He also teaches Arabic classes at Darul Qasim, an institute of classical Islamic learning in the suburbs of Chicago. In addition, he has spoken at various events including Friday prayers around the Chicagoland area, fundraising dinners, youth events, interfaith dialogues, and the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention. Kamran has also been featured in author Pearl Gaskins' book, I Believe In… He completed his medical school at the UIC College of Medicine, and at present, he is a resident physician in the Department of Ophthalmology at Northwestern University
REGISTRATION
Costs: $30 for University of Michigan Ann Arbor students $35 for non-Universiity of Michigan-Ann Arbor students (includes food, supplies, HOUSING and TRANSPORTATION) Meals included in registration:
For financial assistance, please contact our Registration Chair, Saniya Zafar (
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). All financial assistance requests will remain confidential between the Registration Chair and the person making the request.
Instructions: 1. Fill out the 2008 STP Retreat Online Registration form. 2. Registration deadline is Friday, November 7th 3. Make checks payable to the Muslim Students' Association 4. Mail $35 ($30 if UMICH-Ann Arbor student) registration fee to:
STP Registration 555 East Williams St. Apt 14F Ann Arbor, MI, 48104
Registration
Registration deadline is Wednesday, November 5th. Please register before the deadline. Also, please note that registration after the deadline is subject to the late registration fee ($30 for UMICH-Ann Arbor students, $35 for non-UMICH-Ann Arbor students)
MAPS AND OTHER INFORMATION:
Buses to and from the retreat:
The Michigan blue buses operate on Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday are free. To go from Central Campus to North Campus (where the retreat will be held), take the Northbound bus from CC Little bus stp and get off at the Pierpont Commons bus stop (the Chrysler center is next door to Pierpont Commons). To go from the retreat to Central Campus, take the Southbound bus from Pierpont Commons to the most convenient bus stop for you on Central Campus. Refer to maps of routes to check bus stops and timing information.
Khadeejah Sani (
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Food
Danny Kalash (
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) and Badrul Farooqi (
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Housing
If coming from outside Ann Arbor, you can either stay in a hotel on campus or we could find students who are willing to host you in their apartments. If you are interested in staying in a student apartment, we will arrange for your lodging and transportation to and from the retreat location. Please indicate you need lodging when registering.
Sisters: Smar Khan (
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please email: Khadeeja Sani @
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Previous Sacred Time Project Retreat Scholars
Imam Mohamed Magid
Imam, All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center, Sterling, VA Imam Magid bin Muhammad Hagmagid was born in Sudan, son of a leading Islamic Scholar, who was an Azhar graduate and the Mufti of Sudan. Imam Magid studied at the hand of his father and other notable scholars, gaining ijaza in several disciplines, including Ghazali's Ihya-Uloom-al-Deen. He has been in the US for over 13 years and presently, he is the Imam and Director of the ADAMS Center where his duties include giving Juma Khutbas, teaching classes on the Islamic Sciences, and interfacing with other organizations.
Shaykh Tewfik Choukri
Scholar-in-Residence, As-Sabeel Institute, Indianapolis , IN Shaykh Tewfik, being born in Algeria , traveled to Syria at an early age in order to study the various Islamic sciences. Already a hafidth of Quran, Shaykh Tewfik excelled in his studies under some of the world's greatest scholars. He was one of the foremost students of Shaykh Ramadan Buti from Damascus . After completing years of study, Shaykh Tewfik returned to Algeria and then went on to get a degree in Political Science. He has been in the US for over 4 years and is presently, he is the scholar-in-residence for the As-Sabeel Institute as well as is the primary scholar in the Indianapolis area.
Sidi Omar Mahmood
Sidi Omar, a native of California, traveled to Yemen after his studies at UCLA. Studying under the famous Haba'ib family, he reached very advanced levels in a cross-spectrum of Islamic Sciences, giving particular attention to the inward sciences. Sidi Omar is a sought after teacher and has taught at Deen Intensives throughout the US . He is one of the primary instructors for the Shifa' Foundation based in Michigan. He currently is finishing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Wayne State University.
Sidi Usama Canon
A native Californian, Usama embraced Islam in 1996 and has since been a student of Hamza Yusuf of the Zaytuna Institute. In 1998 he traveled abroad to a number of Muslim countries and studied for a period of time in Morocco and Egypt. Since 2000, Usama has been an active volunteer and member of Zaytuna Institute's staff. He serves as the institute's Outreach Program Director and as a translator for the classes of resident scholar Shaykh Salek bin Siddina. He presently resides in Hayward, California with his wife and three children.
Shaykh Ahmed Rabbani
Deputy Imam at the IAGD Masjid, Rochester, MI Shaykh Rabbani memorized the Quran in Hyderabad, India, at the age of twelve. He proceeded to attend an eight-year Alim program at the Jamia Dabhel in Gujarat. He has obtained a plethora of ijazas from well know scholars in Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, and Seerah. Furthermore, Shaykh Rabbani possesses an ijaza to teach Ghazali's Ihya-Uloom-al-Deen. He is a tajweed master, holding ijazas in all ten qira'at from Shaikh Al-Muqri Ahmedullah. Fluent in English, Urdu, and Arabic, the shaykh teaches classes and lectures in the Detroit vicinity. He currently resides in Michigan with his wife and four children.
Shaykh Walead Mohammed
Associate Imam at the Dallas Central Mosque, Richardson, TX Shaykh Walead Mohammed has completed a degree in Arabic Language and Literature from Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He has also studied the Islamic sciences, including Quranic exegesis, marriage and divorce law, law of transactions, hadith methodology and commentary, juristic methodology, and spiritual sciences with notable scholars such as Shaykh Bakri Al-Tarabishi a Quranic scholar with the highest Quran ijaza in the world, Ustadh Ali Hamidullah, one of the foremost Arabic grammarians , Shaykh Kurayyim Rajih, the grand shaykh of Quran reciters in Damascus, Shaykh Ahmad Taha Rayyan, the foremost Maliki shaykh in al-Azhar, and Shaykh Ali Jumua, the grand mufti of Egypt. He also has authorization to teach Quranic recitation from Shaykh Bakri al-Tarabishi of Damascus. He has also taught in Deen Intensive Programs including the Rihla program in New Mexico. Currently he is lives in Richardson, TX, USA with his family and 5 children.
Dr. Sherman Jackson
An American convert to Islam during the 1970s, Dr. Abdul Hakim Jackson is originally from Philadelphia. He is an associate professor in Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior to coming to Michigan, he completed his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. (1990) in the Department of Oriental Studies and Islamic Near East at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in the Islamic sciences of theology, law, and medieval Arabic.
Dr. Abdul Hakim Jackson is extensively published within the academia. He is a noted expert of the constitutional jurisprudence of Shihab al-Din-al-Qarafi, whose works revolve around the concepts of constitution, tyranny, and power within Islamic law - topics very relevant today as Muslim countries strive to follow the classical Islamic legal traditions. He has written a book centered around this figure, entitled Islamic Law and the State: The Constitutional Jurisprudence of Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi (1996). Recent published articles center around Mutazilite objectivism, Islamic Law and the sociopolitical reality in the United States, among others. He is a sought after speaker at various law schools throughout the country, and is well-known for his oratory skills. He has been teaching the Seerah, Usul al-Fiqh, and 'History of Islamic Law' courses within ALIM since its inception four years ago.
Mufti Abdur Rahman Ibn Yusuf
Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera has been studying the traditional Islamic sciences and writing scholarly works for most of his life. He completed the bulk of his studies at Darul Uloom Bury, North England, where he memorized the Qur'an by the age of fifteen and thereafter went on to complete a rigorous, six-year Shari'a program. He graduated from this program with authentic certifications (ijaza) in numerous Islamic disciplines, including Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence, and hadith. To date, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman has authored the highly popular Fiqh al-Imam: Key Proofs in Hanafi Fiqh (1996) and co-authored Reflections of Pearls (1995). He also published Provisions for the Seekers(1996), a translation and commentary of the Arabic work Zad al-Talibin, a collection of short hadiths compiled by Mawlana 'Ashiq Ilahi from 'Allama Tibrizi's Mishkat al-Masabih. This work has recently been revised and republished in an extended edition. His latest published work is Prayers for Forgiveness: Seeking Spiritual Enlightenment through Sincere Supplication(2004), a translation of Al-Istighfarat al-Munqidha min al-Nar, a collection of seventy prayers for forgiveness of Imam Hasan al-Basri. Additionally, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman has completed an unpublished translation of Imam Abu Hanifa's Al-Fiqh al-Akbar, along with its commentary, written by 'Allama Maghnisawi, with notes from Mulla 'Ali al-Qari's larger commentary (to be published soon).
He presently serves as Imam of a southern California masjid and continues to work on scholarly publications through White Thread Press. Some of his fatawa can be found at www.sunnipath.com and some of his lectures at www.zamzamacademy.com and www.al-rashad.com.
Shaykh Yousuf Abdullah
Shaykh Yousuf Abdullah memorized the Quran and completed his degree in Islamic Studies from Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband and has been active in Chicago by teaching classes on various subjects including The methodology of extrapolating fiqh from Hadith, Arabic, Tafseer, Islamic Finance, and Seerah. He also earned he Bachelor's from University of Illinois at Chicago and currently works as an Analyst for Accenture.
