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| Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| Maliha |
| 03/25/02 at 08:49:58 |
| [slm] We went down south to see Sh. Hamza Yusuf lecture :) Alhamdullillah it was an awesome experience. Here are my notes. Sorry I take notes in outline form, the sentences are disjointed but make sense I hope. Inshallah you all benefit as I have:) Maliha :-) [wlm] Sheikh Hamza Yusuf: Lecture 1: From Cradle to Grave: Empowering the Community with Islamic Education -Great deal of learning takes place before actual speaking. -Station in the next world is determined by Quran in this world. - Worldly education doesn¡¦t necessarily translate to next world. - What is knowledge? Ilm or maarifa refers to what is known. - The world is only a means by which we can learn with. - Alama means imprint. - Allah has imprinted in us the ability to KNOW. This knowledge is already there before we can communicate it. - The ability to speak is universal and any language can be learnt. Language is used to communicate the meaning in your heart. - Allah taught us how to express what is in our heart. Only humans have the gift of articulation. The 28 Arabic letters are Sacred and have a cosmological aspect. - Adab- means proper speech and behavior. Losing Adab means losing both speech and behavior (since they are intertwined).To be upright is to speak uprightly. - Tongue is the translator of the heart. The tongue can be our greatest gift or biggest downfall. - The root of education lies in language. Nowadays math and sciences take precedence (or considered harder). It is not true, because language is more complex because of it¡¦s ambiguity. - Traditionally Arabs took language very seriously: There are three areas of learning A) Grammer: learning language rules. Eloquence has power and language is an empowering tool. Poets are inspired human beings. A Shaair (Poet) is someone who speaks something you feel inside. B) Balagha/Rhetoric: The Quraish were considered to be the Knights of rhetoric. Rhetoric is the science of using words that are most appropriate for what you want to convey. The Quran was revealed at exactly the point where Arabic had reached the pinnacle of rhetoric. Arabic was at its highest developed point, and the Quraish took pride in their mastery. When the Quran was revealed however, the Quraish said it had to be magic! The Quraish literally put cotton in their ears so as not to hear the Quran being recited (anyone who listened inadvertently became Muslim). Unlike any poetry/prose that has ever been written, there is not one line in the Quran that can be linguistically improved in any way. It is perfect in its original form. Understanding the beauty of language once you really learn it, you appreciate the complexity. C) Logic: Learning how to set up an argument with clear thinking. -Muslims do not break a trust without subjugation and calamity from Allah. Allah is just and justice outside the Quran can never be established. - Rarely does Allah bring intellect and capacity for high memory together in one person. (Geniuses are at this level). - At a young age the capacity to memorize is highest. This is the prime time for children to memorize the Quran. In Islamic law it¡¦s recommended that a child memorizes the Quran before 10 years of age. - The general time according to the Prophet (S.A.W) is to let the kids play the first 7 years of their life, teach them discipline the next 7 years of their life, befriend them the next 7 years, and let them go (adults). - The idea of adab: At 7 years the children need to learn about constraint. - Attitude/fronting is a sickness of society. It hardens the soul and creates anti social environments. - In the last days of this world people won¡¦t greet each other except if they know each other. And also people will greet each other by cussing at each other (dwellers of fire). It happens one. - Math is traditionally considered important too since it disciplines the mind. Geometry, arithmetics, and astronomy help connect us to the universe. Lecture 2: Muslims in The West: Neither Here Nor There - We have to be fair with non muslims. - Fairness is a rare thing in this world. Islam demands fairness. Allah is Merciful and Just. -Justice is a Mizan/ Scale. We have a world where scales are missing and the nothing is weighed right. - Learning to look at the world with the eyes of fairness. - In the Muslim world everything is someone else’s fault. We do not blame our own selves for our corruption and disempowering attitudes. - Conspiracy theory is a good way to justify our own powerlessness. - Every soul wakes up in the morning and we either sell it to God or bring about its destruction. - We need an introspective and self critical community. - Time bashing other we could spend constructively in changing our condition. Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change the conditions of their own souls. - Forging our Own Idenities: What is our essential identity? Servants of God. We need to adhere to the constraints set to us by Allah. - Bushra- means benevolence. The world is not a horrific place. The mercy of Allah encompasses everything. - At this moment in the West, we have an incredible historical opportunity and we are missing out on it. - This country is powerful and it’s Allah’s plan that it is this way. - How do we best act? There are always four situations we find ourselves in and responses. A) Obedience: To witness the gift of God B) Disobedience: We need to repent from it. C) Blessings: We need to have gratitude for it. D) Tribulation: We need to have patience. - A donkey is not patient he simply bears the pain. We need to look at our situations and look at the options given to us and make a decision based on the best option. - America is playing a huge role in the world and it’s a country like others (has it’s good and bad). - Corruption exists in citizens and spreads like a cancer. - In Muslim countries corruption exist too and there is a deep seated sickness. The more promise you have the less options you are given by the government. - This country is like Ethiopia (abissinya) during the Prophet’s time. Many people come here to harness talent, worship and work. - It is haram to redress the laws of society. Social anarchy is worse than the wrongs this society has. Disrupting social order is not allowed in Islam. Every tyrant in history has said “We will change and make a better government”. -The Khawarij used to outwardly be a very religious community (praying, dhikr, etc) But they considered Ali a Mushrik and eventually assasinated him. - Islam is not a revolutionary doctrine. This idea is caused by communist infiltration into Islam. - In Makkah Muslims were persecuted for 13 years and Muhammad (S.A.W) did not create cells and create a revolution. - It was not until he established a state in Madinah that he engaged in battle when attacked. - If you are living under a different authority you are supposed to respect the laws of the land, and not mess up the system. - Does not mean we should be silent. We have a moral obligation to be a voice of Truth and Reason. - Practical ways to be involved: a)Stronger ties with larger community b) Good relations with law authorities. c) Watch dog organizations to respond to media. d)Fair mindedness in dealing with Muslim communities at large (Not being judgemental to each other) If we use the standards of the Prophet’s (S.A.W) times we would all be considered hypocrites.We are at different stages of spiritual evolution. Broad based acceptance of our people within the constraints of Islam. e)Education to better understand our tradition. f) It is more important to keep people within the folds of Islam than spread outside. g) Spend money to help build infrastructures and community centers and gathering places. h) A Muslim Defense Fund! |
| 03/25/02 at 08:55:53 |
| Maliha |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| ahmer |
| 03/25/02 at 09:40:11 |
he has some very valid points..... as always... jazaka'Allah....!!! :) |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| muqaddar |
| 03/25/02 at 19:28:33 |
| revolutionary ideas come from communism into islam?! errm so Abu Muslim was a communist then.... |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| AyeshaZ |
| 03/26/02 at 11:42:08 |
Asalamu Alykum, JazakumAllahu Khair for your notes.... They inspired me to listen to sh.Humza's" beyond schooling" yesterday... :-X I keep on reminding myself let these inspirational words mean more to me than just empty words... May Allah(swt) help you in all your endeavors.. waSalamu Alykum |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| Abu_Hamza |
| 03/31/02 at 19:21:22 |
| [slm] Are these notes from the conference in Tennessee? |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| Maliha |
| 03/31/02 at 20:43:58 |
| [slm] Yep ;D did you go? Maliha :-) [wlm] |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| Mohja |
| 03/31/02 at 20:55:57 |
| Tennessee??? where in TN? when? Maliha are u from TN? oops..sorry...just read your first post again and it says you " went down south" :) ...i think ur in VA right? |
| 03/31/02 at 20:58:29 |
| Mohja |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| Abu_Hamza |
| 04/01/02 at 01:17:07 |
| [slm] No, i didn't go. But one brother went from here. |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| Maliha |
| 04/01/02 at 07:19:08 |
| [slm] [quote author=Mohja link=board=library;num=1017064199;start=0#6 date=03/31/02 at 20:55:57]Tennessee??? where in TN? when? Maliha are u from TN? oops..sorry...just read your first post again and it says you " went down south" :) ...i think ur in VA right?[/quote] It was in Knocksville...is that close to where you are at? yeah I'm in VA baby 8) Jus' kiddin' aint nothing special about this place:) (except that i'm here of course :-X :-/ ;D ;)) Maliha :-) [wlm] |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| faiza02 |
| 04/01/02 at 09:54:28 |
| [slm] haha yeah my husband went there with a couple of guys from bham, AL (thats where he lives)... and with his awesome sense of direction got lost... they ended up missing almost all of it except the question and answer part! but he says they had an awesome time anyway :) :-)faiza |
| Re: Notes from Sh. Hamza Yusuf's Lecture. |
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| meraj |
| 04/07/02 at 22:35:47 |
| slm, i was there! i went with faiza's husband.. and faiza, do you know why he kept getting lost? mhmm.. thats right.. you know why :P but yeah.. we missed the first hour of it.. but it wasnt so bad cause we got to chill with br. haroon sellers that night and he gave us an awesome talk and stuff.. so alhamdulilalh it was a good weekend :) if you saw a geek wearing a shirt that had a cingular logo saying 'salam' on it, that was me :) |
| 04/07/02 at 22:37:33 |
| meraj |
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