Islamic Studies Curriculum

Level: One

Instructor: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Course Overview

The Prophet said that, “Whoever travels a path to seek knowledge, Allah facilitates for them a path to Paradise.” (Muslim) This course is the first step in your pursuit of religious knowledge. It explains what your religion is; what you must know about it; and how you should learn it.

This course covers what every Muslim must know about the basic guidance of Islam in its three dimensions: (1) beliefs (iman)—and how to have sound belief in Allah, His Prophets, and the Hereafter; (2) submission (Islam)—how to make your purification and prayer valid, sound, and proper; and (3) spiritual excellence (ihsan)—by looking at key sins and vices to avoid, and key virtuous actions and traits to uphold, in seeking closeness to Allah.

This course is taught according to the Hanafi school. If you would like to learn it according to the Shafi‘i school, take this course instead.

About the Text

This course is based on The Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and The Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School, by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani (White Thread Press).

This book covers what every Muslim must know about the basic guidance of Islam in its three dimensions: (1) beliefs (iman)—and how to have sound belief in Allah, His Prophets, and in transmitted beliefs; (2) submission (Islam)—by looking at the daily devotional obligation of ritual prayer; and (3) spiritual excellence (Ihsan)—by looking at key sins and vices to avoid, and key virtuous actions and traits to uphold in seeking closeness to Allah.

“I know of no other manual of Islam that presents the essentials of the Hanafi school and basic Islamic belief so reliably, concisely, and elegantly as The Absolute Essentials of Islam. Faraz Rabbani is to be commended for producing a work from which the new Muslim can learn, the practicing Muslim check his fiqh, or the student merely curious about the practice of Islam see how it all fits together. It is likely to serve the Ummah, Allah willing, as long as there are English-speaking Muslims in it who want to know their din. This book works.” – Shaykh Nuh Keller, Jordan

Who is This Course For?

• This is the first course in Level One.

• This course has no prerequisites.

• Any student who wants to learn about the basics of belief and worship and wants to start their journey of gaining sacred knowledge should start with this course.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand how to seek religious knowledge

• Learn the basics of Islamic beliefs: so you know what we believe about Allah, His Messengers, and the Hereafter—and why

• Learn how to make your daily worship—purification and prayer—valid, sound, and proper

• Learn how to worship Allah Most High with sincerity

• Learn essential guidelines for living a faithful, upright life

Course Outline

Lesson 1: Introduction

Lesson 2: Belief (Part 1)

Lesson 3: Belief (Part 2)

Lesson 4: Rulings of the Shariah

Lesson 5: Purification (Part 1)

Lesson 6: Purification (Part 2)

Lesson 7: The Prayer (Part 1)

Lesson 8: The Prayer (Part 2)

Lesson 9: The Prayer (Part 3)

Lesson 10: The Prayer (Part 4)

Lesson 11: Zakat & Fasting

Lesson 12: The Path to Salvation

About The Instructors

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Level: One

Instructors: Shaykh Abdullah Misra & Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Course Overview

Having godfearingness (taqwa) is a prerequisite for being able to benefit from the great guidance of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). Take this course to learn how to have godfearingness in most of the everyday situations that you are likely to encounter in your life, such as eating  halal food, proper dress, interacting with the opposite gender, guarding your gaze, and guarding your tongue.

Course Outline

Lesson 1: Introduction to the Halal and Haram

Lesson 2: The Importance of One’s Food and Drink

Lesson 3: The Etiquette of Dress and Adornment

Lesson 4: Gender Interaction

Lesson 5: Social Duties

Lesson 6: Social Relationships

Lesson 7: The Tongue

Lesson 8: The Sins of the Tongue

Lesson 9: Sins of the Limbs

Lesson 10: How to Avoid General Sins

Lesson 11: Blameworthy Traits

Lesson 12: Conclusion of the Course

Learning Outcomes

• Appreciate the importance of the quality of godfearingness

• Memorize how to have godfearingness in dozens of everyday situations

• Improve your religious practice by keeping good company and making frequent repentance

About The Instructors

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Ustadh Abdullah Misra was born in Toronto, Canada in 1983. His family hails from India and he was raised in the Hindu tradition. He embraced Islam in 2001 while at the University of Toronto, from where he completed a Bachelor of Business Administration. He then traveled overseas in 2005 to study the Arabic language and Islamic sciences in Tarim, Yemen for some time, as well as Darul Uloom in Trinidad, West Indies. He spent 12 years in Amman, Jordan where he focused on Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith Sciences, Prophetic Biography and Islamic Spirituality while also working at the Qasid Arabic Institute as Director of Programs. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies (Alimiyya, Darul Uloom) and authorization in the six authentic books of Hadith, and is currently pursuing specialized training in issuing Islamic legal verdicts (ifta’). He holds a certificate in Counselling and often works with new Muslims and those struggling with religious OCD. He is an instructor and researcher in Sacred Law and Theology with the Seekers Guidance The Global Islamic Seminary, and currently resides in the West Indies with his wife and children. His personal interests include Indian history, comparative religion, English singing and poetry.

Level: One

Instructors: Ustadh Tabraze Azam & Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Course Overview

Allah Most High says, “I have not created jinn-kind nor mankind for any purpose other than to worship Me.” (Qur’an, 51:56) Take this course to get comprehensive and knowledge-based answers to all of the questions that you are likely to face in your worship

Allah Most High, all in light of a formal textbook of in Hanafi law that students like you have used for centuries. This course covers the detailed rules of Purification, Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj. This course is taught according to the Hanafi school. If you would like to learn it according to the Shafi’i school, take this course instead.

About the Text

This course is an explanation of Ascent to Felicity (Maraqi al-Sa‘adat) a concise primer on the rules of worship, slaughtering, sacrifice, and hunting according to by a leading authority of the Hanafi school, Abul Ikhlas Hasan al-Shurunbulali (d. 1069 ).

The author is best known for his more detailed introduction to the rules of worship, Nur al-Idah, and its detailed commentary, Maraqi al-Falah, which are both an essential part of every traditional syllabus in Hanafi jurisprudence. Ustadh Tabaraze Azam comments on the back cover of the book’s translation that it is “an excellent primer in Islamic beliefs and worship. . . more useful as a first complete text for those seeking understanding of the fiqh of worship than the more commonly-studied Nur al-Idah.”

Who is This Course For?

• The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi) course is a pre-requisite for this course

• Those who have taken The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi) course

• Any student who wants to take level two courses in Islamic Studies Curriculum 

Learning Outcomes

• Understand slavehood to Allah Most High and why it is important

• Learn the rules of purification and prayer that you are likely to encounter in your daily life

• Memorize the most important rules of wudu, ghusl, prayer, fasting, zakat, and Hajj

• Appreciate the rigour of the science of Sacred Law (fiqh)

Course Outline

Lesson 1

1A: Introduction to Sacred Law (fiqh) and Imam Abu Hanifa

1B: Introduction to the Author & Text

1C: Water (miya)

1D: The Ritual Ablution (wudu)

1E: The Ritual Bath (ghusl)

1F: The Dry Ablution (tayammum)

Lesson 2

2A: Wiping over Footgear (khuffayn)

2B: Wiping over Bandages (jaba’ir)

2C: Menstruation (hayd), Post-Natal Bleeding (nifas) & Irregular Bleeding (istihada)

Lesson 3

3A: Filth (najasa)

3B: Wells (abar)

3C: Leftover Water (as’ar)

3D: Cleaning after Relieving Oneself (istinja’)

Lesson 4

4A: Prayer Times (awqat al-salat)

4B: The Call to Prayer (adhan)

Lesson 5

5A: The Conditions (shara’it) of the Prayer

5B: The Integrals (arkan) of the Prayer

5C: The Necessary Actions (wajibat) of the Prayer

5D: The Sunna Actions of the Prayer

5E: The Proper Manners (adab) of the Prayer

5F: The Supplications (ad‘iya) of the Prayer

Lesson 6

6A: The Invalidators (mufsidat) of the Prayer

6B: The Disliked (makruhat) Actions of the Prayer

6C: The Permitted (mubah) Actions of the Prayer

6D: Breaking (qat‘) & Abandoning (tark) the Prayer

Lesson 7

7A: Praying on a Riding Mount (dabba)

7B: The Traveller’s Prayer (salat al-musafir)

7C: The Sick Person’s Prayer (salat al-marid)

7D: Being Absolved of the Obligation of Prayer & Lifting One’s Dues (isqat)

Lesson 8

8A: The Witr Prayer

8B: The Sunna Prayers

8C: The Night Prayers of Ramadan (salat al-tarawih)

8D: Prayer inside the Ka‘ba

Lesson 9

9A: The Makeup Prayer (qada’ al-fawa’it)

9B: The Congregational Prayer (salat al-jama‘a)

9C: The Prostration of Forgetfulness (sujud al-sahw)

Lesson 10

10A: The Prostration of Recitation (sajda al-tilawa)

10B: The Prostration of Gratitude (sajda al-shukr)

10C: The Friday Prayer (salat al-jumu‘a)

Lesson 11

11A: The ‘Eid Prayer

11B: The Eclipse Prayer (salat al-kusuf/al-khusuf)

11C: The Rain Prayer (salat al-istisqa’)

11D: The Prayer of Fear (salat al-khawf)

Lesson 12

12A: The Funeral Prayer (salat al-janaza)

12B: The Burial (al-dafan)

12C: The Rulings of Martyrs (shuhada’)

Lesson 13

13A: Fasting: Definition, Types & Intentions

13B: Sighting the Crescent (ru’yat al-hilal)

13C: Things that Invalidate the Fast (mufsidat al-sawm)

Lesson 14

14A: The Permitted & The Disliked (mubahat/makruhat)

14B: Exemptions (‘awarid) from Fasting

14C: The Spiritual Retreat (i‘tikaf)

Lesson 15

15: Zakat: Definition, Nisab & Calculation

Lesson 16

16A: Eligible Recipients of Zakat (masarif al-zakat)

16B:  Charity at the End of Ramadan (sadaqat al-fitr)

Lesson 17

17A: Hajj: Definition, Integrals & Necessary Acts

17B: The Conditions (shurut) which Obligate Hajj

Lesson 18

18: The State of Pilgrim Sanctity (ihram)

Lesson 19

19A: The Hajj Described: Arrival in Makka

19B: The Hajj Described: Days 8, 9 & 10 of Dhu’l Hijja

19C: The Hajj Described: Days 11, 12 & 13 of Dhu’l Hijja

Lesson 20

20: The Lesser Pilgrimage (‘umra)

Lesson 21

21A: Expiations for Ihram & Rite Violations (jinayat)

21B: Expiations for Hunting Violations (jinayat)

Lesson 22

22: The Ritual Sacrifice of ‘Eid al-Adha (udhiya/qurbani)

Lesson 23

23A: Ritually Slaughtered Animals (dhaba’ih)

23B: Animals unlawful for Consumption

Lesson 24

24: Hunting (sayd)

About the Instructor

Ustadh Tabraze Azam was born and raised in Ipswich, a small town on the east coast of England. He memorized the Qur’an in his youth and has led congregations in tarawih prayers at home and abroad. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Management from the University of Leicester, serving as the head of the university’s Islamic Society. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Amman, Jordan, to study the Islamic sciences full-time with a variety of distinguished traditional scholars. He is now an experienced teacher himself, answering religious questions regularly, and teaching students of knowledge privately and online. Presently, he is pursuing advanced studies and specialization in Amman where he resides with his wife and children.

Level: Two

Instructor: Hamza Karamali

Course Overview

Allah Most High sent His messengers with “clear signs” (Qur’an, 57:25). They called people to abandon the blind imitation of the false religions and customs of their ancestors and to use their minds to discern what was true and then follow it wholeheartedly. The science of Islamic theology (kalam) formalized the arguments of Allah’s messengers and then used them to respond to the questions posed by Greek philosophy. Take this course to learn Islamic theology, how it developed, and how to apply it to contemporary questions related to science, atheism, cosmological arguments, human freewill, infinity, classical conditioning, natural causation, anthropomorphism, miracles, modal logic, and the problem of evil.

About the Course Text

The Sanusiyya has arguably been the most popular introduction to mainstream Islamic theology ever since it was written five hundred years ago by the learned and pious West African theologian, Shaykh Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Sanusi (d. 895 AH / 1489 CE). Shaykh Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Sanusi (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote many textbooks in the science of Islamic theology of varying lengths--a long work called al-Sanusiyya al-Kubra (“The Long Sanusiyya”), a middle-sized work called al-Sanusiyya al-Wusta (“The Medium Sanusiyya”), a short work called al-Sanusiyya al-Sughra (“The Short Sanusiyya”), and an even shorter work called Sughra al-Sughra (“The Tiny Sanusiyya”). The most popular of these works, however, has been al-Sanusiyya al-Sughra (“The Short Sanusiyya”), which is the textbook for this course. This book is also called Umm al-Baraheen (“The Summary of Theological Proofs”), which is a description of its contents: the book begins with an introduction to the methods of reasoning, then lists the attributes of Allah Most High, then summarizes the rational arguments for those attributes, then lists the attributes of Allah Most High’s messengers, then summarizes the rational arguments for those attributes, and finally concludes by showing how the testification of faith (la ilaha illa allah muhammadur rasul allah) summarizes everything that has been mentioned in the book. A translation of the text is provided to all registered students of the course.

Who is this course for?

• This is a second-level course in Step Two

• Take Introduction to Islamic Logic before taking this course (or simultaneously with it)

• Complete Step One before taking this course

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the historical development of mainstream Islamic theology

• Explain what Muslims believe about Allah Most High and His messengers

• Prove why these beliefs are true

• Respond to common objections to belief in Allah Most High and His messengers

• Appreciate the scholarly depth of the Islamic theological tradition

Course Requirements: Complete Step One before taking this course

Course Outline

Lesson 1: What is Islamic Theology (kalam)?

1(a). History of Kalam from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to Abul Hasan al-Ash’ari (27 min 45 sec)

1(b). History of Kalam from Abul Hasan al-Ash’ari to Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Sanusi (21 min 11 sec)

2. Perceiving the Truth of Propositions (ahkam) (32 min 15 sec)

Lesson 2: The Sanusiyya + The Attributes of God (1)

1. Moral Responsibility and the First Obligation (35 min 10 sec)

2. The Organization of the Sanusiyya (9 min 58 sec)

3. The 20 Attributes That Are Necessary For Allah Most High (17 min 36 sec)

4. Existence (28 min 7 sec)

5. Privative Attributes (37 min)

Lesson 3: The Attributes of God (2)

1. Power, Will, and Knowledge (55 min 51 sec)

2. Life and Divine Agency (14 min 38 sec)

3. Hearing and Sight (18 min 33 sec)

4. Speech (16 min 58 sec)

5. The Relation Between the Written Qur’an and the Attribute of Speech (5 min 12 sec)

Lesson 4: Transcendence and Anthropomorphism

1. Entailed Attributes (10 min 53 sec)

2. Matters that Are Impossible for Allah Most High -- Focus on Transcendence (57 min 36 sec)

3. The Hadith of “Descent” and the Verse of the Throne (28 min 27 sec)

Lesson 5: Transcendence, Divine Wisdom, and Human Freewill

1. Matters that Are Impossible for Allah Most High -- Focus on Divine Oneness (25 min 56 sec)

2. Understanding Verses That Seem to Imply Motives (16 min 5 sec)

3. Divine Destiny and Human Freewill (28 min 30 sec)

4. What is Possible for Allah Most High (31 min 35 sec)

Lesson 6: The Argument for the Existence of God

1. A History of the Cosmological Argument (48 min 14 sec)

2. The Argument for the Existence of God (1 hr 12 min 30 sec)

Lesson 7: The Kalam Cosmological Argument and Big Bang Cosmology

1. The Scientific Evidence for the Beginning of the Universe: Watch: The Universe Began to Exist (from Why Islam is True) --https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5PqPHvcFDE&-- 30 min 18 sec

2. The Philosophical Evidence for the Beginning of the Universe: Watch: Infinity is an Imaginary Concept (from Why Islam is True) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlMoLNHKl4 -- 1 hr 48 min

Lesson 8: The Arguments for Allah Most High’s Necessary Existence and Agency

1. The Argument for Allah Most High’s Beginninglessness and Endlessness (34 min 30 sec)

2. The Argument for Allah Most High’s Transcendence and indpendence (28 min 53 sec)

3. The Argument for Allah Most High’s Oneness (25 min 40 sec)

4. The Argument for Allah Most High’s Agency (31 min 40 sec)

Lesson 9: Revelatory Arguments and Allah Most High’s Messengers

1. The Argument for Allah Most High’s Hearing, Sight, and Speech (14 mins)

2. The Argument for What is Possible for Allah Most High (12 min 35 sec)

3. What is a Messenger (21 min 50 sec)

4. The Attributes of Messengers (33 min 33 sec)

Lesson 10: Arguments for Genuineness of Allah Most High’s Messengers

1. Kinds of Miracles (41 min 10 sec)

2. Prophetic Miracles as Evidence for the Genuineness of Messengers (33 min 50 sec)

3. Other Proofs for the Genuineness of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) (29 min 40 sec)

Lesson 11: The Sinlessness of Messengers and the Wisdom of Difficulties

1. The Argument for the Sinlessness of Messengers (42 mins)

2. The Wisdom of Difficulties and the Problem of Evil (30 mins 50 sec)

Lesson 12: La ilaha illa Allah Muhammadur Rasul Allah as a Summary of Islamic Theology

1. La Ilaha Illa Allah (45 min)

2. Muhammad Rasul Allah (45 min)

3. Conclusion (10 min)

About The Instructor:

Hamza Karamali earned his BASc. and MASc. in Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, after which he moved abroad to study the Islamic sciences full-time in private settings with distinguished traditional scholars in Jordan, Kuwait, and the UAE, reading and memorizing traditional works in all of the Islamic sciences. He taught the Islamic sciences online at SunniPath.com, then at Qibla.com, then taught advanced Arabic grammar and rhetoric at Qasid Institute, and then joined Kalam Research & Media, where he worked for three years, designing, managing, and participating in research and education projects around the integration of modern analytic philosophy and science with traditional Islamic theology and logic. He is the author of The Madrasa Curriculum in Context, as well as a forthcoming work that presents traditional Islamic logic in the idiom of contemporary logic and philosophy. Hamza joined SeekersGuidance in 2016, where he has taught courses on logic, legal theory, and Islamic theology. He also has a regular podcast and video series called Why Islam is True, in which he applies logic and traditional Islamic theology to answer contemporary questions about belief in God, the genuine messenger hood of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), and the truth of the resurrection and the afterlife.

Level: Two

Instructor: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Course Overview

Ibn Habib al-Halabi’s Mukhtasar al-Manar is a clear, concise, and precise summary of a central primer (matn) of Hanafi legal methodology, Imam Nasafi’s Manar. Legal methodology (Usul al-fiqh) looks at the inner workings of Islamic law, showing how the imams of the Hanafi school established principles for textual interpretation and then derived rulings from the primary texts of the Quran and Sunna.

This Level Two course of the Seekers Islamic Studies Curriculum provides an introduction to the science of usul al-fiqh and serves as a clear first step on a student of knowledge’s journey in building their understanding of this critical science.

Students will learn about the importance of usul al-fiqh; the four primary sources of Islamic law; how textual understanding and interpretation works—and why it matters; and issues related to independent legal judgment (ijtihad), and principled following (taqlid).

About the Author

The author of this text is Tahir ibn Habib al-Halabi (Allah have mercy on him). He was born in Aleppo after the year 740 AH and he studied in Damascus and Cairo. He passed away in the year 808 AH.

Ibn Habib was a noted expert of the Arabic and Islamic sciences, but his most lasting legacy is this abridgement (Mukhtasar) of Imam Nasafi’s seminar primer in Usul al-Fiqh, al-Manar.

Who is This Course For?

• This course is for adults.

• It is particularly beneficial for students of the Islamic Studies Curriculum.

• This is a Level Two course and is for students who have already studied at least one Level Two book in the science of Fiqh.

• This course can also be taken by anyone who is interested in understanding how rulings are derived, how the Hanafis acted on the Quran and Hadiths, and more.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this course, students will be able to :

• Understand the wisdom of legal rulings.

• Develop a deeper understanding of the vocabulary of the jurists.

• Appreciate how the Hanafis understood the commands of the Quran.

• Appreciate how the Hanafis understood the commands of the Sunna.

• Understand how the Hanafis ascribed rulings to different actions.

About the Instructor

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Level: Two

Instructor: Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Course Overview

In this course, Yusuf Weltch covers the chapters on Worships, relying on the great classical commentaries—including Maydani’s Lubab—and major reference works of the Hanafi School.

Topics covered include ablution (Wudu), the ritual bath (Ghusl), Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, Hajj, and other related issues. 

This is a level two course and is ideal for students seeking to make sound the performance of their worships. A previous study is recommended but not required. 

The diligent student will take from this class the knowledge required to make their worships sound and correct, guidance on difficult issues, and how to beautify one’s relationship with Allah Most High.

About the Text

Imam Quduri’s full primer (matn) in Islamic law is so famous that it is simply referred to as “The Book” (al-Kitab). It is said that when Imam Quduri completed his work, he went on Hajj. After he completed his tawaf (circumambulations), he supplicated that Allah protect his work from errors.

Quduri’s Mukhtasar is one of the four core primers (mutun) of the Hanafi school. For over a thousand years, it has been the starting point of the full study of Hanafi fiqh. This is because of the text’s reliability in transmitting the Hanafi school; its clarity; its comprehensiveness in dealing with the core issues of each chapter; and its proven blessedness (baraka).

About the Author

Imam Abu al-Husayn Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Quduri (362-428 AH) was born in Baghdad and was of the foremost scholars of the Hanafi school - playing a pivotal role in the transmission of Hanafi fiqh.

His work, Mukhtasar al-Quduri, is the first of the four main primers (mutun) of the school. Another of his important works was The Tajrid, a comprehensive, 10-volume work in legal reasoning and comparative fiqh.

He was a noted scholar of hadith and the great hadith master, Khatib al-Baghdadi, took hadith from him.

Imam Quduri was also noted for his deep piety, devotion, his renunciation (zuhd), and his good character. These are keys for Allah blessing one’s efforts, as the lasting impact of Imam Quduri’s scholarship shows.

Who is this course for?

• This is a Level Two  course 

• Before taking this course, take The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi) and On Worship (Purification, Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj): Shurunbulali’s Ascent to Felicity

• Take this course before all courses in Level Three

Learning Outcomes:

• The core rulings related to purification, prayers, fasting, zakat and hajj;

• The wisdom and purpose of these legal rulings;

• The practical implementation, with excellence, of Divine Guidance;

• How legal reasoning works, to give a better understanding of “how Fiqh works;” and

• The method of the Hanafi School.

Course Outline

Lesson 1: Introduction

Lesson 2: Ablution (wudu) & The Ritual Bath (ghusl)

Lesson 3: Water, Wells, & Tanning

Lesson 4: Dry-Ablution (tayammum)

Lesson 5: Wiping over Footwear (khuffs) & Bandages (jaba’ir)

Lesson 6: Menstruation (hayd) & Lochia (nifas)

Lesson 7: Filth/Impurities & Conclusion

Lesson 8: Times, Adhan, & Introduction to Prayer

Lesson 9: Prayer Contd.

Lesson 10: Actions Invalidating the Prayer & Make-Ups

Lesson 11: Disliked Prayer Times & Supererogatory Prayers

Lesson 12:The Forgetfulness Prostration & Prayer of the Sick

Lesson 13: Prostration of Recital & The Travelers Prayer

Lesson 14: Friday & Eid Prayer

Lesson 15: Other Prayers

Lesson 16: The Funeral Prayer

Lesson 17: Introduction

Lesson 18: Zakat on Goods & Money

Lesson 19: Zakat al-Fitr

Lesson 20: Introduction to Fasting

Lesson 21: Valid & Invalid Fasts

Lesson 22: Introduction

Lesson 23: Description of the Hajj

Lesson 24: Qiran, Tamatu`, & Hajj Contraventions

About The Instructor:

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied inheritance law, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.

Level: Two

Instructor: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Course Overview

In this course, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani covers the chapters on financial transactions, relying on the great classical commentaries—including Maydani’s Lubab—and major reference works of the Hanafi School. Topics covered include the basic contract and transaction, conditions of the sale, the invalid and corrupt sales, options of return, interest, partnership, currency exchange, rent and hire, agency, deposits, misappropriation, and concludes with sharecropping. This course is ideal for students of Islamic knowledge. Previous study of Fiqh is recommended, but not a requirement.

About the Course Text

Imam Quduri’s full primer (matn) in Islamic law is so famous, that it is simply referred to as “The Book” (al-Kitab). For 1,000 years, it has served as the starting point for a full study of the science of Fiqh.

Who is this course for?

• This is a level two course

• Before taking this course, take The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi) and On Worship (Purification, Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj): Shurunbulali’s Ascent to Felicity

• Take this course before any course in Level Three

Course Outline

Lesson 01: Introduction

Lesson 02: The Book of Trade

Lesson 03: Options of Cancellation

Lesson 04: Impermissible Transactions

Lesson 05: Cancellation of a Sale, the Cost-Plus Sale, and the At-Par Sale

Lesson 06: Interest

Lesson 07: Forward Sales

Lesson 08: Currency Exchange and Collateral

Lesson 09: Prevention from Transacting

Lesson 10: Admissions

Lesson 11: Hires

Lesson 12: Right of Preemption

Lesson 13: Partnerships

Lesson 14: Working Partnerships

Lesson 15: Agency

Lesson 16: Guarantor

Lesson 17: Reconciliation

Lesson 18: Gifts

Lesson 19: Endowments

Lesson 20: Misappropriation

Lesson 21: Deposits

Lesson 22: The Foundling and Returning Lost Items

Lesson 23: Hermaphrodites, Missing Person, and Runaway Slaves

Lesson 24: The Authorized Slave, Sharecropping, and Irrigation Sharecropping

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Understand the core rulings related to trade and transactions in the Hanafi school.

• Appreciate the wisdom and purpose of these legal rulings.

• Explain how legal reasoning works.

• Develop an understanding of the implementation of Divine Guidance with respect to transactions.

About the instructors:

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Level: Two

Instructors: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani & Shaykh Yusuf Weltch & Shaykh Sufyan Qufi

Course Overview

Imam Quduri’s full primer (matn) in Islamic law is so famous, that it is simply referred to as “The Book” (al-Kitab). For 1,000 years, it has served as the starting point for a full study of the science of Fiqh.

In this course, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani covers the chapters on Marriage and Divorce, relying on the great classical commentaries—including Maydani’s Lubab—and major reference works of the Hanafi School.

About the Course Text

Imam Quduri’s full primer (matn) in Islamic law is so famous, that it is simply referred to as “The Book” (al-Kitab). For 1,000 years, it has served as the starting point for a full study of the science of Fiqh.

Who is this course for?

This is a level two  course 

Before taking this course, take The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi) and On Worship (Purification, Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj): Shurunbulali’s Ascent to Felicity

Take this course before all courses in Level Three

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

 • Understand the core rulings related to marriage.

 • Appreciate the wisdom and purpose of these legal rulings.

 • Explain the legal reasoning and methodology used in the Hanafi school.

 • Contextualize the practical implementation of Divine Guidance.

Course Outline

Lesson 1: Introduction to the Text and Subject

Lesson 2: The Marriage Contract, Marrying Non-Muslims, and the Guardian (Wakil)

Lesson 3: Worldly Suitability (Kafa'a), Conditions of Marriage and Defects

Lesson 4: Religious Conversion Within Marriage

Lesson 5: Completion of Marriage | Nursing

Lesson 6: Divorce

Lesson 7: Completion of Divorce

Lesson 8: Taking Back One's Wife | Foreswearing One's Wife (Ila')

Lesson 9: Zihar and Mutual Imprecation (Li`an)

Lesson 10: The Waiting Period

Lesson 11: The Waiting Period and Providing for Family

Lesson 12: Providing for Family and Child Custody

About the instructors:

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then travelled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied inheritance law, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.

Instructor: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Course Overview

This is a Level Two course in the Islamic Studies Curriculum. This course is based on the Mukhtasar of Imam Quduri, which is one of the most celebrated and influential treatises in any Muslim school of methodology and is considered the foundation for the Ḥanafî school.

This course serves to provide a proper understanding of the Islamic rulings of public law according to the Hanafi school. Shaykh Faraz Rabbani covers the chapters focused around human conduct, relying on Maydani’s Lubab—and major reference works of the Hanafi School. 

Topics covered include the rulings of public law as well as the impact these rulings have and the wisdoms behind them. They cover the issues of crimes and punishments, the permissible and impermissible, court procedures, witnesses, oaths, the mercy of the Sacred Law and more.

The purpose of the sacred law is to preserve life, wealth, intellect, property and honor of each individual.  How does the Islamic legal code achieve that? How do the laws of Qisas (retaliation), and Hudud (punishments for contravention of limits) serve to give life to the community? We must realize that these Islamic punishments cannot be applied by vigilante justice. There is immense wisdom in the Islamic legal practices and there are many strict requirements that must be fulfilled before the laws are applied. 

In a time where we have become so detached from the impacts of the practices people engage in at a communal level, we must strive to act according to what Allah Most High has told us is rightful conduct. And in order to act accordingly, we must understand the rulings and wisdoms of the Sacred Law, and specifically, of those rulings that relate to how we act with each other - as a community.

 This course is ideal for students of Islamic knowledge. A previous study of Fiqh is recommended, but not a requirement.

About the Text

Imam Quduri’s full primer (matn) in Islamic law is so famous that it is simply referred to as “The Book” (al-Kitab). It is said that when Imam Quduri completed his work, he went on Hajj. After he completed his tawaf (circumambulations), he supplicated that Allah protect his work from errors.

Quduri’s Mukhtasar is one of the four core primers (mutun) of the Hanafi school. For over a thousand years, it has been the starting point of the full study of Hanafi fiqh. This is because of the text’s reliability in transmitting the Hanafi school; its clarity; its comprehensiveness in dealing with the core issues of each chapter; and its proven blessedness (baraka).

About the Author

Imam Abu al-Husayn Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Quduri (362-428 AH) was born in Baghdad and was of the foremost scholars of the Hanafi school - playing a pivotal role in the transmission of Hanafi fiqh.

His work, Mukhtasar al-Quduri, is the first of the four main primers (mutun) of the school. Another of his important works was The Tajrid, a comprehensive, 10-volume work in legal reasoning and comparative fiqh.

He was a noted scholar of hadith and the great hadith master, Khatib al-Baghdadi, took hadith from him.

Imam Quduri was also noted for his deep piety, devotion, his renunciation (zuhd), and his good character. These are keys for Allah blessing one’s efforts, as the lasting impact of Imam Quduri’s scholarship shows.

Who Is This Course For?

• This course is for adults.

• It is particularly beneficial for students of Islamic law.

• This is a Level Two course. Before taking this course, take The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi) and On Worship (Purification, Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj): Shurunbulali’s Ascent to Felicity. Take this course before any course in Level Three.

• This course can also be taken by anyone who is interested in learning the parameters of Islamic law for the general public.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Understand the core rulings related to public law.

• Appreciate the wisdom of Divine guidance.

• Understand the mercy of the preventive punishments in Islamic law.

• Explain the impact of the laws Allah Most High has given us.

Course Outline

Lesson 1: Emancipation

Lesson 2: Emancipation After Owner’s Death & Bearing the Owner’s Children

Lesson 3: Clientage

Lesson 4: Punishments for Killing

Lesson 5: The Retaliation Punishment

Lesson 6: Compensatory Payments

Lesson 7: Compensatory Payments for Head Wounds

Lesson 8: Offences Executed by Slaves & Acquittal by an Oaths

Lesson 9: Those Responsible for Compensatory Payments

Lesson 10: The Penal Punishment for Fornication

Lesson 11: The Penal Punishment for Fornication & Drinking Alcohol

Lesson 12:Accusation of Fornication

Lesson 13: The Penal Punishment for Highway Robbery, Protected Places & The Penal Punishment for Highway Robbery

Lesson 14: Intoxicating Drinks

Lesson 15: Hunting

Lesson 16: Ritual Slaughter

Lesson 17: Oath & Vows

Lesson 18: Claims

Lesson 19: Testimony

Lesson 20: Conduct of the Judge

Lesson 21: Dividing Shared Ownership

Lesson 22: Coercion

Lesson 23: Conduct with Enemies

Lesson 24:The Ushr tax, The Jizya Tax

Lesson 25:Apostasy, Rebels

Lesson 26: The Prohibited and the Lawful

About The Instructor:

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Level: Two

Instructors: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani 

Course Overview

This is a Level Two elective course in the Islamic Studies Curriculum. It is based on Imam Mawsili's great primer on Hanafi fiqh, al-Mukhtar, and its commentary, al-Ikhtiyar li-Ta`lil Masa’il al-Mukhtar.

This expansive course will cover all the chapters on worship in al-Mukhtar. The students will gain a necessary and detailed understanding of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) related to the acts of worship, i.e. prayer, zakat, fasting, and the pilgrimage.

This course is intended for seekers of knowledge and is an excellent preparation for the study of more advanced texts in jurisprudence such as Imam Marghiyani’s al-Hidaya.

About the Course Text

Imam Mawsuli’s influential book is one of the four relied upon primers of the Hanafi school of law, which summarize the original positions of the founder of the school: Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, and the transmitted position of the madhhab. Imam Mawsuli’s commentary focuses on the differences of opinion within the Hanafi School and the legal discussion between Imam Abu Hanifa and his two students. The English lessons are based on al-Ikhtiyar and other leading Hanafi works. An English translation of al-Mukhtar will be provided, along with the full Arabic text of Imam Mawsuli’s own commentary: al-Ikhtiyar li-Ta`lil Masa’il al-Mukhtar.

About The Author

Imam Abdullah bin Mahmud bin Mawdud al-Mawsuli al-Hanafi (599-683AH) was born in Mosul in Northern Iraq and studied Hanafi fiqh — among others — with Imam Hasidi in Damascus. He was known as the most distinguished Hanafi scholar of his age. He was a judge (qadi) in Kufa and later taught at the mosque of Imam Abu Hanifa in Baghdad, where he is also buried.

Learning Outcomes:

• Water, wells, and dry ablution

• Menstruation, bleeding, their types, and rulings

• Prayer, its integrals and conditions

• Prayer in congregation and supererogatory prayer

• Actions to avoid in prayer, forgetfulness, tarawih

• The prayer of the sick and the traveler

• The Friday and Eid prayers, the prayer of fear, and prayer at the Ka’ba

• The funeral prayer and burial practices

• Zakat and its rulings

• Fasting and its rulings

• The Hajj and its rulings

Course Outline

Lesson 1 (Introduction to the Course and Purification)

    • Lesson 1a - Introduction to Book and Author

    • Lesson 1b - Author's Introduction

    • Lesson 1c - Introduction to Purification & Wudu

    • Lesson 1d - Sunnas of Wudu

    • Lesson 1e - Nullifiers of Wudu

Lesson 2 (A Look at Water, Wells & Tayammum)

    • Lesson 2a - Introduction to Water

    • Lesson 2b - The Rulings on Well Water

    • Lesson 2b - The Rulings on Well Water

Lesson 3 (The Ruling on Khuffs and an Introduction to Hayd)

    • Lesson 3a - The Ruling on Khuffs

    • Lesson 3b - Introduction to Hayd

    • Lesson 3c - Continuation on Hayd

Lesson 4 (Continuation on Istihada, Nifas and the Definition of Najasa)

    • Lesson 4a - Istihada

    • Lesson 4b - Purification from Filth (Part 1)

    • Lesson 4c - Purification from Filth (Part 2)

Lesson 5 (Review Session)

    • Lesson 5a - Review of Purification

    • Lesson 5b - Recommendations

    • Lesson 5c - The Etiquette of Seekers

Lesson 6 (Introduction to Prayer)

    • Lesson 6a - Introduction to the Prayer

    • Lesson 6b - Prayer Times

    • Lesson 6c - The Disliked Times for Prayer

    • Lesson 6d - The Adhan for Prayer

Lesson 7 (The Conditions & Integrals of the Prayer)

    • Lesson 7a - The Conditions of Prayer (Part 1)

    • Lesson 7b - The Conditions of Prayer (Part 2)

    • Lesson 7c - The Integrals of the Prayer

Lesson 8 (The Description of the Prayer)

    • Lesson 8a - Description of the Prayer (Part 1)

    • Lesson 8b - Description of the Prayer (Part 2)

    • Lesson 8c - The Witr Prayer

Lesson 9 (Congregating for Prayer)

    • Lesson 9a - On Prayer Recitation

    • Lesson 9b - Congregation for Prayer (Part 1)

    • Lesson 9c - Congregation for Prayer (Part 2)

Lesson 10 (Actions to Avoid in Prayer & Supererogatory Prayers)

    • Lesson 10a - Disliked Actions in Prayer

    • Lesson 10b - Actions Which Invalidate the Prayer

    • Lesson 10c - Missed Prayers

    • Lesson 10d - Sunna & Nafl Prayers

Lesson 11 (Forgetfulness in Prayer and the Tarawih Prayer)

    • Lesson 11a - The Tarawih Prayer

    • Lesson 11b - The Forgetfulness Prostration

    • Lesson 11c - Forgetting in Prayer

Lesson 12 (Prayer of the Sick, the Traveller, & the Prostration for Recital)

    • Lesson 12a - Prostration for Recital

    • Lesson 12b - Prayer of the Sick

    • Lesson 12c - Prayer of the Traveller

Lesson 13 (The Friday Prayer & the Eid Prayer)

    • Lesson 13a - The Friday Prayer

    • Lesson 13b - The Eid Prayer

Lesson 14 (The Fear Prayer and Prayer at the Kaaba)

    • Lesson 14a - The Fear Prayer

    • Lesson 14b - Prayer at the Kaaba

Lesson 15 (Regarding the Funeral Prayer and Burial Practices)

    • Lesson 15a - Funerary Practices

    • Lesson 15b - The Funeral Prayer

    • Lesson 15c - The Burial

Lesson 16 (Introduction to Zakat)

    • Lesson 16 - Introduction to Zakat

Lesson 17 (The Rulings on Mining)

    • Lesson 17a - Gold & Produce

    • Lesson 17b - Mining & Treasures

Lesson 18 On Giving Zakat

    • Lesson 18a - Outlets for Zakat

    • Lesson 18b - Zakat al-Fitr

Lesson 19 Introduction to Fasting

    • Lesson 19a - Introduction to Fasting

    • Lesson 19b - Moonsighting

Lesson 20 Invalidating One's Fast & Excuses for not Fasting; A Brief Look at I`tikaf

    • Lesson 20a - Invalidating the Fast

    • Lesson 20b - Excuses for not Fasting

    • Lesson 20c - I`tikaf

Lesson 21 Journey of a Lifetime: Hajj (Part 1)

    • Lesson 21a - The Duty of Hajj

    • Lesson 21b - Entering Ihram

    • Lesson 21c - Entering Mecca

Lesson 22 Journey of a Lifetime: Hajj (Part 2)

    • Lesson 22a - Safa and Marwa

    • Lesson 22b - Obligatory Tawaf

    • Lesson 22c - A Brief Look at Umra

Lesson 23 Journey of a Lifetime: Hajj (Part 3)

    • Lesson 23a - Tamattu

    • Lesson 23b - Qiran

    • Lesson 23c - Contraventions (Principles)

Lesson 24 Journey of a Lifetime: Hajj (Part 4)

    • Lesson 24a - Contraventions (Rulings)

    • Lesson 24b - Hunting Contraventions

    • Lesson 24c - Preventatives from Hajj

About The Instructors:

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Instructor: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Course Overview

Allah Most High says, “I have not created jinn-kind nor mankind for any purpose other than to worship Me.” (Qur’an, 51:56) Take this course to increase your knowledge of the questions that worshippers face in their purity, prayer, and fasting, all in light of a comprehensive textbook of Hanafi law that students have used for centuries. 

Who This Course For?

• This is a Level Two elective course.

• Before taking this course, take The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi) and/or the Essentials of Worship courses

Course Outline

Lesson 1: Introduction the Hanafi school and the text

Lesson 2: Author's Opening & Types of Water

Lesson 3: Exercising One’s Judgement, Wells, and Cleaning the Private Parts of Filth (Istinja’)

Lesson 4: Integrals of Wudu and Opening Sunnas

Lesson 5:  Remaining Sunnas, Disliked Actions, and Legal categories of Wudu

Lesson 6: Nullifiers of Wudu

Lesson 7: The Major Ablution (Ghusl)

Lesson 8: Dry Ablution (Tayammum)

Lesson 9: Wiping Footgear and Casts; Basics of Menstruation

Lesson 10: Menstruation, Chronic Excuses, and Physical Impurity

Lesson 11: The Basis and Categories of Filth

Lesson 12:  Filth and Its Removal

Lesson 13: Introduction to Prayer and Its Times

Lesson 14: Disliked Times and the Adhan

Lesson 15: Obligations of the Prayer (1)

Lesson 16: Obligations of Prayer (2)

Lesson 17: Necessary Elements of the Prayer and Opening Sunnas

Lesson 18: Sunnas, Adab, and Description of Standing

Lesson 19: Completion of the Prayer and Conditions of Congregation

Lesson 20: Congregational Prayer

Lesson 21: Invocations after Prayer and Invalidators

Lesson 22: Additional Invalidators and Introduction to Disliked Acts

Lesson 23: Disliked Acts (1)

Lesson 24: Disliked Acts (2) and Breaking the Prayer

Lesson 25: Witr and Sunna Prayers

Lesson 26: Voluntary Prayers and Praying on Modes of Transport

Lesson 27:  Prayers in Exceptional Situations, Tarawih, and the Traveller

Lesson 28: Prayer of the Sick Person, Expiation, and Make-ups

Lesson 29: Catching the Congregation | The Forgetfulness Prostration

Lesson 30: Prostration of Recital and the Friday Prayer

Lesson 31: Sunnas of Friday; Eid and Eclipse Prayers

Lesson 32: Prayers for Rain, Fear, and Funerals

Lesson 33: Details on the Funeral Prayer, Carrying the Body, and Burial

Lesson 34: Visiting Graves, Martyrs, and Fasting

Lesson 35: Intention, Moon Sighting and Invalidators of the Fast

Lesson 36: Completion of Fasting and the Devotional Retreat (two segments; 3 h 30)

What You Will Learn:

• Understand slavehood to Allah Most High and why it is important

• Learn the rules of purification that are generally encountered

• Memorize the detailed rules of wudu and ghusl, tayammum, removing filth, and the basic rulings of menstruation.

• Learn the rules of prayer that are generally encountered

• Memorize the obligatory, necessary, and sunna  elements of prayer at a higher level of detail

• Learn the conditions, sunnas, and rulings of congregational prayer

• Memorize a list of nearly twelve dozen invalidating or disliked actions in the prayer.

• Appreciate the rigor of the science of Sacred Law (fiqh)

Learn the details of prayer and fasting that are generally encountered

• Learn the rulings of witr and the sunna prayers

• Learn the rulings related to prayer when travelling or sick

• Learn the rulings related to the prostration of forgetfulness and the prostration of recital

• Memorize the conditions for the validity and obligation of the Friday, Eid prayers, as well as the conditions for the khutba.

• Learn the nullifiers of the fast and their practical consequences

• Learn about the rulings related to vows and devotional retreat

• Gain a grounding in the method and application of the Hanafi school

About the Course Text

This course is an explanation of Nur al-Idah (Light of Clarity), a detailed introduction to the rules of purity, prayer, and fasting authored by a leading authority of the Hanafi school, Abu’l-Ikhlas Hasan al-Shurunbulali (d. 1069 AH/ 1659 CE ). This text covers nearly every issue that arises in the course of these three acts of worship in a clear and comprehensive manner. It is for this reason that Nur al-Idah, along with its commentary Maraqi al-Falah, forms an essential part of nearly every traditional syllabus in Hanafi jurisprudence.

About The Instructor:

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Level: Two

Instructors: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani & Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Course Overview

Gain an in-depth understanding of commercial transactions and Personal Law according to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. The students will gain a necessary and detailed understanding of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) related to personal law (i.e. marriage, divorce, and related matters) and commercial transactions, including sales, leasing, or hire. The course is based on Imam al-Mawsuli’s great primer on Hanafi fiqh, al-Mukhtar, and its commentary, al-Ikhtiyar li-Ta’lil Masa’il al-Mukhtar. This expansive course will cover all the chapters on personal law and commercial transactions in al-Mukhtar. [Below fold] This course serves to provide a proper understanding of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) of personal law and commercial transactions. 

About the Course Text

This course is based upon Imam Mawsuli’s al-Mukhtar. Imam Mawsuli’s influential book is one of the four relied upon primers of the Hanafi school of law, which summarizes the original positions of the founder of the school: Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, and the transmitted position of the madhhab. This course is intended for seekers of knowledge and is excellent preparation for the study of more advanced texts in jurisprudence such as Imam al-Marghiyani’s al-Hidaya. An English translation of al-Mukhtar will be provided, along with the full Arabic text of Imam Mawsuli’s own commentary: al-Ikhtiyar li-Ta’lil Masa’il al-Mukhtar. This commentary explains the legal reasoning underlying the issues and rulings in al-Mukhtar. Imam Mawsuli’s commentary focuses on the differences of opinion within the Hanafi School and the legal discussion between Imam Abu Hanifa and his two students. Imam Abdullah bin Mahmud bin Mawdud al-Mawsuli al-Hanafi (599-683 AH) was born in Mosul in Northern Iraq and studied Hanafi fiqh — among others — with Imam al-Hasidi in Damascus. He was known as the most distinguished Hanafi scholar of his age. He was a judge (qadi) in Kufa and later taught at the mosque of Imam Abu Hanifa in Baghdad, where he is also buried.

Learning Outcomes:

• Sales, recession, contracts, and rulings

• Interdicted, trust, and forward sales

• Interest rulings and monetary exchange

• The corrupt hire, collateral, division, and judgeship

• Coercion, claims, and acknowledgments

• Witnessing, agency, and guarantees

• Marriage: Its rulings, pillars, and conditions

• The contract, the guardian, suitability, and the dowry

• Marriage to non-Muslims

• The types of divorce and their rulings

• The waiting period after divorce and establishing lineage

• Expenses/provision and custody

Course Requirements:

• Knowledge of Arabic would help but is not required. Previous study of fiqh is highly recommended but again not a requirement.

About The Instructors:

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Level: Two [Elective]

Instructor: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Course Overview

This class explores intermediate Islamic beliefs through a close study of Imam Sawi’s commentary on Imam Laqqani’s Jawhara al-Tawhid — a poem that covers mainstream Islamic beliefs about Allah Most High, His messengers (peace be upon them), and the Hereafter. Imam Sawi unpacks the expressions of the poem, making accessible the beliefs that we are all obligated to affirm while keeping in context the spirituality that is at the heart of our religion.

The study of this text is an essential gateway into deeper studies of Islamic Theology. Students will be introduced to key concepts, terminology, and definitions of this science, preparing them for further study. Students will learn what is necessary, possible, and absurd to affirm for Allah Most High, His messengers (peace be upon them), and key beliefs of the Hereafter.

This class is for students of knowledge with the ability to read and understand classical Arabic and prior study of Islamic beliefs, worship, and practical spirituality.

About the Text

Imam Laqqani’s poem Jawhara al-Tawhid has been broadly accepted by the scholarly community as a summary work representative of mainstream Islamic beliefs. In the hundreds of years that have passed since its authorship, this work has attracted dozens of commentaries and super-commentaries. Imam Sawi’s commentary is an excellent introductory work on science and is widely taught. In it, he unpacks the terse expressions of the poem and couches technical discussions with essential context as to how these beliefs relate to our relationship with Allah Most High.

Learning Outcomes

• Key concepts, terminology, and definitions of Islamic Beliefs

• What is necessary, possible, and absurd to affirm for Allah Most High

• What is necessary, possible, and absurd to affirm for His messengers (peace be upon them)

• Key transmitted beliefs of the Hereafter

Course Outline

Lesson 1: Introduction to the Text

Lesson 2: Praise and Gratitude

Lesson 3: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), his Mission, Household, and Companions

Lesson 4: Knowledge

Lesson 5: The Ten Foundational Investigations of the Science of Islamic Belief

Lesson 6: Completion of the Author’s Introduction

Lesson 7: Introduction to Divinity

Lesson 8: The Rational Rulings

Lesson 9: Following Others in Belief

Lesson 10: The Obligation of Knowing God

Lesson 11: Cultivating of Faith

Lesson 12: The Means of Knowing God Most High

Lesson 13: Does Faith Increase and Decrease?

Lesson 14: The Personal Attribute

Lesson 15: The Negative Attributes

Lesson 16: The Affirmative Attributes

Lesson 17: Relationships of the Divine Attributes

Lesson 18: The Divine Names

Lesson 19: Negating Similitude and Affirming Transcendence

Lesson 20: Transcendence of the Qur'an

Lesson 21: Divine Grace and Facilitation

Lesson 22: Human Responsibility and Divine Will

Lesson 23: Reward, Punishment, Good and Bad

Lesson 24: Causes of Disbelief and Misguidance

Lesson 25: The Beatific Vision

Lesson 26: The Qualities of the Prophets

Lesson 27: The Testification of Faith

Lesson 28: The Greatest of Creation

Lesson 29: Distinguishing Characteristics of the Prophet

Lesson 30: Completing Discussions on Prophethood

Lesson 31: The Companions

Lesson 32: Following Qualified Scholarship

Lesson 33: Death and the Soul

Lesson 34: The Intellect and the Grave

Lesson 35: The Resurrection

Lesson 36: Transmitted Beliefs & Closing Investigations

About the Instructor

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Level: Two

Instructors: Shaykh Mohammad Tayssir Safi

Course Overview

All of the various Islamic Sciences and our very understanding of Islam itself rely on revelation. The broad ḥadith corpus, along with the Qur'ān, are the two main sources of that revelation from Allāh (Exalted is He). Understanding the importance and role of reports from the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), the great scholars of our intellectual tradition not only strove to collect said reports but also to investigate the authenticity of any given ḥadīth. They understood the importance, power, and dangers associated with claiming that the Prophet said or did any particular thing. Therefore, they built out a sophisticated edifice and critical apparatus with many subfields that we now refer to as, Ḥadith Studies.

This course introduces the student to the basic technical terms and categorizations associated with Ḥadith Studies. Beyond that the student will be introduced to the core questions investigated in the field, as well as the critical method employed by ḥadīth scholars in testing a given report’s authenticity. Finally, the course aims to highlight the importance and place of Ḥadith Studies in the greater framework of the Islamic Studies Curriculum.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand and conceptualize core technical terms in Ḥadīth Studies,

2. Have a firm grasp of the scope of Ḥadīth Studies and the basic critical tools used when investigating a report’s authenticity

3. Have an overall understanding of what various subfields a scholar of ḥadīth must navigate and be trained in.

Course Outline

Lesson 1a: A Brief History

Lesson 1b: Hadith Studies & Its Disciplines

Lesson 2a: Primary Terminology & Initial Categorizations

Lesson 2b: Categorizing Reports Based Upon the Source

Lesson 3a: A Brief Epistemological Overview

Lesson 3b: Categorizing Hadith Based Upon their Number

Lesson 4a: Degrees of Probability

Lesson 4b: The Conditions of Authenticity

Lesson 5a: Contiguity and Omission

Lesson 5b: Hidden Breaks

Lesson 6a: Uprightness & Precision

Lesson 6b: Narrator Criticism

Lesson 7a: General Judgements Require Further Consideration

Lesson 7b: Corroboration & Degrees of Probability

Lesson 8a: Hidden Effects

Lesson 8b: Anomalies

Lesson 9a: Forgeries

Lesson 9b: Miscellaneous

About the Instructors

Mohammed Tayssir Safi is a doctoral candidate at Ibn Haldun University. At the university’s Islamic Studies department, he specializes in Ḥadīth Studies, with a particular focus on the epistemological framework used in the technical study of ḥadīth. In parallel with his academic studies at the university, Mohammed has been a long-time student of the Islamic Sciences in traditional educational circles. To that end, he has spent years studying in Damascus (Syria), Cairo (Egypt), Tarim (Yemen), and most recently, Istanbul (Turkey). He is also a graduate of Sultan Ahmet Madrasa’s “IKAN,” program, which focuses on Islamic theology (Kalām). Mohammed holds a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in applied linguistics (Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language), as well as a certificate in Manuscript Editing from Istanbul’s main Islamic Research institution, ISAM.

Mohammed currently teaches courses in Islamic Theology (Kalām) and Ḥadīth Studies for SeekersGuidance and resides with his family in Istanbul

Level: Three

Instructor: Shaykh Hamza Karamali

Course Overview

This is a traditional word-by-word explanation of a hashiya (gloss) on Shaykh al-Sanusi’s popular matn in Islamic theology, Umm al-Barahin. Hamza Karamali carefully works through the first half of the Hashiya in 68 recorded lessons, unpacking its meanings, and relating them to contemporary theological problems related to modern science, Western philosophy, and Wahhabi theology. These include the distinction between tawhid al-rububiyya and tawhid al-uluhiyya; the nature of causation in the universe; propositional modalities; modal metaphysics; the nature of moral responsibility; the relationship between morality and God; the relationship between the mind and reality; the nature of the physical universe; and the relationship between divine foreknowledge and human freewill. This is a course for experienced students of knowledge who have studied the Islamic sciences for many years.

Who is this course for?

• Fluency in Arabic reading is a prerequisite for taking this course

• Prior knowledge of the foundational Islamic sciences>

• Proficiency in traditional Arabic grammar is a prerequisite for taking this course

• Previous experience reading traditional mutun is a prerequisite for taking this course

• Beliefs: Sanusi's Umm al-Barahin - Foundational Proofs for Why Islam is True is a prerequisite for taking this course

Course Outline

SESSION 1

• Author’s Introduction and the Basmala (6 lessons)

SESSION 2

• The Hamdala (3 lessons)

SESSION 3

• The Blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) (6 lessons)

SESSION 4

• An Introduction to the Science of Tawhid (3 lessons)

SESSION 5

• The Three Kinds of Hukm (6 lessons)

SESSION 6

The Hukm ‘Aqli (9 lessons)

SESSION 7

• The First Obligation of Morally Responsible Agents (6 lessons)

SESSION 8

• Divine Existence, Divine Beginninglessness, Divine Endlessness, and Divine Dissimilarity to Created Things (6 lessons)

SESSION 9

• Divine Independence, Divine Oneness, Entity-Attributes, and Privative Attributes (8 lessons)

SESSION 10

• Existent Attributes, Divine Power, and Divine Will (8 lessons)

SESSION 11

• Divine Knowledge, Divine Life, Divine Hearing, and Divine Sight (5 lessons)

SESSION 12

• Divine Speech and Implied Attributes (3 lessons)

SESSION 13

• Matters that are Impossible for Allah Most High (1) – Nonexistence, Beginning to Exist, Ceasing to Exist, and Resembling Created Things (8 lessons)

SESSION 14

• Matters that are Impossible for Allah Most High (2) – Neediness, Not Being One, and Not Being Powerful (7 lessons)

SESSION 15

• Matters that are Impossible for Allah Most High (3) – Not Having Will, Ignorance, Death, Deafness, Blindness, and Muteness (7 lessons)

SESSION 16

• Matters that are Possible for Allah Most High and the Proof of Allah Most High’s Existence (9 lessons)

SESSION 17

• The Proof of Allah Most High’s Existence (5 lessons)

SESSION 18

• The Proofs of Allah Most High’s Beginninglessness, Endlessness, Transcendence, Independence, and Oneness (5 lessons)

SESSION 19

• Proofs of Allah Most High’s Agency, Hearing, Sight, and Speech + Matters that are Necessary, Impossible, and Possible for His Messengers (7 lessons)

SESSION 20

Proofs of Messengers’ Attributes (6 lessons)

SESSION 21

• The Meaning of La Ilaha Illa Allah (1) (5 lessons)

SESSION 22

• The Meaning of La Ilaha Illa Allah (2) (7 lessons)

SESSION 23

• The Meaning of Muhammad Rasul Allah (1)

SESSION 24

• The Meaning of Muhammad Rasul Allah (2) + Author’s Conclusion

Learning Outcomes:

• Develop the skill of reading the mutun, shuruh, and hawashi of the Muslim scholarly tradition

• Deepen your understanding of traditional Islamic theology (both Ash‘ari and Maturidi)

• Distinguish between those parts of traditional Islamic theology that are “pure theology” and those that are “theology in light of pre-modern science”

• Learn how to update traditional Islamic theology in light of modern scientific discoveries

About the Course Text

This course is a traditional word-by-word exposition of one of the most popular Azhari manuals in Islamic theology, Shaykh Ibrahim al-Bajuri’s (d. 1276 A.H. / 1860 C.E.) Hashiya on the Umm al-Barahin of Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Sanusi. Shaykh al-Bajuri was a prolific scholar, authoring commentaries and glosses in many different Islamic disciplines, including theology, logic, hadith, Sacred Law, estate division, Arabic morphology, Arabic grammar, and Arabic literature. His works have been highly regarded by generations of teachers and students for their precision, comprehensiveness, and depth of scholarship. He studied and taught at al-Azhar, becoming its foremost scholar and rector (Shaykh al-Azhar) in 1263 A.H. / 1847 C.E., a position that he retained until his death. His Hashiya on the  Umm al-Barahin is one of his most widely studied works.

About The Instructor

Hamza Karamali earned his BASc. and MASc. in Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, after which he moved abroad to study the Islamic sciences full-time in private settings with distinguished traditional scholars in Jordan, Kuwait and the UAE, reading and memorizing traditional works in all of the Islamic sciences. He taught the Islamic sciences online at SunniPath.com, then at Qibla.com, then taught advanced Arabic grammar and rhetoric at Qasid Institute, and then joined Kalam Research & Media, where he worked for three years, designing, managing, and participating in research and education projects around the integration of modern analytic philosophy and science with traditional Islamic theology and logic. He is the author of The Madrasa Curriculum in Context, as well as a forthcoming work that presents traditional Islamic logic in the idiom of contemporary logic and philosophy. Hamza joined SeekersGuidance in 2016, where he has taught courses on logic, legal theory, and Islamic theology. He also has a regular podcast and video series called Why Islam is True, in which he applies logic and traditional Islamic theology to answer contemporary questions about belief in God, the genuine messenger hood of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), and the truth of the resurrection and the afterlife.

Level: Three

Instructor: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Course Overview

This course covers a comprehensive commentary on the five acts of worship written by one of the authorities of the Hanafi school of law.

Allah Most High says, “I have not created jinn-kind nor mankind for any purpose other than to worship Me.” (Qur’an, 51:56) Take this course to increase your knowledge of the detailed rulings of prayer, fasting, zakat, and hajj.

In this course, we read an extensive commentary on the fiqh of worship, Imam Shurunbulali's Maraqi al-Falah. This course is intended for students of knowledge with solid previous study of the subject and ability to understand classical texts in Arabic. It discusses key legal details not found in shorter works, in addition to legal differences and reasoning, serving to improve the student's understanding of the subject and how to improve their worship of the Divine.

About the Text

Maraqi al-Falah is Imam Shurunbulali’s shorther commentary on his own comprehensive primer on worship, Nur al-Idah. Maraqi al-Falah supplies key legal details and reasoning for the rulings of both prayer and fasting. In addition, it provides a summarized discussion on zakat and hajj. Its author, Imam Abu'l-Ikhlas al-Shurunbulali, was one of the foremost jurists of the Hanafi school as well as a scholar of deep spirituality, making this text an invaluable resource for anyone who wishes to deepen their knowledge of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Learning Outcomes

• Master the detailed rulings of purification, prayer, and fasting

• Appreciate the rigor of the science of Sacred Law (fiqh)

• Gain an introduction to the legal reasoning underlying the legal rulings

• Gain a grounding in the method and application of the Hanafi school

About the Instructor

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.

Level: Four

Instructor: Shaykh Hamza Karamali

Course Overview

This is the first of an eight-part series of courses that unpack the questions (masa’il) of Taftazani’s pithy Sharh al-’Aqa’id al-Nasafiyya, arguably the most important textbook ever written in the science of Islamic theology. These courses explain the intellectual context in which the book’s questions are set, and then apply those questions to contemporary theological problems, with a special focus on modern science and occasional digressions into Western philosophy. Take this course to understand what the science of kalam is; the historical circumstances that led to its development; who the Mu’tazilites were and why they are important; who the falasifa were and why they are important; what philosophical skepticism is, what motivates it, its relevance to kalam, and how it should be tackled; what human knowledge is and how to distinguish truth from falsehood; the epistemological value of sensation, rational inference, historical transmission, and revelation; and the relation of all of these topics to non-religious historical accounts of Islamic theology, cognitive psychology, and evolutionary accounts of human development.

About the Course Text

For centuries, Taftazani’s Sharh al-’Aqa’id has been a standard and indispensable part of curricula in traditional institutions of learning all over the Muslim world. No other textbook in any of the Islamic sciences has as many scholarly glosses (hawashi) as it does. The importance of a textbook can be judged by the number of glosses that have been written on it. The innumerable glosses on Sharh al-’Aqa’id by scholars in the Ottoman Empire, in al-Azhar, in the Indian Subcontinent, and elsewhere make it the most important textbook of Islamic theology ever written.

The author, Sa‘d al-Din al-Taftazani (d. 792/1390), is famous for his sharp mind, pithy expressions, and his unwavering commitment to an evidence-based approach to knowledge, never hesitating to discuss questions that were never discussed before, nor to correct mistakes that were made by authors who came before him. A couple of decades after his death, Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani (d. 852/1449) reported that Taftazani’s books were sought everywhere and scholars all over the world competed to write commentaries on them. He was a prolific scholar--his Sharh al-’Aqa’id is a mainstay of every curriculum in Islamic theology, his Mukhtasar al-Ma‘ani a mainstay of every curriculum in Arabic eloquence, his Tahdhib al-Mantiq a mainstay of every curriculum in Islamic logic, and his Hashiya on al-Iji’s commentary on Ibn al-Hajib’s Mukhtasar a mainstay of curricula in Islamic legal theory.

Who is this course for?

Before taking this course, take all courses in Level Three, especially Beliefs: Bajuri’s Commentary on the Sanusiyya Explained - Deeper Understanding of the Proofs and Key Issues of Theology

What You Will Learn:

  • Use the epistemology from Part 1 of this course to prove the existence of God

  • Respond to medieval and modern objections against the existence of God

  • Describe the cosmology and metaphysics  of the falasifa and their role in the development of kalam

  • Learn when to update theological issues in light of modern science and when to use theological issues to correct modern science  

  • Navigate contemporary debates over the existence of God using traditional Islamic theology

Course Outline

Session 1

  • Introduction to ‘Ilm al-Kalam, al-Nasafi, and al-Taftazani — pp. 3-8 (1hr 3min)

  • Kinds of Hukm + Why the Sahaba Didn’t Need Kalam — pp. 9-11 (40 min)

  • Why the Sahaba Didn’t Need Fiqh + Why Kalam and Fiqh Were Documented — pp. 11-12

Session 2

  • Fiqh, Usul, and Kalam — p. 12 (35 min)

  • Names of Kalam and the Mu’tazili Mihna — pp. 12-14 (1 hr 23 min)

  • LESSON RESOURCE: Mas’ala khalq al-qur’an by Shaykh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghodda

Session 3

  • History of Early Kalam (audio only) — (1 hr 23 min)

  • LESSON RESOURCE: al-Madhahib al-tawhidiyya by Shaykh Muhammad Said Ramadan al

Session 4

  • Early Kalam — pp. 16-17 (22 min) 

  • Late Kalam — p. 17(42 min)

  • LESSON RESOURCE: al-Mawaqif fi ‘ilm al-kalam by ‘Adud al-Din al-Iji  (pdf present in the same folder as the recordings)

Session 5

  • The Dangers of Kalam — pp. 23-25 (1)

Session 6

  • We Have Objective Knowledge of Real Things (haqa’iq al-ashya’ thabita) — pp. 25-29 (1 hr 32 min)

Session 7

  • Philosophical Skepticism (safsata) — pp. 29-30 (1 hr 30 min)

Session 8

  • Knowledge (‘ilm) — pp. 30-32 (1 hr 12 min)

Session 10

  • The Conventional Causes (asbab) of Human Knowledge — pp. 32-35 (1 hr 10 min)

  • Knowledge — pp. 32-35 (1 hr 10 min)

  • Sensation (al-hawass) — pp. 35-39 (44 min)

Session 11

  • Mass-Transmission (tawatur) — pp. 39-40 (1 hr 19 min)

Session 12

  • The Mind (‘aql)— pp. 43-45 (1 hr 28 min)

  • Experiential Knowledge (ilham) — pp. 45-46 (36 min)

Session 13

  • Natural Philosophy and Modern Science

Session 14

  • The Natural Philosophy of Falsafa

  • The Universe According to Falsafa, Kalam, and Science

Session 15

  • Arguments For And Against Medieval Atomism

Session 16

  • Properties in Falsafa, Kalam, and Science

Session 17

Kalam Perspective on Arguments For the Existence of God in Modern Philosophy

Session 18

  • The Kalam Argument (1): Properties Began to Exist

  • The Kalam Argument (2): Physical Objects Began to Exist

Session 19

  • Responses to the Falasifa’s Objections to the Kalam Argument

Session 20

  • Scientific Evidence for the Beginning of the Universe

  • The Kalam Cosmological Argument in Modern Philosophy

Session 21

  • Contemporary Objections to the Kalam Cosmological Argument

Session 22

  • The Impossibility of Infinite Regress and its Relation to the Kalam Argument Session 23 Allah Most High’s Oneness (1)

Session 24

  • Allah Most High’s Oneness (2)

  • Allah Most High’s Beginninglessness

About the Instructor

Hamza Karamali earned his BASc. and MASc. in Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, after which he moved abroad to study the Islamic sciences full-time in private settings with distinguished traditional scholars in Jordan, Kuwait, and the UAE, reading and memorizing traditional works in all of the Islamic sciences. He taught the Islamic sciences online at SunniPath.com, then at Qibla.com, then taught advanced Arabic grammar and rhetoric at Qasid Institute, and then joined Kalam Research & Media, where he worked for three years, designing, managing, and participating in research and education projects around the integration of modern analytic philosophy and science with traditional Islamic theology and logic. He is the author of The Madrasa Curriculum in Context, as well as a forthcoming work that presents traditional Islamic logic in the idiom of contemporary logic and philosophy. Hamza joined SeekersGuidance in 2016, where he has taught courses on logic, legal theory, and Islamic theology. He also has a regular podcast and video series called Why Islam is True, in which he applies logic and traditional Islamic theology to answer contemporary questions about belief in God, the genuine messenger hood of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), and the truth of the resurrection and the afterlife.

Level: One

Instructors: Shaykh Jamir Meah & Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Course Overview

“Whoever travels a path to seek knowledge, Allah thereby facilitates for him a path to Paradise.” (Muslim) This course is the first step in your pursuit of religious knowledge. It explains what your religion is, what you must know about it, and how you should learn it.

It covers the basic tenets of faith, the basic details of worship, and key sins that we should all avoid, and key virtues and vices of the heart. The goal of this course is to equip the beginner with the most essential knowledge about Islamic faith, practice, and spirituality.

This is a Level One course in worship for anyone seeking to know the most basic details of the five pillars of Islam according to the Shafi`i school. If you would like to learn it according to the Hanafi school, take this course instead: Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi): Getting Started With Your Belief and Practice

About The author

Ahmad ibn Zayn ibn ‘Alawi ibn Ahmad al-Habashi was from Hadramaut region of South Arabia at the beginning of the year 1069 AH/1659 CE). He was a great Shafi`i scholar and a student of Imam Abdullah bin ‘Alawi al-Haddad who taught him more than seventy books including Islamic books on spirituality.

About the Course Text

The course is a detailed explanation of al-Risala al-Jami ‘ah wa al-Tadhkira al-Nafi‘ah (“The Comprehensive Epistle and Beneficial Reminder”), a concise manual of basic religious knowledge by the great religious scholar and spiritual guide of Hadhramaut, al-Habib Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Habshi (d. 1132 A.H. / 1720 C.E.). For hundreds of years, this book has been taught in traditional institutions of learning all over the world as the first step in students’ religious education. The author was a descendant of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and a close student of the great sage of Arabia al-Habib ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad. A downloadable translation of the text is provided as part of the course materials.

Who is this course for?

• This is the first course in Level One.

• It is suitable for teenagers and adults.

• This course has no prerequisites.

• Any student who wants to learn about the basics of belief and worship and wants to start their journey of gaining sacred knowledge according to the Shafi`i school should start with this course.

Learning Outcomes:

• Memorize the Hadith of Jibreel (upon him be peace)

• Understand how to seek religious knowledge

• Learn the basics of Islamic belief

• Learn the basic rules of wudu, ghusl, and prayer

• Learn the basic rules of fasting and zakat

• Learn how to worship Allah Most High with sincerity

Course Requirements:

• Students are encouraged to get a copy of The Essential of Islam by Ahmad bin Zayn al Habashi, Trans. Abdul Aziz Ahmed, published by Islamic Village (al-Risalat al-Jamiah)

Course Outline

Lesson 1: Introduction to the Text

Lesson 2: Explanation of Faith & Beliefs

Lesson 3: Explanation of Submission & Islamic Jurisprudence

Lesson 4: The Different Types of Bleeding for Women

Lesson 5: Conditions, Integrals & Sunnah of the Prayer

Lesson 6: Inner Dimensions & Nullifiers of the Prayer

Lesson 7: The Friday Prayer & Supererogatory Prayers

Lesson 8: Fasting

Lesson 9: Zakat

Lesson 10: Hajj & Umrah

Lesson 11: Purification of the Heart (Part 1)

Lesson 12: Purification of the Heart (Part 2)

About The Instructor:

Ustadha Shireen Ahmed is an experienced teacher, educator, and mentor, specializing in marriage, parenting, and character development. Born and raised in Canada, she graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology. Thereafter, she traveled to Syria, studying Arabic and sacred knowledge at the University of Damascus and Abu Nour Institute. She took private classes in Qur’anic recitation, Prophetic traditions, sacred law, and Prophetic biography. After ten years abroad, she returned to Toronto, Canada. She currently serves as Managing Director of SeekersGuidance Canada, where she draws from years of experience as a community leader and activist.

Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. He traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years privately studying a range of Islamic sciences under the foremost scholars and muftis from the Ribat Tarim, specializing in Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies under many of Amman’s most prominent scholars, in a range of Islamic sciences, including Islamic theology, logic, legal principles and precepts, hadith studies, grammar and rhetoric, seerah, Quranic studies and tafsir. He is also an experienced homeopath, having studied and been mentored by some of its leading practitioners.

Level: One

Instructors: Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan

Course Overview

Having godfearingness (taqwa) is a prerequisite for being able to benefit from the great guidance of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). Take this course to learn how to have godfearingness in most of the everyday situations that you are likely to encounter in your life, such as eating halal food, proper dress, interacting with the opposite gender, guarding your gaze, investing and saving your money, and guarding your tongue.

Who is this course for?

• This is a second-level course in Step One.

• Before taking this course, take The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi) or The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Shafi‘i)

• Take this course before all courses in Step Two. 

Course Outline

Lesson 1

  • 1. The Fruits and Meanings of Taqwa

  • 2. The Hadith of Jibril and Introduction to Halal and Haram

Lesson 2

  • 1. History of the Shafi‘i School

  • 2. Using the Lavatory

  • 3. Halal and Haram Foods

Lesson 3

  • 1. Etiquette of Eating

Lesson 4

  • 1. Guests and Hosting Part 1

  • 2. Guests and Hosting Part 2

Lesson 5

  • 1. Interacting with the Opposite Gender

  • 2. Clothing

Lesson 6

  • 1. Commanding the Right and Forbidding the Wrong

Lesson 7

  • 1. Family Relations

Lesson 8

  • 1. Backbiting

Lesson 9

  • 1. Talebearing, Lying,

  • 2. Breaking Promises, Excessive Joking, and Mocking Others

Lesson 10

  • 1. Conditions of a Valid Business Transaction

Lesson 11

  • 1. Investing, Borrowing, and Insurance

Lesson 12

  • 1. Marriage and Divorce

Learning Outcomes:

• Appreciate the importance of the quality of godfearingness

• Memorize how to have godfearingness in dozens of everyday situations

• Improve your religious practice by keeping good company and making frequent repentance

Course Requirements:

• The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi) or The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Shafi‘i)

About The Instructors:

Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan completed the memorization of the Qur’an under Shaykh Ismail Londt at the Dar Ubaiy Institute in 2000. He then went on to graduate from the Dār al-Ulūm al-‘Arabiyyah al-Islāmiyyah in 2006, where he benefited from the school’s lecturers, specifically its founder and principal, Maulana Taha Karaan. After graduating, Shaykh Abdurragmaan served as a lecturer at the same institute from 2006 to 2015. In 2009, he established Dar al-Turath al-Islami (DTI) and continues to serve as the Director. In 2011, Shaykh Abdurragmaan co-founded the Mahabbah Foundation and was honoured to join the Fatwa Committee of the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa in 2013. He is also an Imam at Masjid al-Rahmah, Garlendale. Shaykh Abdurragmaan received ijazah ’ammah from various luminaries, including but not restricted to: Habib Umar ibn Hafiz–a personality who affected him greatly and who has changed his relationship with Allah, Maulana Yusuf Karaan – the former Mufti of Cape Town; Habib ‘Ali al-Mashhur – the late Mufti of Tarim, Habib ‘Umar al-Jaylani – the Shafi’i Mufti of Makkah, Sayyid Ahmad bin Abi Bakr al-Hibshi, Habib Kadhim as-Saqqaf, Shaykh Mahmud Sa’id Mamduh, Maulana Abdul Hafiz al-Makki, Sh. Ala ad- Dind al-Afghani, Maulana Fazlur Rahman al-Azami and Shaykh Yahya al-Gawthani amongst others. Shaykh Abdurragmaan received ijazah in the qira’ah of Imam Kisa’i from Shaykh Idris from Malawi and is currently reciting the seven Qira’ah to Maulana Saleem Gaibie.

Level: One

Instructors: Shaykh Jamir Meah & Shaykh Farid Dingle

Course Overview

Allah Most High says, “I have not created jinn-kind nor mankind for any purpose other than to worship Me.” (Quran, 51:56) Take this course to get comprehensive and knowledge-based answers to all of the questions that you are likely to face in your worship of Allah Most High, all in light of a formal textbook of in Shafi`i law that students have used for centuries. This course focuses on the detailed rules of purification, prayer, funeral rites, zakat, fasting, spiritual retreat (i`tikaf), pilgrimage (Hajj), trade, and marriage. This course is taught according to the Shafi`i school. If you would like to learn it according to the Hanafi school, please take this course instead: On Worship (Purification, Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj): Shurunbulali’s Ascent to Felicity

About the Course Text

The course is a detailed explanation of Mukhtasar al-Saghir (Short Abridgment), a summary of the rules of purification, prayer, fasting, zakat, and Hajj, according to the Shafi‘i school, along with a brief introduction to the rules of trade, marriage, and divorce. The book was authored by the great Yemeni Shaykh Abdullah Ba Fadl (d. 918 A.H. / 1512 C.E.), whose works have been taught for centuries in traditional institutions of learning all over the world. A downloadable translation of the text is provided as part of the course materials.

Who is this course for?

  • This is a second-level course in Step One

  • Before taking this course, take The Absolute Essentials of Islam (Shafi‘i)

  • Take this course (or its Hanafi equivalent) before all courses in Step Two

Course Requirements: Absolute Essentials (Shafi'i)

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understand slavehood to Allah Most High and why it is important

  • Learn the rules of purification and prayer that you are likely to encounter in your daily life

  • Memorize the most important rules of wudu and ghusl

  • Memorize the most important rules of prayer

  • Memorize the most important rules of zakat

  • Memorize the most important rules of fasting

  • Memorize the most important rules of Hajj

  • Memorize the most important rules of contracts

  • Appreciate the rigor of the science of Sacred Law (fiqh)

Course Outline

Introductory Lesson

Biography of Imam Shafi’i

Lesson 1 - Introduction

  • Biography of Imam Abdullah Ba Fadl

  • The Text: Al Mukhtasar al Saghir

  • Author’s Introduction

  • Wudu - Integrals

  • Wudu – Sunnas

  • Wudu – Nullifiers

  • Wiping over the Khuffs

  • What is prohibited in ritual impurity

Lesson 2 - Purification

  • Etiquettes of relieving oneself

  • Cleaning oneself – al Istinja`

  • Ghusl – Reasons

  • Ghusl – Integrals

  • Ghusl – Sunan

  • Conditions of purification from ritual impurity

Lesson 3 - Impurities

  • Water and Impurities

  • Impurities

  • That which can be purified and that which cannot be purified

Lesson 4 - Tayammum

  • Tayammum – Integrals

  • Tayammum – Conditions

  • Tayammum – Wounds and bandages

Lesson 5 - Women's Purification

  • Menstruation

  • Lochia

  • Istihada

  • Prohibitions during Menstruation and Lochia

Lesson 6 - Prayer Times

  • Prayer – Times of prayer

  • Prayer – Prohibited times

Lesson 7 - Prayers, Rules and Conditions

  • Prayer – Obligation to pray

  • Prayer – Conditions

  • Prayer – Excused Impurities

Lesson 8 - Prayers Sunnan

  • Prayer – Integrals

  • Prayer – Sunan

Lesson 9 - Prayer Nullifiers

  • Prayer – Nullifiers

Lesson 10 - The Prostration of Forgetfulness Recitation

  • The Prostration of Forgetfulness

  • The Prostration of Recitation

Lesson 11 - Prayers

  • Those whom it is invalid to pray behind (The Imam)

  • Conditions of the congregational prayer

  • The Traveller’s prayer

Lesson 12 - Jumuah prayer

  • The Friday Prayer – The Obligation to Attend

  • The Friday Prayer – Conditions

  • The Friday Prayer – Integrals of the Sermons

  • The Friday Prayer – Conditions of the Sermons

Lesson 13 - Funeral Rites:

  • Washing

  • Shrouding

  • The Funeral Prayer

  • Burial

Lesson 14 - Zakat:

  • Conditions

  • Types of Wealth that Zakat is due upon

  • Zakat on Livestock, Agriculture, Gold and Silver, Mines, Buried Treasure, Trade Goods

Lesson 15 - Zakat al Fitr:

  • Conditions

  • Times

  • Amount

  • Deserving Recipients

Lesson 16 - Fasting:

  • Sighting the Moon

  • Integrals

  • Prohibited Days

  • Conditions for fasting to be obligatory

Lesson 17 - Fasting:

  • Nullifiers

  • Exemptions

Lesson 18 - I’tikaf

  • Conditions

  • Integrals

  • Nullifiers

Lesson 19 - Hajj and Umrah:

  • Those whom it is obligatory upon

  • Integrals of Hajj

  • Necessary acts of Hajj

  • Departing from Mina

  • Integrals of Umrah

  • Conditions and Integrals of the Tawaf

  • Conditions and Integrals of the Sa’i

  • Exiting from Ihram

Lesson 20 - Hajj and Umrah:

  • Prohibitions during Ihram

Lesson 21 - Buying and Selling:

  • Conditions and Integrals

Lesson 22 - Riba (interest):

  • Interest factors and Conditions

Lesson 23 - Cancellation of sales transactions:

  • Types of Cancellations

  • Defective Goods

  • Prohibited Sales

Lesson 24 - Marriage and Divorce:

  • Marriage: Conditions, Integrals, Sunnas

  • Divorce: Integrals and Types

  • Waiting Periods (‘Idda): Types, Duration, Prohibitions

About The Instructors:

Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. He traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years privately studying a range of Islamic sciences under the foremost scholars and muftis from the Ribat Tarim, specializing in Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies under many of Amman’s most prominent scholars, in a range of Islamic sciences, including Islamic theology, logic, legal principles and precepts, hadith studies, grammar and rhetoric, seerah, Quranic studies and tafsir. He is also an experienced homeopath, having studied and been mentored by some of its leading practitioners.

Shaykh Farid Dingle has completed extensive years of study in the sciences of the Arabic language and the various Islamic Sciences. During his studies, he also earned a CIFE Certificate in Islamic Finance. Over the years he has developed a masterful ability to crafts lessons that help non-Arabic speakers gain a deep understanding of the language. He currently teaches courses in the Arabic Language.

Level: Two

Instructors: Shaykh Jamir Meah & Shaykh Farid Dingle

Course Overview

Every human action has a divine command associated with it, making it obligatory, recommended, permissible, offensive, or unlawful. We cannot infer these commands with our minds–the only way to learn about them is by learning them from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). The goal of the science of sacred law (fiqh) is to summarize what the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) taught us about all human actions, whether related to worship, trade, investment, food, hunting, oaths, entertainment, marriage, divorce, inheritance, legal procedures, or public policy.  This four-part series of courses will introduce you to the science of sacred law as it relates to all aspects of life, focussing in this first part on the rules of purification and prayer.

Who is this course for?

• Complete level One before taking this course

• Take this course before taking the second part of this course

Learning Outcomes:

  • Describe the historical development of the Shafi‘i school

  • Learn the rules of purification, prayer, clothing, funeral rites, fasting, zakat, and Hajj

  • Memorize the definitions of key terms related to the rules of purification, prayer, clothing, funeral rites, fasting, zakat, and Hajj

  • Appreciate the depth of the Muslim scholarly tradition

Course Outline

Session 1

  • Biography of Author; Author’s Introduction; The Five Rulings; Personal vs.Communal Obligatory Knowledge

Session 2

  • Purification;  Integrals & Nullifiers of Ablution; Etiquettes of the Washroom

Session 3

Major Ritual Impurity

Session 4

  • Wiping Over Socks; Dry Ablution; Types of Filth

Session 5

  • Rulings Related to the Different Types of Bleeding for Women

Session 6

  • The Prayer – Times; Sunnah Prayer; Conditions & Integrals

Session 7

  • Sunnahs & Nullifiers of the Prayer

Session 8

  • Prostration of Forgetfulness; Forbidden Times to Pray; The Congregational Prayer

Session 9

  • Joining Prayers & the Friday Prayer

Session 10

  • Special Prayers for Particular Circumstances

Session 11

  • Clothing

Session 12

  • Rites of the Deceased & the Funeral Prayer

Session 13

  • Zakat on Wealth Zakatable wealth Conditions for obligation of Zakat

Session 14

  • Zakat on livestock

Session 15

  • Zakat on gold and silver Zakat on agriculture

Session 16

  • Zakat on trade Zakat on mines Zakat on buried treasure

Session 17

  • Zakat al Fitr Deserving Recipients Distributing Zakat

Session 18

  • Fasting Obligation Integrals Nullifiers

Session 19

  • Sunnan of fasting Disliked acts during Fasting Sunna Fasts

Session 20

  • Unlawful Days of Fasting Expiations Excuses for not Fasting

Session 21

  • Itikaf (spiritual retreat) Integrals Nullifiers

Session 22

  • Hajj Conditions for obligation Integrals Necessary acts

Session 23

  • Sunnas of Hajj and Umrah Prohibitions in Ihram

Session 24

  • Omission of Pilgrim rites Expiations

About The Instructors

Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. He traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years privately studying a range of Islamic sciences under the foremost scholars and muftis from the Ribat Tarim, specializing in Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies under many of Amman’s most prominent scholars, in a range of Islamic sciences, including Islamic theology, logic, legal principles and precepts, hadith studies, grammar and rhetoric, seerah, Quranic studies and tafsir. He is also an experienced homeopath, having studied and been mentored by some of its leading practitioners.

Shaykh Farid Dingle has completed extensive years of study in the sciences of the Arabic language and the various Islamic Sciences. During his studies, he also earned a CIFE Certificate in Islamic Finance. Over the years he has developed a masterful ability to crafts lessons that help non-Arabic speakers gain a deep understanding of the language. He currently teaches courses in the Arabic Language.

Level: Two

Instructors: Shaykh Jamir Meah & Shaykh Farid Dingle

Course Overview

This course will cover the details of financial transactions, inheritance, marriage, divorce, child custody, injurious crimes, fixed Sharia punishments, hunting and halal slaughtering of animals, oaths and vows, and court proceedings according to the Shafi’i school of Islamic jurisprudence.  It will cover who can undertake a financial contract, what can be sold, and various details of a wide number of contracts like hiring, agency, companies, and investments. The course also goes over the various shares in inheritance, its conditions and execution, and other related matters. There will also be some detail on polygamy, the Islamic juristic and political structure, and jus ad bellum and jus in bello.

Who is this course for?

Before taking this course, take the Essentials of Worship (Shafi'i): Ba Fadl's The Short Abridgement Explained

Take this course before all courses in Level Three.

Learning Outcomes:

• The technical side of the vast majority of financial and familial relations that a Muslim will get involved in his/her life.

• the various types of sale, how “interest” can be avoided in sales and currency exchange, the various forms of canceling a sales contract, forward sales, and debt transfers.

• The concept of financial liability and legal liability it discussed along with various forms of investing money in a halal way.

• Other key topics include charitable engagements, and who should get married, and how it should be done from beginning to end.

• The details of the shares inherited from one family member are explained, that one inherits from and that one does not, and how the shares can vary based on the combinations of living heirs.

• How an Islamic marriage is terminated, and what the financial obligations are towards one’s family members.

• How Islam joins between the spirit and the letter of the Sacred Law

• How Islam promotes law and order

• How flexible Sharia law can be

• What valid oaths and vows are

• How Islamic law fits into the current political climate

Course Outline

Session 1

  • Al Bai’ – Sales Transactions Al Riba – Interest Sales Cancellations

Session 2

  • Al Salam – Paying in Advance Al Rahn – Putting up Collateral Al Hajr – Suspension

Session 3

  • Al Sulh – Reconciliation Al Hawala – Transferring a Debt Al Dhaman – Guaranteeing Payment Al Kafalah - Guaranteeing a Person’s Appearance

Session 4

  • Al Sharika – Cooperative Partnerships Al Wakala – Authorisation Al Iqrar – Admissions

Session 5

  • Al ‘Ariyyah – Lending Items Al Ghasb – Wrongfully Taken Property Al Shufa’ – Preemption

Session 6

  • Al Qirad – Profit Sharing Venture Al Musaqah – Watering Crops for a Stipulated Portion Al Ijarah – Renting Goods and Hiring Services

Session 7

  • Al Ja’alah – Job Wages Al Mukhabara – Sharecropping Ihya al Mawat – Regenerating Uninhibited Lands Water Rights and Access

Session 8

  • Al Waqf – Endowments Al Hiba – Gifts Al Luqata – Lost and Found

Session 9

  • Al Laqit – The Foundling Al Wadi’ – Deposits for Safekeeping Al Wasiyah – Bequests

Session 10

  • Al Fara’id (Inheritance) – Introduction Male Inheritors Female Inheritors Those Who Always Inherit Those Who Never Inherit Al ‘Asabat – Universal Inheritors Al Furud – Fixed Shares Al Hajb – Elimination Shares of Brothers and Sisters

Session 11

  • Al Nikah (Marriage) – Introduction Looking at the Opposite Sex The Integrals of the Marriage Contract Al Khitba – Marriage Proposals Al Ijbar – Compelling Women to Marry Unmarriageable Women

Session 12

  • Spousal Defects Permitting Annulment Al Sadaq – The Wife’s Marriage Payment Al Walimah – The Wedding Feast

Session 13

  • Conjugal rights;  divorce and related issues;

Session 14

  • Child custody and financial support.

Session 15

  • Blood money

Session 16

  • Fixed Sharia punishments

Session 17

  • Jihad: Jus ad bellum and jus in bello

Session 18

  • Jihad: Jus post bellum

Session 19

Hunting and halal slaughter

Session 20

  • Competitions and Entertainment

Session 21

  • Oaths and Vows

Session 22

  • Caliphate

Session 23

  • Court proceedings

Session 24

  • Manumission

About The instructors:

Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. He traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years privately studying a range of Islamic sciences under the foremost scholars and muftis from the Ribat Tarim, specializing in Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies under many of Amman’s most prominent scholars, in a range of Islamic sciences, including Islamic theology, logic, legal principles and precepts, hadith studies, grammar and rhetoric, seerah, Quranic studies and tafsir. He is also an experienced homeopath, having studied and been mentored by some of its leading practitioners.

Shaykh Farid Dingle has completed extensive years of study in the sciences of the Arabic language and the various Islamic Sciences. During his studies, he also earned a CIFE Certificate in Islamic Finance. Over the years he has developed a masterful ability to crafts lessons that help non-Arabic speakers gain a deep understanding of the language. He currently teaches courses in the Arabic Language.

Level: Two

Instructor: Shaykh Muhammad Carr

Course Overview

This thought-provoking and insightful intermediate (Level Two) course in Islamic Legal Theory is for anyone seeking to gain an appreciation of how Islamic Law works.

Imam Juwayni, author of the Waraqat was an imam (i.e., someone who is taken as an exemplar) of the Islamic sciences in the fullest sense of the word: he authored multi-volume seminal works in Shafi‘i jurisprudence, Islamic theology, and Islamic legal theory.

The main benefit of this course is to illustrate how Islamic law is derived from its sources and equip you with the tools required to extrapolate law from the Qur’an and sunna.

The course sets a foundation and framework for further studies in Usul (Islamic legal Theory) .

By taking this course, students will be able to locate traditional fiqh within the Qur’an and sunna and also deal with differences in society in a more cohesive manner.

About the Author

The Waraqat, a primer on Islamic legal theory (Usul al-fiqh) by Imam Juwayni (d. 478 A.H. / 1085 C.E.), is an important text that covers the integrals of Islamic legal theory namely: sources of Islamic Law, types of speech, modes of extrapolation, and the condition of the extrapolator in terms of being an original thinker or otherwise.

The text is significant due to the author and the prominence that Allah has afforded it. Imam Juwayni was an imam (i.e., someone who is taken as an exemplar) of the Islamic sciences in the fullest sense of the word. His Waraqat is a short work that brings his vast scholarship in the science of Islamic legal theory down to the level of an absolute beginner. Ever since it was written almost a thousand years ago, students of the Shafi‘i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools have successfully used it to begin their study of Islamic legal theory.

The Waraqat is taught in light of the renowned sharh (explanatory notes) provided by Jalal al-din al-Mahalli. The more extensive sharh by Ibn al-Firkah was also consulted as part of the preparation for this course.

About the Text

This book is authored by Imam Haramayn Abd al Malik b. Abd Allah b. Yusuf al Juwayni (419 A.H. - 478 A.H.). Imam Juwayni authored a great many works. In fiqh, he penned the Nihayat al-matlab regarding which Imam Subki said: The like of it has not been authored in Islam for the madhab. The Nihaya became the source for all consequent literature in the shafi’i school of thought. He also authored the Ghiyathi which is one of his major contributions.

Imam Subki described him as an ocean of knowledge, meticulous and erudite scholar, legal theorist, and theologian of repute. It is really his grace to distill from his vast scholarship, this beginner treatise for us to benefit from and access this noble science.

Imam Juwayni was well known for his contribution to Islamic theology, jurisprudence, and politics. Ibn Salah quotes a person that has seen Imam Juwayni as saying: The eyes of a person have not seen the likes of Imam al-Haramayn .

Who is This Course For?

• This course is for students of the Islamic sciences. It is particularly beneficial for students wanting to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of Islamic Law

• It is a level 2 course and a student must have finished all the level one courses.

• This course can also be taken by anyone who is interested in learning more about how Islamic Law works and those wishing to pave a career in fiqh.

Study Effort

• 3 hours weekly which includes preparation and consolidation of lessons.

• 30 Minutes for quizzes.

Learning Outcomes

• Explain what Islamic legal theory is and why it needs to be studied

• Learn how to interpret the Qur’an and Sunna

• Memorize the definitions of key terms in the science of Islamic legal theory

• Appreciate the depth of scholarship of Islamic jurisprudence

• Apply the techniques of Islamic legal theory to gain clarity on contemporary religious debates about literalism, ijtihad and taqlid.

Course Outline 

Lesson 1 -   Introduction

• Definition and analysis of the term usul al- fiqh and its various applications
  

Lesson 02 - Types of Rulings

• Definition of the term hukm, The types of ahkam and their relevant legal weight. 
  

Lesson 3 - Terminology

• This lesson covers the concept fiqh juxtapositioned to ilm as well as terminology relating to Islamic epistemology. 
  

Lesson 4 -  Literal and Metaphorical Speech

• This lesson covers the types of speech in terms of haqiqa and majaz: literal and metaphorical. 

Lesson 5 - The Command 

• This lesson covers the command verb and its legal implications 

Lesson 6 - The Command-Related Issues

• This lesson covers whether a command verb necessitates immediacy and repetition or not
  

Lesson 7 - Who Falls under the Ambit of the Command and Prohibition  

• This lesson covers the conditions that make a person morally responsible  
  

Lesson 8 - The Prohibition

• This lesson covers the prohibition verb and its legal implications
  

Lesson 9 - Aam Generality

• This lesson covers the definition of the concept aam and its instruments
  

Lesson 10 - Khas Specification and the specified 

• This lesson covers the definition of khas and its application  
  

Lesson 11 - Takhsis Remotely

• This lesson covers how a  general concept is particularised.

Lesson 12 - Mujmal 

• This lesson covers types of words like mujmal and mubayyan as well as nass and zahir

Lesson 13 - Af-al Actions

• This lesson covers the actions of the prophet (May Allah grant him peace) and their legal weight 

Lesson 14 -  Naskh Abrogation 

• This lesson covers the concept of abrogation: its definition and application

Lesson 15 - Reconciling between Apparent Differences

• This lesson covers case studies of apparently contradictory texts and how they should be reconciled

Lesson 16 -  Ijma 

• This lesson covers the concept of ijma: definition, types, and legal weight 

Lesson 17 - Akhbar Sunna

• This lesson covers the definition of khabar and the types of akhbar

Lesson 18 -Qiyas

•  This lesson covers qiyas and with all of their integrals

Lesson 19 - Default Ruling

• This lesson covers the default ruling in terms of permissibility or otherwise

Lesson 20- Apparently Contradictory Proofs

• This lesson covers how to deal with apparently contradictory proofs and how to navigate these texts. 

Lesson 21  - Mufti and Mustafti

• This lesson covers the default ruling in terms of permissibility or otherwise

Lesson 22  - Ijtihad and Taqlid

• This lesson covers the definition of ijtihad and taqlid respectively and the rules and regulations relating to both. 
  

About the Instructor

Shaykh Muhammad Carr has dedicated his life to studying and transmitting our beautiful deen. His studies have taken him around the globe, where he has benefitted from many luminaries. Under the guidance of his teachers - Shaykh Taha Karan, Shaykh Yaseen Abbas, Shaykh Muadh Ali and many others - Shaykh Muhammad has grown to appreciate the beauty and benefits of diverse scholarship. He completed his memorization of the Qur’an at Dar al-Ulum Zakariyyah in September 1997 and received an Alimiyya Degree in 2006 from DUAI (Darul Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah). He is also affiliated with Masjid Auwal in Bo Kaap, Cape Town (the oldest mosque in South Africa), where he serves as a co-imam, and Dar Al-Safa, where he has taught since 2018. As a teacher, he imparts the wisdom of our heritage and tradition by opening the door for students. As an imam, he has the unique opportunity to serve his community in daily life. He continues to pursue traditional Islamic Sciences, possessing a keen interest in Islamic Contract Law and Finance.