June 6, 2024

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AL-MAQASID COMMUNITY FORUM

Thank you to everyone who attended this year's first Community Forum.

We appreciate your valuable questions, comments, and feedback. Your engagement and support are what make our community successful and enriching. We look forward to many more productive evenings of dialogue, discussion, and communal spirit, inshaAllah.

We ask Allah to bless our community, to strengthen our bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood, and to fill our hearts with love and compassion for one another.

We’d love to hear from you:
https://www.almaqasid.org/feedback

WAYFARERS TO GOD: A SISTER’S SERIES ON SULUK

WITH SAYYIDA NEJMA DAVIS

We pray that Allah continues facilitating our gatherings in pursuit of knowledge for His sake. May He make these gatherings a source of enlightenment, growth, and spiritual nourishment for all involved.

'Wayfarers to God: A Sister’s Series on Suluk' by Habib Ali Al-Jifri, facilitated by Sayyida Nejma Davis, serves as a comprehensive guide for all those on a journey of Spiritual Wayfaring or Suluk. Rooted in principles of self-reflection and sincere effort, this lecture series gently navigates the intricacies of understanding the nafs (ego) and the detrimental impact it can have. Habib Ali Al-Jifri sheds light on the path to liberating oneself from the nafs, delving into the exploration of base desires, evil inclinations, and diseases of the heart. His approach resonates deeply, permeating the soul and igniting a call to action.

InshaAllah the next session of "Wayfarers to God - A Sisters Series on Suluk" will take place Saturday, June 29th from 11-1 pm with Sayyida Nejma Davis at Al-Maqasid in the Green Barn.

Al-Maqasid Archery Program

By the Grace of Allah ﷻ, Archery at Al-Maqasid this summer has began!

Based on wide interest in archery programming at Al-Maqasid, we are excited to offer this activity to our community members. Archery is a great Sunnah that our teachers recommend as an avenue of leisure, suhba, exercise, and in following our beloved Messenger ﷺ.

MashaAllah, due to overwhelming interest, we have reached the maximum capacity in the new archery program.

While we are delighted by the high demand for our program, this also means that we are unable to accommodate any additional participants at this time. We encourage those who are interested in participating to stay tuned for future updates and opportunities. While not a formal waiting list, if you are interested in participating in archery but did not register, please email us at community@almaqasid.org so we may make note of your interest and potentially notify you of openings.

Upcoming programs

Collective Dua for Palestine

“Who responds to the distressed when they cry to Him, relieving ˹their˺ affliction, and ˹Who˺ makes you successors in the earth? Is it another god besides Allah?" [Quran 27:62] The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has said, "The Ummah in their mutual love, mercy, and affection is like one body. If one part of the body suffers, the rest of the body responds with wakefulness and fever." [Bukhari & Muslim]

As we witness the oppression and tragic loss of innocent lives in Palestine, many feel overwhelmed with feelings of sadness and resentment. As believers, we never lose hope and we recognize that Allah's will is supreme. Even when the Prophet ﷺ faced the most debilitating challenges, he ﷺ turned to Allah constantly and sought only His support. Therefore, we must turn to Allah ﷻ and seek His assistance and protection.

Join us Fridays before Fajr at 3:45am as we gather during the last third of the night to make duʿa for our brothers and sisters in Palestine. We ask Allah ﷻ that He bring relief to the Ummah.

The gathering will be broadcast at www.Mixlr.com/almaqasid

Qur’an Khatam after Fajr on Friday

From the bounty of Allah, friday morning (June 7th) in sha Allah will be the next khatm of the daily Quran Halaqa after Fajr prayer. We will start reciting around 5:15am (after congregational Fajr at 4:45am) and then read the blessed supplication of Sayyiduna Ali Zayn al-Abidin after in sha Allah.

Narrations indicate that when the Qur’an is completed mercy descends, prayers are accepted, and 4,000 angels say ‘Amin’ to the supplications made. Believers would gather together for the occasion so the blessing would become widespread. We invite all of you and your children to take part.

For those who cannot attend in person, the gathering will be broadcast online at www.mixlr.com/almaqasid

ON DEVOTIONAL POETRY

We are excited to announce our upcoming Weekend Retreat, which will be held on June 7-9 titled On Devotional Poetry, a study of Book 18 of Imam al- Ghazali’s masterpiece Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din (Revival of the Religious Sciences).

While there are differing scholarly opinions with respect to music and singing, Imam al-Ghazali argues in Book 18 that there is both textual evidence and proper analogy that indicate their permissibility under certain occasions and conditions. For example, Imam al-Ghazali mentions the singing that occurred upon the arrival of the Messenger to Madinah and on another occasion, he ﷺ allowed Sayyida Aisha, Radiallahu Anha, to listen to servants beating drums during Eid. Additionally, the messenger ﷺ said with respect to one of his ﷺ he Messenger companions, “[he] has been gifted with a sweet melodious voice out of the voices of the family of Dawud.”

In Imam al-Ghazali’s On Devotional Poetry, he discusses the differing scholarly opinions on music and singing, the permissibility of listening to pleasant sounds, types of pleasant sounds including poetry, five contingencies which make music and singing impermissible, and rebuttals to arguments prohibiting music and singing.

We welcome you to join us in exploring this often misunderstood but, in these times, highly relevant issue in what we pray will be a weekend filled with abundant blessings as we acquire knowledge and spend time in devotion together.

Inquiries: programs@almaqasid.org

Dear Students, Families, and Friends of Al-Maqasid,

We are excited to invite you to the Al-Maqasid Commencement Ceremony, celebrating the accomplishments of our students. This special event will take place on June 22nd at 5 PM, insha'Allah.

We are thrilled to announce a momentous occasion in the journey of our students that truly deserves celebration. Our students have exhibited exceptional dedication and achieved remarkable milestones in their academic endeavors. Their achievements are a testament to their hard work, perseverance, and the support they have received from our faculty and community.

In light of this, we cordially invite you to join us for a special ceremony at Al-Maqasid to celebrate the accomplishments of our students. This event is an opportunity for us to come together as a community, alongside family, friends, and esteemed faculty members, to honor and applaud the outstanding achievements of our students.

Light dinner will be served following the ceremony, and we kindly ask that you RSVP by June 17th to ensure that we can accommodate everyone. We apologize, at this time we do not have childcare. Youth 13+ are welcome to attend.

We look forward to seeing you on June 22nd at 5 PM for this momentous occasion!

Link to RSVP: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/almaqasid/1275816

RSVP TODAY

MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

“Whoever is not concerned with the affairs of the believers is not from them.”

As believers, we never lose hope and we recognize that Allah's will is supreme. Even when the Prophet ﷺ faced the most debilitating challenges, he ﷺ turned to Allah constantly and sought only His support. Therefore, we must turn to Allah ﷻ and seek His assistance and protection. .

“There is nothing we can do for creation if our hearts are not in the right places.”

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O my Lord, bless & grant peace always and forever. Upon Your beloved one, the Best of all Creation

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LOVING THE BELOVED ﷺ

This weekly Majlis includes a recitation of the prophetic biography in poetry form followed by a counsel intended to connect the listener to the Prophet ﷺ and his teachings. The more we know about his life, character, and way, the more we will come to love and follow the one beloved to Allah.

Calling Upon Allah - Yahya rhodus

Allah has the Most Beautiful Names. So call upon Him by them, and keep away from those who abuse His Names. (Al-Aʿrāf, Ayah 180)

Nothing is more important, enriching, or fulfilling for a human being than reaching a state where all circumstances and worldly events, as well as everything that happens in our own lives, are connected to a manifestation of one or more of the names and attributes of Allah.

Being sources of Beauty - Amjad Tarsin

إِنَّ اللَّهَ جَمِيلٌ يُحِبُّ الْجَمَالَ

Jabir reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,

“Verily, Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty.”

(Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani)

Obedience to the Most Merciful - Tariq Ameer

In obedience to the Most Merciful, roll up your sleeves. The fundamental aspect of being upright is doing what is required and avoiding what is impermissible. I’m performing the obligatory actions and refraining from those things that are forbidden.

Concealing The Truth - Hasan Petrus

The ungrateful person acknowledges the blessings of Allah yet attempts to cover them, demonstrating the relationship between belief and gratitude. You could even say that belief is an essential form of gratitude because gratitude involves recognizing and acknowledging blessings.

JUMU’A KHUTBA

The weekly Jumu'a, or Friday, Congregational prayer is live streamed from Al-Maqasid from 12:15pm-1:10pm.

Where to Find Fulfillment - amjad tarsin

“All the acts of worship that we have in our religion, all of them, are meant to help us get to that point where we are in a state of remembrance of Allah, subhanahu wa Ta’ala.”

The more one seeks worldly things (wealth, luxury, fame), the more empty one becomes. Citing the Quran and Hadith, Amjad Tarsin explains that fulfillment is found only in the remembrance of Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala.

Amjad also discusses the etiquettes of remembrance mentioned by the great scholar and spiritual guide Imam Al-Haddad, may Allah have mercy upon him and benefit us by him.

ARTICLES

The Danger of Belittling Worship and Remembrance

Habib Ali al-Jifri (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) draws our attention to a subtle trap that activists may fall into. They may mistakenly think that spending time in Allah’s remembrance is a waste of time and that people instead should be occupied solving the problems of the Ummah. Such a belief has dangerous consequences.

“One of the Devil’s tricks is to make the believer belittle remembrance and worship on the basis that Islam is a religion of action which covers all aspects of life. This then leads him into the trap of showing bad etiquette with Allah and takes him away from worship which the Prophet ﷺ called one of the gardens of Paradise. His character worsens and this is reflected in his speech and actions. His heart becomes darkened with the filth of hatred, pride and arrogance.

In spite of these terrible things, he is under the illusion that he is struggling for the sake of the truth and the religion and defending it against oppression and its proponents. He is heedless of the fact that the truth and Islam cannot be defended by going against the teachings of the Prophet, the Chosen One ﷺ who was sent as a mercy to all the worlds.

O Allah, give us insight that allows us to know the path to You and give us the ability to take the path which arrives at Your pleasure. Do not entrust us to our lower selves and do not surrender us to the Devil even for the blink of an eye, O Living, O Sustainer!”