Free Online Summer Fiqh Course with Knowledge International University

جامعة المعرفة العالمية
Knowledge International University
Presents


A Comprehensive explanation of the "Book of Worship" from Imam As-Sa'di's "Manhaj As-Saalikeen".




An excellent FREE and essential online course open to all.

The University is pleased to announce that this course will be made freely available to all participants. Furthermore, all registering students will be provided with translated course material and the opportunity to sit a series of examinations. Successful students will receive a KIU course certification. Registration is also free of charge.

Taught by the esteemed Sheikh, Dr Sa'ad Ash-Shithry, founder of the KIU and former member of Saudi Arabia's Council of Senior Scholars.
Translated live into English by brother Abu 'Abdillah, Sajid Ahmed 'Umar, graduate from the Faculty of Shari'ah, Imam Muhammad bin Sa'ud Islamic University, Riyadh

About the Book

Manhaj asSaalikeen (The way of the traveller). A condensed fiqh treatise authored by the noble, respected sheikh, Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Naasir asSa'diy, 1307AH- 1376AH (May Allah have mercy upon him).

About the Author

He is Abu Abd Allah, Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Naasir ibn Abd Allah ibn Naasir ibn Hamd Aal Sa'diy, from the tribe of Bani Tameem. Sheikh asSa'diy was born on the 12th of Muharram 1307AH. Despite losing his parents at a young age; the sheikh experienced a noble upbringing, having memorised the Qur'aan before reaching the age of 12. He was blessed with the opportunity to seek knowledge under the most renowned scholars during his time, and later became a great scholar himself. From amongst his many students are, Sheikh Muhammed ibn Saalih alUthaimeen, Sheikh Abd Allah ibn Abdur-Rahmaan alBassaam and Sheikh Abdul-Azeez ibn Muhammed asSalmaan.

The esteemed sheikh (May Allah have mercy upon him) also authored several books dealing with the various Islamic sciences, including the famous book explaining the verses of the Qur'aan, called: 'Tayseer alKareem arRahmaan fee Tafseer kalaam alManaan', which he completed before the age of forty.

On the 23/6/1376AH the Ummah lost a great scholar with the passing of Sheikh asSa'diy in the city of 'Unayzah, Saudi Arabia. On that day crowds, of capacities never witnessed before in 'Unayzah, gathered for the funeral prayer that preceded his burial. (May Allah have mercy upon him).

About the Lecturer

The esteemed Sheikh, Dr. Sa'd ibn Naasir ash-Shithry. He is the founder of Knowledge International University, and former member of the 'Council of Senior Ulamaa'' Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Sa'd holds a doctorate in the field of Islamic Jurisprudence Methodology. He is also the author of several books explaining intricate topics found in the various Islamic Sciences, and has revised, authenticated, and explained a large number of texts. His presence and calibre in the field of Da'wah and Islamic education is experienced across the globe.

About the Translator

Abu Abd Allah, Sajid Ahmed Umar. Graduate from the Faculty of Shariah, Imam Muhammed bin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh.

Who this Course is for?

The course has been carefully developed to accommodate English speaking Muslim students of all levels. Any Muslim interested in enhancing their understanding of the Chapter of worship found in the books of Fiqh, which include- 'The book of Tahaarah (purity), book of Salaah, Book of Siyaam (Fasting), book of Zakaah and the book of Hajj is encouraged to join. This series is also for those who seek a rare opportunity to interact live with Sheikh Dr. Sa'd ash-Shethry, who is a renowned scholar, and a senior authority especially in the field of Islamic Jurisprudence.

Registration and Deadline

The registration process is simple and easy to follow. Please visit (www.kiu.org/website) to access the registration form. Participants who submit their registration form before the deadline will receive an email with their student login credentials allowing them entry into the student portal. Please be sure to check your spam/junk mail, in case our automated message is redirected upon arrival by your applet. The deadline for registering onto this course is Wednesday 21st of July, 2010.

Exam Structure and Certification

All registered students will have the option to take exam weekly consisting of 15 questions covering the sessions of that week. At the end of the course there will be a final exam covering the whole course.

The exams will be conducted online through the student portal.

Students who sit and successfully pass all the exams will receive a digital certificate signed by the University.

The required pass mark to receive the certificate is 60%

Course Schedule

The course will be provided through 12 lecture sessions across 4 weekends, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Please review the timetable below. All scheduled times are stated in Riyadh time (GMT+3).

Current time in Saudi Arabia:
6:18:51 P.M.


Date Time Session Title

16-07-2010 5:00PM-6:30PM Session One
17-07-2010 2:00PM-3:30PM Session Two
18-07-2010 2:00PM-3:30PM Session Three

23-07-2010 5:00PM-6:30PM Session Four
24-07-2010 2:00PM-3:30PM Session Five
25-07-2010 2:00PM-3:30PM Session Six

30-07-2010 5:00PM-6:30PM Session Seven
31-07-2010 2:00PM-3:30PM Session Eight
01-08-2010 2:00PM-3:30PM Session Nine

06-08-2010 5:00PM-6:30PM Session Ten
07-08-2010 2:00PM-3:30PM Session Eleven
07-08-2010 2:00PM-3:30PM Session Twelve

For more information and to register free for this online course, please visit:
http://www.kiu.org/website

PLEASE PASS ON THIS EMAIL

K.I.U did not invent on-line education, We just 'sanctified' it!

Sha’bân: The Neglected Month

Since Sh'baan is only a few days away; I present to you all this informative piece by

Abu Eesa Niamatullah.

....................................................

One would agree that from the most unfortunate things possible is to be the rightful recipient of some good news – a present maybe, a gift of money, a bequest etc – but then one remains unaware of this fact, or doesn’t pay attention to all the phone calls informing him of such glad tidings.

So there’s your present waiting for you, and you’re not really aware to its full worth or value – no-one else is going to claim it on your behalf and if you knew its real significance, you’d never leave it to waste!

Yet the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told us, as narrated by al-Imâm al-Bayhaqî, that:

“Sha’bân is a month between Rajab and Ramadhân, much neglected by people. In it, the actions of all servants are raised to the Lord of the Worlds; I love that my actions are not presented except that I am fasting.”

Here is a man, the wisest and most eager of creation to obtain all possible good, who saw this blessed month of Sha’bân very differently to many of us. He, peace be upon him, would never leave it to waste, rather he would be seen fasting almost the entire month of Sha’bân, only ever surpassed by the fasting of the whole of Ramadhân.

So why exactly is that?

There are numerous authentic reports that detail how the majority of Sha’bân was spent by our beloved Prophet in a state of fasting; a state which heightens our God-consciousness, makes us aware of our desires and the need for their control, makes us aware of the problems and difficulties of so many poor people around the world when we feel those pangs of hunger. The fasting one becomes very mindful of their tongue and how they abuse by it, their eyes and how they deviate from purity, their hearts and how much filth enters it without wilful control.

All in all, there is nothing more conducive to sincerely worshipping our Master, the Lord of the Worlds than doing so whilst fasting.

But doesn’t that occur whenever someone is fasting? Why then the month of Sha’bân?

With Ramadhân just around the corner, where many of us really do ‘make it or break it’ for the rest of the year due to the quality of our ‘ibâdah (worship) in it, it becomes paramount to prepare properly for this once in a lifetime opportunity. After all, do you know whether you’ll ever be lucky enough to greet another one? Weren’t the Sahâbah (Companions) described by Ma’lâ bin Fadhl as those people who spent six months of the year asking Allâh to accept their ‘ibâdah of their previous Ramadhân and the next six months asking just to be allowed to reach the next one?

So often do many of us think we can just turn up to the show in Ramadhân, take a seat and watch the game, see the team win and go home happy at the end. What a huge mistake.

Spending thirty odd days of Ramadhân refraining from food and drink from morning to night isn’t the second pillar of Islam known as Siyâm. No – I think people might be getting a bit confused there don’t you? That’s just a hungry and thirsty person, someone who in reality, has just wasted his time.

Rather as the Prophet, peace be upon him, advised us, we need to avoid all the well-known slips of the tongue, eyes, heart and really just our desires in general in order to be one who fulfils the conditions of Ramadhân. We need to make sure that we adorn our fasting with all other possible extra good actions such as praying extra nawâfil (voluntary prayers), giving charity, re-establishing family ties, increasing our social and da’wah (presenting Islam to non-Muslims) work, displaying generosity to Muslims and non-Muslims alike, extra dhikr (remembrance), memorisation of the Qur’ân etc. Surely that is the whole point here – that we fast so as to be more aware of our actions and that they are presented to Allâh, the Most High, in their best possible light.

Only with such a high quality day of fasting can we really have hoped to achieve the desired consequence – that all our previous sins are forgiven and that we enter His Garden with His pleasure, if Allâh wills it.

But don’t think such a day is easy to come by. Rather it is the exception although it shouldn’t be like that. Hence the greatness of Sha’bân, that blessed opportunity to see whether we can make the mark, the mock exam before the impending finals, the last practice in front of the mirror before the key interview – although each practice is important itself, mistakes that are made here are blessed ones if they are learned from and not repeated at the key moment.

This has to be our aim in the remaining days of Sha’bân. Try and make it a real and sincere practice effort for Ramadhân which is only a few weeks away – keep a note of all your external and internal actions during the day whilst you refrain from food and drink and be horrified at the amount of rubbish we espouse from our bodies on a daily basis. It’s going to be a major wake-up call and all praise is due to Allâh for that – I would rather that I’m rudely awoken today than be found in a drunken stupor during Laylat’l-Qadr (the Night of Power) …

Don’t you want to take full advantage of Ramadhân when it comes? Don’t you want to profit whilst the doors of Heaven are thrown wide open, the doors of Hell are slammed shut and our greatest detractors of all, the devils, are firmly chained up? Which believer doesn’t welcome those open doors and which sinner of us doesn’t sigh with relief at the taming of the Fire – if but just for a small moment?

For as the poet said,

“Whoever is shown mercy in Ramadhân is marhûm (blessed, receiver of mercy), whoever prohibits for himself its good is mahrûm (devoid of blessing and good) and whoever doesn’t take provision and sustenance from it is malûm (has no-one to blame but himself).”

So at this ‘neglected time’, when the majority of our friends, family and community are not paying attention to what could be gained, where the environment is not conducive to steeling one’s resolve and focus on that which is good, where people are concentrating on ‘enjoying’ themselves as much as possible before the ‘hardships’ of Ramadhân – during this time, let us strive to perfect ourselves now and learn from our mistakes whilst we prepare for the ‘Big One’, so as to really achieve the objective behind fasting and indeed life itself – to become those who are constantly aware of Allâh (al-Muttaqûn). How on Earth can we possibly achieve this if we just dive into Ramadhân without a care in the world, not having conditioned our bodies, physically and spiritually in Sha’bân? How can we work on preserving our energy during Ramadhân, not simply to last till Sunset, but to pray all the extra sunnah available if we don’t try and test ourselves now? How will we know the looseness of our eyes if we don’t catch the eyes out now? How will we ever realise how much we gossip and backbite during Ramadhân when we don’t try refraining ourselves from the rafath (filth) and fisq (evil) during our fasts today?

Surely, the fact that we can perfect ourselves and reach the true goal during Ramadhân simply by exerting ourselves now during Sha’bân is a compelling argument for why the Companions observed that when they saw the Prophet, peace be upon him, fasting at this time, they thought he’d never eat again – may Allâh bless him, give him eternal peace and reward him with the very greatest of rewards!

Last, but certainly not least, for those who look for bargains and the like at such times (and who wouldn’t considering how miskeen to our Lord we all are!), there is another super jackpot moment in this blessed month. If all the obvious benefits were not enough, we also have a special night in which forgiveness is on a unique limited offer for the Believers.

In a much disputed hasan narration collected by ibn Hibbân, one of many other weak ahâdîth, it is reported that on the authority of Mu’âdh ibn Jabal, may Allâh be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

“Allâh looks to His creation on the middle night of Sha’bân and forgives all of His creation, except for the one who ascribes partners to Him and the one who holds malice against others.”

Which one of us isn’t in need of this special moment of forgiveness? Yes, Allâh, the Most High, descends in the last third of every night offering salvation to us but here is another special moment for us to profit from, not restricted by the length of the night and specifically chosen by Sayyidina Mustapha, peace be upon him, to strive for.

Let us use this night to beseech our Lord for His bounty and pardon, prioritising our good deeds. After all, this is a night of forgiveness so what else better to do but to seek it! But at the same time, let us not put our hopes into just this one night but use these many sanctified days ahead to do exactly that – get ahead.

Al-Imâm ibn al-Jawzi, may Allâh have mercy upon him, was once asked:

“Is it better for me to make tasbîh (glorification of Allah) or to make istighfâr (seek forgiveness)?” He replied, “The dirty robe is more in need of soap than perfume.”

Hasan, may Allâh be pleased with him, once said:

“Increase in making istighfâr for you’ll never know when His Mercy will next descend.”

Indeed. So let us be aware of these blessed times in our times of need – let us pay attention to that which is neglected and make our Sha’bân and Ramadhân our sources of salvation.