Class will resume April 18th.

In coordination with our Webb Youth weekly workshops at the Woodridge Community Center, the Mohammed Webb Foundation would like to cordially invite adults and parents to our first on-going spring semester adult seminar series with Omer Mozaffar.

About the Course: "If someone asked you 'when we start from the first page, what is the first command of the Qur'an,' would you be able to answer this question? Can you tell us what is the second or third command of the Qur'an? Can you tell us how much of the Qur'an is itself commands?The idea of this short course is that the Qur'an -- as source of guidance -- is organized with a simple, clear, effective logic.  We will dedicate ourselves to a close reading of the text, starting from the first page.  The six sessions will be organized in a guided discussion, that is informed both by Traditional Islamic sources as well as Traditional Liberal Arts sources.

The goal is simple: develop a relationship with the core of our tradition, using the core of our beings.  No prior knowledge of Islam is required."

About the Instructor: Omer Mozzafar is an instructor in the Asian Classics curriculum at the University of Chicago. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Loyola, Elmhurst and other schools.

The Mohammed Webb Foundation is honored to have him as our instructor this spring.

Course Dates: Jan. 17, Jan. 31, Feb. 7, Feb. 21, March 7, March 21, April 18, May 2  MARCH 7TH AND MARCH 21ST CLASSES CANCELED

Assigned Text: The Quran translation by Haleem, Oxford Press 

Location: Woodridge Community Center, 2600 Center Dr., Woodridge, IL.

Suggested Donation: $50.00 Click here to donate online.

Snack and Coffee Schedule:

Email Jenan at jenan.diab@webbfound.org to sign up for one of the open dates.

2/20/10 Class 4

Review:

1st command: be abd to your rabb

2nd command: don’t knowingly have rivals to Allah

3rd: if in doubt, bring sura like Quran—empowering believer to examine everything

4th: give glad tidings to those who believe: a priority b/c comes before all other foundational commands like prayer, fasting, etc)

 Important to note: 90-95% of Quran not commands!  Only ~300 ayahs/6600 are legal commands

BA26:

·         In response to criticism of Prophet—why does Allah send ayahs about small seemingly insignificant things like ants, gnats, etc?  this ayah says nothing in this Creation is beneath Him; even the most profound messages are accessible to everyone.

Defintions:

a)      “rabb”—to take something from immaturity to maturity according to its design

b)      “rahman”—the Greatest of Mercy, like rain for everyone

c)       “raheem”—the eternal Mercy, like mother’s love for her child, more unique

d)      “kafir”—someone who ha denied truth; compelled to do something good but rejects

* Exercise: brainstorm proofs for/against existence of God

-  DOES EXIST:

-  Universe needs creator
-  When facing death all call on God
-  100% polygraph proof
-  Everyone has an ilah
-  Existence of qur’an

- DOES NOT EXIST:

-Evil exists-Religion opiate of masses
-God idea is a human construct
-People use religion to justify bad things

§  Science

a)      Rationally we cannot “prove” God exists, b/c every argument has a refutation; ultimately for believers, everything is proof, for non-believers nothing is proof

b)      Def: proof=bayyina, sign=ayah, qur’an says that prophet+qur’an=bayyina of God’s existence

c)       Believers say

a.       “God of the gaps”—if you can’t explain something then God is reason

b.      appreciation

d)      Nonbelievers say

a.       Absence of evidence is evidence of absence; burden of proof is on believers default is God does not exist

b.      Criticism of signs: why does God allow this bad thing?

e)      The qur’an guides many, misguides many—how can an ayah misguide?  Ayahs are tests and you can fail the test. Only misguides “fasiqs”—def: rebel

f)       “fisq”—think of it as a river with water going beyond the bank; extending beyond bounderies; opposite of taqwa

A27:

· Characteristics of a Fasiq:

o   Breaks covenant w/God after confirmation

o   Sever what Allah ordered joined

o   Make mischief

·         What’s the commonality? MISCONDUCT, and not necessarily misbelieve.  Idea that misconduct can LEAD to misbelieve; our behavior can affect our beliefs so be careful!

·         Remember from previous ayah characteristics of taqwa:

o   Belief in unseen

o   Establish salah

o   Infaq

o   Belief in Qur’an

o   Believe in prior messages

o   Certainty of hereafter

·         TAQWA is the path to SUCCESS AND GUIDANCE; FASIQ is on the path to LOSS

·         Review: difference between certainty and belief?

o   Certainty is stronger; death is the one thing that everyone is universally certain about, but ppl don’t think about the hereafter because of fear

o   Exercise: 15 seconds to imagine being called on DofJ—perspective of hope or fear?

A28

·    How do you reject Allah when you know you will die?  Belief is always a choice—even if you don’t know what to believe, not knowing is also a choice

A29

-Everything is created for us, so we can turn to Him

Next class will start with A30 the fall of the devil, not the fall of man.

2/7/2010 Class 3  Surah Baqarah 2:6-24

3 Models of People:

A)      Those with taqwa: ayah 2-5

B)      Kafir: ayah 6-7
a.       Not synonymous with non-Muslim; def=someone who has inclination to do good but suppresses it
b.      A6: they rejected, A7: Allah seals their hearts.  Which comes first—did they reject b/c Allah seals their hearts or does He seal hearts b/c they rejected?  Question of predestination.  Am I believer b/c Allah chose me or did Allah choose me b/c I believed.  Both arguments true but academic point. 
c.       Continuum of predestination (ex fatalism) ßàfree will (ex deism) understanding of spectrum important b/c societies are on different points of the continuum; it is the scholars’ responsibilities gauge their community and push them towards moderation

C)       Munafiq: ayah 8-20
a.       Root same as “tunnel”: meaning if attack on one end, can escape from another
b.      A8-10: lying, why do people lie? Fear of wrath/hope for reward.  Is all lying shirk? No, don’t call it shirk unless qur’an calls it—be careful in alleging shirk!
c.       A11-12:who? Not taking criticism, making assumptions.  What prevents? Pride, denial, stubbornness
d.      A13: arrogance—self-love, belittling others; minimizing others while inflating self.  Humility requires acknowledgement of God
e.      A14-15: two-faced, treacherous, hypocrites
f.        What binds all these traits together?  People of taqwa—goal is to win pleasure/avoid wrath of Allah, long term gains.   People of hypocrisy—goal is to win pleasure/avoid wrath of others, short term gains.
g.       A16: making choices—short term gain leads to long term loss
-Hadith: compromise something owed to Allah to please someone and both will be unhappy, compromise something owed to another person to please Allah and both will be happy.  What’s the logic?   respect integrity, consistency, core beliefs
h.      A17-18: kindle fire, light everywhere, darkness.  Light is fleeting, manmade, disempowered.  Another reading: Prophet (p) is the light but blinded nonbelievers like an irritation.  Some  are repulsed by guidance and its consequences. Ex: upheaval of financial/social/power structure in Quraysh
i.         A19-20: rainstorm—respond by sealing ears but doesn’t make problem go away!  Afraid of being hit by lightning but should be afraid of Allah—fearing creation vs. Creator.  In light you see next step is safe; in darkness afraid to move forward.  This is relevant b/c the next ayah is the first command in Qur’an

D)      A21:  be abd of your rabbàtaqwa.  Qur’an tells us how to get taqwa, and how to guide those with taqwa.  What does abd mean?  Whatever Allah says, you do. 1st quality to have this outlook b/c otherwise everything else is too hard

E)      A22: sky, water, fruits.  This is 2nd command: no rivals to Allah knowingly (consciously, with intention)  these two commands represent both sides of tawhid: turning towards Allah, and away from everything else

F)       A23-24:  if there is doubt then make another surah!  One way to present this ayah is as a challenge/confrontation to the world, as an impossible task.  But what about Muslims who have doubt?  The 2nd way to present the ayah is a recommendation/prescription for Muslims who have doubt: read everything else and research other ideologies to objectively evaluate Qur’an relative to others.  Burden is on you—this is a big project, a cure for doubt, similar to Abraham’s (p) cure for doubt in 2:260.   “men and stones”—stones can represent idols or hardened hearts.

 

1/30/2010 Class 2

Review: finished Fatihah

·         HW Question: what is the first command in the Qur’an?  Answer: 2:21 oh mankind be the abd of your rabb

·         How do you know Allah? By interacting with the world around and within you, by knowing His attributes

·         What is the central concept of the Qur’an? Allah

·         If Allah is Rahman/Rahim, why is there suffering?

o   Don’t look just at this world; this world is not perfect in terms of morality; must look forward, at afterlife

·         Def: “rabb”à one who takes you from immaturity to maturity according to your unique design

·         “iyaka na’budu, iyaka nasta’een”: what does “worship” mean?

o   Enslavement: we are slaves we turn to Him for help

o   Love, or the extreme form—adoration, has element of awe

·         Al-sirat: we want the path of favors

·         Al-maghdubi: anger, al-daalin: astray; what’s the difference?

o   Those who are astray: not necessarily deliberate; those who ask for help (nasta’een) but don’t rely only Allah alone

o   Those on whom is anger: represent deliberate rebellion; upon those who say “we serve you” (na’budu) but don’t act that way—just lip service

o   Note: out of adab for Allah in the Qur’an, we translate the ayah to say “on whom is Anger”, not “on whom is YOUR Anger”

o   Some translations say people of anger=Jews, people astray=Christians; must know context of tafsir b/c Children of Israel not = Jews (more on this later)

·         Therefore THREE PATHS, not only for nonMuslims; Muslims can go astray, earn anger!

o   Path of favors

o   Path of anger

o   Path leading astray

·         Finish Fatiha

BAQARAH

Purpose of name? for identity; historically surahs not known by names but by the 1st ayahs

Sections of Baqarah:

·         1-40                      intro

·         40-?*                     Children of Israel

·         ?-284*                  contemporary believers (*? b/c overlap between two sections)

·         285-286                conclusion

·         Then subsections of ayahs 1-40

o   A:            alif lam mim

§  Many theories for meaning, but ultimately acknowledging that only Allah knows the meaning is beginning of submission—there are things He knows that we don’t

o   B:            7-16

o   C:            21-29

o   D:            30-39

 

A2:

·         The triangle dots symbol in Arabic text=”pivot” in middle of ayah; one can recite with a stop before or after and affects meaning

·         This is the book no doubt *IN IT* is guidance for those who have taqwa

o   Subtle difference; either no doubt in book, or no doubt of its content, that it is absolute truth

·         Def: “kitab”: book, something written, prescription/law

·         Concept of trust

·         “Scientism”: what is science? Method of investigating patterns; need to prove existence b/c default is skepticism

o   Science is authority, using science to prove Qur’an eg embryo, moon splitting

o   Means that approach to faith is skepticism

·         What is taqwa? Def: shield around your iman

o   Qur’an has different levels: a) guidance on how to GET taqwa, b) guidance for those who HAVE taqwa

·         Def of those who HAVE taqwa:

o   Belief in unseen: God, angels, justice, futher, consequences, concepts, history

o   Establish salah: both individually and collectively, ritual daily prayer

o   Spend of what we have given them: “infaq” def: spending to the point of exhaustion; includes spending wealth and time/soul

o   Belief in this revelation: Qur’an + “hikma” (ie sunna)

o   Belief in prior revelations

o   Certainty in hereafter: difference between BELIEF and CERTAINTY? We WILL die; everyone should be constantly conscious of death

·         What is relationship between these 6 items? Recognition that there is a world beyond us; that world can make us feel very small or very large

·         Underlying thread throughout Baqarah: Allah knows the unseen

·         Kafir: def: one who covers the truth, one who suppresses belief in/action of good

o   Different from the fiqh def of kafir

o   Kafir does NOT automatically equal non-Muslim

·         Differences of claims to belief internally/externally:

o   state      Mus       Mus       NonM   NonM

o   EXT         Y              Y              N             N

o   INT         y              N             N             Y

o   state      Mumin MunafiqKafir   ??    internal state is not for us to judge!