Basira Education

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REMEMBERING OUR PROPHET ﷺ (Men and Boys Only) I am visiting the GTA for a couple of days and wanted to invite everyone I know to join me and my sons on Thursday October 15 at 7.30 p.m. at the Milton Quran Institute (700 Nipissing Road Unit 8, Milton, Ontario) to remember Allah and His Messenger ﷺ and spend time together afterwards over a light dinner. 7.30 - Recitation of Surat Yasin 7.45 - Sending Blessings on the Prophet ﷺ 8.00  - Nasheeds About the Prophet  ﷺ (Shuayb Karamali and Khalid Karamali) 8.30 - Umm Ma'bad's Description of the Prophet ﷺ (Hamza Karamali) 9.00 - Spending Time Together Over Dinner Everyone is welcome. Feel free to spread the word and bring your friends.

New clip from my Perth lecture: why can't an academic paper argue that the Prophet ﷺ is God's messenger? And why do all the Islamic sciences rest on kalam? It's the reason Why Islam Is True is Step 1. Full lecture on Sila's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@silacircles

First clip from Shaykh Hamza's Perth lecture is out: why do Muslims think of Einstein before the Prophet ﷺ when they picture intelligence? 60 seconds, worth a watch and a forward. Full lecture on Sila's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@silacircles

FRESH FROM MECCA A friend and a scholar just sent me this fresh photograph from Mecca. It made me feel a longing in my heart to visit Mecca again. This longing is the response to the prayer of the Prophet Ibrahim (upon him be peace). As he left his beloved Lady Hajar and his beloved baby son close to the area that would later become the Kaaba, he raised his hands and prayed: رَبَّنَا إِنِّي أَسْكَنْتُ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِي زَرْعٍ عِندَ بَيْتِكَ الْمُحَرَّمِ رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ فَاجْعَلْ أَفْئِدَةً مِّنَ النَّاسِ تَهْوِي إِلَيْهِمْ وَارْزُقْهُم مِّنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُونَ Our Lord, I have settled some of my offspring in a barren valley near Your Sacred House, our Lord, so that they may establish prayer. So make people's hearts incline toward them and provide them with fruits so that they may be grateful. (Quran 14:37) May Allah Most High realize the inclination of our hearts and bring us all back to His Sacred House, again, and again, and again.

WHAT DID THE PROPHET ﷺ LOOK LIKE? Friday September 25 at 3.00 pm We never saw the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ourselves. But his Companions described him in such detail that it's almost as though we are seeing him ourselves. Join us this Friday to listen to the Companions' detailed descriptions of his physical appearance, as well as their descriptions of his unusual strength, the fragrance of his sweat, the keenness of his vision, and other physical characteristics. Uluslararası Genç Derneği Aziz Mahmut Hüdayi, Sümbülzade Sk. No: 1, 34672 Üsküdar/İstanbul https://maps.app.goo.gl/JK6n5a7H8iS5JptZ9?g_st=aw

I was also very happy to learn that Hafiz Ahmad Patel, a student of knowledge, and one of the early supporters of the Why Islam is True mission, is teaching Why Islam is True at the Wijhah Initiative in Cambridge, Ontario. If you're in Cambridge, don't miss out, and be sure to check out all of the other courses that are also offered by the teachers at Wijhah.

I was very happy to learn today that Why Islam is True is now being taught at the masjid of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), one of Pakistan's most prestigious private universities. It is being taught by Dr. Abdul Ali Bangash, who I met at a Why-Islam-is-True intensive for 'ulama in Canada a couple of years ago, and who went on to complete the teacher training. He is a professor of Computer Science at LUMS, a student of Islamic knowledge, a traveler of the spiritual path, and he carries within him a genuine concern for spreading the love of the Prophet ﷺ among young professionals and university students in Pakistan. He is visiting Istanbul, and I had the pleasure of having breakfast with him, and learning about the work of al-Burhan, which has over 50 campuses all over Pakistan, where they run educational programs for Pakistanis from all walks of life. If you're in Lahore, don't miss his Why Islam is True classes at LUMS!

In the evening I visited Marion Masjid, where I had a chance to meet the Muslim community of Adelaide. I gave a talk called, "Making Sense of God". There were many intelligent high-school students who asked some excellent questions. One of them was a young hafiz, and when I asked him his name, he said it was Hamza! :)

The thoroughly updated and revised edition of the Why Islam is True textbook that was released in Australia will be about 500 pages long (compared to the current textbook, which is about 130 pages). I have completely rewritten every chapter, expanded it to include new topics and responses to the most common objections, and the book is full of diagrams and illustrations to strengthen the arguments. The prose is also much tighter and more precise that the previous versions of the textbook. The version that was launched in Australia was missing one chapter, which I hadn't completed. Alhamdulillah, by the grace of Allah, I am on the verge of completing that chapter in a couple of hours today. I hope for this book to be ready for purchase in about a months' time. Teachers who are teaching the course on the ground will be able to order pre-publication copies within about a week. I will share more details about this book in the coming weeks, insha'allah.

It was at this conference that we released pre-publication copies of the fully-revised Why Islam is True textbook, as well as the first five chapters of our Why Islam is True student activity book. This was the first time most of the conference attendees were hearing of a course that is designed for high-school students in order to guide them to their own realizations that Islam is true, and there was great excitement over conference presentation and the books. We will be following up with many of these schools to provide them with Why Islam is True training, and to bring the course into their schools.

After leaving Perth, I headed to Adelaide for the annual ISAA conference. ISAA is the Islamic Schools Association of Australia. It is an umbrella organization that unites all of the Islamic schools across Australia. The conference is attended by the principles and vice-principals of most of the Islamic schools in Australia. I was a keynote speaker on the topic, "Doubt-Proofing the Muslim Mind: A New Priority for Islamic Schools."

BASIRA YOUTH SEMINARY LAUNCHING IN MISSISSAUGA We are starting a new cohort for the Basira Youth Seminary in Mississauga. Please spread the word to Muslim youth in MIssissauga. This is a unique opportunity for Grade 9's and Grade 10's to: ✅ Develop a Rational Islamic Worldview ✅ Anchor their thinking in this rational Islamic worldview  ✅ Make their Islam and study of it relevant to the world they live in through this critical rational lens ✅ Critically be able to think and analyze all aspects of modern culture ✅ Develop deep long-lasting friendships with the right people 👉 Spots are limited! Register interest here: Click Here to Join BasiraYouthSeminary.com

Thank you to Yusuf, Khalid, Broderic, and Asrie for driving us to the airport and seeing us off with the fully-revised-and-updated Why Islam is True book. This is now 500 pages long with lots of diagrams, visuals, additional details, and responses to objections. And there's also a brand new Why Islam is True Student Activity Book that turns everything into engaging classroom activities. Both of these were hot-off-the-press in Perth for pre-release at my next stop — two conferences for Islamic schools' principals and teachers in Adelaide!

VERY IMPORTANT TIP FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO VISIT AUSTRALIA: When in Australia never say "Koala Bear" because the Australians will immediately recognize that you are a very ignorant foreigner who doesn't even know the extremely obvious fact that Koala's are not bears.

My generous hosts made sure I had time to see the kangaroos and koalas because any visit to Australia would be incomplete without that!

I was also invited by Shaykh Salman Parkar, the President of the Australian National Imam in Perth, and the Founder of the Dean Insitute for Academic Revival to address the community leaders in Perth regarding my experiences addressing the problem of young Muslims leaving Islam, and to then deliver a lecture on "The University vs. the Madrasa: Bridging Traditional Islamic Learning and Modern Education". The lecture has been recorded and made available online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s48iVyewcrE

While I was in Perth, I had the pleasure of delivering a lecture to the teachers at the Australian Islamic College (Kewdale Campus) on exactly how our science education sets our children up for atheism, and how Islamic schools can modify the way that they teach their children science in order to protect them from that. I was very happy to discover that one of the teachers had been a long-time online student of mine since over ten years ago!

We gave a complimentary copy of my translation and commentary on Isaghuji to all of the students and teachers. This commentary includes insights into modern epistemology and demonstrates how to integrate scientific reasoning into classical Islamic arguments. It is the first step in the Kalam 3.0 program.

While I was in Perth, I taught two advanced intensives on classical Islamic logic, Islamic epistemology, the epistemology of modern science and arguments for the existence of God for the seminary students and teachers at Masjid Ibrahim.