Guidance on COVID-19 (Part 3) – Mufti Taha Karaan

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* Courtesy of the Muslim Judicial Council

In this 3rd video of a 4 part series, Mufti Taha Karaan discusses what the concept of reliance on Allah really means. There are many individuals advocating for Muslims to shun social distancing and isolation because of their understanding of relying Allah. Mufti Taha explains that relying on Allah entails following and adopting the means that He has created in the world. Therefore, not taking the necessary means of social distancing to curb the rate of Covid-19 transmission is in fact not relying on Allah. Mufti Taha also emphasizes that now is not the time to dispute and bicker amongst ourselves as Muslims because this one of the reasons where mercy and blessings are removed from communities.

 

* We extend our gratitude and appreciation to Mutfi Taha Karaan and the Muslim Judicial Council (South Africa)

Biography of Mufti Taha Karaan

Mufti Taha Karaan is a Shafi‘i scholar born in Cape Town, South Africa, to a family renowned in both its maternal and paternal lineage for Islamic scholarship. His father, the late Mufti Yusuf Karaan, may Allah have mercy on his soul, was one of the most distinguished Islamic scholars in the Cape.

Mufti Taha completed his Qur’anic memorization in one year at the Waterfall Islamic Institute, the oldest Islamic seminary in South Africa. During his stay, he assisted in the editing of the Qur’anic prints that the Institute has become famous for the world over. After finishing four years of the ‘alim course in two years, he journeyed to the Indian sub-continent and Dar al Uloom Deoband, graduating from there in 1991 with the highest of distinctions, as did his father, in a class of over 700 students. He then travelled to the Middle East and completed a two-year graduate diploma at the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies in Cairo, Egypt.

Mufti Taha is the recipient of numerous chains of transmission (ijazaat), from well-respected scholars in India, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, among others, in numerous fields of the Islamic sciences.

Currently, Mufti Taha is the Mufti of the Muslim Judicial Council. He is a sought-after speaker at Islamic symposia and conferences but attends them sparingly, preferring to spend most of his time at the Islamic seminary, Dar al Uloom al Arabiyyah al Islamiyyah, that he founded in 1996. The educational thrust of the seminary reflects Mufti Taha’s own pioneering vision and commitment to squarely interface with the challenges of the modern age through the twin objectives of preservation and progress.

In his teaching, writing and legal verdicts (fatawa), Mufti Taha regularly addresses contemporary issues such as the challenges of post-modernity, feminism, Islamic economics and finance, the old and new Orientalisms, and fiqh issues affecting Diaspora Muslim communities.

His students describe him as divinely-gifted with encyclopedic knowledge; possessed of a near photographic memory; an insatiable bibliophile within the Islamic sciences and without; a teacher that never ceases to inspire; endowed with an elegant calligraphic hand and a penchant for poetry; thoroughly unassuming, pleasant, brilliant and tender-hearted.

Guidance on COVID-19 (Part 1) – Mufti Taha Karaan

Guidance on COVID-19 (Part 2) – Mufti Taha Karaan

 

Guidance on COVID-19 (Part 2) – Mufti Taha Karaan

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* Courtesy of the Muslim Judicial Council

In this second video of a four-part series on COVID-19, Mufti Taha Karaan explains the religious rationale and reasoning on why the Friday congregational prayer should be suspended. Additionally he provides evidence from the rich Islamic legacy of when congregational prayers should be prayed at home. By analogy, the COVID-19 poses a greater risk to the well being of the community and therefore becomes a valid reason to pray at home. Mufti Taha emphasizes that such reasoning is not a distortion of Islamic law, but rather a means to preserve life which is an objective of Islamic law.

 

* We extend our gratitude and appreciation to Mufti Taha Karaan and the Muslim Judicial Council (South Africa)

Biography of Mufti Taha Karaan

Mufti Taha Karaan is a Shafi‘i scholar born in Cape Town, South Africa, to a family renowned in both its maternal and paternal lineage for Islamic scholarship. His father, the late Mufti Yusuf Karaan, may Allah have mercy on his soul, was one of the most distinguished Islamic scholars in the Cape.

Mufti Taha completed his Qur’anic memorization in one year at the Waterfall Islamic Institute, the oldest Islamic seminary in South Africa. During his stay, he assisted in the editing of the Qur’anic prints that the Institute has become famous for the world over. After finishing four years of the ‘alim course in two years, he journeyed to the Indian sub-continent and Dar al Uloom Deoband, graduating from there in 1991 with the highest of distinctions, as did his father, in a class of over 700 students. He then travelled to the Middle East and completed a two-year graduate diploma at the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies in Cairo, Egypt.

Mufti Taha is the recipient of numerous chains of transmission (ijazaat), from well-respected scholars in India, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, among others, in numerous fields of the Islamic sciences.

Currently, Mufti Taha is the Mufti of the Muslim Judicial Council. He is a sought-after speaker at Islamic symposia and conferences but attends them sparingly, preferring to spend most of his time at the Islamic seminary, Dar al Uloom al Arabiyyah al Islamiyyah, that he founded in 1996. The educational thrust of the seminary reflects Mufti Taha’s own pioneering vision and commitment to squarely interface with the challenges of the modern age through the twin objectives of preservation and progress.

In his teaching, writing and legal verdicts (fatawa), Mufti Taha regularly addresses contemporary issues such as the challenges of post-modernity, feminism, Islamic economics and finance, the old and new Orientalisms, and fiqh issues affecting Diaspora Muslim communities.

His students describe him as divinely-gifted with encyclopedic knowledge; possessed of a near photographic memory; an insatiable bibliophile within the Islamic sciences and without; a teacher that never ceases to inspire; endowed with an elegant calligraphic hand and a penchant for poetry; thoroughly unassuming, pleasant, brilliant and tender-hearted.

Guidance on COVID-19 (Part 1) – Mufti Taha Karaan

Guidance on COVID-19 (Part 1) – Mufti Taha Karaan

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* Courtesy of the Muslim Judicial Council (South Africa)

In this first video of a four-part series, Mufti Taha Karaan advises Muslims to practice social distancing with immediate effect in order to prevent and reduce the rate of COVID-19 transmission. The unfortunate reality is that places of worship such as mosques are communal places where transmission can spread. In light of this, Mufti Taha advocates for the Friday congregational prayer to be suspended in the mosques, and the five daily prayers to be prayed at home. This is a difficult decision, but a necessary one for us as Muslims. We all have to play our role in curbing the spread of the novel Coronavirus

* We extend our gratitude and appreciation to Mufti Taha Karaan and the Muslim Judicial Council (South Africa)

Biography of Mufti Taha Karaan

Mufti Taha Karaan is a Shafi‘i scholar born in Cape Town, South Africa, to a family renowned in both its maternal and paternal lineage for Islamic scholarship. His father, the late Mufti Yusuf Karaan, may Allah have mercy on his soul, was one of the most distinguished Islamic scholars in the Cape.

Mufti Taha completed his Qur’anic memorization in one year at the Waterfall Islamic Institute, the oldest Islamic seminary in South Africa. During his stay, he assisted in the editing of the Qur’anic prints that the Institute has become famous for the world over. After finishing four years of the ‘alim course in two years, he journeyed to the Indian sub-continent and Dar al Uloom Deoband, graduating from there in 1991 with the highest of distinctions, as did his father, in a class of over 700 students. He then travelled to the Middle East and completed a two-year graduate diploma at the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies in Cairo, Egypt.

Mufti Taha is the recipient of numerous chains of transmission (ijazaat), from well-respected scholars in India, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, among others, in numerous fields of the Islamic sciences.

Currently, Mufti Taha is the Mufti of the Muslim Judicial Council. He is a sought-after speaker at Islamic symposia and conferences but attends them sparingly, preferring to spend most of his time at the Islamic seminary, Dar al Uloom al Arabiyyah al Islamiyyah, that he founded in 1996. The educational thrust of the seminary reflects Mufti Taha’s own pioneering vision and commitment to squarely interface with the challenges of the modern age through the twin objectives of preservation and progress.

In his teaching, writing and legal verdicts (fatawa), Mufti Taha regularly addresses contemporary issues such as the challenges of post-modernity, feminism, Islamic economics and finance, the old and new Orientalisms, and fiqh issues affecting Diaspora Muslim communities.

His students describe him as divinely-gifted with encyclopedic knowledge; possessed of a near photographic memory; an insatiable bibliophile within the Islamic sciences and without; a teacher that never ceases to inspire; endowed with an elegant calligraphic hand and a penchant for poetry; thoroughly unassuming, pleasant, brilliant and tender-hearted.

 

COVID-19 Webinar: A Global Islamic Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

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A Global Islamic Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Announcing the SeekersGuidance COVID-19 Webinar This Sunday!

As this pandemic spreads across the world, the Muslim community is struggling to find answers to many questions. Along with the critical advice of health and medical professionals, we are in dire need of Prophetic Guidance. SeekersGuidance has put together an important program to provide clarity in these challenging times with Muslim scholars, teachers, medical professionals, and thought leaders from around the world.

COVID-19 Webinar: A Global Islamic Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic, will live stream on our website at seeke.rs/live and our Facebook page, this coming Sunday, March 22nd, at 1:00PM EST.


Some of our confirmed speakers:

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani | Toronto, Canada

Mufti Hussain Kamani | Texas, United States

Dr. Asim Yusuf | West Midlands, United Kingdom

Imam Khalid Latif | New  York, United States

Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan | Cape Town, South Africa

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat | Bradford, United Kingdom

Ustadha Zaynab Ansari | Knoxville, United States

Ustadh Mohammed Tayssir Safi | Istanbul, Turkey

Shaykh Salman Younas | London, United Kingdom

Dr. Hadia Mubarak | North Carolina, United States

Ustadha Shireen Ahmed | Toronto, Canada

Dr. Idriss Sparkes | Waterloo, Canada

Imam Hamid Slimi | Toronto, Canada

Shaykh Amin Buxton | Edinburgh, Scotland

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch | Toronto, Canada

Imam Yama Niazi | Vancouver, Canada

Dr. Yusuf Patel | Cape Town, South Africa

Ustadh Abdullah Misra | Trinidad

Moulana Zakariyya Harnekar | Cape Town, South Africa

Moulana Muhammad Carr | Cape Town, South Africa

 

Don’t miss out on this beautiful event .

 

May Allah bless you all and keep you all healthy, amin.

Coronavirus Lessons From Its Butterfly Effect – Shaykh Sadullah Khan

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* Courtesy of Masjid al – Furqaan (Cape Town)

In this Pre Khutba talk, Shaykh Sadullah Khan advises the congregation on the lessons that can be learnt regarding the current global pandemic COVID – 19. Shaykh Sadullah provides practical measures and precautions that people can take in their daily lives in order to reduce the risk of transmission. Furthermore, he reminds us to reflect on this contemporary event and to be cognizant of the butterfly effect. Sometimes a seeming-less insignificant event can have massive ramifications. In these challenging times, we should remain optimistic and do the best that we can to avert the potential consequences of COVID-19. We should rely on Allah in all matters and take the necessary means that he has created in order to protect ourselves and others. Let us appreciate the great gifts of life and health in these testing times.

Seeking Allah: Finding the Divine in Your Life – Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

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In the beautiful historical mosque called Molla Zeyrek Camii or Zeyrek Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani delivered a talk entitled, “Seeking Allah: Finding the Divine in Your Life” taking concepts pertaining to Arabic grammar and applying them to the heart in what some call, “The Higher Grammar”.  When explaining the famous grammar text al-Ajrumiyyah, Shaykh Ibn Ajibah (d. 1809 CE/1224 h) discusses the five things that are definite (ma’rifa) and mentions that the definite in knowing Allah is also manifested in five matters. 

These matters are:

  1. The pronouns
  2. Proper nouns (names of people and places)
  3. The Ambiguous (al-Mubham)
  4. Seeking to be known
  5. That which is ascribed to one the aforementioned categories

Watch the video to learn about these pertinent points.

Appreciating The Blessings of Allah – Shaykh Faid Said

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* Courtesy of The Nur 

Shaykh Faid reminds us that guidance is the greatest achievement. Allah teaches us through the Quran what to ask him, how to ask him and when to ask him. Focusing on what to ask him, Allah teaches us to ask him for guidance.

The End of a Crucial Decade in Human History – Shaykh Sadullah Khan

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* Courtesy of Masjid al – Furqan

In this Pre Khutba talk, Shaykh Sadullah Khan discusses the importance of valuing and utilizing one’s time appropriately and constructively. He reminds the congregation that it is critical to reflect on how time has passed us collectively. With the completion of a decade, Shaykh Sadullah highlights the various local and global issues and events that have affected human beings around the globe. From the Arab spring to the fascist laws being passed in India, the past decade has shown the degradation of morality within human beings. Despite the wonderful technological and scientific advancements, we as human beings have failed in truly making a positive change in our societies. It is critical for us to be aware of what is happening around us so that we as Muslims may be able to engage in actions of virtue and benefit.

From the Dawn of History – Stories of Light

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From the Dawn of History

Join award-winning author Mehded Maryam Sinclair with your family as she takes you on a breath-taking journey through:

  • The Formation of the Universe and Planet Earth
  • The Creation of the First Human
  • The Divinely-Intentioned Establishment of Human Life on Earth
  • The Procession of the Divine Messengers
  • The Fulfillment of the Message in the Prophet Muhammad,
    may Allah bless him and give him peace

Foster in your hearts a true, deep certainty in our Divinely inspired history. Foster in your family a deep bond of shared listenings and meanings.

Register Here

The Necessity of Islamic Institutions in the Modern Age – Imam Khalid Latif

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The Need

“With modernity, people lose a depth of perspective that you can only see in one direction, either outward or inward… we’re supposed to be people who can see in both directions.”

Qualified Teachers

“Where you move from having somebody who is just a professor to a teacher: that they embody a sense of ethics, a sense of values, that you’re able to now recognize that they’re not just talking at you, but they live what it is that they’re inviting you towards.”

Traditional Learning

“You build and you grow and you increase through a systematized method of learning because it has an ends—that is not just about the learning itself but what the learning brings you towards and what it allows for you to do.”

Scale

“But the beauty of light is that it just takes a little bit of it to push away darkness.”

Global Impact

“You have men and women like those who run this facility… people have come up to me and mentioned them by name, saying that if not for them and what it is that they speak about and what it is that they give us access to and what it is that they teach us about religion—in countries where religion is heavily corporatized—I wouldn’t know how to deal with the depression that I had that was bringing me to a place where I was thinking of ending my life in this world, because I couldn’t find any way of getting out of it until I learned about God through a different prism.”

“They help us to deal with the challenges that our students bring us, our community brings us every day, rooted in realities that require us to see what it was that we were taught through a different prism through a different perspective. That’s the kind of work you’re being invited to support today; those are the kind of individuals who are building institutions that are set to live much much more beyond them… but where you have benefited become the means through which others can benefit, and to allow and understand for yourself that the house of God, the path of God, the book of God, anything that is qualified of God, is meant to not draw attentiveness to it but to draw attention towards God.”

Beautiful Facility

“You can come to places and spaces like this, and you walk into it and the remembrance of God is not something that gets forced upon you but you just feel it all around you. I walked in the SeekersGuidance facility today—and it was the first time that I’ve ever been in it—and every part of it just made me feel a familiarity and a recognition that turned me towards the Divine. There’s not a lot of places like that, especially in the world that we live in today. And it’s a testament to those who built it, but also those who frequent it. And what you have is unique, but you have to care for it, and you have to build it and grow it, so that it reaches beyond what even you can imagine it to become.”

 

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