Shaykh Faraz Rabbani brings fiqh to life at NYU
During a recent a trip to New York, Sh. Faraz Rabbani delivered a one-day seminar on “Islamic Law: How Shariah is Derived and Applied”, at ICNYU. We asked one attendee and SeekersGuidance supporter, Br. Ibrahim Long (www.ibrahimlong.com), for his thoughts on the seminar.
“For those who don’t know him, Shaykh Faraz is one of the most approachable shaykhs I have ever met. For example, when we entered the class room where NYU was hosting the seminar- Islamic Law: How it is Derived and Applied, though he had been busy setting up the electronics for his presentation, he smiled and greeted each of us personally as if we each had been old friends. My friends, who had driven up with me from Connecticut, joined me in the first row; a habit that, if available, I usually follow. Neither one of us wanted to miss a single point of the lecture, or take the chance of being distracted by anyone sitting between us and the shaykh.
Unlike other lectures on the subject of the roots of Islamic law, Sh. Faraz always made it clear that the purpose of all of this was to better one’s relationship to their Creator. We never once got so lost in the details that this aspect was forgotten, or neglected, which made each aspect of the seminar always relevant to the attendees. When discussing one of the first priorities of students of knowledge, that is, knowing the definition of terms, he gave us examples which are applicable to our own time and understanding; making a difference between general, religious, and particular usage.
When discussing issues, Sh. Faraz would illustrate very colorfully their application in our everyday life; sometimes selecting members of the audience to help elucidate his point. One time during the seminar he asked me to “walk,” which I took quite literally. I walked past him to the furthest corner of the class room, back by him, and then almost to the opposite corner when he finally asked me to stop. The whole time I had been confused, unsure of whether I should keep going or where exactly he wanted me to walk to. Only after I finished did he point out that he was making an analogy of my walking aimlessly as living a life without any clear direction or purpose. A point that I won’t soon forget, insha’Allah.
Without trying to sum up an entire seminar in one post, let me say that if you have an opportunity to attend a lecture by our dear shaykh please do so. His lectures reflect, even within the most detailed of subjects, how much our faith is not merely about doing the least of outward actions. In all things, rather, we should seek to achieve a level of excellence and closeness to Allah through it.”
This seminar took place at ICNYU on Saturday 23rd October. To find our more information about our seminars, please visit us at www.seekersguidance.org or find us on Facebook for the latest updates.
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Our next SeekersSeminar is taking place in Chicago, with Sh. Faraz Rabbani, Sh. Omar Qureshi and Sh. Jawad Qureshi. Watch the video on You Tube now.
