How to Protect Our Iman in Today’s Climate (3) – Evening

A Live Online Course With Shaykh Shams Adduha Muhammad

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How can we learn about our faith in a way that protects us from the questions that challenge it and cause doubt in our minds? How can we learn to talk about faith in a way that protects our children in the same way?

Many Muslims do not know what the challenging questions are – let alone their answers. This is not acceptable in this day and age. This negligence can be the reason why, Allah forbid it, we allow doubts to creep in to our minds or our children develop doubts because we do not know how to talk to them about faith.

According to a survey in the US, 23 percent of born Muslims have left Islam, the majority have become atheist. A statistic like that should make us panic. But we seem completely unfazed. But 23% is almost 1 in 4. That means, on average, almost every family is affected. We simply don’t know it because the majority of ex-Muslims leave their faith in secret.

Are these people leaving because Islam is a weak religion that does not have the answers to the questions that have caused doubts in their minds? Or is it simply that they do not know the answers, do not know how to source the answers, or were never taught their faith in a way that made them more resilient to the intellectual, social, and psychological challenges that are bombarding faith communities in this day and age. This course aims to answer these questions for you insha’Allah.

Who is this course for?

This course is for adults (at least 16+) who want to better understand why we believe Islam is the truth and what the proofs for that are. It is for people who want to dig deeper and seek answers to difficult questions about faith such as, ‘How do we know God exists?’, ‘Why does evil exist if God is merciful?’, ‘If God wants us to believe in Him, why didn’t He ‘Why is Islam the only true religion?’, ‘How can we be so sure about our history after 1400 years?’, ‘Doesn’t science provide a better explanation of reality,’ What happens when Islam contradicts scientific facts?’, and other similar questions which the course and the teacher will deal with. These questions are increasingly on the minds of Muslims because of the rise of new atheism. 

They may be seeking answers to these questions for their own satisfaction and conviction or to help their own children, friends and family, or the community help tackle these questions which have caused doubt and confusion in the minds of thousands of Muslim men, women, and youth.

The course will also rationally discuss the most fundamental beliefs and teachings of Islam so that people not only understand what Muslims believe but also why.

Who is this course NOT for?

This course is not suitable for children under 16.

Please do not enroll on this course if you are not seriously interested in engaging in discussions regarding questions such as the above, or if you are not particularly interested in understanding Islam rationally. The course is not a series of motivational lectures nor will it discuss matters from a purely subjective Muslim perspective. It is designed to engage people’s minds in intellectual thought, reflection and discussion on important matters of faith from a more objective standpoint so that they can either find answers to their questions or go away feeling resilient against doubt and confusion.

However, it will not a deeply philosophical course and Shaykh Shams will break things down, but it can nevertheless be challenging if one is not prepared to have these discussions and is expecting to just be told what Islam teaches. So please be clear about what you want. If unsure, email us at info@mawaridlifestyle.com.

Mode of Delivery

Live online course with:

• presentations
• digital whiteboard,
• chat,
• audio discussion capabilities.
• recommended reading
• recorded lectures for revision

Dates and Schedule

Four Friday Evenings from 19th June 2020
6.00pm – 9.00pm

Fee

Normal: £40
50% off in Ramadhan (expires after Eid )
Early bird discount: £30 – expires at midnight, 7th Jun 2020.

Registration is only available via the website.

Please note: There is also an on-demand version of this course. Please make sure you are enrolling on the right one. This page is for the live evening version.

If you have already attended this course on-demand and would like to attend it again live, please email us and we will give you a discounted price.

Course Topics

Topics	Brief Synopsis of Topic
How do we know?	What is the Islamic method for evaluating knowledge and claims to truth? This topic is about Islamic epistemology or theory of knowledge.
Why do we believe? Mortality and the divine	A discussion around mortality and how it affects the human reality and in contrast a discussion about the Divine and how the two things come together to compel billions of people to adopt or remain in faith.
Why do we believe? History and the Prophet	How Islamic history and the person of the Prophet combine to make a compelling case for Islam.
Principles of faith	A rational discussion about the principles that govern how and why we believe in Islam. Why are Muslims so categoric and resistant to change while other faiths are changing beyond recognition?
Articles of faith	A discussion regarding some of the other articles of faith such belief in Tawheed (Allah’s oneness), the hereafter, and in Qadar (predestiny).
Faith and spirituality	How spirituality is metaphysical force for faith and for many Muslims, it is the most compelling proof.
Major causes of doubt	What are the main causes of doubt and confusion in the minds of Muslims and how do we tackle them? Science, evolution, various philosophies, shifting of political power, and a new global order.

Brief Teacher Bio

Shaykh Shams Adduha Muhammad

Shaykh Shams Adduha Muhammad is co-founder and director of Ebrahim College, an Islamic seminary in East London that trains Muslim faith leaders of the future.

Shaykh Shams has led EC to become a leading contemporary Muslim seminary and one of the largest adult Islamic education providers in the UK with its own research centre, The Centre for Islamic Research and Education (CIRE) which was set up in 2017.

Shaykh Shams is himself an Islamic seminary graduate and has an MA in Islamic studies from the university of London. He has also worked as an Imam, a teacher and deputy head of an independent Islamic school, and a translator of classical Islamic works.

Shaykh Shams is particularly interested in contextualising traditional Islamic studies for British Muslims and faith leaders. He also lectures in Islamic theology, hadith studies, and Islamic jurisprudence at Ebrahim College, and is an active faith leader in the Muslim community.

How to Join and Study This Course

1. Register and pay at the above link. This will give you your username and password to the learning management system on the Mawarid Lifestyle website.
2. You will be sent a confirmation of your place.
3. You will receive access to the course reading in advance of each session.
4. The link for the live virtual classroom will be provided by email and on the website before each session. The link will go live on the day of the session.
5. To benefit fully from the course, you should complete all reading in advance. This will ensure you are ready with questions and can keep up with the pace of the class.