TORONTO SEMINARY GLOBAL IMPACT

Transcription

1 TORONTO SEMINARY GLOBAL IMPACT

2 THE VISION To build a local Islamic Seminary with Global Impact, while upholding the Prophetic ethos of making knowledge free and accessible to all those who seek it. WE ARE COMMITTED TO Promoting mainstream understanding of Islam, both outwardly and inwardly Supporting existing scholarship Creating networks between scholars, activists, and communities Promoting female scholarship Integrating online learning with on the ground programs } KEEPING ALL THIS FREE AND ACCESSIBLE

3 FOUNDER'S LETTER I was only sent as a teacher, said the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The preservation of Allah s religion, and the preservation of Prophetic teachings revolves around the preservation of Islamic knowledge and the spread of Prophetic guidance. It is with this focus that I personally travelled with my wife, Ustadha Shireen Ahmed, to Damascus in It is with this focus that I began teaching online in the early 2000 s, upon moving to Amman. And it is with this focus that I returned in 2007 ten years later, to Toronto. In Toronto, the need for establishing a proper Islamic seminary that would both (a) spread religious literacy and (b) train future scholars and teachers of Islam became manifestly clear. When consulted, Habib Umar bin Hafiz, referred to this as the most urgent need of our time (wajib al-waqt). With gradual, steady growth, SeekersHub Global went from 600 student registrations for our online courses in 2011 to 80,000 in In the first half of 2018, we have already passed 60,000 registrations. Similarly, here in Toronto, we now have six full-time students in our pilot Seminary program; over 120 weekly students in our one-year Essentials Certificate; and hundreds more benefiting from our wide range of educational and engagement programming. We are committed to reliable scholarship; upholding mainstream, balanced, beneficial religious understanding; upholding the Prophetic way of Mercy and Excellence; and having genuine concern for the benefit of all creation expressed through excellence in transmitting, facilitating, and living the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). FARAZ RABBANI

4 LOCAL WORK GLOBAL IMPACT Eye CASE STUDY 1 Eye CASE STUDY 2 In Spring 2015 SeekersHub Toronto conducted a free seminar on Parenting in Islam, attended by approximately 70 students in-person. Since then, over 12,000 students have taken this course online. In 2014, we held a six-month course going through the 99 Names of Allah in depth. 25 students attended the weekly classes. Since then, over 12,000 students have taken this course online. IMPACT NUMBERS YEAR TO DATE 60,000 COURSE REGISTRATIONS IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS 2M+ UNIQUE WEB VISITORS IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS COURSE REGISTRATIONS 10,000+ UNIQUE WEB VISITORS ,000 COURSE REGISTRATIONS 3M+ UNIQUE WEB VISITORS PROJECTED 120,000 COURSE REGISTRATIONS 5M+ UNIQUE WEB VISITORS

5 THE IMPACT IS REAL This is the first time we are able to attend a class as a family my son is deaf and there is no program in the community that he can join and benefit from like this. SeekersHub is a pioneer and has taken an incredible step in having live interpretation for the deaf community in its classes." TARA, TORONTO Many times, when I was going through the toughest times of my life, completely broken and confused, and sought help from Allah, I would just stumble upon something from SeekersHub pointing me to the exact solution of what I was struggling with. It is through SeekersHub that I learnt the purpose of my life and was assisted in connecting my soul back to my Lord, Allah. MEHNAZ, INDIA "Through SeekersHub I was exposed to some of the most knowledgeable and beneficial scholars of our time. I live in New Zealand but my heart is deeply affected by those who are spreading light with the aid of SeekersHub." LYDIA, NEW ZEALAND

6 GROWING IMPACT: TORONTO STEP ONE: CERTIFICATE & SEMINARY TRACK STUDENTS Over 120 students regularly attend our one year Essentials Certificate Program. Many will continue to Step Two of our fivestep curriculum, and serve others through teaching, guiding, and community service. SeekersHub Toronto has six full-time seminary-track students (men and women) who are striving to become teachers, counsellors, and scholars properly trained to serve the community. Their efforts provide light and guidance for the future. NEW RESIDENT SCHOLAR Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Ba-Dhib is now a fulltime resident scholar at SeekersHub Toronto. He has authored over 100 books, and trained from childhood with leading traditional scholars including Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-haddad and Habib Abd al-qadir al-saqqaf. Shaykh Ba-Dhib will be instructing our Seminary students and wider community in Arabic (with translation), and is the Academic Advisor for our SeekersHub Arabiyya project. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT We at SeekersHub Toronto believe in building communities. It is imperative for us to nurture relationships that cultivate healthy communities. In addition to our core education offerings we have committed ourselves to regular community engagement. We offer monthly Critical Issues seminars, monthly Family Circles, weekly Sisters' Classes, and a highly popular Coffee and Connections Circle. The Hub is also used for marriage ceremonies, and other special community gatherings. COLLABORATION WITH GLOBAL DEAF MUSLIM CANADA In Term One, SeekersHub Toronto hosted weekly classes in Islamic beliefs and worship with full interpretation for deaf Muslims. The classes were recorded as online courses for deaf Muslims around the world. We are continuing this collaboration with Global Deaf Muslims Canada to ensure our programming is accessible.

7 GROWING IMPACT: GLOBAL LAUNCHING OUR GLOBAL ARABIC LANGUAGE PROGRAM SeekersHub is launching our free, world-class, Global Arabic Language Program, developed and taught by qualified, expert scholars (men and women) in the Arabic Language. This well-rounded program will give seekers of knowledge profound reading and listening skills. Those seeking deeper understanding of the language of the Qur an will have solid grounding in grammatical and textual comprehension. LAUNCHING SEEKERSHUB GLOBAL IN ARABIC SeekersHub Global is answering the urgent call for an online learning platform in Arabic. By end of August, this reliable service will provide mainstream Islamic knowledge and guidance in Arabic: SeekersHub Arabiyya named Nur al-huda. The free global service offers online e-learning courses, on-demand courses, podcasts, answers, and guidance from leading scholars, including Habib Umar, Sh. Hassan al-hindi, Sh. Akram Abd al- Wahhab, and Sh. Muhammad Ba-Dhib. OUR COMMITMENT TO FEMALE ISLAMIC SCHOLARSHIP From its inception, SeekersHub has actively sought to promote female scholarship in both our online and on-ground educational offerings. SeekersHub is hoping to hire six full-time female scholars in order to broaden the faculty and stay committed to diversity and balance. DEPLOYING THE WORLD-CLASS FIVE-LEVEL STEPS CURRICULUM After over a decade of consultation and planning, the SeekersHub Steps Curriculum in Islamic Studies aims to revive Islamic scholarship through a world-class program. The Steps Classes are carefully developed and taught by qualified scholars from across the world. This curriculum begins with the essentials, to understanding and mastery of Islamic Sciences. Its emphasis on tradition aims to facilitate the journey of scholars, teachers, and activists to serve, guide, and benefit.

8 WHAT WE DO HERE REFLECTS WORLDWIDE STEP CURRICULUM COURSES The Step One Certificate is the first of a five step program which covers the foundational subjects any Muslim needs to know to have clarity on living their faith. TORONTO 650+ Registrations STEPS Year One Seminary Students *approximately 120 students attend weekly GLOBAL Registrations STEPS Year One Seminary Students MORE OFFERINGS On-Demand courses Q&A Service Podcasts Weekly Classes Community Engagement Monthly Critical Issues Seminars

9 A LOCAL PLATFORM FOR SCHOLARS In 2018, SeekersHub Toronto hosted several internationally recognized scholars including: SHAYKH YAHYA RHODUS SHAYKH HABIB UBAYDULLAH DR ALI ATAIE Founding Director of al-maqasid AL-ATTAS Professor at Zaytuna College DR INGRID MATTSON London and Windsor Community Chair A Meccan Scholar, who has studied under some of the great luminaries of our time. SHAYKH WALEAD MOSAAD Director of Muslim Student Life at DR MUZAFAR IQBAL books in theology, Islamic Fiqh, Islamic Founder-president of Center for Islamic history, Arabic literature, Arabic poetry, Sciences and General Editor of the and others. Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur an Lehigh University DR OMAR QURESHI Assistant Professor at Zaytuna College BAKR BA DHIB Author and editor of more than 100 in Islamic Studies at Huron University College at Western University SHAYKH MUHAMMAD ABU SHAYKH ZAHIR BACCHUS Co-founder and director of the Lote Tree Foundation

10 When you can t see the vision, then trust the visionary. The insight and the wisdom of what s being done here at SeekersHub is astounding. I m embarrassed more people don t know about it and support it. IMAM SIRAJ WAHHAJ SeekersHub proposes a strong viable solution to the problem of Muslims who are not able to seek sacred knowledge due to financial barriers. USTADHA ZAYNAB ANSARI The beauty of the religion is being captured by the work that s going on at SeekersHub. IMAM ZAID SHAKIR Nothing is closer to the Sunnah of our Prophet than what SeekersHub has done in establishing free classes. SHAYKH YAHYA RHODUS

11 OUR TEAM Management Faculty SHAYKH FARAZ RABBANI Executive Director ZAFAR RANA Operations Director SHAYKH HAMZA KARAMALI Dean of Academic Affairs USTADHA SHIREEN AHMED Toronto Managing Director and Global Academy Manager JAMAALUDEEN KHAN Outreach Lead SULAYMAN HART Technology Lead SHAYKH FARAZ RABBANI Resident Scholar at SeekersHub Toronto. Listed as one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims, 2018 USTADH AMJAD TARSIN Muslim Chaplain at University of Toronto SHAYKH ABU BAKR BA-DHIB Author and editor of more than 100 books in various fields of the Islamic Sciences SHAYKH YAHYA RHODUS Founding Director of al-maqasid, USA SHAYKH ABDURRAGMAAN KHAN One of Africa s leading Shafi'i Scholars and a member of the Fatwa Committee of the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa SHAYKH HAMZA KARAMALI SHAYKH ALI HANI SHAYKH FARID DINGLE SHAYKH ABDUL-RAHIM REASAT SHAYKH OMAR QURESHI SHAYKH WALEAD MOSAAD SHAYKH FARAZ A. KHAN SHAYKH JAMIR MEAH MUFTI MOHAMED-UMER ESMAIL SHAYKH RAMI NSOUR DR. INGRID MATTSON USTADH SALMAN YOUNAS USTADH MOHAMMED TAYSSIR SAFI USTADH ABDULLAH (ANIK) MISRA USTADH TABRAZE AZAM USTADHA SHIREEN AHMED USTADHA RAIDAH SHAH IDIL Counsellor, writer, and a creative instructor based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

12 SeekersHub is fulfilling the individual and societal obligation that is required of us as individuals and communities DR UMAR ABD-ALLAH 5650 Tomken Rd #16, Mississauga, ON L4W 4P1 seekershub.org/toronto Facebook /SeekersHubTo YOUTUBE