An opportunity HOSNA MUST NOT miss!

if you are interested in getting it, let me know and we'll get on it, inshallah;

Please do.

Brother al-Jilani posted on the forum all of the brothers' gems which were written during the class. We need to review these too and extract a few.

See: http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=2510

Assalaamu alaikum,

Just wanted to re-emphasize the importance of "inviting" the readers to join AlMaghrib/get AlMaghrib to their city. You know how Sh. Muhammad said that it's good to straightforwardly invite people to Islaam after your five minute da'wah speech. He was saying tha a lot of non-Muslims like Islaam but they never thought of becoming Muslim because nobody ever asked them. I think the same applies here, wallahu a'lam. They may read the newsletter... say "Wow, AlMaghrib sounds really cool" and then forget about it because we didn't tell them what steps they need to take to become part of AlMaghrib.

Wallaahu A'lam.
Umm Sarah

great point sister umm sarah

inshallah i will write up the points today and post them here; in the meantime, i got some clip art sites and the Publisher link (jazakallah to sisters howaidah and sumiyyah); i'll get your email off the forum and send them ASAP inshallah

later everyone (inshallah)

ok, here is the summary section (i'm trying to keep it at about half a page to accommodate the other material there)

A Brief History of How the Code Evolved...

Stage One: Era of the Apostleship (Foundation) 13BH-11H
Advent of Prophethood to Messenger's Death

In this stage, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam received the Quran and explained, exemplified, and complemented it with his Sunnah, thus leaving behind the primary sources of Islamic Law.

Stage Two: Era of the Righteous Caliphs (Establishment) 11H-40H
Khilafa of Abu Bakr to Assassination of Ali bin Abi Talib

In order to maintain Islam's purity, the Companions established the methodology of going back to the Quran and Sunnah first and then preferring to arrive at ijma before going on to independent reasoning.

Stage Three: Era of the Young Sahaba and Tabi'een (Narration of Hadith) 40H-132H, The Umayyad Dynasty

The collection and authentication of ahadith became a priority in the face of sects and fabrications. The first two primary schools were established: Hijazi, which had easier access to the Sahaba and ahadith, and therefore relied more heavily on narrations, and Iraqi, where the turbulent political as well as sectarian climate forced them to set stricter standards for narrations and rely more heavily on reasoning.

Stage Four: Era of the Great Imams of Fiqh (Building and Flowering)
132H-339H, Beginning to middle of Abbasid Rule

The juristic code was being laid out. With state support of scholars as well as their dispersion, there was an increase in the making of ijtihad and independent rulings. And with the large conversion of non-Arabs and absorption of so many cultures came Fiqh un nawazil, the rulings when faced with unprecedented events.

Stage Five: Era of the Four Madhabs (Madhab Rivalry) 339H-656H
Middle of Abbasid Empire to its collapse

The spread of debate and discussion, sometimes held in the caliph's courts, tended to solidify the differences between the schools. Fiqh was organized and compiled, and from out of the 13 Great Imams, there emerged the 4 dominant schools of thought: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'ee, and Hanbali.

Stage Six: Era of Taqleed (Stagnation and Decline) 656H-1342H
The Sacking of Baghdad to the Fall of the Islamic Empire

The twin forces of the loss of massive Islamic resources as well as the crumbling Islamic state led to the cancellation of ijtihad so the increasingly less educated masses of people could receive fiqh with little or no thought. Although some attempts at reform were made, there was a widespread belief that every Muslim should pick a madhab and stick to its rulings with little or no consideration for the evidences behind them.

Stage Seven: Era of Reformation (Islamic Fiqh Wakefulness) 1342H-Today

With the fall of the Islamic empire and the immigration of Muslims and their status as minorities for the first time, there was the realization that the religion was not to be taken for granted and had to be relearned from the bottom up. And with the increasing globalization and increases in multimedia literacy, there is new hope every day that the spirit of revival will see the Muslims return to the roots of their faith.

ok, let me know if this is too wordy or convoluted, and i can pare it down

if it's ok, jazz it up with color, font, and graphics as you see fit

jazakallah bil khair

wow, after i posted it i looked at it from afar...it's STILL long!

i might come back tomorrow and revise it (i have a headache right now)

salam

Assalaamu'alaikum Wa Rahmatullah,

More gems...

"Learn that the virtue is in following the truth, not in winning the debate. Focus on WINNING THE TRUTH- even if it's from the other side."

"Knowledge creates kinship between [us]. By learning together in class under one sheikh, you become brothers and sisters and cousins. Keep this kinship when you leave this class."

"Our level of tolerance increases as our knowledge [does]."

“All humans are dead except those who have knowledge, and all those who have knowledge are asleep except those who practice, and all those who practice are deceived except those who are sincere, and all those who are sincere are in a constant state of worry� – Imam Shafi’ee (rahimahu Allah)

"The Sahabaah did not bicker and argue over minor differences in fiqh, rather, they cared for something more important: THE UNITY OF THE UMMAH."

Also, is anyone thinking of a name for the newsletter?

We should make it "attention-grabbing" (my English teacher liked that phrase). Will there be future newsletters? If so, the name should be general.

assalaamu'alaikum

yeah theres gonna be future newsletters too. good point about the "attention grabbing name"..

EVERYONE put in ur suggestions and then we can have a vote at the end

my suggestions are:

Stepping Closer to Jannah
(cuz we get ajr for goin to almaghrib and we gain knowledge that can help us out on our way to Jannah)

and

The Last Sunset
(hehe, personally whenever i say almaghrib- i think sunset. and since in every newsletter we're gonna talk bits and pieces about the last class we had and who our last teacher was for that class, that goes together for "the last sunset")

my 3.46 cents

assalaamu'alaikum

Good name ideas, Basmah. Allaahumma baarik. Let's keep those ideas coming.

Sr. Fatima, your have a very clear and well-written summary there, maashaa'Allaah.

My first idea of the newsletter was just a few lines about each class we took and then a few gems from each and some student responses/ success stories. However, maybe it's a better idea to focus on the Evolution of Fiqh class and have, for example, 10 gems from that one class instead of 3 or four from each class, etc.

Wallaahu A'lam

Just thought I'd share the picture I initially had.