Suhaib Webb – Join Us for the Fall Semester Open House at SWISS!
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AI: Transcript ©
We praise Allah.
We send peace and blessings upon our beloved
messenger, Mohammed.
His family,
his blessed companions,
and those who will follow them until the
end of time.
Brothers and sisters,
First of all, on behalf of myself and
everyone,
across the globe who's part of our SWISS
staff, I want to thank you for attending
tonight's open house, and I also want to
welcome,
some of our teachers will be joining later.
They may be also we're having some, weather
issues in our area. So some of the
teachers may have been impacted by that, but
Alhamdulillah.
Allahu Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
did not command the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam
to ask for an increase in anything except
knowledge. U'qurabiizi
ni'ilma.
Saying my Lord increase me in knowledge. And
when
Allah compared
the people who know and the people who
don't know, he made it very clear that
people who know are those who are preferred.
Are those who know the truth and those
who not know the truth the same.
And
Allah he
raised the people of learning and knowledge. When
he said
Allah is going to raise the people of
faith
and the people of knowledge.
And in the 3rd chapter of the Quran,
Allahu
he notes the great virtue
of the people who know
when he mentions them in the context of
himself and his
noble angels.
And he says,
That Allah is angels and the people of
knowledge. They bear witness to.
For that reason, we know there are many
virtues,
attributed to knowledge. As I mentioned, some from
the Quran,
but also through Sayed al Aqwan,
our beloved prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him,
who said whoever
seeks a path of knowledge.
Will
make that way easy.
What we understood to
for that person,
what we understand from these verses and this
hadith and others is that knowledge is something
very serious.
That's why scholars considered seeking knowledge an act
of worship,
and also it's not easy.
Seeking knowledge is not easy.
It demands
efforts.
It demands discipline. It demands
struggle. I remember when I was memorizing the
Quran,
and in Sultanisa,
I began to cry
in front of my teacher. And he said
to me, everyone
who was in the path that you're on,
they cried like this.
Like, you you have to run into moments
where you're challenged.
And that's why Allah
says about the Quran,
like, you should struggle to have relationship with
the Quran.
And Imam Al Shaltibi,
he says in
That the Quran is something that you have
to cling to, and the Quran is something
that you have to work for. If that's
the case with the Quran,
what about knowledge?
That takes us now to the second issue
that
when we define knowledge in Islam, it's very
different than other frameworks.
Oftentimes we
see knowledge
in in
educational
institutions
as being simply something which is related to
cognition,
something which is related to thinking.
But as the early Muslims defined these terms
for us, like knowledge,
They define, like, Sayed ibn Abbas,
He defined knowledge as cognition and action.
Right? So there is the acquisition in the
mind,
but then there is the implementation
through the lens.
And that's why we find in Surat Alba
in talking about the story of Sayedina
Suraiman alayhis salaam.
He says something interesting.
That those people, they knew
they knew that that what they were doing
was wrong. They knew that, like, ignoring the
prophet's
message and
engaging in what they engaged in, they knew
that it was not going to bring them
any bid benefit in the hereafter.
At the end of the verse, though, it
says
So the beginning of the verse is it's
that
the end of the verse is nefi. What
does it mean? The beginning of the this
part of the verse says that they knew.
At the end of the verse, it says
they don't know. How do they know and
not know? Because they didn't act on what
they knew.
So Allah affirmed
a part of knowledge that was the cognitive
understanding,
but their failure to implement that knowledge
and live it
still classifies it as aljeh
or la adam.
So for that reason, some years ago we
started SWISS, the Suhevoib Institute of Sacred Sciences,
with a goal to accomplish 4 things.
Number 1 was to create a organized
curriculum based on
the West African and ESSAR system
that is contextually appropriate for English speakers, specifically,
English speaking Muslims.
The second was to facilitate
and make it easy for people to learn
things that normally were very difficult. So like
if you look
at our app or our web page, you
find classes in things that are not easy
to find.
Arabic grammar
for people that are interested. The different
even
different hadith that we we're giving, as well
as a a guided curriculum
that is meant to help someone achieve what
we call functional religious literacy, not dysfunctional scholarship.
That they can take it from processing it
intellectually
to then living it physically.
The third goal that we wanted to,
accomplish through Swiss is to make it
as accessible as possible. So hence we have
a free app.
We have numerous recorded classes now, almost 2
1000 hours that are organized. It's not like
YouTube, it's a school, right? It's courses that
you take, housed on Google Classrooms with homework,
assignments, and so on and so forth, with
even syllabus
and lesson plans for people interested.
But also the app which I mentioned earlier.
So wherever you are, you have access
to quality information,
responsible scholarship,
and invested,
in the growth of the community. And finally,
we want it to be affordable.
And and so, you know, a shout to
be again, who I mentioned earlier, he says,
Right? We should not use these things for
profit,
but for the sake of the prophets.
And so we we found a price point
at $9.99
a month for people's entire family. Think about
what you pay for one course.
Think about what you pay for a master
class.
You have access to train quality information,
scholarship, which is unparalleled, we believe in the
English language, Alhamdulillah,
rooted in the scholastic tradition of Islam,
but embedded in the cultural context of our
age for $9.99
for your entire family. So we felt that
it had to be affordable.
So alhamdulillah, we started and now we are
celebrating our inaugural
fall semester with a number of incredible teachers
and educators.
I wanna welcome all of you, and this
is also an opportunity for you to ask
questions. I'm gonna pass now
the,
program over to other Ahmed.
Then we'll be introducing some of our teachers
in.
So
my name is Ahmed, and I help on
the back end technical aspects for Swiss.
I just wanted to kind of, we have
a number of questions from people on how
they can access live classes.
So for for for
this coming weekend and this coming week, we
will be emailing out the Zoom links to
all of our subscribers.
So as long as you are a subscriber
to the Swiss platform,
look out in your emails.
You'll get the Zoom link for your classes.
Starting from about mid mid
next week,
we're actually updating our website, and we're gonna
have a calendar posted on our website.
And I'm gonna share my screen for a
split second
so you you can actually
see what you can expect.
So so as you see over here,
starting from next week, we'll have an event
calendar posted on our website
so you know exactly when thing when the
events are.
You can actually see the details. You can
add the events to your calendars that kinda
gives you a notification
on your phone on when the classes are
being held,
and you'll see a button to join the
Zoom session straight
on
the platform. So the links will be on
the platform starting from next week. Until this
is,
released,
we'll be emailing out the links, and,
we hope you enjoy the classes.
I will go ahead and
pass the mic back to Imam Suhayb.
I'll ask one quick issue and and and
reward you. Sheikh Abdullah, you know, I'm done
with having some technical issues right now trying
to get on. He just texted me. So
I'm honored to actually begin to say that
one of the most important programs we have,
even though it's not one of our core
programs,
is a program on, Hajjwi with the Quran.
We offer each as that.
You can see some
actually behind me. There have been erased by
my daughter. I think she did some postmodern
art.
But,
we offer
I studied Quranic studies for almost 17 years.
Was able to sit with some very important,
educators and able to achieve
and the offer these programs. But one of
the things that we had a lot of
requests from was from women
who were very keen. And I would say,
actually, the majority of people that are reaching
out to study the Quran are women. And
obviously, many of them would feel much more
comfortable with a female teacher. So,
it's my honor and my pleasure to introduce,
our sheikha and Ustazah
Mideh, who is also
a Lebanese connection for myself
who is going to be teaching,
our sister's class introduction to Tajweed for beginners.
But those people should at least, as she'll
explain, be able to read Arabic very well.
But it's my honor, to introduce her, and
I would appreciate if she can talk about
herself,
her class, and the timings.
My name is Hamidi, and I am going
to be teaching here
at Swiss.
I am honored, and I am happy to
teach this course. Hopefully, be it me that
I can help I can help the sisters
here learn this beautiful science.
I would like to let or to tell
all the sisters here that who will join
this course
that, Allah has chose you to come and
learn this his word.
And, subhanallah, what an honor for all of
us
to learn his word just like or to
learn how to recite the the Quran
just like prophet Muhammad did
Would you be able to give us some
some background about yourself as well as, like,
what you plan to be covering, this semester?
Sure.
So we are going to
learn the science of tazrid. We are going
to cover few topics.
And I promise you I promise you this
Ramadan,
If we get to live, it's going to
be different when you come and read the
Quran.
So the topics that we're we're going to
to
cover, they are, I would say, up to
5 rules.
We'll take them easy at a time. We'll
try to imply each rule by reading the
Quran insha'Allah.
We're very honored and happy to have you,
the people of the Quran, the people of
Allah.
The prophet said.
Allow me.
And and in my own history, some of
our greatest teachers, actually, even in Egypt were
women. There was a woman who was known
as the sheikha of the balcony.
And, people would read under her balcony, and
she will correct them either by tapping or
by,
audibly correcting them. And my own teacher's wife,
she would do she was blind, and she
would do a khatam every 3 days
and from her memories.
So
we hope to create a culture of Quran
amongst English speaking Muslims. That is something which
is endemic to Muslim the Muslim world. We
go to the Muslim world everywhere. People reading
Quran. Any thoughts on how
people can create, like, a culture of Quran
in their lives?
Now, it's my honor to introduce,
Imam Abdullah Hernandez who I've known.
He can tell the story one day for
quite a long time.
We were on our first Hajj together,
and then we also did,
we
a lot of stuff. Like, I don't know.
It's just too many things to mention. I'm
gonna ask someone who I have so much
love and respect for as a teacher, as
someone I learned from, that I benefit from.
And I remember actually you
you memorized the.
I remember
the section on.
So he's going to be joining us. He
taught some amazing youth classes
some years ago, but now he's gonna step
in and teach an introductory
It is a pleasure
again to
it is a pleasure to be able to
participate
in this semester of
of
with Swiss.
I
had the blessed
opportunity
to have
an instructor
guide me and mentor me
and recommend for me to
work on
memorizing,
learning this text.
And the reason being is because
he said,
all of
all of FIP is embodied in the
text.
All of it is embodied in the small
text, and therefore, if you learn it, you
learn the skeleton.
Right? And then later on and also the
structure
of of the school.
And then later on, you can navigate through
books, through 2 volumes,
4
volumes, 23 volumes,
and and it's the same structure. So by
the father of Allah,
I
I have been studying,
the since
2005,
and I focused on
on it on trying to master it,
from different angles, from the
aspect,
right, with knowing the and the rulings. And
also
from the aspect of the, like, the proofs.
So this class,
we will introduce, number 1,
the
the
the text.
Number 2, we'll introduce the author.
Number 3, we'll introduce
the the course content. Right?
Then insha'Allah, we will cover we'll be covering
Kitabat Tahara, the book of Tahara.
The approach is going to be
a proof based approach
that it's easier for us, which is
the Quran and sunnah
proofs.
So we're going to work on so it
it's easier for us to understand
as at a beginner level, the
the concept.
My recommendation
for my students
or for our students
is for them to you have a week
to learn
to polish up on the section of the
text that we will cover that week insha'allah.
The hope is that by the end of
the of the course, that you at least
got some good familiarity
with the book of of Tahara,
Insha'Allah.
And, again,
without forgetting the aim and objective of it,
which is our aim and objective of understanding
purification,
external purification,
internal purification
is for us
to be right
and to be pure
for the sake of Allah
So I am honored,
to be able to teach this class, and
I hope that I can benefit,
my students and as well benefit myself from
reviewing this blessed knowledge,
Yeah. Sometimes people are intimidated to study,
imam, like classical texts. And you yourself embraced
Islam, and you had to walk through those
hurdles.
Anything you can say to people
as far as, like, what they can expect
and how they can most benefit?
And are there any translations you can recommend
perhaps of the text as well?
So, Alhamdulillah, we do have,
Khidma that,
sheikh
Musa Farber did, which is the the ultimate
cons conspectus. Right?
And it's a it's a it's a good
very good translation,
So we have it, and it's available on
Mecca bookstore
and other,
bookstores as well.
So I think that's a good base because
it has the Arabic and the English. Right?
And he did do a a commentary on
it,
but the approach is more
it's not just straight hadith Quran,
approach.
And, so that's why I'm I'm using this
different approach. I'm using the explanation
of sheikh, Mustafa Al Bugha of,
called Kitabat Tahlib,
Tahlib,
So
the now going back to the question, that
you asked,
about, the classical knowledge.
SubhanAllah, once you
you try to understand
our classical scholars,
and you try to really
just understand.
You know, you you come to know that,
their wisdom
and and this knowledge
is not outdated.
Right? So it it might take
some effort. It might take some
the a
struggle,
but it is essential for us
to be connected with our tradition. And connected
with our tradition is connected with our our
scholars, not just the subject itself,
but also to become familiar with like, for
example, we're dealing with. What are the books
that are, you know, in in a in
a gradual,
process
that are used in this school or that
school. The same thing with aduid and other
subjects. There are texts
that that that many imams, many scholars,
you know, internationally
are familiar with. So these are texts that
are have been used for,
you know, maybe 1000 of years. You know?
So I I really encourage
the idea of just giving
the classical approach
a chance,
right,
and
and and with patience
with patience for the sake of seeking to
understand the the the mind,
the framework
of the author of these books.
That should be the aim besides just understanding
jumping into the text, understanding
what's the thought process.
So I think that will help us
help us in also decision making
and and and and and utilizing our deen
in our daily life when we also
have this influence,
of this,
knowledge,
not just conclusions, not just,
you know, rulings and people start, you know,
fighting over rulings.
That's not the objective. The objective is how
can
the the Sharia is very practical
and applicable
in all
times and places.
So it's the idea of just
preserving that legacy
and that tradition
by studying it,
by by by by developing
that sabr and that patience. And and
it it it opens many doors
many doors in in our connection with Allah.
So I really encourage
that that that approach. May Allah give us
all success.
So that,
know, like, everyone is really excited,
for this class. It's gonna be on Wednesday
evenings, I believe. And
we're excited. We have 2 other teachers, unfortunately,
who weren't able to join us. 1 is
having some technical issues. There's some storms happening.
We ask a lot to make it easy
for us, but first, I want to thank,
our and our
for being here and brother Ahmed as well
as, Swiss, members.
Second thing is,
the other teachers are Imam,
Mohammed Badawi. Actually, he's teaching a text, which
is a scholars
scholars
text. He's teaching a Munir,
which is a different Munir than the one
that, our Tajweed teacher may have heard, which
is related to Uluma Quran. And it's actually
a very important text which is hard to
find
by,
Sheikh Mohammed al Mahroof,
who was the Mufti of Egypt and a
great scholar a little over a 100 years
ago, a tremendous tremendous scholar. And he took,
the ittqan of Imam Sayyuti and he sort
of summarized it in a way that it's
palatable for the masses.
It's very important for, I think, homeschoolers. It's
extremely important for Islamic studies teachers to take
this. Especially now we're seeing
a lot of things about
and people,
getting concerned about
and some of the polemics that are being
used, which are very old. They're not new.
But,
that class is going to not only prepare
someone
to talk about Islam and defend Islam, but
also strengthen their their conviction with the Quran.
The second in his class will be on
Tuesday evenings. The second, classes, of course, are
our favorite, Ustazah Masha'Allah. In Arabic, Ustazah Iman
Ali, who's been with SWIFT now almost 2
years. She teaches her book that she wrote.
It's 3 volumes,
The Art of Reading Arabic. I've never seen
someone who takes her class and works hard
not be able to read Arabic.
And that's so important, especially, like, as sheikh
Abdullah was saying, imam Abdullah,
like, knowledge is something that is going to
be left as an inheritance to the people
after us when we die. Just recently, I
was in Andalusia, and and they found books
hidden in in a house,
by an Andalusian Muslim. The last inquisition was
17/42.
So he actually hid
those books, he and his wife, in their
home.
And wrote in the book that if you
find this, we are your ancestors and you
were Muslims.
So you can imagine the the the need
to invest in in sustaining
our legacy. So we want to encourage everyone
to subscribe to SWISS if you haven't by
visiting, swihibweb.com.
If you are a subscriber by engaging and
taking the classes,
I'll leave it to Ahmed if you have
anything else you would like to say. If
not, we'll close out and shout out.
No. Just we'll not close out.
Everybody. Please spread the word,
and we look forward to seeing you guys
an amazing fall semester.