Yahya Rhodus – A Special Invitation to On Prophetic Characteristics- A Study of Book 20 of the Iy Ulm al-Dn

			Bismillah wa salatu wa salam ala rasulillah wa
		

			ala aalihi wa sahbihi wa man huwa ala
		

			as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
		

			On behalf of Al-Muqasid, I wanted to
		

			invite everyone to join us for our upcoming
		

			retreat, which will be held from December 13th
		

			to the 15th.
		

			This is a special retreat because this signifies
		

			our khatm.
		

			We began many years ago with Book 21
		

			of the Ihya al-Mu'mineen, and Ihya al
		

			-Mu'mineen, of course, is 40 books.
		

			And now we've come all the way around
		

			to Book 20.
		

			So this is our khatm, and this will
		

			signify our complete reading of the entire book
		

			from the bounty of Allah subhanahu wa ta
		

			'ala.
		

			And Book 20 is also a special book
		

			because it is his book, essentially, that is
		

			on the shama'ah, the blessed characteristics of
		

			our Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa alihi wa
		

			sahbihi wa salam.
		

			And we find the great imams who came
		

			before us, in particular Imam al-Aidurus al
		

			-Akbar, as he is known from the Hadrami
		

			tradition.
		

			Every time that he used to finish teaching
		

			Ihya, and he taught it extensively many times,
		

			he would have a big celebration.
		

			And these meanings, i.e. celebrating for religious
		

			purposes, when you finish books, when you do
		

			regular devotions of different sorts, this is one
		

			of the manifestations of putting the words of
		

			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala into practice.
		

			Say that in the bounty of Allah and
		

			His mercy, let them rejoice.
		

			So we hope that all of you will
		

			be able to join us on this special
		

			occasion.
		

			And inshallah ta'ala, as we finish this
		

			blessed book, we will get right back into
		

			the retreat in February, starting with Book 21
		

			again.
		

			And this is what we hope to spend
		

			our lives doing.
		

			Reading and re-reading.
		

			Reading and re-reading.
		

			So that we can learn more and then
		

			strive to put the knowledge we learn into
		

			practice.
		

			And no book is more worthy for us
		

			to dedicate our lives to than the Ihya
		

			al-Madin of Imam al-Ghazali.
		

			As one of them said, were the deceased
		

			to advise those who are still living, they
		

			would have only advised them with what is
		

			in the Ihya al-Madin.
		

			This is the knowledge that we need to
		

			prepare ourselves to meet our Lord subhanahu wa
		

			ta'ala.
		

			So please join us.
		

			BarakAllahu feekum.
		

			Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi ta'ala wa barakatuh.