Human Nature - Introduction to the Human Psyche

This course is without a doubt the best course I have enrolled for since becoming a casual slash part time student of the Al-Ghazzali Centre. Imam Afroz started the course by building the right environment for the students starting with the basics of anatomy, DNA, neurons in the brain... then gradually moving towards more deeper understanding of the Insaan (Human Being).

It took us 4 to 6 weeks just to build the right framework necessary to understand the 'fitrah', preceeded by the different states of the nafs gradually progressing towards other aspects of the human being. The more the course progress the better I have been able to understand human nature and more importantly myself. SubhanAllah! This is partially because the course involves constant interaction between Imam Afroz and us students. Often more is learnt and understood from the discussion between the students and the teacher. Never have I encountered such a though probing, mind challenging course. It constantly triggers contemplation and self reflection in better understanding oneself.

Definitely a course I recommend for those wanting to further understand themselves.

Imam Afroz Ali's Website

Assalaam Alaikum and Peace be upon you all,

Imam Afroz Ali - Website

For those who aren't aware, Imam Afroz has his own website.... it has loads of interesting articles there, as well as links to other AGC initiatives.

It is updated regularly, when he finds time out of his busy schedule.

Insha'allah you can take the time to read some of these articles, and resources.

Imam Afroz Ali - Website

Mizaan Living

Assalamu alaykum
Below is a video I put together of one of the Mizaan walks and the rest is some of the other activities Mizaan does mashAllah =)

The next Mizaan walk is this saturday 12th June 2010. For more info and to register go to
Mizaan Living - Coastal Walk - Spit to Manly

The Role Of Palestine with Imam Afroz and Antony Loewenstein

As to what follows, I begin with the greeting words of paradise

As Sallam Wa Alaikum (Peace be with you)


On Monday night I had the privilege to attend a program which is usually what you would call a "hot" topic.

Indeed it was.
Antony Loewenstein for those who don't know him is an Atheist Jew who lives in Sydney.

He is a fantastic writer. One of his books I want to highlight on the Israel/Palestine conflict is: My Israel Question

There was a great turn out at the programme, it was a full house!

Antony was being interviewed by Imam Afroz . A very unique style I must add.

It’s not every day you see a Muslim interviewing a Jew. But Wait...

It was great! The crowd loved it. Especially when Antony and Imam shook hands I think that sent everyone a message that we can work together.

Antony is very outspoken I truly do admire him for that (I also recommend to buy his book you will not be disappointed)

He spoke on his trip to Israel and to Gaza as well as the West Bank.
The experiences he faced while he was there and how he was treated.
WHAT AN EYE OPENER!

The facts are that Israel will continue to build settlements on Palestine Land and we are looking at apartheid exactly what happend in South Africa is what will happen to the Arabs, because Stats show that Arabs will outnumber Israel in the future.

I can tell you now, what Antony is doing isn’t easy but I can assure you he has my support all the way 110%

Now if your thinking this talk was to get Palestine back... hmm you must be dreaming, as if that’s going to happen anytime soon


It was more about how we should work together. At the end of the day, we are Human. Muslim, Jew, Christian whatever you maybe we’re living on a planet called earth and we have to work together.

Ill be honest and please don’t take this the wrong way, before I was ignorant, In my mind I hated all Jews and All of Israel. I had another thing coming. Once again Reality Check: Are all Jews bad?

The answer No. I feel so bad for thinking in such a way.

Zionist on the other hand. Well you can call me Anti Zionist (and proud)

Read up on the book and you can see why.

Once again it was great to be with Imam Afroz also. He always knows how to make us smile and we are truly blessed to have him visit us often in Auckland.

I would like to end on a note by Nelson Mandela:

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”.


Jazakllah Khair,


Aashif Sacha

(RMDT)


P.S. Please forgive me if I said anything to offend anyone. And please forgive me for my shortcomings.

Prince among Slaves - Next xpresso film night

Prince Among Slaves (A True Story)

XpressO Movie Night

7pm Saturday 19th June
AGC Sydney

(For more info and to register for the event click here)

After enduring the brutal Middle Passage, he eventually ended up in Mississippi at the birth of the U.S. as a nation, where he remained enslaved for almost 40 years. Near providential circumstances finally led to his release, but not his freedom, nor the freedom of his large family. Defying the edict that he return immediately to Africa and still technically a slave, Abdul-Rahman set out on a quest to raise enough money to purchase his family’s freedom.

His quest came to a tragic end, as he was finally forced to leave before he could raise the needed money. He returned to Africa with only his wife, where he continued pressing for the release of his children. Only four months later, he died.

Two of his sons were finally freed with the money he raised, but the others remained in bondage in America. Recently, his African and American descendents were reunited at a reunion on the grounds of the plantation where he was enslaved, finally fulfilling his dream.

Theology and the Ethics of Food

As to what follows, I begin with the greeting words of paradise,

As Sallam Wa Alaikum (Peace be with you)

Last Sunday (2nd May 2010), I attended a work shop regarding the ethics of food.

Honestly it's really not what I expected, the seminar really blew me away and was a major eye opener. I always appreciate Imam Afroz because he is always straight to the point.

The programme covered the difference between organic and inorganic food, milk, chocolate, the soil beneath our feet, gelatin, alcohol, chicken, vanillin and an Islamic view of what is lawful and prohibited regarding food.

The main bit that really got me was to actually start looking into what is really in our food.
Sure I read ingredients while I'm consuming the food, 80% of which words I don't even know!
And I wonder if I have nutrition?

Imam Afroz explained that our brain is affected by our nutrition which I cant believe I didn't even think of (Subhan'Allah) until he told us!!

Well lets really look at the big picture.. We need mind, body and soul to serve God right? Well how are we meant to serve God if we can't maintain a healthy body (By the way by 'we' I am referring to myself also)

For people like myself who has a pet I look to buy my cat a nice nutritional stuff (I don't even know if he likes it, but hes got no other choice haha) but really I don't even buy myself food as healthy as i do for my cat. Even then stats show that canned cat food is more nutritional than canned human food. In my eyes that absolutly ridiculous!


Same story with gas.. I fill my car up with 98 so it runs better than if I fill it up with 91. How am I fuelling my body? hmmm REALITY CHECK!

So:

---> Good nutrition = More Energy :-)

---> Bad Nutrition = More Tiredness :-(

Okay and then we got meat.. GO AND LOOK WHERE YOUR MEAT COMES FROM!

Don't just blindly go and eat whatever because of a cert. How do you know whats in your mean and where it came from? You can usually tell just by looking at the quality of meat.
I mean this isn't your car if it breaks down you go and get a service. This is your body were talking about. Your life.
As I stated before: how are we meant to serve God if we can't maintain a healthy body

We went into some serious detail of milk, ill never look at milk the same again that's for sure.
Do some homework brothers and sisters, this isn't a joke!

We are at risk and company's are benefiting from it.


I finish up this piece with a Hadith I hope you all enjoy:

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: 'A truthful and trustworthy merchant is associated with the prophets, the upright and the martyrs.'
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith



Jazakallah Khair for taking time out to read this. Please forgive me if I caused disrespect to anyone. I really did not mean any harm.
(This is my first blog post)


Aashif Sacha
RMDT

(Auckland, New Zealand)

Seerah

Assalam alaikum,

I just attended my first Seerah class and it was wonderfully insightful. The focus of the class was on understanding the term Jahilliyah, which is commonly refered to as 'the age of ignorance', the period prior to the advent of Islam. I had never really given much thought to the meaning of the word and therefore missed the importance that understanding the term has, to understanding what Islam came to remove.

We looked at pre-Islamic Arabic poetry to be able to have a better and more thorough understanding of the word. People often think that the word jahl refers to an ignorance that is born of lack of intelligence. We were shown that the word Jahiliyya, as used here, does not refer to that type of ignorance. It rather, refers to this quality of being rash and acting in the heat of the moment, out of ones anger and emotion, a haughty type of behaviour. It refers to people who make decisions without actually thinking and using reason and intellect, but instead just act out of their anger and emotion, without much consideration for what is the right way to go about something.

To help us understand the word we looked at its opposite, which is Hilm, forebearance. A person who acts with hilm has a calmness about them, and utilises what they find around them to come to the best decision possible, they don't act out of emotion, but rather use their intellect and reason to make decisions.

We also looked at examples of how The Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, used the word. It was so interesting to see that in one instance He (PBUH) addessed Believers and Companions, and warned them against returning to a state of Jahilliyah. This made it clear that Jahilliyah is relevant to muslims, so relevant to me, that any one can fall back into that way of acting out of anger and without proper thought, that just being a muslim doesn't mean you are safe from being of those in Jahilliyah. That it isn't necessarily about the amount of knowledge you have, but again, coming back to what my studies have shown me is a most central theme, it is about character and how we behave.

Having a better understanding of the word jahl opened up a whole new door of understanding. In the past whenever I have learnt anything about the seerah, this word Jahilliyah has been simply mentioned but no explanation has been given. So now, taking this class I am excited about what knowledge is to come, and how having this foundation of having a better understanding of Jahilliyah, will impact how I recieve the knowledge to follow. It's exciting stuff, I am keenly awaiting the time we reach learning about the entry of The Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, into the world.

If you would like to join the study circle, please go to the AGC Website