The Messenger of God, may blessings and peace be upon him, prophesied that in every century God would raise up amongst his nation a man who would renew the religion. Imam 'Abdallah al-Haddad was the renewer, or Mujaddid, of the twelfth Islamic century. He was renowned for the breadth of his knowledge and his manifest sanctity. The profundity of his influence on Muslims is reflected by the fact that, to this day, his books are printed and studied throughout the Muslim world.
This course will provide you with the most basic, yet deeply profound, principles of Islamic spirituality, as expounded by Imam al-Haddad in The Book of Assistance, which is widely considered the greatest summary of Islamic spirituality ever written. You will learn how to apply the great Imam's teachings into your life.
Imam al-Haddad's teachings are mostly concerned with establishing within his readers the firmest possible foundations for faith and certainty. He recognized the signs of his times and of the times to come, and observed how people were drawing away from religion, exhibiting a reluctance to study and a diminishing inclination to seek spiritual growth. Like a master perfumer, he worked tirelessly in distilling centuries of Islamic scholarship into the most fragrant, concise books that any scholar has ever produced. For the past 300 years they have perfumed the spirit of all those who read them.
The Book of Assistance is considered by many as the greatest of his works. In it he summarized the foundations of Islamic Spirituality into 32 succinct, practical chapters covering topics such as certainty, vigilance, knowledge, reflection, prayer, adherence to the sunna, and many more.
Why take this course?
Throughout the centuries the greatest scholars of all Islamic sciences have held firm to the teaching that the best and safest way to learn is by studying with those who have mastered the subject you want to learn. No one becomes a medical doctor by reading medical books on their own. Likewise if you want to improve your spiritual condition it's vital that you study with a scholar who has worked on himself and learned from masters of this discipline before him and has been authorized to teach. Shaykh Abdul Kareem Yahya has received a chain of transmission of Book of Assistance from his teachers whose knowledge is traced back to Imam Al-Haddad. You will gain benefit from the blessing of this chain and we pray that one day you, too, will be able continue this tradition.
This course is one of the core requirements of the Foundations curriculum so completing it is necessary for anyone who would like to complete the curriculum.
What can I expect?
We can guarantee that this course is unlike others that you have taken before. Students will be engaged throughout and will be trained on how to interact with the text and implement these teachings in their life. There will be much emphasis on your personalizing the knowledge by applying knowledge from each lesson and by reflecting on key points through a personal journal. Because this course is a weekly course and not a rushed weekend seminar, you will have time to interact and apply what you learn, and internalize each lesson. You will have plenty of time to interact with your teacher and fellow students throughout the course through live sessions, forums and private office hours.