Seekersguidance: Fulfilling A Vital Role in Our Community

SeekersHub: Fulfilling A Vital Role in Our Community Through Unique Learning OpportunitiesSeekersGuidance: Fulfilling A Vital Role in Our Community Through Unique Learning Opportunities

Br. Khuram Zaman shares his observations about SeekersHub, where SeekersHub fits in today and how SeekersHub can help the Muslim community. Our thanks and appreciation go to Khurram for his honest assessment.

Unique Learning Opportunities

In a previous post (“Shaykh Hamza Yusuf has started blogging“), I highlighted how modernity has reversed how Islamic learning takes places and how we can use this reversal to our advantage:

“We live in strange times. In the days of old, students would travel great distances to sit at the feet of the ‘Ulema – sometimes only to learn a single hadeeth or to understand a single legal issue. Today, the situation has almost reversed – the scholars come to us.

A Word About SeekersHub

Although the modern era has come with its own set of traumas, one of the unique advantages of globalization is the ability to connect with ‘Ulema all over the world. One such institution of learning, SeekersHub, fulfils this vital role in our community by bringing knowledge to our fingertips through online courses, weekend seminars, summer retreats, and webinars that have featured scholars such as Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Shaykh Yahya Rhodus, Shaykh Ninowy, Imam Tahir Anwar, Ustadha Zaynab Ansari, and many others.

SeekersHub offers free courses taught by qualified Scholars in different Islamic sciences such as Quran, nahw (Arabic grammar), aqeedah (theology), fiqh (jurisprudence), tasawwuf (spirituality), and guidance for daily living.

What makes these courses unique is not only their rich content, but the flexibility by which the student can master the subject.

Key Course Feature: Downloadable mp3s and videos

Unlike other institutes, all course materials are downloadable. This means, you can download all of the mp3s and pdfs that are in a course and take them wherever you go.

Think about that for a second. Many people say “I don’t have time to take a course, I’m busy with school or work or family obligations.”

The truth of the matter is that there are opportunities to learn at every moment. How many of us waste time on long commutes to school or work? Or spend our evenings goofing off on the internet or watching nonsense on television. The truth is: we don’t have a “time” problem, we have a “time management” problem.

To give an example, I took the course “Essentials of Islamic Belief: Dardir’s Kharida Explained.” I downloaded all of the audio onto my laptop. Each time my family visited our relatives, who lived approximately an hour away, I would cover a lesson. Thus, each time I went to a dawaat, I would cover two lessons – one on the way there and one on the way back. By the time the weekend was over, I would have covered 6 lessons – half the course.

If you have to commute to school or work, you can easily listen to the lectures on your mp3 player, smartphone (I had the complete audio set for four entire courses on my smart phone), iPad or laptop. Again, its not about whether you have time or not, you have the time, its whether you want to use it in a meaningful manner.

Brief Overview of Available Courses

My personal course recommendations:

• Liberal Arts/Humanities Majors: For people in the humanities, especially philosophy, political science, religious studies, law, or economics, I’d recommend Essentials of Islamic Belief: Dardir’s Kharida Explained with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. For those of you in the sciences, take this course, but supplement it with a course on the philosophy of science.
• Parents: Although I’m not married and have no children, I’ve attended a few seminars by Shaykh Faraz on the topic of parenting and I found it to be immensely beneficial. My friends who have taken the online course have said its one of the best courses they’ve ever taken. So consider Islamic Parenting: Raising Upright Children by Shaykh Faraz and his wife Ustadha Umm ‘Umar.
• Students of Knowledge: If you’re serious about studying the Islamic sciences, then start off with the Arabic Program.

Recommended

• Meccan Dawn: The Life of the Beloved Prophet Muhammad (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) taught by Ustadh Anik Misra

May Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) preserve our teachers and enable us to benefit from them. Ameen!