Islamic Education
Commentary on Imam Khomeini’s book “40 Hadith” | Sheikh Dr. Shomali | Sheikh has delivered a series of lectures by reviewing this well written book on Akhlaq.
Sessions were conducted for Kawthar Learning Circle (KCL) students from London.
Sheikh has delivered his commentary in 107 videos (time length range 27min to 45 mins), during May 2018 to Sept 2020.
Shiekh’s very first video Part One: Introduction to the Book. Rest of Sheikh’s videos are available HERE.
Islamic Ethics (Akhlaq)
Session One | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 17th Jan 2017
Session Two | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 24th Jan 2017
Part 3 | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 31st Jan 2017
Part 4 | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 13th Feb 2017
Session Five | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Islamic Theory of Ethics | Sheikh Dr Shomali, 21st Feb 2017
Session Six | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 18th April 2017
Session Seven | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 25th April 2017
Session Eight Part 1 | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 9th May 2017
Session Eight Part 2 | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 9th May 2017
Session Eight, Q&A | Lessons on Islamic Morals, Tawakqul | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore 9th May 2017
Session Nine | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 16th May 2017
Session Ten | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 24th May 2017
Session Eleven: Purification of the Soul | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 12th Sept 2017
Session Twelve: Purification of the Soul (continued) | The Elderly, the Sick, the Oppressed & the Needy | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 19th Sept 2017
…..
Session Twenty One: The Elderly, the Sick, the Oppressed & the Needy | Lessons on Islamic Morals | Sheikh Dr Shomali, Stanmore, 9th June 2018
Miscellaneous Topics
Topic; Whispered Prayer of the Devotees, part 2 | Ethics and Etiquette of Servitude | Sheikh Dr Shomali, 24th Sep 2020. This series is conducted online for the hawzah sisters from the Jami’at al-Zahra (a) and others.
Topic: The Helpers of Imam Hussain: Then & Now | Sheikh Dr Shomali, August/September 2020 | This Muharram series was broadcast on Imam Hussein Foundation channel.
Night 1 , Night 2, Night 3 – (Al-Ansar or helpers of the Prophet, part 2 – Prophet’s prayer on the Day of Ghadir, “Oh Allah, help whoever helps Ali” and response to Ibn Taymiyyah’s objection.), Night 5 – (Emphasis on helping Imam Husayn (a) in the Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (a) and Ahlul Bayt (a) – Helping Imam Hussain (a) is to help the Prophet (s) and Imam Mahdi (a)), Night 6
Interview | Sheikh Azhar Nasser – The Man Behind The Tweets | 10 March 2018 |. When we think of Muslim Scholars or Islamic Educators, you are not wrong if you come up with strict, stern or rigid. Also, up until recently, social media has not been something we would associate with Islamic education or Islamic teachings. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to sit down with Sheikh Azhar Nasser to discuss his use of Twitter and Facebook in propagating Islamic teachings and knowledge with his unique sense of humour and wittiness.
Topic: God Consoles his Prophet | Sheikh Azhar Nasser | 15 Feb 2018 | Jaffari Community Centre, Toronto
Lecture Notes:
– Before the battle of Badr there was an abundance of poverty
– Allah discusses the mental health of the people
– In traditions there aren’t a lot of of optimists and realists
– The Prophet was an ‘Optimistic Realist’
– Allah tells the prophet (to console him) that though he lost 2 sons, he will gain something better in the progeny through Fatima (of the 14 Masumeens)
– Allah says if you suffer grief, connect with him
– Spread optimism and surely joy shall come to your heart
– Try to see the best of people and their circumstances – Bibi Fatima showed optimism even in her last days
– The Quality that made the prophet Unique was that he was the most optimistic
Topic: Never Lose Hope | – Sheikh Azhar Nasser | 16 Feb 2018
Topic: Lessons from the People of Paradise | Sheikh Azhar Nasser | 18 Feb 2018
Topic: Satan in Holy Quran (1) Why Did Satan Believe He Was Superior to Adam | Shaykh Azhar Nasser | 6 Oct 2019 | Safar 1441 Lecture Notes:
The opening – a supplication
• In this surah we ask Allah for one thing – guidance
• Allah is telling us that in every phase of our life we should see hidaya/guidance
The Following chapter
• You want hidaya Allah directs us to the source of guidance in the second verse (2:2)
• Some scholars have said that Allah uses these letters to teach us a very important lesson. A lesson that must be learnt in order to gain knowledge.
• If you want to benefit from this Quran know that you dont know everything.
Guidance and 3 types of people
– those who embrace it wholeheartedly, reject the truth knowingly, and hypocrites who reject the book but will exploit the religion when it serves their purpose.
The Unseen
• The first description that Allah gives of the believers is that he believes in the unseen
• belief in the unseen some think that it’s that which lacks evidence but the reality is that to only believe what you see is a sign of great immaturity
• In many cases the unseen is the source of what is seen. Example, you see a tree but you cant see the roots underneath that is the source of what you see (tree)
• Same way what we see in this material world is a source of the metaphysical world.
• One of those unseen entities in this world is iblees. That is part of the unseen world.
The beginning
• Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 50: And when We said to the angels: Make obeisance to Adam; they made obeisance but Iblis (did it not). He was of the jinn, so he transgressed the commandment of his Lord.
• Allah commands the angels to prostrate to Adam. If you see the command is for angels and iblees was a jinn so did it not apply to him?
• The Quran clearly states that he is a jinn!
• So why was he amongst the angels? Because he elevated himself to that level
• Now the command was for the angels because the majority of the gathering was of angels which does not mean iblees was secluded
The hierarchy of light
• those closest to Allah have the most light as opposed to the one who is the furthest from Him
• Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 257:
• Everything that Allah created is a reflection of that divine light and everything other than humans and jinn have a fixed portion of light.
• can angels progress in their spirituality? No
• there are only 2 entities that have the ability to Increase or decrease their light – Jinn and Human beings Allah gives Jinn and Human beings an initial light that is called Fitrah
• how does one increase this light? – emaan/belief and good deeds
• Surah An-Nisa, Verse 174:
• you’d think the light here is metaphorical for guidance but its not because Allah refers to the Torah as a light in Surah Al-Anaam, Verse 91:
• when Allah introduces the Quran he says it’s a light .
The superior being – Iblees or Adam?
• We see Allah answer that question for us in Surah Al-Araf, Verse 12:
• Look at the mercy of Allah that even when you disobey he allows you to justify yourself
• Imam Sadiq (AS) responds to this in usul al kafi
– Iblees compared himself to Adam
– Iblees believed he was superior because he looked at fire and clay because fire has more noor than clay.
– Imam says this is where he went wrong. Is Adam only clay?
– Iblees belittled Adam because all he saw was flesh and bones.
– He should’ve compared the fire to the soul!
– When did Allah ask them to prostrate to Adam? When he just created the body? No
– Allah says in Surah Al-Hijr, Verse 29:
– it was only when the spirit of Allah was blown into him was he made worthy of being prostrated to.
– Material beings do not have noor thought satan.
– He didnt see that its clay combined with the rooh gave birth to a third entity
– the nafs the soul.
– The soul can be the darkest or the most enlightened.
– Adam is clay + rooh + nafs = potential for unlimited light
The spirit of Allah
• Is the rooh a part of Allah’s divine essence? No Allah has no parts; he is needless.
• One of the companions of Imam sadiq asks about the rooh of Adam…. Imam replies saying it is called rooh because the word roohروح is derived from the word ريح reeh which means wind. because the rooh is able to move much freely than the body.
• Which is why you dream when you sleep
• Your rooh wants to disconnect with the limited body and needs to be released even partially
• The rooh has great potential
Hadith from Al Akhbar ar Ridha
• The angels prostrated because it was in obedience to Allah and they prostrated because we ahlulbayt are in the loins of Adam and in all the children of Adam 5 have more Noor than anything else created in this world; Muhammad Ali Fatemah Hasan Hussain.
Topic: Satan in Holy Quran (2) A Conversation between God & Satan | Shaykh Azhar Nasser | 7 Oct 2019 | Safar 1441 |
Topic: Satan in Holy Quran (3) Satan’s Recruitment Process | Shaykh Azhar Nasser | 8 Oct 2019 | Safar 1441 |
Jurisprudence (Taqlid)
Taqleed Part 1 By Maulana Syed Ali Raza Rizvi WATFORD LONDON, Speech and Question Answering Session on IJTIHAD and Taqleed. 2009.
Taqleed Part 2 By Maulana Syed Ali Raza Rizvi,
Taqleed Part 3 By Maulana Syed Ali Raza Rizvi,
Taqleed Part 4 By Maulana Syed Ali Raza Rizvi,
Taqleed Part 5 By Maulana Syed Ali Raza Rizvi,
Taqleed Part 7 By Maulana Syed Ali Raza Rizvi,
Taqleed Part 8 By Maulana Syed Ali Raza Rizvi,
Ramadhan
Maulana Asad Jafri Panjtan Society of Victoria, Melbourne during COVID19 pandemic. (24 April 2020 to 8 May 2020)
Introductory Message by Maulana sahib on his Lectures
Topic: Exploring the Miracle: A Commentary on Surah Hujurat. Explore the ethical and moral dimensions of this chapter to help cultivate an ideal and pure life around us.
Lecture 1 (1st Ramadhan 24 April 2020), Lecture 2, Lecture 3, Lecture 4, Lecture 5, Lecture 6, Lecture 7 (1o Ramadhan), Lecture 8, Lecture 9, Lecture 10, Lecture 11 14 Ramadhan 8 May 2020.
Topic: The era before the Messiah (Al Mahdi AS) | Maulana Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi | Muharram 1442/2020 |
Aghaz e Muharram Majlis Lecture #2 Lecture #3 Lecture #4 Lecture #5 Lecture #6 Lecture #7 Lecture #8 Lecture #9 (Last)
Interview with good Questions and discussion | Maulana Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi | 10 Aug 2020 |
Topic: Spirituality of Imam Ali (AS) | Maulana Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi | 23 January 2015 |
Topic: The Spirituality of Fatima al-Zahra (SA) | Maulana Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi | 30 January 2015 |
Topic: A Discussion on Social Justice | Maulana Asad Jafri |Jaffari Community Centre, Toronto, Muharram 1442, Aug 2020. Majlis #1 Majlis #2 Majlis #3 Majlis #4 Majlis #5 Majlis #6 Majlis #7 Majlis #8 Majlis #9 Majlis #10 Majlis #11
Under Construction
