Usuli Weekly Newsletter
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 05. September 2023
Dear friends, Greetings of Peace (al salamu 'alaykum)! I pray you are well and looking forward to the Fall season! I am truly amazed that somehow, it seems like we jumped from January to June and then landed in September with three blinks of an eye. I knew this year would pass quickly. Looking at the calendar and the months ahead, I know it will be just a few more heartbeats before we are upon the new year. May God help us to savor every precious moment and slow down to appreciate what is truly...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 29. August 2023
Greetings of Peace (al salamu 'alaykum) dear Friends, I pray you are well! I am always so grateful when I can share great news and this week, I have lots to share! First, I must say that we have always been so blessed at the start our virtual Friday prayers to hear the angelic voices of Shayan and Wietske, calling the adhan (the Islamic call to prayer). [Yes, I do perform the call to prayer as well, but I am not a lifetime musician, unlike Shayan and Wietske. I do it on principle because I...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 22. August 2023
Dear Friends, Greetings of Peace (al salamu 'alaykum)! I pray you are well! This past weekend, our youngest son, Mido, left "the nest" to start his adult life in college. Brings back so many memories, emotions, and feelings... I was 17 when I left home for college - and completely clueless. Growing up, my mother would always tell me, "I want you to have everything I never had." I have exactly the same sentiment as my mother when it comes to Mido, but what I want for Mido is very different from...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 14. August 2023
Dear friends, Greetings of Peace (al salamu 'alaykum)! I pray you are well and easing gently into the Fall season. Unbelievably to me, this is our last week before our youngest son, Mido, heads off to college for the first time. I didn't think that 18 years would pass so quickly from the time he was born until now, as he "leaves the nest" to start his journey into adulthood. Truthfully, it is probably a lot harder on me than on him. I am not quite sure how I will feel next week when I walk into...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 07. August 2023
Greetings of Peace (al salamu 'alaykum) dear Friends, I pray you are well! Today, I had a lovely conversation with someone who has been following our work at Usuli for a few years and he said something that struck me - in my paraphrasing, he doesn't have time to waste anymore on what tries to pass off as Islam or "authentic" in the Muslim community. He has stopped going to jumu'a (Friday congregational prayers) because all of the khutbahs are repetitive and not very valuable, to say the least....
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 25. July 2023
Dear Friends, Greetings of Peace! I pray you are well! Greetings from California! I have been traveling this week, so things have gone a little bit awry in my absence. If you tuned into the Book of Illuminations halaqa this past Saturday, you will have had the distinct pleasure (?) of hearing Rami's introduction in which he shares the "survival journal" that he has been keeping in the days that I have been away, during which he and Shaykh have had to "survive" without me. If you have never...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 17. July 2023
Greetings of Peace dear Friends, I pray you are well! This week, I want to dedicate this space to a Muslim "Mozart" of our age, Jazz Legend Ahmad Jamal, who passed away this past April 2023. Dr. Abou El Fadl paid tribute to him in this past Friday's khutbah entitled, "The Jazz of Islam and Gender Identity Debates," 14 July 2023 (we will provide the edited transcript in next week's email). While the world recognized, celebrated, and honored him, sadly, Muslim spaces were largely silent. A dear...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 10. July 2023
Dear Friends, Greetings of peace! I pray you are well and enjoying the hopefully slower pace of the summertime. If you haven't had a chance to jump into our newest series on "The Book of Illuminations" yet, I wanted to share that it has been truly illuminating in so many surprising and stirring ways. When I first heard the idea of discussing what would be called "Islamic Wisdoms," I was excited and yet did not have any idea what to expect. I had heard that there was a book of aphorisms (I did...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 26. June 2023
Dear Friends, Al salamu alaykum (Greetings of Peace)! I pray you are well! On the occasion of Eid Al Adha this coming week, I wanted to share a valuable and timeless Q&A that we first published in 2016 on the www.searchforbeauty.org website (an online archival site of Dr. Abou El Fadl's scholarship that was created before The Usuli Institute existed) entitled, "On the sacrifice of Eid Al Adha." Dr. Abou El Fadl addresses a query regarding the treatment of animals as they are slaughtered for...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 19. June 2023
Al salamu alaykum (Greetings of Peace) dear Friends, I pray you are well! Happy first day of the month of Dhul-Hijjah, the twelfth month of the Islamic (Hijri) calendar! Although I have now been a Muslim for 29 years, I am embarrassed to admit that I am not at all well-versed, knowledgable, or particularly aware of the Islamic calendar, Islamic holidays, or their particular significance. I always have to look things up or revisit previous talks where Dr. Abou El Fadl has discussed certain...