Usuli Weekly Newsletter
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 01. September 2024
Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends, I pray you are well and enjoying the last bits of summer. Obviously, someone pressed the fast forward button and launched us all to the end of August. Didn’t it just turn 2024 last month?? May we all make every moment count! LAST DAY TO GET EARLY BIRD TICKETS IS TODAY, SEPTEMBER 1! Are you planning to join us in person for our First Annual Usuli Conference in Columbus, Ohio, this October 11-12! We have been working hard to make it extra...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 15. August 2024
Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends, I pray you are well! We are happy to be back from our summer hiatus and so proud that Shayan Parsai kicked off our return with a brilliant khutbah last Friday entitled, “Bangladesh: Governance and Integrity.” Check it out! EXCITING EVENTS AHEAD! We are now digging into preparations for lots of great events and projects to come! At the forefront is our upcoming First Annual Usuli (in-person) Conference in Columbus, Ohio, October 11-12....
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 17. May 2024
Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends, I pray you are managing as well as can be expected in these challenging times. I know it is incredibly hard as we continue to see so many heartbreaking images on social media and read the news headlines about the state of the world. At the same time, I am so inspired and encouraged by the many acts of bravery among our students and fellow humanists who so bravely stand up against injustice. Here, we have been working hard every week to...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 08. May 2024
Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends, I pray you are managing well in these dark times. I am going to keep it short this week and only encourage everyone to watch the Shaykh’s khutbah from this past week entitled, “Protest or Perish: Lessons from The Ant Colony,” which is a brilliant demonstration of the importance of knowledge and scholarship in the darkest of times, when you think there is nothing left to say about our kids and students getting brutalized and arrested...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 28. April 2024
Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends, I pray you are managing as well as can be expected given the state of the world, especially this week as our youth are being attacked, vilified, and arrested for protesting and building encampments on university campuses across the country in solidarity with Palestine. It is a dark, dark time for humanity and the videos that are circulating on social media with students, faculty, and many others being man-handled and dehumanized by the...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 17. April 2024
Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends! I pray you are as well as can be expected given the state of the world. I, for one, am enjoying returning to non-fasting brain mode! :) Time to get busy trying to make change for the better… Ramy Youssef on SNL! Speaking of changing things for the better, congratulations to our dear friend, Ramy Youssef, who made history on the iconic Saturday Night Live Opening Monologue recently! At a time when things are dark everywhere for the Muslim...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 31. March 2024
Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends! I pray you are well! I can’t believe we are already upon the last ten days of Ramadan! May God fill your home and soul with light and peace in this most blessed time. I am looking forward to another night of halaqa with The Book of Illuminations tonight at 6 pm ET! I am in California this weekend and will be joining online, so I am especially looking forward to the always surprising and uplifting (?) introduction from Rami Koujah, who...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 24. March 2024
Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends! I pray you are well and looking forward to another night of halaqa with The Book of Illuminations tonight at 5:30 pm ET! It was so wonderful to gather together again after such a long time. The learning was priceless, especially in our times. Also, Dr. Abou El Fadl gave us the gift of yet another incredibly powerful khutbah this past Friday entitled, “Turning Faith Into Superstition: God is Not Responsible for Gaza - We are.” You will...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 17. March 2024
Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends! I pray you are well and settling in to the beautiful rhythms of this blessed month, with special prayers for Palestine as we try to process the chasm between Ramadan there and wherever you are. May God help us aid all those suffering around world this Ramadan, and may next Ramadan find us all in a better, not worse, situation insha’Allah (God willing). First, I am so excited to announce that we will be gathering again TONIGHT to resume...