AlMaghrib Institute
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| Type | Non-Profit Educational |
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| Industry | Education |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder(s) | Muhammad Alshareef |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas, Ottawa, Ontario, London, England, United States, Canada, United Kingdom |
| Area served | United States, Canada, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Muhammad Alshareef, Founder Waleed Basyouni, Vice President Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, Dean of Academic Affairs |
| Products | Seminars |
| Website | www.almaghrib.org |
AlMaghrib Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which teaches Muslims within the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Malaysia.[1][2] It currently conducts seminars in over thirty cities in five countries.[3]
AlMaghrib takes the traditional semester-long course and condenses it into six days, and produces an Islamic educational experience that is unique.[citation needed] Its aim is to empower Muslims, two weekends at a time, so they can carry the knowledge back to their communities.[4]
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[edit] History
AlMaghrib Institute was founded in 2002 by Muhammad Alshareef in cooperation with Dar-us-Salaam[who?] in College Park, Maryland.[citation needed]
[edit] Methodology
AlMaghrib organizes seminars in either single or double-weekend seminars. Instructors assign recommended reading and share tips on how to prepare academically, mentally, and spiritually for the seminar, so that students can familiarize themselves with the material and maximize the benefit they acquire from the seminar.[citation needed]
The seminars usually consist of six days of instruction: with classes on Friday evening and all day Saturday and Sunday for two consecutive weekends. The two-weekend seminar consists of 35–45 hours of class time. The seminars include interactive sessions and activities such as Jam sessions and Gem boards, which encourage students to interact with the material they have learned and introduce them to innovative, reflective ways of expressing their thoughts and feelings about the seminar.
An on-site exam of the material is administered approximately one month after the seminar, to ensure that students retain the information learned, and to evaluate the level of the students' comprehension. For the seminar to count towards a bachelor's degree in Islamic Studies, the student is required to take the exam and receive a passing grade.
Power Point presentations and other Audio/Visual methods are routinely used during the seminars. Each student registered for the seminar receives a binder that outlines the material and facilitates absorption of the information taught.[5]
[edit] Academics
AlMaghrib Institute is a self accredited Bachelors program, expected[by whom?] to gain acceptance among other institutions by virtue of its own merits.[citation needed] Students will be awarded a degree from AlMaghrib Institute after completing the required number of credit hours. [6]
[edit] Ilm Fest
AlMaghrib Institute has held a yearly conference known as IlmFest over the past few years starting with Chicago, IL in 2006, Toronto, ON in 2007, New York City in 2008 and Baltimore, MD in 2009, and in Toronto again in 2010.[7][8]
[edit] Ilm Week
Ilm Week is a five day seminar taking place between a double weekend seminar at a specific student body location. Ilm Week addresses various contemporary and academic topics in areas of Islamic sciences taught by various instructors.[9]
[edit] Ilm Summit
Ilm Summit is a yearly intensive retreat headed by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi - the Dean of Academic Affairs at AlMaghrib Institute. The objective is to teach and train a focused group of people on specific subjects of Islamic sciences and train them how to teach their communities on the same subjects. Ilm Summit aims to be the best academic experience that people have seen in the English language. The ultimate goal is to teach a group of dedicated teachers who are effective callers and teachers of Islam to take Islamic knowledge back to their communities while having a connection with orthodox Islam.[10]
[edit] Khutbah.com
Khutbah.com is a non-profit website, devoted to Muslims world wide and provided by AlMaghrib Institute. This website provides visitors with speeches written or translated by AlMaghrib Professors to be used in any Friday Prayer khutbah (sermon). Most speeches and articles on this website are provided in English and many other languages, including French, Spanish and German.[11]
[edit] IlmCast.com
IlmCast.com is a website full lectures and series by AlMaghrib Institute instructors are readily available for streaming or download via iTunes.[12]
[edit] AlMaghrib Web TV
Is a website that allows existing students of AlMaghrib institute to get random streaming videos from various AlMaghrib instructors 24/7.[13] Once signed in, the student can view videos on various topics including fiqh of Prayer, guidance, and other events.[14]
[edit] GemReel.com
GemReel.com is a student run website dedicated to capturing of different AlMaghrib videos, advertisements and documentaries by the students and volunteers into one single place.[15]
[edit] Instructors
All seventeen of its instructors have degrees from Islamic universities and/or have studied for many years around the globe under renowned shayoukh and scholars.[citation needed] Five graduated from the Islamic University of Madinah, two from other Saudi Arabian universities, two from American Islamic universities, and two from Al-Azhar University.[16]
[edit] Controversy
[edit] Stance on Terrorism
AlMaghrib Institute has spoken out against extremist acts of violence in the name of Islam. In one of the largest conventions in the US, AlMaghrib's Vice President Waleed Basyouni used evidences from the Qur'an and recognized Muslim scholars to prove that extremism in Islam is considered an innovation (i.e. a concept outside of the permissible parameters of the religion). It is AlMaghrib's stance that anyone who carries arms and recruits individuals in order to bring disturbance and violence to a community is not tolerated by the laws of Islam.[17]
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who in December 2009 attempted to detonate plastic explosives on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, once took an AlMaghrib Class.[18] Yasir Qadhi, the Dean of Academic Affairs at AlMaghrib Institute, was quoted by CNN saying, "At some level, we did not convince him of the validity of our views," and "that is cause for regret"[19]
Daniel Maldonado, a convert to fundamentalist Islam who faces charges for an alleged association with terrorism, also once attended seminars by AlMaghrib Institute.[20]
[edit] Stance on Holocaust
Yasir Qadhi made headlines in 2001 when he made public claims doubting the extent of the Holocaust; he later recanted those statements saying his past views were based on misinformation.[21]
[edit] References
- ^ http://almaghrib.org/locations.php AlMaghrib Locations
- ^ http://www.amarrazali.com/tag/almaghrib%20malaysia AlMaghrib Malaysia
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7P32Cn6nDw AlMaghrib Institute Trailer 2010
- ^ http://almaghrib.org/aboutus.php#Page_1 What Is AlMaghrib
- ^ http://almaghrib.org/aboutus.php#Page_3 AlMaghrib Method
- ^ http://almaghrib.org/about/curriculum AlMaghrib Curriculum
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kf471xQGac IlmFest 2009 Trailer
- ^ http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.muslim03oct03,0,1048740.story IlmFest 2009
- ^ http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=33296 IlmWeek - 5 Day Intensive Program
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veyszGlvBo0 My Vision For Islam - Ilm Summit Day 04
- ^ http://www.khutbah.com/aboutus.php About Khutbah.com
- ^ http://ilmcast.com/about About IlmCast
- ^ http://groups.google.com/group/almaghrib_florida/browse_thread/thread/b40d409164f48d24?fwc=2&pli=1 AlMaghrib WebTV Launch
- ^ http://www.zaufishan.co.uk/2010/08/launched-today-almaghrib-web-tv.html Launched today AlMaghrib WebTV
- ^ http://gemreel.com/ About GemReel.com
- ^ http://www.almaghrib.org/instructor_MA.php AlMaghrib Instructors Profiles
- ^ http://ilmcast.com/violence-in-the-name-of-god-21.htm Violence in the Name of God
- ^ Terror suspect was student in Houston, Detroit Free Press, December 31, 2009
- ^ Terror suspect attended 2008 Islamic 'knowledge fest' in Houston, CNN, December 31, 2009
- ^ Plans to Build Massive Islamic Centers Raise Concerns in Tennessee. Fox News, August 9, 2010
- ^ Muslim leaders visit concentration camps as part of effort to combat Holocaust denial, Washington Post, August 21, 2010
