Cleveland Study Group Update

The Cleveland Study Group announced recently it has inititated an "Introduction to Sacred Law" class that will cover Kitab al-'Ibadat, which is also known as Kitab al-Akhdari written by Imam Abdur-Rahman Al-Akhdari of Algeria in the 10th century hijra (1512-1585).

"The Commentary of Kitab Al-Akhdari" written by Shaykh Al-Hajj Saad bin Umar bin Sa'eed Jalil Al-Futa Tori, a Malian scholar, who in 1971, wrote the commentary to address the issues of traditional scholarship and the relevance and reliability of traditional text.

Shaykh Al-Futa Tori undertook the arduous task of providing proofs from the Koran, Hadeeth and Consensus of the Rightly Guided Scholars to counter the tide of those of excessive verbosity and pomposity who were hurling abuses and accusations at the great scholars of jurisprudence (Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Ash-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad Hanbal and their ilk) and students of sacred knowledge.

We've been blessed to have Shaykh Mas'ud Laryea of Ghana teaching this ancient treatise on classical jurisprudence and clarifying many issues surrounding this brilliant tract.

After participating in the course, a participant should know the following:

• Belief in God and what it entails
• Belief in the Angels and what it entails
• Belief in the Divine Books and what it entails
• Belief in the Messengers and what it entails
• Belief in the Last Day and what it entails
• Belief in the Divine Decree, the good and bad of it and what it entails
• Legal Rulings according to Sacred Law
• Repentance and its conditions
• Unlawful Matters
• Types of Water that fulfill the requirements
• Ritual Purity - Major and Minor impurities
• The Monthly Cycle of Women and its matters
• Post-Partum Bleeding and its matters
• Ritual Prayer
• How to tell the Times of Prayer
• How to make-up Prayers
• How to rectify the Prayer if one makes a mistake during the Prayer
• What to do if the Imam makes a mistake during the Prayer

Place: Masjid Ummatullah, St. Clair and Blenheim (Cleveland, Ohio)
When: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
Time: 9:05 p.m. - 10:35 p.m.

In addition, the study group is developing a three year curriculum in order to "educate, motivate and have a form of accountability."

This is what is has set-up so far:

To know before December 31, 2006 c.e.

• To know a text in any of Juristic Schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali)
• at an Introductory Level
• Memorize Surat Al-Qadr (97) to Nas (114), along with Surat Al-Fatiha, Ayayt Al-Birr, Ayat Al-Kursi, the last 2 verses in Surat Al-Baqarah, and Surat Al-'Aala (87) with the rules of pronunciation.

To know before December 31, 2007 c.e.

• To know a text in any of the Juristic Schools at an Intermediate Level
• Memorize Surat Al-Tariq (86) to Alaq (96) with the rules of pronunciation.

To know before December 31, 2008 c.e.

• Memorize Surat Al-Naba (78) to Al-Burooj (85) with the rules of pronunciation.
• Memorize the first 10 hadeeth of Imam Nawawi's (May God be pleased with him) famous 40 Hadeeth.
• Study the Shama'il At-Tirmidhi.