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Al-Maghrib Continues to Attract Students at Sacred Scrolls Seminar

By Amalia Rehman
Muslim Link Contributing Writer

This past weekend, July 11-13, Al-Maghrib Institute held a weekend intensive seminar about the 40 Hadith of Imam Nawawi called “The Sacred Scrolls”.

This grassroots educational program, which was started locally at Dar-Us-Salaam in College Park, Maryland under the guidance of Muhammad Al-Shareef in 2003, is now an international educational phenomenon.

The seminar attracted around 400 students, some traveling from as far away as Boston, MA for the class.

Not all 40 hadith were covered, but the curriculum was designed to give students a glimpse at the enormous benefits these ahadith contain.
Mobeen Vaid, the local Virginia Amir of Al-Maghrib Institute stated, “I remember when I first attended an Al-Maghrib seminar. There were about 30 participants. Today we have about 400 attendees at this seminar”. Brother Mobeen attributes the success of Al-Maghrib Institute and its growth to a number of factors. “I think it is because the speakers connect with the audience, they have the ability to translate Islam to Muslims in this country. It’s a matter of contextualizing Islam… It is also an effective model. It is easy for someone to commit to one weekend rather than a long course of study where things come up and they miss classes… We also have good, professional advertising and there is a real concerted effort involved in that”.

Although Al-Maghrib Institute has a reputation for attracting young adults, this is not by design. It is true that most of the participants are between the ages of 18-35, but Al-Maghrib Institute is making a concerted effort to broaden their audience. “We have plans to develop our advertising to attract more of our community members.” stated Brother Mobeen.

Nonetheless, Al-Maghrib Institute seems to be filling a void in the modern day Muslim community. Its seminars are attracting hundreds of participants and it has educational centers in 17 major cities such as New York, Chicago, Detroit, Sacramento, Houston, Seattle, Toronto and as far as London. These centers are chosen based on the large Muslim communities in the area and each education center is comprised of an organizing committee. “Each location where classes are offered functions as a qabeelah and has its own local organization. Each qabeelah has an Amir and Amira and a group of volunteers that help it to function locally.” stated Brother Mobeen. It is this fact, that organizers are local residents familiar with the area, which helps to contribute to the smooth organization of these events.

When asked about the ideology of Al-Maghrib Institute, Brother Mobeen stated, “Al-Maghrib Institute is trying to spread the knowledge of Islam, according to the Quran and Sunnah. Al-Maghrib Institute goes out of its way to stay away from labels or labeling others”. The Institute helps to maintain its broad appeal by engaging speakers who are able to connect with their audience and engage them. Additionally, these speakers possess a broad spectrum of positions on religious issues and do not ascribe to one specific religious view. This past weekend, Yasir Qadhi and Suhaib Webb were the speakers. Both are passionate, dynamic and engaging yet each one is distinctive in his teaching style, opinions and perspectives. This is an important factor in maintaining Al-Maghrib Institute as an organization that is all inclusive. Even with the sea of many sisters who wore niqab, one sister, who did not wear a hijab, attended the seminar.