Ribaat Blog

It’s that time of term again. Registration has quieted down, questions and calls asking for information about courses have trickled to just a few here and there, and the work of scholarship is in full swing. As we in the administrative offices plan for next term, next year, and beyond, this term’s classes are ongoing in the background, and as I stroll through the virtual halls of Ribaat, I can hear the buzzing of teachers teaching, students learning, and keyboards clicking. 

Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan is from Leeds in the north of England. This full-time writer, poet and community educator enjoys facilitating creative writing for young people and providing spaces for people to ask questions about the world and how to improve it. She has been a student with the Ribaat Academic Institute since 2018.

Love for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is a critical point of faith in Islam. The Prophet ﷺ himself says “None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind,” (narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari). And Allah (swt) tells us in the Holy Quran:

Originally from Pakistan, Dr. Rabia Nagda moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of 14. She immigrated in pursuit of a higher education. She now lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and three children. Along with her family obligations, Rabia works as a pediatrician and regularly speaks in her local community on topics regarding parenting, nutrition, and improving mental health in teens. She serves on the Texas Committee for Nutrition and Health and is working with other volunteers to provide easy access to health and nutrition for more pediatricians in the state. 

Here we are at the start of a new season, a new academic year. The summer can be a fun and crazy season, with travel, trips, and visitors. Here at Rabata, the summer was full of beautiful gatherings and inspiring achievements. With the Ribaat Retreat, we had a gathering of beautiful souls, Ribaat students, teachers, and volunteers in one place learning, growing and worshiping together.

Amina Wasi currently resides in Bentonville, Arkansas, and grew up in Toronto, Canada. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Food Science and has worked as an educator at an Islamic school for several years. She is in the process of pursuing her master’s degree in Information Systems Security but is taking a break as a new mom. Amina became a student with the Ribaat Academic Institute in 2020 when she began her journey with the Ribaat Tajwid Program. 

“But isn’t this what is stated in the Quran?” “But isn’t this a hadith?”
I hear this type of question all the time, with someone citing a verse of Quran or hadith in English Most often the translation being cited is inaccurate, incomplete, or downright incorrect. An extremely uncomfortable situation, to which I find myself needing torespond: you really need to learn Arabic. I can translate this for you, but I will never be able to give you the full understanding of the true meaning and beauty of that phase.

In the last edition of the Ribaat newsletter, I wrote about the creed of Islam, la ilahailla Allah. This is the first pillar of Islam: belief, and testifying to this belief forms the door to enter into Islam. This makes one a Muslim (one who accepts Islam), but how can we graduate to the next level of becoming a mu’min (a true believer)? How can we enrich and beautify both our inner beliefs and our outer actions?

Heather Elsayed is currently living in Houston, Texas, and was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is an entrepreneur, a certified fitness instructor, and spiritual life coach with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing and minor in Women’s Studies. Heather volunteers to teach fitness and nutrition to senior women as well as provide a variety of personal growth workshops for teen girls and women. She also offers interfaith workshops for a safe space of learning and asking questions.