Following the success and popularity of the first Sabeel Study Retreat, iProgress is planning a second retreat for August. However, for those who could not attend the first programme, and for those who attended and need a refresher, there will be a One-Day Review Course for the first programme, ‘Understanding the Sources of Knowledge’, which will be run as an intensive course studying, as in the initial weekend programme, the methodology of deriving rulings from the sacred text. Whilst the objective of the course is to cover the knowledge-based component of the first programme, it is not intended to replace the actual retreats, which encompass several aspects of tarbiyyah (Islamic development) including personal and interpersonal manners and skills further to the knowledge being imparted. The One-Day Course is also open to sisters.

One of the objectives of MRDF is the development of the Muslim individual and community. A part of this includes facilitation for those wishing to pursue the path of sacred knowledge. Anyone who wishes to follow such a path must be well-versed in Arabic, such as to have access to the primary sources of Islamic knowledge as well as to the dearth of classical works by Islamic scholars that have been preserved over the centuries, not to mention the more contemporary works by modern-day scholars.

Another aspect of Muslim development is spirituality, which applies not just to seekers of knowledge but to every Muslim. An integral part of this is one’s relationship to the Word of Allah, the Qur’an. For one to have a full relationship with the Qur’an, one should have a grasp of the Arabic language.

For these reasons, MRDF is pleased to announce, in association with the renowned Fajr Centre in Cairo, Egypt, the Intensive Summer Programme 2008.