Writer

Dr Samer Dajani

Were ‘Mada’in Salih’ and Petra Built by the Thamud?

Muslim travellers want to know if it is permissible to visit, enjoy and appreciate the city of Petra in Jordan, which was the capital of the Nabatean civilisation. They also want to know the same about the second largest city of that civilisation which is called al-Hijr and is in Saudi Arabia. The area of al-Hijr is now known as ‘Mada’in Salih’ (The Cities of the Prophet Salih), leading a great deal of Muslims to think that the destroyed people of Thamud, to whom the Prophet Salih was sent, were the Nabatean people.

sacredfootsteps

Online seminar: The Worldview of Islam with Syed M

Online seminar: The Worldview of Islam with Syed Muḥiyuddīn Al-ʿAṭṭās | Sunday 12th January

This online seminar will present an outline of the fundamental elements and salient features of the worldview of Islam.

Being derived from the statements of Revelation regarding reality and truth, elements of this worldview possess the characteristics of finality and stability, presenting the concept of God, Man, knowledge, life, the world and happiness as interpreted in the Islamic intellectual tradition by theologians, philosophers and metaphysicians.

Challenges to the interpretation of this worldview will also be discussed, both historically and in the contemporary age in the form of secularisation as a philosophical programme. The main guiding text for this seminar will be Professor Syed Naquib Al Attas’ introduction in his Prolegomena to the metaphysics of Islam.

The seminar is part of our series on the intellectual tradition of Islam.

⭐️ £39 | 3 hour online seminar | BOOK YOUR PLACE: sacredfootsteps.com or via the link in our bio ✨

WEDNESDAY 18th DECEMBER✨ Join us for a monthly

WEDNESDAY 18th DECEMBER✨

Join us for a monthly gathering via Zoom, reciting the Ratib of Imam al-Haddad, with reciters live from Tareem and various locations around the world.

The recitation will be accompanied by commentary in English by Malaysian scholar Sayyid Muhiyuddin al-Attas, based on the book by Habib Alawi b. Ahmad b. Hassan b. Imam Abdullah al-Haddad.

⭐️ To participate, use the QR code on the post to join the Whatsapp group, or click on the link in our bio✨

In collaboration with @peacemeal_, @nur.saaadah, Ahlaha, @amanah_hak, Majelis Rasulullah Amsterdam and al-Fath.

Excited to announce our new series of introductory

Excited to announce our new series of introductory seminars covering various foundational topics and key figures within the rich intellectual tradition of Islam.

These classes are intended for students in higher education, as well as teachers, writers, and those interested in understanding depths of the Islamic worldview✨

12 Jan ‘25 | The Worldview of Islam | Syed Mohyideen al-Attas

19th Jan ‘25 | Plato and the Early Islamic Intellectual Tradition | @joshuabeneventi

26th Jan ‘25 | Islamic Historiography: the Development of the Methodology of History | @abuayyubchronicles

15th Feb ‘25 | An Introduction to Ibn ‘Arabi | Dr @ali_z_hussain

22nd + 23rd Feb ‘25 | The Intellectual Thought of Allama Iqbal | @saadyacoob

⭐️ £39 per seminar. Click on the LINK IN OUR BIO to sign up✨ | NOTE: We’ve made the decision to reduce the fee to £39. We aim to keep costs affordable and the seminars as inclusive as possible. Scholarships and financial assistance are available for those who require support. Email us at courses@sacredfootsteps.com to find out more.

“Our Ratib is like an iron wall for every city i

“Our Ratib is like an iron wall for every city in which it is recited.” — Imam al-Haddad

Join us for a monthly gathering via Zoom, reciting the Ratib of Imam al-Haddad, with reciters live from Tareem and various locations around the world. The recitation will be accompanied by commentary in English by Malaysian scholar Sayyid Muhiyuddin al-Attas, based on the book by Habib Alawi b. Ahmad b. Hassan b. Imam Abdullah al-Haddad.

In collaboration with @peacemeal_, @nur.saaadah, Ahlaha, HAK, Majelis Rasulullah Amsterdam and al-Fath.

📖 READ: Allamah Muhammad Iqbal: The Theorist of

📖 READ: Allamah Muhammad Iqbal: The Theorist of Muslim Modernity by @saadyacoob via the LINK IN OUR BIO✨

One of the most important thinkers of the last century, ʿAllāmah Muhammad Iqbāl was born in Sialkot in 1877. A third generation Muslim, his thought offers us a basis for building a civilisational movement rooted in the love of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.

The core question that fueled Iqbāl’s thought was the issue of colonial domination. Iqbāl was born in the British Rāj, a territory that was larger and more populous than its ruling empire.
If the Indian population was to rise up and resist British domination together, British rule would become entirely unsustainable. The question for Iqbāl, then, was the nature of British methods of control and the framework for resisting them.

Intellectually, the British had convinced the Muslims of their civilizational inferiority, and spiritually, the vibrant traditions of taṣawwuf in India, which had once guided emperors and commoners alike, had begun to spiritualise their despair – an attitude that he viciously attacked in his poetry.

Well read in the literary, theological, and philosophical traditions of English, German, Urdu, and Farsi, Iqbāl’s inquiry led him to the realisation that the British exerted control over India as a whole, but especially over Indian Muslims. What one finds in close examination of his thought is an urgent desire to reconcile the tension between what he believes to be Quranic priorities and modern realities – not at a granular level but rather at a core, conceptual level.

By the time of his passing, Iqbāl was considered the most prominent Muslim intellectual in India, and his thought influenced important Muslim intellectuals around the world. His work calls us to take up the divinely ordained role of Islam and Muslims in the world, to cast off despair and don the cloak of hope in Allah’s majestic mercy.

Words: @saadyacoob Video: @mhmal1k

The Malay World and the Ahl al-Bayt Islam arrived

The Malay World and the Ahl al-Bayt

Islam arrived in the Malay world through “good word” and quickly established itself though various kingdoms that would later become centres of learning. Zain al-Haddad (@zainhd) speaks to Syed Muḥiyuddīn Al-ʿAṭṭās about the major Muslim figures in the Malay world and the development of an indigenous Islamic scholarship which was nevertheless rooted in networks of authenticated scholarly chains across the centuries.

🎧 PODCAST: Islam in the Malay world with Syed Muḥiyuddīn Al-ʿAṭṭās | LINK IN BIO or listen via iTunes, Spotify or other platforms.

⭐️Sacred Footsteps is run by a small team of volunteers. It is funded entirely by our followers/readers/listeners. If you enjoy our content and share our vision please consider supporting us financially via the link in our bio ✨

The khalwa (place of seclusion) of Sayyida Nafisa,

The khalwa (place of seclusion) of Sayyida Nafisa, the great, great, great-granddaughter of the Messenger of God ﷺ.

Known for her knowledge and piety, Sayyida Nafisa (ra) would retreat to this spot, then located outside the city (now within Cairo) to spend time in seclusion and worship, as her grandfather ﷺ before her and the women and men of God were known to do regularly.

The place is preserved in her memory, and visitors can go and sit in the place in which she once worshipped. A beautiful scent emanates from within.