Introduction

Perpetual praises are due to Allah, Who designated wisdom as the ‘great good’;¹⁽¹⁾ Qur’ān, 2:269 endless salutations are in order upon His holy prophets, who by the graces of his Eminence, the Seal of Prophethood, Muḥammad (ṣ), incessantly kept the house of wisdom open; boundless benedictions are owing upon the Immaculate Family (‘a)—especially his Eminence, the Seal of Sainthood, the extant and promised Mahdī—who were and are the conduits of knowledge and wisdom amongst humanity; we wish to near ourselves in friendship to these sacred souls and distance ourselves from their nefarious foes.

The tradition of knowledge and learning in Islam is primarily an oral tradition.²⁽²⁾ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ص خُذُوا الْعِلْمَ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِ الرِّجَالِ All knowledge, ‘ilm, pertains to Allah—al-‘Alīm—Who taught man what he did not know.³⁽³⁾ Qur’ān, 96:5 He taught the first man and His khalīfah the Names, all of them,⁴⁽⁴⁾ Qur’ān, 2:31 just as he taught the greatest and most perfect of men (ṣ) the Qur’ān.⁵⁽⁵⁾ Qur’ān, 55:2; 53:4-5The most noble Prophet (ṣ), in his turn and by his right, taught his companions in general and his waṣī or trustee in particular. They in their turn taught their companions and students. In this way, by a continuous unbroken chain of teachers and students, something of the knowledge taught by Allah and His prophets and immaculate guides (‘a) has come down to us today as an invaluable heritage. This great heritage is inherited by those who recognize these authentic unbroken channels and who make the efforts to be connected with them in a real way.⁸⁽⁸⁾ أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَقُولُ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْلَمُوا أَنَّ كَمَالَ الدِّينِ طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ وَ الْعَمَلُ بِهِ أَلَا وَ إِنَّ طَلَبَ الْعِلْمِ أَوْجَبُ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ طَلَبِ الْمَالِ إِنَّ الْمَالَ مَقْسُومٌ مَضْمُونٌ لَكُمْ قَدْ قَسَمَهُ عَادِلٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَ ضَمِنَهُ وَ سَيَفِي لَكُمْ وَ الْعِلْمُ مَخْزُونٌ عِنْدَ أَهْلِهِ وَ قَدْ أُمِرْتُمْ بِطَلَبِهِ مِنْ أَهْلِهِ فَاطْلُبُوهُ The Ḥawzah ‘Ilmiyyah is the traditional institute in which such connections are made and true knowledge acquired. The Summer Intensive Course: A Primer to Islamic Teachings seeks to introduce this luminous tradition of knowledge and learning to those who are in search of it but who have not had the opportunity to properly connect. While the content and methodology of the Course will aim to give the participants a foretaste of the formal aspects of the tradition of knowledge in Islam, the presence of teachers, who themselves have been and continue to be students of the Ḥawzah, will seek to provide the participants a glimpse of the fuller and more substantial aspects of the luminous and living tradition of Islamic knowledge and wisdom.

Overview and History

The Summer Intensive Course is for those looking for an intense and exhilarating experience that will introduce them to the basic teachings of Islam as they have been traditionally transmitted to us today. The course will cover various topics that have been selected for their interest value as well as their relevance. The teachers of the course are all students of traditional centres of learning and will be working in tandem to provide the participants with a unique learning opportunity. Due to the intensive nature of the course and the need to keep class sizes to a minimum in order to ensure greater interaction, only applicants who hold the necessary prerequisites will be invited to take part in the course. The typical day will include Qur’an recitation, four hours of classes and discussions, prayers, refreshments, recreational activities and lunch.

The Course, which is two weeks long and held on weekdays from 8 am until 2:30 pm, was established in 2014 and has been held annually during the summer season in the GTA. The teachers are mainly Ḥawzah students who are either from, or well known in, the GTA. Some of the themes and topic that have been covered by these teachers in the previous years are as follows: