I know I haven’t blogged in a LONG time but believe me I have been itching to! I have thought about so many things that I wanted to share with you guys but unfortunately I haven’t had the time to sit and type :(.

Recently, I attended Ustad Nouman Ali Khan’s Story Night in Edmonton, London on Friday 28th of December 2012. I chose to go with my sister as she had introduced me to his lectures online and we were both mesmerised. When my sister tried to book tickets, it was sold out but Alhamdulillah when we tried again we got some!  Nouman Ali Khan has a beautiful way of talking and keeping people engaged in his words.

in sha Allah may Allah SWT accept all our zikr, and Nouman Ali Khan’s dedication and enable his vision to come to life. Ameen.

Truth be told, I used to always skip through Islamic lectures online for several reasons. One of the reasons being that as I am hard of hearing, I sometimes struggle to keep up with what’s going on. Another reason being that I felt older speakers used to sometimes have very rigid views and most of them portrayed a very inferior image of women in Islam.

However, with Nouman Ali Khan, I feel that his lectures are related to me, mainly because he tackles the problems within the Muslim Ummah today. His sense of humour along with his American accent and his modern approach to Islamic teachings whilst adhering to traditional Sunni views is truly a recipe for success.

You know how some people say “Damn I’ll never get that three hours of my life back, what a waste of time”? after Nouman Ali Khan’s Story Night, I was thinking anything but. I felt remorseful of all the sins that I committed but I am determined to change. It’s not too late, it never is.

Nouman Ali Khan dissected the story of a Prophet (AS) and compared it to another Prophet (AS). Whilst having read both their stories, never once did my mind comprehend that connection. When Nouman Ali Khan highlighted this it was one of those “Ohhhh yeaahhh! Duh!” moments for me. When dissecting the story of  the Prophet(AS) Nouman Ali Khan also went into depth talking about the underlying points of the story.  To name a few:

  • Women in the workplace,
  • A Mother’s fear for her child,
  • Having 100% trust in Allah (SWT) and his plans for us,
  • A Father/Daughter relationship in Islam.

In those three hours, while listening to Nouman Ali Khan talking about just the one Prophet (AS) over three Surahs (Taha, Shuarah and Qasas) I felt like I had an epiphany about Islam. The religion I was born into and have spent 22 years trying to follow, suddenly had a new light shone on it. It made more sense to me, it allowed me to understand that in order to improve our live, the Ummati need to be 100% submissive to Allah (SWT), have trust in him, do everything in our power and then leave the rest up to the Almighty.

What’s with all the secrecy? Were you not listening properly? I bet these questions are going through your head! I do know the names of the Prophets (AS) whose stories he dissected, but I don’t want to give the game away. Also I respect that Nouman Ali Khan said “And those of you that have already taken it, don’t spoil the surprise for others!” I wouldn’t even be able to do justice to it so I won’t try, but what I will do is 100% recommend it to anyone and everyone, both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

At the risk of this sounding like one major tribute to Nouman Ali Khan, let me clarify that this is not my intention for writing this post. My intention is to spread awareness of a wonderful Islamic speaker and in sha Allah aid him in spreading the word of Islam. Also, I guess this is my way of saying Jazak’Allah Khair for such an amazing epiphany (thumbs up dude!) and continue what you’re doing Brother Nouman 😉

Story Night is coming soon to many places. (<Press the link!)

You can register for the Story Night from the Bayyinah Institute website. (Link is below).

The Bayyinah Institute and Bayyinah TV can be accessed by pressing the links:)

My favourite lecture that really will change your life is Islam and the Ego.

(Jazak’Allah Khair Nida for introducing us to Nouman Ali Khan’s lectures and being our chaffeur:), Jazak’Allah Nimah for introducing me to the lectures, and Jazak’Allah Khair to the Edmonton Islamic Centre for hosting the event:))

in sha Allah may Allah SWT help us remember this daily.