By Muhammad Arif Bin Syed Sulaiman

لَوْلا مُرَبِّي ما عَرَفْتُ رَبِّي
“If not for my teacher, I would not have known my Lord”

I intend to share my story as a means for someone to understand and know who loves us dearly,

Allahu Allah.

I never had a teacher in my spiritual life as I never thought I needed to commit to anyone. I’ve always thought that Islamic knowledge was only through reading and understanding the words from the Quran. When I was younger, I did have a few teachers who taught me the basics on learning how to read Iqra and the Quran. However, the knowledge became rusty and eventually almost faded away.

Truly, Allah ﷻ works miraculous ways. As someone who grew up not being mindful of the favours that He bestowed upon me, He still gifted me with a path that slowly opened up through family, friends, circumstances and perhaps it could even be the du’a from my parents and loved ones that Allah ﷻ accepted.

It was in the year 2019 when one fine day, He instilled this thought that made me start to ponder, “What is beyond Surah Al-Fil in the Quran? Why don’t I try to read it?” I believe this thought stemmed from a core memory I had when I was studying in kindergarten in a mosque for two years as there was a lingering memory of me being able to recite the last few chapters of the Quran.

I was also drawn to Mishari Rashid Al-Afasi’s recitation of the Quran as I started to listen to the recitation of the Quran again and I started to listen to it more frequently on Spotify. I was eventually hooked.

This inspired me to pick up the Quran again and I told myself, “Okay, let’s do this properly!” I spent a year learning how to slowly read verses in the Quran in transliteration from Quran 411 to eventually reading the entire Quran in transliteration the next year. Through this, Allah ﷻ opened up my heart in wanting to learn Arabic and this led me to attend a 10-week course on “Introduction to Arabic” through Al-Markaz Academy (which has unfortunately now closed), where I picked up the basics of reading, writing and conversing in Arabic.

After completing the 10-week course, it gave me motivation to learn how to recite the Quran properly and I was looking for avenues on where I could learn. Alhamdulillah, through my dear sister Nurfarhanah, I was recommended to Al-Firdaws academy, an online institute that provides you with a teacher where you could learn how to recite the Quran properly, one-on-one.

Al-Firdaws academy was recommended by my sister because she mentioned to me, “Why don’t you start to recite the Quran a few times per week, but only 30 minutes per session,” and this made me realise that this was a good way to learn how to recite the Quran and allow me to be consistent in visiting the Quran.

Narrated `Aisha: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately and know that your deeds will not make you enter Paradise, and that the most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant even if it were little.”
Bukhari

Alhamdulillah, it has now been almost two years learning from my teacher, Ustaz Ahmad Bakry, who is based in Egypt, through Al-Firdaws academy. May Allah ﷻ reward him for everything that he has taught me. He started by teaching me the foundations on pronunciation, tajweed, and then gradually reciting the Arabic verses from the Quran.

The best part of this academy is that it caters to your own daily timetable. Do check them out! From struggling to read the second and longest chapter of the Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah and only being able to recite a few verses, alhamdulillah with the help of Allah ﷻ and my teacher, I managed to complete reciting the Quran after a year and a half.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my other teacher who helped me focus on the articulation of my Arabic Makhraj, which is Phonics, Ustaz Harun Rashid, an Imam at Masjid Mujahidin and Masjid Jamek Queenstown.

وَمَكَرُوا۟ وَمَكَرَ ٱللَّهُ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ خَيْرُ ٱلْمَـٰكِرِينَ
“And the disbelievers planned, but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners.”
(Quran 3:54)

At the same time while I was navigating the journey of reciting the Quran, Allah ﷻ allowed me to cross paths with my dear friends, Sayf and Arifin, who allowed me to taste the feeling of being a pillion for the first time in my life on a bike, which inspired me to set the intention of obtaining a bike license, not only for the convenience of transportation to mosques but also to make my journey a means of knowing Him better.

As He slowly started to inspire me to draw closer to him through His frequent invitation to His majestic home—mosques, one fine day, I sat down at the mosque and asked Him,

“Ya Allah, open up the path to learning Islam for me.”

Tawhid, Fiqh and Tasawuf were topics that I was not aware of. Part of it was also due to limitations of seeking them in the English language or even if they were available, fitting classes into my schedule was another challenge.

مَن يَهْدِ ٱللَّهُ فَهُوَ ٱلْمُهْتَدِ ۖ وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُۥ وَلِيًّۭا مُّرْشِدًۭا
“Whoever Allah guides is truly guided. But whoever He leaves to stray, you will never find for them a guiding mentor.”
(Quran 18:17)

Shortly after making that du’a, He opened up the doors to Masjid Khalid, where they offered a 5-year curriculum of learning fundamentals of Islam in English. This door was made known to me through my peers, Sayf and Haiqal. The struggle however, was to commit every Sunday morning for 4 hours, which was a reason why I was sitting on it for a year. Looking back now, there was a wisdom in this as well, or else I would not have met my now teacher in the same intake and class, Ustaz Mohamed Sameer, and this happened all in His divine timing.

Ustaz Sameer joined the circle just like an ordinary student learning with us. Hence, the first few months of conversing with him was like an actual classmate, only to eventually find out that he was a teacher.

It was about five months into Khalid when I stumbled upon his Instagram—Rose of Madinah, and I found out that he was offering classes at Shadz Centre in Paya Lebar. Out of curiosity, I attended once physically and a few times via Zoom. His teaching was new and I could not bring myself to commit to attending regularly due to time constraints and needing time to accept the delivery of how the knowledge was shared.

By the will of Allah ﷻ, Ustaz’s classes were shifted to Masjid Abdul Gafoor and this became so much easier to access. I decided to give the classes a go again and begin to ease into the teachings. It took me about two months to start attending it consistently, thanks to the hospitality of Ustaz and the community that He bestowed me with. Alhamdulillah, the journey is still ongoing, and I pray that it will continue till death do us part.

What is unique about Ustaz’s classes is that we discuss the concept of Tawhid “La ilaha illAllah” which is done along with supplementary book reading, be it Tasawwuf on Tuesdays or Fiqh on Fridays.

The knowledge of tawhid that Ustaz shares in class is preserved through a chain of transmission (Sanad) by his teacher Sheikh Zuhoori Shah, that links the knowledge all the way back to our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. You would think that tawhid constitutes a one liner that explains, “There is none worth of worship but Allah ﷻ.” But through classes, I started to realise there is so much more depth to it.

Prior to Ustaz classes, remembrance of Allah ﷻ (dhikr) in abundance was only practiced during gatherings where we pray for our loved ones who have passed and I never understood the true meaning of it. I also never knew there was meditation in Islam where one practices the art of muraqabah (meditation) by being mindful of the bounty that Allah ﷻ has bestowed upon us in various ways, such as the gift of life. Picking up the act of repenting and apologising to Allah ﷻ (Istighfar) and sending abundance of salutations upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were all knowledge that I did prior but without understanding the wisdom behind it.

One may say that this knowledge can be attained through watching videos on social media or attending talks, but ask yourself, do you find it hard to keep consistent upon the knowledge shared and put it into daily practice? That’s the benefit of having an ijazah (permission) from a Murshid (spiritual guide) and also one whom you can have physical access to on a weekly basis that allows you to gain Sohbah (companionship) with. One may follow any teacher who has certifications, but allow me to put it this way; having a personal trainer vs mass trainer is similar to being known personally vs being known as another face in the crowd. The effects are truly different.

These were questions that I had prior to attending classes with Ustaz Sameer which Allah ﷻ has granted me with the answers through consistently attending classes:

Why was I created? What is the purpose of my existence in life? How to find God? How to seek Him? Where to find Him? How can I remember Him? Who do I find as a teacher? Why do I need to know Him? How do I remember Him beyond our prayer mats?

I cannot put into words the amount of knowledge that has been shared that can be put to daily practice, I would only encourage you to experience it for yourself with an open heart and mind. Do join any of our classes should you find your heart being inclined after reading this short sharing of ours, inshaAllah. You can check out our Instagram for any updates!

I pray that we will meet and walk the path of Islam, Iman and Ihsan in this life and reunite with our Creator and beloved Messenger Muhammad ﷺ in the next, inshaAllah.