1. The Project:

I have an awesome team — hands-down. MashaAllah the sisters and brothers I work with are amazing. Everyone from my marketing group to the coordinators in each of the locations I work with, are awesome.

Lately, between scheduling, confirming venues and guiding people through how to promote the classes, we’ve come up with a brand-new site called bayyinahexperience.com. If you’ve ever taken a Bayyinah class it’s kind of hard to explain. You can’t really explain the feeling you get while you’re in class learning, nor can you really explain in detail what it’s all about; it’s one of those “you just have to be there” moments. Well we can’t guarantee that this site will give you the full “Bayyinah Experience” but it will sure attempt to give you a glimpse. We decided that video blogging was the way to go. Have the students video tape the fun, random, and intriguing moments that happen during class and even during the breaks. They can share their reflections, a story that happened to them on the way to the class, or anything related to what would normally be talked about or shown at a Bayyinah class.

Each location we conduct seminars in, we ask the coordinators to get someone to be in charge of getting footage. And the result is a student-run video blog dedicated to Bayyinah — otherwise known as bayyinahexperience.com.

I’m excited to see how this site is going to catch on as we go to more and more locations and add more and more classes to our curriculum. It should be pretty fun to come back to on a regular basis, inshaAllah.

—————

I have had such little time to post thoughts, reflections, media content on Egyptian Gumbo lately because I’ve been busy with other (greater, inshaAllah) things. I want to keep EG alive inshaAllah, and inshaAllah I will be able to do so once I graduate from LSU this May.

Between school and my work, I’m trying hard to keep with setting aside some time for my own personal development. Make dua for me!
EG

Jazaki Allah khair sr. Asma for a wonderfully written article.

Students moved by class on literary beauty of Qur’an
By Asma Ahmad, IFN Staff Reporter

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Visibly moved, students who diligently attended the first-ever seminar on the literary characteristics of the Qur’an for a non-Arabic speaking audience could not stop talking about the experience afterward. “This course completely picked up my perception of the Qur’an, shook it as an earthquake would move the earth, and smashed it back down to the ground,” wrote one student in an anonymous survey about the three-day class. “My prayer has changed, my love for the book of Allah has skyrocketed, and my faith in its divinity has been multiplied.”

About 150 people attended the class, held Feb. 13-15, at Cal State Long Beach. It was organized by the Bayyinah Institute, a national educational organization whose goals are to make learning Arabic and the Qur’an affordable and accessible.

Bayyinah founder and instructor Nouman Ali Khan took the audience on an awe-inspiring linguistic journey through the Qur’an, exposing them to its unique literary features.

These included, among others, the choice of words; integral relationship between the beginning and end of ‘surahs’ or chapters; coherence and harmony between surahs; and the use of allegorical references, metaphors, and imagery.

It is known that at the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), even his enemies would secretly listen to his recitation of the Qur’an in awe.

If they, too, were mesmerized by the literary beauty of the divine message, Khan said, it is unfortunate that Muslims today are so unaware of its marvel.

Attendee Jaafar Husain from Corona agreed.

“This course offers a perspective on the language of the Qur’an that most of us don’t pay attention to,” he said.

The 30-year-old instructor, previously little known in Southern California, seemed to have swept away his audience with his presentation.

“I was extremely impressed with his level of knowledge,” Husain said. “It is a gift of Allah to us that He raises amidst us such people.”

Khan, who does not come from an Arab background, formally started his Arabic studies in Chicago in 1999 with Dr. Abdus-Samie, founder and formal principal of Qur’an College in Faisalabad, Pakistan. He then supplemented with self-study from classical and contemporary texts.

The young father of four now focuses all his energies toward Bayyinah.

“The Qur’an is stunning in its beauty, captivating in its words, overpowering in its message, enchanting in its harmony and baffling in its subtlety,” Khan explained. “This treasure must be shared with all Muslims.”

Khan founded Bayyinah in 2005 in New York. The institute offers students courses around four major tracks within Arabic study; beginners, Qur’anic, standard and classical Literature taught as weekend seminars, 10-day evening sessions and online.

Next year, Bayyinah plans to offer a 10-month Arabic immersion program, which will graduate students at par with Madina or Al Azhar students, Khan said, without having to go overseas.

Bayyinah has currently partnered with the national AlMaghrib Institute, offering its students Arabic courses to fulfill their degree requirements.

The next Bayyinah seminar due to take place in Southern California this summer will focus on ‘tajweed’ or proper pronunciation and recitation of the Qur’an.

On the Web:
www.Bayyinah.com
www.Understandarabic.com
www.bayyinahsessions.com

I’ve worked for many clients before, but none compare to Bayyinah. There is a certain barakah in the organization that subhanallah draws you so deep into your work.

In a recent survey, it was discovered the, least trusted professionals between various markets were found within the media profession; this included journalists, people in advertising, public relations and marketing. Six out of ten people said they don’t trust people in these professions. Ouch.

There’s this notion out there that if you’re in one of these fields, you’ll do anything to help your client, even if it means becoming a “spin doctor, a “deceiver” or even a “liar.” It’s that idea that says a person in one of those fields will say just about anything to serve their own interests. I guess it goes triple for someone like me who is in three of the four fields listed above.

I remember an article I wrote a little while ago that was posted on Muslim Matters about Bayyinah and the “Divine Speech” class. I’m sure anyone who has taken any classes with Bayyinah attest there is something different about this organization than others; something that you can hold dear to your heart.

Someone commented by saying, “Has anyone attended one of the classes? Please honest critique, I don’t want a marketing spin. Jazakum Allah kheir.”

I’m generally not a sensitive person, but I took offense to it. Even though the brother has somewhat a point to be skeptical, I guess I was just so sincerely writing the article out of the love I have for the organization, I indeed forgot I’m the public relations specialist.

This poses a problem for me. Press releases are great, mostly because editors of newspapers take what the want from the release and use their own names to write the article. For blogs and Muslim publications it’s a little different. They usually publish the article as it was sent, and accredit it to the original author. That’s great too, but it somehow tends to put this tint on the glass when people are looking through, so to speak. People now see the articles and see that it’s written by the marketing director and automatically think it’s no good.

When I started my PR firm, Minbar Media, I did so with the intention of only servicing clients I truly believe in and clients I could be proud to help out and bring with me on the day of judgment.

I’m going to remain true to my intention, inshaAllah.

The staff is so sincere and the volunteers I work with are all amazing, subhanallah. Currently, I’m working on a campaign to better acquaint the public with our other two instructors, Sheikh AbdulNasir Jangda, an Imam in Dallas, TX and AlHafidh Wisam Sherif who is currently studying in Egypt until the end of summer.

If people knew their work/style, they would love it. So be on the lookout for that campaign, inshaAllah.

More later, bi’ithnillahi ta’ala. I’m definitely extremely busy, but I’m hoping to update my blog often.

I think I might have to watch some of the things I write from now on, now that I’m not only representing myself but others who are pretty public figures or entities. Wallahu alem.