Program starts with Maghrib prayer.

Wishing you and your family a blessed Year 2025 filled with hope, health, and peace.

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The Crescent Moon of the Month of Rajab, 1446 A.H. From the Crescent Committee of The Council of Shia Muslim Scholars of North America - Read more here:
https://ow.ly/tpH850Uybtf

1 Rajab (Jan. 2): Birth of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p), 57 A.H.
2 Rajab (Jan. 3): Birth of Imam Ali al-Hadi (p), 212 A.H.
3 Rajab (Jan. 4): Martyrdom of Imam Ali al-Hadi (p), 254 A.H.
10 Rajab (Jan. 11): Birth of Imam Muhammad al-Jawad (p), 195 A.H.
13 Rajab (Jan. 14): Birth of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (p), 23 B.H.
15 Rajab (Jan. 16): Death of Sayyida Zaynab bint Ali (p), 62 A.H.
25 Rajab (Jan. 26): Martyrdom of Imam Musa al-Kadhim (p), 183 A.H.
27 Rajab (Jan. 28): Day of Mabath, 13 B.H.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDfaB7pbreU&t=1s

"The Month of Rajab: Its Status in Islamic Spirituality"
speaker: H. I. Hasan Doagoo
Jan 2, 2025

السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا أَبَا الْحَسَنِ عَلِيَّ بن مُحَمَّدٍ الزَّكِيَّ الرَّاشِدَ النُّورَ الثَّاقِبَ وَرَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا صَفِيَّ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا سِرَّ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا حَبْلَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا آلَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا خِيَرَةَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا صَفْوَةَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا أَمِينَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا حَقَّ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا حَبِيبَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا نُورَ الْأَنْوَارِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا زَيْنَ الْأَبْرَارِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا سَلِيلَ الْأَخْيَارِ،

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcnrJVVnpbo&list=PLRagz8v-1fF4KGgyePWeEuzvu1CDfo7B2&t=1s

"Mary in the Qur'an", Lecture 5
speaker: Dr. Farhad Ghoddoussi
Dec 8, 2024

Chapters:
0:00 Greetings & Introductory Remarks
1:55 List of Surahs related to the Hazrat Maryam in Qur'an in Chronological Order of Revelation and the Order of the Verses.
3:29 Nativity derived from Latin means the birth of Jesus and the events surrounding and after that. In Qur'an, nativity is discussed in verses 22 to 33 of the Surah 19 (Maryam).
7:30 Reading the English translation of the verses 22-33 of Surah 19 (Maryam).
11:49 Commentary on verse Q19:22 from Tafsir al-Mizan, by Allamah Muhammad Hussein Tabatabai. A discussion about the keyword قصی (qassiy) remote.
14:25 Whether Mary was alone when giving birth to Jesus or as the Christian sources indicate Joseph Carpenter was with her. Quranic verses in the first appearance suggest she was alone, but it will be argued in a following lecture they do not contradict with Joseph the Carpenter being with Mary. A discussion of the Family of Imran and who were part of this family?
20:15 Commentary on verse Q19:23 from Tafsir al-Mizan. The prayer of Maryam primarily reflects the child birth experience by a woman and, secondarily, maybe due to her unique situation.
26:00 Commentary on verse Q19:24 from Tafsir al-Mizan. Most probably, the one who calls Mary from beneath her is the child, Jesus, after being born, not the spirit or an angel.
31:35 Commentary on verse Q19:25 and Q19:26 from Tafsir al-Mizan. Parallelism with the story of Zachariah and birth of Yahya. The three features of the location of birth of Jesus: Remoteness, Palm Tree, and Flowing Spring.
36:04 Commentary on verse Q19:27 from Tafsir al-Mizan. Fariyyan, indicates something that is serious and grave as well as unprecedented.
38:14 Commentary on verse Q19:28 from Tafsir al-Mizan. A discussion of the phrase "O Sister of Aaron" with which Maryam was called.
49:55 Commentary on verse Q19:29 from Tafsir al-Mizan. A discussion of cradle (مهد) used in this verse.
54:45 Commentary on verses Q19:30-33 from Tafsir al-Mizan. The speech of Jesus in cradle.
1:00:31 Looking to some of the narrations (hadiths) both from shi'i and sunni sources related to the verses Q19:22-33.
1:26:30 Brief comments on some of the verses 22 to 33 from Surah 19 (Maryam) based on the Study Qur'an English translation and commentary. Wahb ibn Munabbih (655-737AD), who was familiar with the Jewish and Christian scriptures, reports that Mary’s pregnancy was known to one of her relatives named Joseph, who also served in the Temple and helped her during her pregnancy (quoted in Fakhr Razi and Tabari's Tafsirs). According to some commentators, Jesus’ sudden ability to speak, like Zachariah’s sudden inability to do so in Q19:10, was a temporary matter and that after delivering the statements recounted in Q19:30–33 Jesus returned to the ordinary state of an infant as yet incapable of speech (Razi, Qurtubi). The miraculous and temporary gift of speech was bestowed upon him in order to absolve his mother of any blame or suspicion (Qurtubi). Al-Ṭabarisī notes, however, that some claimed that Jesus’ intellect was perfected and he was a prophet from this time onward, in which case his miraculous ability to speak as an infant continued beyond this encounter with his mother’s family.

#Mary_in_Quran

https://youtu.be/4AWaRDEelq0?list=PLRagz8v-1fF4KGgyePWeEuzvu1CDfo7B2&t=1

"Mary in the Qur'an", Lecture 6
speaker: Dr. Farhad Ghoddoussi
Dec 15, 2024

Chapters:
0:00 Greetings & Introductory Remarks
2:41 List of Surahs related to the Hazrat Maryam in Qur'an in Chronological Order of Revelation and the Order of the Verses.
4:02 The Nativity, story of the birth of Jesus are mentioned in the following sources: Qur’an19:22-33; Luke2:1-20; Matthew1:18-25&2:1-23; ProtoGospel of James15-24; Gospel of PseudoMatthew8-13&20; Gospel of the Birth of Mary 7-10.
5:05 Reading the English translation of the verses 22-33 of Surah 19 (Maryam). Three important feature regarding the location of the birth of Jesus: Remoteness, The Palm Tree and the flowing Spring. Two additional important points to have in mind from these verses are addressing Mary as "O sister of Aaron" and the miracle of the Jesus as a child speaking in cradle.
8:57 Relative geographical location of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth on the map.
11:06 A brief discussion of the Chronology of the time of the writing of the Christian sources which mention the birth of Jesus and events surrounding and after it.
13:51 Gospel of Luke2:1-40 Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and his presentation to the temple in Jerusalem and the return of Mary and Joseph the Carpenter back to Nazareth and Jesus growing in Nazareth.
22:45 Matthew1:18-25 (Birth of Jesus) and Matthew2:1-24 Visit of the Wise Men from the East (The Magis), Flight to Egypt.
33:12 Comparison between the Nativity narratives in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. People and movies usually instead of comparing the two narratives merge them and make a unified story, but if you compare them they have significant contradictory differences with each other and both are different from the Quranic narrative of nativity.
36:41 ProtoEvangelium of James17-20. The birth of Jesus happens in a remote place (a cave) in the middle of the way between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Besides the Joseph the Carpenter one of his sons from previous marriage are with Mary. She apparently gave birth in a cave and two women probably both midwives visit her and Jesus after birth in the cave. The Proto-Gospel of James nativity narrative is different from the two canonical gospels Luke and Matthew and also from the Qur'an but it is not necessarily in contradiction with Qur'an and agrees in at least one crucial point that birth of Jesus happened in a remote place.
49:09 Some general discussion regarding the theories of formation (writing, compilation, redaction and edition) of the ProtoGospel of James relying on the book by George Themelis Zervos titled "The Protoevangelium of James: Greek text, English Translation and the Critical Introduction" in two volumes. The Protoevangelium James has multilayers and its formation somewhat may be similar to the Sulaym ibn Qays Hilali the oldest extant Shi'i hadith book. An ancient true core but with parts being added later or were edited.
1:05:18 Story of Discovery of The Kathisma church(shrine) and its importance and relevance to nativity. Kathisma means seat (Stopping or resting place, مقام). The rock which is at the center of three layer octagonal church (shrine) is most probably the actual birth place of Jesus not the resting or stopping place of Mary before giving birth in a nearby cave (The Protoevangelium of James) or in Bethlehem (later Christian tradition) or on the way escaping to Egypt (PseudoGospel of Matthew), as it was also believed in the Christian tradition.
1:31:08 Connecting the three distinguishing elements of the Quranic nativity story; Remoteness, the Palm Tree and the flowing Spring and even addressing Mary as "Sister of Aaron" with the location of the Kathisma shrine.
1:41:07 The Gospel of Pseudo Matthew 20 The Miracle of the Palm Tree and Fresh Spring but in the context of the escape to Egypt.

#Mary_in_Quran

upcoming event, Jan 10, 2025

▫️Friday Jan 10, 7:30-9:30 pm (in-person, in English)
Special Event, Birth Anniversary of Imam Ali (p), speaker: Dr. Sadik Kassim.

visit us:
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

Special Event, Birth Anniversary of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (p)

🌐 In-Person, in English

Speaker: Sadik Kassim
Lecture: "From the Light of Imam Ali to the Pen of Sharīf Al-Radhi: A Journey of Eloquence"

Date
Friday January 10th, 2025
7:30 pm to 9:30 pm (Eastern Time)

Location
MIT Student Center, 2nd Floor, Lobdell Hall, 84 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

Schedule
7:30-7:35 Quran Recitation
7:35-7:45 Poem
7:45-8:45 Lecture and Q&A, in English
8:45-9:00 Ziyarat Amin Allah
9:00-9:30 Dinner

- About Speaker (Bio)

https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا أَبا جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ الْبَرَّ التَّقِيَّ الْإِمامَ الْوَفِيَّ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا الرَّضِيُّ الزَّكِيُّ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا وَلِيَّ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا نَجِيَّ‌اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا سَفِيرَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا سِرَّ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا ضِياءَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا سَناءَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا كَلِمَةَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا رَحْمَةَ اللّٰهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النُّورُ السَّاطِعُ،

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24ldU4lyDKo&t=1s

"Imam Jawad (p) and seventeen years of Guiding the Shi'a Community"
speaker: H. I. Hasan Doagoo
Jan 21, 2024

upcoming events, Jan 12-16, 2025

▫️Sunday Jan 12, 10:00 am-12:00 pm (virtual, in Farsi | Eng Subs)
Lecture Series, 1, "The History of Zaydiyya Theological and Jurisprudential Thoughts", Hassan Ansari, IAS, Princeton.

▫️Sunday Jan 12, 7:00-9:00 pm (virtual, in English)
Special Topics, 8, "Mary in the Qur'an", Farhad Ghoddoussi, Wayne State University, Michigan.

▫️Thursday Jan 16, 7:15-9:30 pm (in-person, in English)
Dua Kumayl & Lecture, Nahj al-Balagha Series.

visit us:
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

درس گفتارهای تاریخ اندیشه و تمدن اسلامی

🌐 بصورت مجازی، به فارسی

«تاريخ انديشه های کلامی و فقهی زيديه از قرن سوم تا قرن يازدهم قمری»
توسط دکتر حسن انصاری

جلسه اول، یکشنبه ۱۲ ژانویه، ۱۰:۰۰ صبح تا ۱۲:۰۰ ظهر (به وقت شرق آمریکا)

Zoom Participation (webinar):
https://mit.zoom.us/j/93933325521

#زيديه_کلام_و_فقه_قرن_سوم_تا_یازدهم
@azbarresihayetarikhi
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nFYyqvBIvI&list=PLRagz8v-1fF4KGgyePWeEuzvu1CDfo7B2&t=1s

"Mary in the Qur'an", Lecture 7
speaker: Dr. Farhad Ghoddoussi
Dec 22, 2024

Chapters:
0:00 Greetings & Introductory Remarks
0:29 Reading a few Hadiths for the occasion of the Birthday of Hazrat Fatima.
1:58 Reading the English translation of the Q66:11-12 verses.
3:01 List of Surahs related to the Hazrat Maryam in Qur'an in Chronological Order of Revelation and the Order of the Verses.
4:49 The special problems/points these lecture series wants to address: 1) The Family of Imran ( آل عمران) and Family of Jesus; 2) The Sister of Aaron; 3) Joseph the Carpenter (3: 44 , 23: 50 , 3: 36 , 19: 29); 4) James (Jacob) the Just brother of Jesus and the fate of the true Christianity; 5) Who was the Ancestor of the mother of the twelfth Imam, Imam Mahdi, Nargis Khatoon, Simon the Cephas or Simon the Cleophas (Cleophas or Cleopas) brother of Jesus and James.
26:51 The three basic steps of Jewish Marriage at the time of Mary and Jesus.
28:33 A few Qur'anic verses that can hint indirectly to Joseph the Carpenter Q3:44, Q3:36, Q19:20, Q23:50, and Q19:29. Qur'an consciously and systematically has eliminated Joseph the Carpenter from the Mary's story similarly Amram father of Moses is also eliminated from the Moses birth story and he is not mentioned in the Qur'an.
50:11 Another look to the Hebrew meaning of the name of the father of Mary Joachim (Yəhoyāqim יהויקים) which means “He whom Yahweh (God, Allah) set up (built, erected,..)” which leads to the conclusion that "Imran Allah" (عمران الله) the name of the father of Mary in Qur'an is the Arabic translation of his name in Hebrew.
53:52 A look to the usage of word Family (آل) in the Qur'an whether the families mentioned in Qur'an like where limited in number or extended in lineage and number by looking to the Family of Lot (آل لوط). Hence arguing that Family of Imran most probably included more than Just Imran, his wife and Mary and Jesus. this family was extended by other children of Mary (brothers and sisters of Jesus).
56:29 Brothers of Jesus: James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. Mark6:3 and Matthew13:55.
59:18 The Chronology of the Writing of the New Testament Books: Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and Epistles of James and Judas
1:00:13 The Twelve sons of Jacob. The lineage of the Israelites. Royal (Kingly) Lineage ( Descendants of Judah who was ancestor of David and Solomon) and Priestly Lineage (Descendants Levi, who was the ancestor of Moses and Aaron).
1:08:28 The Genealogy of Jesus. Two Genealogies. In Gospel of Matthew It is through Joseph the Carpenter the step father of Jesus. In Gospel of Matthew it is through Mary mother of Jesus and then through her father Joachim (Eliakim, Heli or Eli are abbreviations of Joachim). Genealogy in Matthew starts from Abraham descends to David the King and Prophet and then descends through his son Solomon to Joseph the Carpenter and then Jesus, while genealogy in Luke starts from Jesus and ascends to Mary and to Joachim and then ascends to Nathan the other son of David and then to David and then ascends to Abraham and then to Noah and then to Adam, which interestingly has been referred to as son of God.
1:30:18 Dual or mixed Lineage of Mary. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a direct descendant of King David(Royal, Kingly Lineage) but she also had significant bloodline ties to a Levite or priestly lineage descended from Aaron. That is her descendants could take both Royal and Priestly duties. In the Dead Sea Scrolls we encounter a devoutly religious community, usually identified with the Essenes, who expected the coming of three figures— a prophet like Moses (prophet Muhammad?) and the messiahs of Aaron and of Israel (Jesus? and Mahdi?).

#Mary_in_Quran

Special Topic Lecture Series

🌐 Virtual, in English

🔹Sunday Jan 12, 7:00-9:00 pm ET
Lecture (in English), 8, "Mary in the Qur'an"
Speaker, Dr. Farhad Ghoddoussi
About Speaker (Bio)

Zoom Participation (virtual):
https://mit.zoom.us/j/92377466698

#Mary_in_Quran
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

اَلسَّلامُ عَلَيک يااَمينَ اللَّهِ فى‏ اَرْضِهِ، وَحُجَّتَهُ عَلى‏ عِبادِهِ، اَلسَّلامُ عَلَيک يا اَميرَ الْمُؤْمِنينَ، اَشْهَدُ اَنَّک جاهَدْتَ فِى اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهادِهِ، وَ عَمِلْتَ بِکتابِهِ، وَاتَّبَعْتَ سُنَنَ نَبِيهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ، حَتّى‏ دَعاک اللَّهُ اِلى‏ جِوارِهِ، فَقَبَضَک اِلَيهِ بِاخْتِيارِهِ، وَ اَلْزَمَ اَعْدائَک الْحُجَّةَ مَعَ مالَک مِنَ الْحُجَجِ‏ الْبالِغَةِ عَلى‏ جَميعِ خَلْقِهِ،

Dua Kumayl & Lecture, 15th of Rajab, Nahj al-Balagha Series

🌐 In-Person, in English

Date
Thursday January 16th, 2025
7:15 pm to 9:30 pm (Eastern Time)

Location
MIT Tang Center, E51-395, 2 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02142

Schedule
7:15-7:25 Quran Recitation
7:25-8:00 Dua Kumayl
8:00-8:45 Nahj al-Balagha Series, in English, H. I. Doagoo (joining by zoom)
Topic: Letter 53, Letter of Imam Ali (p) to Malik al-Ashtar, session 4, “Guidance on Spiritual Growth and the Imperative of Compassionate Leadership”
8:45-8:50 Q&A
8:50-9:00 Ziyarat Imam Husayn (p)
9:00-9:30 Dinner

- About Speaker (Bio)

https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT