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Bismillah, al-hambul-lillah and Salat and Salafi al-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-haehabil.

Welcome to our second class of Lighthouse series.

I hope, inshallah, that the first class was not too intimidating.

It was actually done a little bit on purpose to demonstrate that this class will be a little bit more serious, but at the same time,

obviously the goal is to benefit, the goal is to make sure that we leave with some practical lessons about questions of relevance.

Because here's the point.

In my humble opinion, the way that Islam is taught all too often doesn't take into account the actual problems that most of you are facing.

What we like to do is to regurgitate a classical textbook.

And again, I'm not trying to Stavral, be dismissive of the past.

I have studied in seminaries and I respect seminaries immensely.

But it is my personal opinion that

seminary type of education is not the most conducive for your average activist Muslim. Seminary

education with the books written a thousand years ago, with the content that was formulated

in Baghdad in the third century, is not the best mechanism for us to feel a sense of revitalization,

a sense of urgency, a sense of contextualization.

And what we therefore need to do is, yes, seminary education has a role,

it has a function, it has a purpose,

but we have to present our religion in a modern language

with modern sensibilities answering modern questions. There's nothing wrong with that.

...