The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, "There will come a time when holding on to your Iman (belief) will be like holding on to hot coals." These are the times we find ourselves in today, and now more than ever, knowledge of the religion is critical. As American Muslims, we must be deeply rooted in a strong foundation of Islamic knowledge and cultural understanding in order to intelligently navigate through the complex moral issues we face today.

In another hadith, the Prophet (SAW) says, “One who treads a path in search of knowledge has his path to Paradise made easy by God…." This is the Enlightened Path, the path that leads to our ultimate goal of attaining Jannah, the path that draws us nearer to Allah (SWT) with greater knowledge of Him, His book, and His teachings.

This program at the ICP will help pave this way, inshaAllah by offering in-depth teachings of Islamic sciences. At the same time, the information will be made relevant to the culture and society in which we live, so that, through knowledge and discussion, we will be better equipped to address the issues concerning us today.

We introduced "The Enlightened Path" initiative with a day-long intensive Tafseer on Surah Hujurat, the 49th chapter of the Holy Qur'an. The course was held at the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh on Saturday, December 13th, 2014, and was attended by close to 80 students.

If you’d like to support this cause, as well as to provide scholarships for such courses, please donate. May Allah make the way easy for all of us and accept from us our efforts to please Him. Ameen!