By Jabriel Modaresi-Alam and Abdul Hamid Shirazi

There is a young Imam whom when you hear his lectures, you can’t seem to get enough of and when your around his presence you love to be around. Where he goes, he sets a benchmark, inspires, uplifts, and educates. He has a warm presence, with exceptional manners, and is ready to serve the Ummah for the sake of his lord. Ummahtimes was given the opportunity to sit with this ambitious and zealous sheikh, and we hope insha’Allah you enjoy learning about this sheikh and his ambitious institute, Ilm Path Academy, as much as we did. So here is the scoop with Sheikh Waleed Abdulhakeem

What has motivated you to start Ilm Path Academy?

Alhamdulilah, all praise and blessings to Allah, we are living in an era that is ripe for knowledge, where young people are returning back to roots of Islam, which was not so apparent in previous generations. This has created a huge demand for seeking authentic Islamic knowledge. Several academic organizations have Alhamdulillah tried to the best of their abilities and within their resources to fulfill that need, especially those that offer weekend courses. However, there is yet a lot to be done and more to be covered. Evidently, there are many major cities that haven’t been covered yet, let alone middle sized cities that have a growing Muslim population. Infact, many courses and topics haven’t been offered yet. As for the price range, they have offered scholarships for the needy students may Allah reward them for this effort, but collectively, we haven’t reached a level yet where we could outreach to the Muslim masses, thus educing us to bring about better price affordability to seekers of knowledge, while maintaining a high level of professionalism. Ilm Path was created to fulfill that need for seekers of knowledge, while simultaneously, bring new ideas in the classroom that have never been implemented before at an Islamic Institute and will get more people excited to learn.

So what is the difference between Ilm Path Academy and other Weekend institutes out there? What are they trying to do that has not been done before?

Jazak Allah Khair for asking this, as we need to clarify this from the start. Ilm Path was built from the ground up to cooperate and assist in working with other existing Islamic institutions, not trying to compete with them in the sense of bringing them down. Our model is built on offering each course in a single weekend in an intensive format, but doing it in a completely different and unique way that does not repeat or clash with what others are already doing. There are courses that haven’t been offered yet and they are essential. Some people are self learners, but most are dependent on others. For example, tafseer of the entire Quran has been barely covered, and Ilm Path will do that insha’Allah. As for Islamic History, people know the Seera, and some know the four Khalifas time, but barely anyone knows what happened after that point and until our time. We are going to offer entire Islamic history, from the beginning of creation, to the Seera and the prophets peace be upon them, the four khulafa, and then we will take a journey from the Ummayad empire, Abbasid empire, Ottoman empire, and then the period after the fall of the khilafa until our contemporary time. Also the history of specific regions will be taught, such as history of spain, Palestine, Iraq, etc.

We also noticed that you have a large number of lifeskills courses.

Yes, this is something we wanted to see being taught to Muslims a long time ago. There have been excellent efforts previously, but there is still a gap that needs to be bridged. Ilm Path’s mission is to empower Muslims with both Islamic Knowledge and the skills they need to succeed in this life and the afterlife. Many Muslims are eager to improve their community and life, but haven’t learned these essential skills. If a person takes a 2 day course about time management, they will save thousands of hours in their lifetime of which they could use to memorize Quran, seek knowledge, and open their businesses. When you learn memory skills, you will remember almost everything you learn. When you learn communication skills, you will connect with people, become a better da’ee, and improve your life condition. Family skills will make your house like paradise. We will have the curriculum posted for each course very soon on our website. We will also be teaching marketing, management, controlling emotions, success, and other essential skills. Our students will become insha’Allah extremely effective members of their society in their respective fields.

What about courses in your list that are already offered by other institutes?

We are re-offering them in a very different and unique way. First, we will offer classical Islamic courses from classical texts, so the student will be able to study the exact book taught in Islamic universities in Muslim countries, but the explanation will also elaborate on issues of interest for a Muslim living at this time and place. Second, we are attempting to go much more in depth. So instead of offering a course about the 6 pillars of Eman in one course (16 hours or 45 hours) we have divided the material into 7 courses totalling 112 hours. That way, instead of learning about Qadar (predestination) as a part of a course in a couple of hours, you will get a full course dedicated to predestination that is taught in a level not available previously to western audiences. Ibn AlQayyim has a book called Shifa’ Al-Aleel that exceeds 500 pages just about this topic alone. We are also taking a similar approach to other topics. Finally, the level of interactivity in these courses will be something unseen or unheard of previously insha‘Allah hu Tahla!

Isn’t 170 courses a large number to handle or finish?

With the help of Allah, nothing is large. We will have them completed in less than five years inshallah. Some of these courses are optional while others are essential. Our idea is that students will graduate with an Islamic Studies degree by the time they graduate from their secular B.A degree hand in hand, so it will be a 4 year curriculum. We will have degrees that fit each lifestyle; A diploma and a B.A in Islamic studies. Another B.A in Tafseer Sciences, and for those who just want the lifeskills wishing to be able to work in the training field, we will have a diploma in lifeskills training as well. We will also add more specialized degrees later on insha’Allah. For those who only want to take certain courses, you will receive a separate certificate for each course taken.

What about courses that cannot be finished in a weekend, like explanations of long books?

Excellent question! We didn’t miss that either Alhamdulilah. We are going to launch online classes for explanations of long books that cannot be offered in weekends, such as explanation of Saheeh Albukhari, Bolough Almaram, Nayl Al-Awtar, etc, in addition to our already existing lineup of courses, and we will test the students on it online. Students will be able to experience an online class in a format that is nearly identical to the classroom experience. We have invested in a program that shows the video of the instructor teaching side by side with powerpoint slides. You will then be able to interact with the instructor either through the forums or live online using video broadcast insha’Allah.

What about testing students who live far? Would you be able to do it in a way that would still get you accredited?

Alhamdulilah we have invested in an online exam system that rivals the likes of anything out there. You could put 500 questions for a course, and the system will randomly choose 100 from those and randomize the answer choices too. That way, no two people will ever get the same exam, adding to the credibility and future accreditation of the academy. It will also eliminate the need to commute in order to take the exam at a later time, which was a major obstacle for students in the past, especially those who come from other cities. Once you pass the exam, the system will automatically print for you a watermarked certificate for that specific course to show completion, and then you will get the degree later insha’Allah.

What about the instructors? We haven’t heard about them yet.

Alhamdulilah, we currently have four other instructors who are highly interested, some of them very well known, but we will reveal them sometime early next year insha’Allah. There are a huge number of students who have traveled overseas from the West recently to seek knowledge, and once they come back, we will train them and put them in the field. We do not want those young scholars to suffer the same way when we first started. We will also assist our top students and send them overseas so they could learn and come back to teach at Ilm Path or other institutes.

We noticed on some course posters it says “Interactive Classical Weekend Degree.” What’s the level of interactivity advertised here?

This is something else Ilm Path wants to improve on. If you take a random visit to any existing course, you will notice that students are paying high attention initially, but it starts to go down later in the course. Most of the time it is a one way interaction. And even when interaction happens, it is usually from a few individuals. Ilm Path is introducing a new idea that was never practiced in Islamic classes on a wide scale. The idea is that every person in the class will interact from beginning to end, while competing with their fellow classmates. We will keep it as a surprise, but this new method will change the way Islamic studies is taught in classrooms, and it will be enjoyed by our younger audience as well as the older audience. The idea will work in both small classrooms as well as larger ones.

What about the price? Several members of the community still don’t have access to these courses because of their budget.

Alhamdulilah, we have thought of many creative ways to bring the cost as low as possible while keeping the highest level of quality and professionalism. We would like to offer the courses even for free, but we won’t be able to pay our fulltime and part time employees while maintaining the quality that one may come to expect. The lowest we could price a course is $49 for early registrants, which is based off a detailed market analysis and Alhamdulillah the response from our target market has been highly positive. Outsourcing many of our tasks has been integral aspect of keeping our costs low, while still being able to provide a high level of professionalism and our pool of volunteers may Allah reward them all, just to list a few examples. Now families that have 3 or more siblings will be able to attend the course as a family, something that might have been out of their budget previously. For those who cannot afford even that, we have several levels of scholarships and bursaries.

Alhamdulilah, we’re sure many people will be ecstatic about this, but would the organization be able to sustain itself on such a low price?

Alhamdulilah, this is our plan from the market analysis and Allah is the best of planners and we seek his assistance. It is understood that with a price range like this, we might not be able to cover the costs on some courses, but we know that the popular courses will offset the cost. That way, we will not be limited to offer only the courses that are popular. We will be able to offer the less popular courses, and this has been an obstacle to some institutes in the past, but insha’Allah Ilm Path Academy can rectify this issue. If there is any profit at the end of the day, it will go into expanding the academy to new regions, or to start a new daawa project from our long list of projects that we have planned for.

Now I’m sure everyone at this point will be asking this question: what would be Ilm Path Academy’s first course?

It took us a lot of time to choose the perfect course out of a long line up. After discussing it with other scholars and the public, and after setting a poll on our website, we thought there is no better choice than the Fiqh of Death. We are aiming for an October 2009 launch in Toronto, Canada insha’Allah.

Why specifically Fiqh of Death?

We wanted to start with a course that offers something unique, has not been discussed before and delving deep into the subject as indeed it is a mighty subject, worth getting very deep into. We wanted something that would give people a huge Eman boost. A course that would be suitable for advanced level students, and at the same time it would be the perfect course for non-practicing and astray Muslims to return them to this beautiful religion and motivate them to become serious students of knowledge. Nothing else makes an impact on someone’s life like the experience of death.

Could you tell us briefly about the course?

Yes. The subtitle for the course is “The Soul’s Journey from the Final Moments to Final Destination.” The course will start by presenting the final moments in the lives of several figures, such as scholars and companions. We will hear from their own words how they were describing their final moments. After that, we will go step-by-step into every moment that was narrated to us after that until the person ends up in either paradise or hellfire. The person will be able to see, hear, and feel what happens inside the grave as well as what happens on the Day of Judgment, not just to them, but to every single nation. We will also cover as a bonus material and to draw upon more closely the experiencing the Fiqh of Funerals, which anyone could see the importance of these days by simply attending a funeral and watching how many mistakes and innovations are being practiced. The course will also end with the students walking out with their Wills written and stamped, not just the financial part, but what is their plan after death, which most people never plan for because they don’t like to think about it. I feel it will change a lot of people lives insha’Allah. When people have their wills, it will remind them how little time they have with every passing day.

Has not this type of course been offered before?

Not at this level as far as I know. This is usually always discussed as part of a 6 pillars of Eman course, so it is always briefly discussed in a few hours only. We are going in depth and living the experience together in 16 hours. We will not even cover the signs of the day of judgment, as it is not part of the Death experience. We have a separate course for that called “The Hour of No Return.” Those who miss the course will miss something that has not been offered anywhere as far as we know, and Allah knows best.

Where does Ilm Path see itself 5 years from now? What is your long term vision?

Insha’Allah phase 1 will be to finish all the course materials and to streamline our operations. Phase 2 will be to establish Ilm Path University using the existing material, where there will be resident scholars on weekdays and students will travel to us. The third phase will be to take this model and franchise it all over the world, even in non-English speaking countries. We already have the plan to go there Alhamdulilah. We do not want new institutions to keep reinventing the wheel in other places and countries, so we will insha’Allah provide them with this model in its most refined stage, and will only ask for a share of the reward from Allah subhanahu wa taala. I cannot say there is a final phase, as for us, the sky is the limit! We pray insha’Allah that with this initiative, we will take our nation to the top again in less than 20 years. Nothing is stronger than Muslims empowered with Islamic Knowledge, Eman, and the life skills to excel in every field of life and the afterlife.

Any final remarks before we end inshallah?

I encourage everyone insha’Allah to go to our website ilmpath.com, take a look at our work and trailers, sign up to to receive updates about courses and free lectures, and get on our volunteer database. Also please visit our booth at the Journey of Faith conference in Toronto the first weekend of July insha’Allah, where you can take a closer look at our work and ask all the questions you have about Ilm Path Academy. The poor servant of Allah will be speaking there as well. At the end, I wanted to thank Allah subhanahu wa taala first for all his blessings. My parents who without them I would not be where I am today. My wife who has assisted me in all of this from the beginning and has freed my time to focus on the academy. I would also like to thank all the employees and volunteers who without their help, we would never be able to offer this. My teachers and scholars who gave me their full input and suggestions into making Ilm Path. The Management of Jami Mosque for giving me the flexibility. The instructors of the other institutes who helped us with their insight. And finally, I want to thank Ummah Times for going out of their way to cover Ilm Path and introduce it to the public. May Allah reward everyone who was a part of this, purify our intentions, and accept our deeds.

Ameen

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