Ramadan 2024 Contest - Akhlaq Merits and Diseases of the Soul
Description
This is a 3-credit course which
will start on March 10, 2024 and end on April 2, 2024.
The theme for the contest this
upcoming holy month of Ramadan is to gain a better understanding of how to
improve our Akhlaq (manners and conduct). The importance of polishing our
Akhlaq is such that Allah the Almighty chose the best of creation to be the
Seal of Prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) due to his
perfect morals and manners, “Surely you stand on an exalted
standard of character.” [68:3] And the Prophet (sa) said about his prophetic
mission, “I was sent to mankind to perfect the
morals and ethical conduct of human behavior.”
There are two aspects to Akhlaq;
the merits of the soul, and diseases of the soul. We will learn about Quranic
verses, hadith, and stories that focus on each of the merits and diseases. Our
main source for learning will be derived from Forty Hadith by Ayatullah Khomeini (may God bless his soul), which is an exposition of ethical and mystical traditions. Over the
course of 24 days during the holy month of Ramadan, we will study 12 spiritual merits
and 12 spiritual diseases.
By the end of 24 days, we hope to
gain a better understanding and awareness of the importance of embracing these
merits and how to avoid and treat ourselves from these diseases if we are
affected by them. We hope by the end of the holy month of Ramadan to empower
ourselves with the best of manners that will shine us among our family members
and friends that even they notice a difference within us and are inspired by
our own change.
The best age range for this course
is teenagers and adults, however, anyone who feels mature enough to follow the
lessons and participate is welcome to register for this program. Registration
fee for this program is $30 (non-refundable) which will be contributed directly
as a donation to charity organization, Kareema Care, and will be allocated
specifically to support a campaign for Those in Need.
All activities in the Ramadan program will take place online. You will
need a device and WhatsApp number to participate in this program. Registered
students will be added to a WhatsApp group. Your answers will be graded daily and you will receive points according
to the quality and completeness of the answers you submitted. The number
of points assigned to each question will vary depending on complexity of the
question. Your grade will be posted every evening on your student
dashboard and you will earn points ONLY IF you have completed listening to the
entire audio lectures and getting the answer correct.. Also, the correct
answers will be shared at the end of the evening in written format. If the
answer to a question is open-ended with multiple possible answers, the answer
will be listed as ‘open-ended’. For any questions, please send an email to uloomzainabia@gmail.com
Instructions
Every day at approximately Fajr time (eastern time), a short audio lecture and
a quiz assessment will be uploaded onto Uloom Zainabia website. Quizzes will be
based on the material presented in the audio lectures. In some instances,
challenging questions may be presented outside of the lecture. Please use your
student login to access the questions. Students have up to 7pm eastern
time (deadline) to submit answers online via their student accounts. Submission
will be closed off at 7pm EST Sharp. Only the answers submitted before that
time will be considered for grading, so plan well ahead of time. Please
calculate your time zone and be mindful of the time. Your answers will be saved
under Student Dashboard online and you can view or edit your answer any time
before the end of submission time.
In some cases, BONUS questions may be shared, outside of the material presented
in these lectures.
At the end of the program, there will be a Kahoot competition (timed) that will
further test what you have learned from these 24 days. The daily quizzes plus
Kahoot results will contribute to your final score on the Master Scoreboard.
Your overall success in this program will depend on the following:
-Your daily participation of listening to the audio lectures in its entirety.
You cannot fast forward the video. You will be responsible to take the notes
you need to take from these lectures. No hands outs will be provided. The Quiz
questions will test your listening skills and what you absorb from the
material.
-Your daily participation in submitting your answers ON TIME, before the
deadline, and the grading of your answers. Submissions after the deadline will
not count in terms of points.
-Your performance on the Kahoot test at the conclusion of the program.