The dawn of a new leadership

Part of: Planting Seeds Forum

Wednesday, 13 Apr'11 15:00
- Wednesday, 13 Apr'11 18:00

The dawn of a new leadership

Date: Wednesday 13th April 2011

Time: 3:00pm – 6:00pm

Venue: London

Organised in partnership with the Greensville Trust, The Leaf Network will be hosting a truly unique and inspiring gathering this April.

Across the UK and in our communities there is a new generation of passionate Muslims engaged in various community organising efforts and initiatives. Often, however, there is a disconnect with those working across the spectrum of the community and the scholarly community which seeks to inspire and facilitate their grass roots efforts. This gathering is a consultation forum between a select group of emerging leaders of the Muslim community allowing them to articulate their experiences, successes and frustrations, to a receptive scholarly audience. The scholars and teachers in attendance will in turn engage in a conversation, sharing uplifting and constructive feedback on the comments and experiences shared by the participants.

One of the world's most outstanding and luminary scholars, al-Habib Umar bin Hafiz, alongside a handful of his students as well other scholars will be joining us in this forum. A biography of al-Habib and links to introducing videos can be found below.

Some of the brightest and most promising voices of the British Muslim community will be in attendance, from a host of backgrounds and perspectives. Participants have been invited because of their demonstrated independence of thought as well as a sustained commitment to community development efforts.

Spaces for the forum are strictly limited, most of which have already been confirmed. If you wish to learn more about the forum, please contact Bilal Hassam at bilal.hassam@theleafnetwork.org.uk or call him on 0844 586 5710 (Option 2).

About our chief guest:

Habib Umar bin Hafiz is the Director of Dar Al Mustafa, a seminary in Tarim, Yemen which is regarded as one of the foremost contemporary centres of Islamic education in the world. Habib Umar bin Hafiz is well known for his Prophetic lineage and status as one of the most important scholars alive today. His scholarship and preaching is highly regarded by Muslim communities from Indonesia to East Africa to Muslim communities in Europe and North America. Habib Umar also exerts global influence through his leadership of the Ba'Alawi spiritual and social movement with its roots in Yemen's Hadhramaut valley. Habib Umar was ranked 33rd in this year's list of the 500 Most Influential Muslims published by an international group of experts lead under the auspices of the Royal Institute for Strategic Studies in Amman, Jordan.

Habib Umar founded and runs Dar al Mustafa, a center for traditional Islamic scholarship that currently hosts an array of international students. The work of the seminary was featured in a major New York Times profile in 2009. He has joined the ranks of the world's leading Muslim academics and scholars as a signatory of 'A Common Word Between Us and You', a document that builds bridges between Muslims and Christians. He recently spoke at Cambridge University on the need to continue such dialogue.

Habib Umar is noted for his outreach and education efforts and over the past year has made significant visits to South East Asia, Australia, Spain, Morocco and now the United State and Canada.

In July 2008, Habib Umar partnered with Muslim Aid Australia as founder of Yemen-based NGO Al Rafah Charitable Society to address issues of poverty and hunger and lack of sufficient health care in rural Yemen, particularly the Hadhramaut region. In December he convened a groundbreaking meeting of Arabic-speaking ulama from Yemen and the region to address the rise of theological extremism, calling on influential scholars to return to and promote theological moderation which characterizes the Yemeni tradition.

The Leaf Network