UPCOMING EVENTS (December) AT THE IISF

for the promotion of holistic religious education,
creational stewardship, and spiritually-infused living

EVENT: Light Upon Light –  An evening of spiritual reading, discussion, and fellowship with Dr. Timothy J. Gianotti

TOPIC:  "Otherness and the Spiritual Challenge of the Other" -- a joint program with the Toronto Unity Mosque in honour of the approaching anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad's birth

DATE & TIME:  January 11, 2013, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.

LOCATION:  The 519 Church Street Community Center, 519 Church Street, Toronto, ON

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TOPIC:  Patience

DATE & TIME:  January 4, 2013,  8-10 p.m.

LOCATION: The Inner Garden, 401 Richmond St. W (just east of Spadina), suite 384 (third floor), Toronto. For help with directions and parking, please check the building’s website: www.401richmond.net

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TOPIC: Dreams, Death, and the journeys of the Soul (revisited)

DATE & TIME: Friday December 14, 2012, 8-10 p.m.

LOCATION:  The Inner Garden, 401 Richmond St. W (just east of Spadina), suite 384 (third floor), Toronto.  For help with directions and parking, please check the building’s website: www.401richmond.net

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Our Light Upon Light discussion series features a variety of spiritually nourishing subjects in an inclusive space where participants of all faiths actively contribute in a manner that is respectful to all.

FEE: $15.00 (incl.) at the door, cash or cheque. Cheques should be made out to the Islamic Institute for Spiritual Formation.

 

LIGHT UPON LIGHT - new season, new location!

The Islamic Institute for Spiritual Formation (IISF)

presents

LIGHT UPON LIGHT
An evening of spiritual reading, discussion, and fellowship with Dr. Timothy J. Gianotti

TOPIC: SPIRITUAL MOULTING: the unmaking and remaking of the self on the path to God
 
DATE:
Friday November 9, 2012

LOCATION:
The Inner Garden 401 Richmond St. W (just east of Spadina), suite 384 (third floor)

TIME:
8-10 p.m.

FEE:
$15.00 (incl.) at the door, cash or cheque. Cheques should be made out to the Islamic Institute for Spiritual Formation.

Our Light Upon Light discussion series features a variety of spiritually nourishing subjects in an inclusive space where participants of all faiths actively contribute in a manner that is respectful to all.

THOUGHT FOR REFLECTION & DISCUSSION: the activist implications of monotheism

The classic and generic Arabic term for a monotheist is "muwahhid" -- the active participle of the verb, wahhada/yuwahhidu, which carries a causative or emphatic quality that builds upon the root that denotes singularity or unity.  A muwahhid might then be better translated as a "unity maker" or "promoter of unity" for the form suggests an active role in promoting or affirming unity.  First and foremost, of course, this must be taken in reference to God, whose singularity and unicity are central to Muslim belief.  All conceptualizations of divinity must collapse into the mystery of "the God" (Allah), who simultaneously qualifies Godself with diverse qualities or attributes and yet exists in a unity that transcends all distinction.   Secondarily, this can also be taken in reference to the unity of humankind, who began as a "single soul" before becoming the diverse and divided multitude we witness today.  In spite of our vast diversity and fragmentation, however, we are told that we are all headed back toward unity, back toward an ultimate point of convergence, back to the One who set the many into motion in the first place.  The call to be a "muwahhid" -- a unity maker -- may thus be understood as something more than a call to bear witness that God is One; it may be seen also as a call to rise up and assist in the Divine work of re-uniting humankind by promoting understanding and working for justice and peace and all that might help to heal the pathologies of division, prejudice, and war.