Maryam Khan’s Testimonial

TRANSCRIPT

Assalam Alaykum. My name is Maryam Khan. I grew up in Southern California attending a local Islamic school, where I completed memorizing the Quran at age 14, Alhamdulillah. A few months later, I moved overseas to Jordan, intending to gain fluency in Arabic so that I could better understand what I had memorized, and perhaps study some of the Islamic Sciences on the side. After studying two years in Jordan, I had the opportunity to study the Islamic Sciences with Shaykh Hamza. Though I only planned to study with him for a year, I ended up postponing college for a year to continue studying with him in person. 

During those two years, I gained much more than I had ever imagined. I studied Nahw, Sarf, Balaghah, Hadith, Tafsir, and Aqida. Studying these sciences opened up a whole world of Islamic tradition I had never imagined, and I was awed by the depth of the religion I had always taken for granted. Shaykh Hamza was the ideal teacher because he had not only the understanding, vast knowledge, and appreciation for the Islamic sciences and Islamic scholarship, but he tied them in with contemporary issues that were relevant to my life. As a Muslim woman living in a twenty first century world largely influenced by western progressive movements that often did not align with my beliefs as a traditional Muslim. 

After studying with Shaykh Hamza for two years, I moved back to Southern California, Where I am now attending college. It is here that I have experienced the full fruits of my Islamic studies. Every day, my beliefs and morals are challenged, but I am equipped with the knowledge to stand firm. Not only this, but Shaykh Hamza taught me to think critically, to see the flaws and contradictions in their arguments, so that I can refute them with coherent and logical arguments. Around me, I see my fellow Muslim classmates struggling to explain their views and doubting the beliefs they were raised with. As the saying goes, “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” Seeing them, I can more fully appreciate how unique my experience was, and how lucky I was to have such an opportunity, and how different my life could have been without those classes. Whenever I am asked whether I found benefit from my years of Islamic studies, I invariably respond “Shaykh Hamza changed my life.”