"I will focus on what is lacking.”
- Ustadh Muhammad Alshareef
We are at a loss of words about the passing of Shaikh #MuhammadAlShareef, who left a legacy for generations to come. He was one of a kind, intelligent, funny, business minded and a smart man like no other. #AlmaghribInstitute, was founded by him, and I was fortunate enough that I got to take his class. I took, Tafseer of Surat AlBaqarah, about 19 years ago at Qabeelat Durbah in NJ, which was a nick name given to the location of classes in the Western world. He left us yesterday at the age of 47 in Dubai and created a legacy in such a short amount of time on Earth. He was humble, generous, and an intellectual that never asked for anything in return except to understand the deen (religion of Islam) in its original form. This eloquent man hails from Winipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Read on to know more about the memories he has given me and to many others.
Have you ever heard of the saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover”? Well, he was that one person that you should not judge if you have never met him. Over the years, some people would often mistake his humbleness and kindness as a form of weak intellect, but honestly, after spending so much time intensely studying a subject matter on back to back weekends, we learned that his passion for the deen and the true version of Islam was apparent and it was clear that it was necessary for the Muslims of the West to grasp that knowledge in a way that was understandable and relatable. He always had a smiling face and never got tired after teaching for hours upon hours. At least, that was the effect he showed his students. Yes, we are at a loss that he is no longer with us.
Unlike other #IslamicScholars and teachers of the West, he was able to tie the Muslim youth globally in ways that no one has ever done before. For example, in the classes that I had taken with Almaghrib Institute, I had students from Indonesia who were international students of New York University. We also met British students of Almahrigb Institute who would send us, Qabeelat #Durbah, presents of candies and sweets as a gesture of good will, which encompassed acts of the sunnah. These bonding initiatives and the relationships built were long lasting. For example, I am still friends with the people that I had met at my very first Almaghrib class. Thus, the quality of students that took the classes are of high caliber – none the less, the instructor was of immense caliber.
Now, for behind-the-scenes stories on the women’s side, I can tell you this. There were women who wanted to be his cowife. Although it would not really happen since he loved his wife dearly, but the fact that such a charismatic man can evoke this passion and choice defying the normalities of marriage in the Western world is worthy of praise. Most women are not OK with having or being a co-wife, but he was that type of man that women were like, ‘I’ll make an exception!’. If women of the modern Western world can be bold enough to think like that, then certainly, for people who didn’t know Muhamad Alshareef, what you should know is that he was the man of the century and if you didn’t get to meet him, you lost your chance.
He was known for a beautiful recitation and people would ask him if he would ever record his recitation of the whole Quran on CD. These were the days before YouTube or I-phones. If you wanted to listen to something, then you would go to a real store and purchase a CD or cassette of a lecture or song and put that CD into your CD player or computer. There was thing called a Walkman in which you could listen to your audio while you walked with headphones. Thus, that was one way we listened to lectures in those days. I called it the 90s golden era. Those were the days of cassettes, CDs, and socializing. Anyways, back to the story, his reply was, “I’m not gonna do that because there are already so many audio Qurans on CD. I will focus on what is lacking.” That is how he thought as a leader. He saw a problem in the Ummah and he would try and solve it.
On another note, he told us that by the time he was 13/14 years old while in Winnipeg, that he could not even read the Quran properly coming from an Arab background. He inspired us that it was never too late to start trying. Eventually, he became a Hafiz of the Quran (one who memorizes the whole Quran verbatim) in Canada and then later graduated from Madinah University with a lot more qualifications in the Islamic sciences.
For our generation of Muslim youth and #Islam, this is a great loss and his legacy will surely continue. He was such an asset to the English-speaking world of Islam and new reverts. My duas are with him and his family and I encourage everyone to listen to his lectures and learn from him, especially if you are #GenZ, and after. If you genuinely want to understand the correct version of Islam from learned scholars with esteemed qualifications of Islam, then you can visit the following links below which were his creations, projects and vision. If you are in academics and want to understand Shariah law, then it would be in your best interest to take Almaghrib classes taught by the globally esteemed instructors of the #Muslim world in English.
#NationBuilder https://www.instagram.com/nationbuilder/?hl=en
#VisionaireRamadan https://www.visionaireramadan.com/subtle-art
#DiscoverU https://discoveru.online/
#AlmaghribInstitute https://www.almaghrib.org/
#DreamWalker https://www.dreamwalkeronline.com/welcome
FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/ShaykhMuhammadAlshareef
DiscoverU Life Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIS9eLOZQmA
Shaikh Dr. #YasirQadhi on Ustadh Muhammad Alshareef https://youtu.be/RpPV-ZyDYDI