assalamu ‘alaykum,

Alhamdulillah, I was blessed to attend the mawlid at Zaytuna this past Friday. The evening started with a dinner of delicious Afghan cuisine. After Maghrib, the real fun began. The baraka-filled event started with a brother taking shahadah, followed by beautiful Quran recitation and selections from the Burda and Hamziyya of Imam Busiri, sung Moroccan style similar to the Burda CD with the Fez singers. There were inspiring talks with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir, who also led the singing of Tala al-Badru ‘Alayna and Ya Imam al-Rusli, two favorites we often hear Imam Zaid singing at weddings and aqiqas. Zaytuna has put up the audio of Shaykh Hamza and Imam Zaid’s talks.

The event was the most packed I have ever seen Zaytuna, with people spilling out of the main hall onto the grass outside the building. It’s been amazing seeing Zaytuna grow as it has — from the pre-Zaytuna days of classes with Shaykh Hamza at the local mosque and the former Islamic Studies School (where I incidentally also met Ustadha Hedaya Hartford for the first time), to Zaytuna’s newly-purchased building and now its beautifully renovated state. May Allah continue to bless such endeavors and allow us all to benefit from them, ameen.