REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: The Practice of Presence in Islamic Spirituality – An Islamic Meditation program
About the Course
This interactive course explores our essential sense of self as spiritual presence (hudur) and its relation to religious practice in Islam and contemplative living. The course will experientially examine the role of reverent mindfulness (taqwa) and our presence of heart (hudur al-qalb) as it relates to the contemplative practices and dimensions of Islam. This will be done through pointed reflections, engaging discussions, guided meditations, and take home exercises which reinforce each module of learning. Each weekly module will build upon the foundations set by the prior module.
Topics to be addressed and contemplatively explored include:
1. The Role of Muraqaba (spiritual vigilance), Muhasaba (self-introspection), Fikr (contemplation) and Dhikr (invocation) as foundations of Islamic meditation and as a mode of self-knowing.
2. Appreciating the Psychospiritual Benefits of Spiritual Retreat as a Prophetic Practice.
3. Contemplatively Living the Five Pillars of Religion in our everyday life.
4. Embodying Essential Prophetic Virtues in our personal and social living.
WHEN: Saturdays 12pm – 1:30pm EST.
WHERE: Online and in-person in the Baltimore, MD area.
About the Instructor
Dr. Hasan Awan
Shaykh / Spiritual Teacher
Hasan Awan, MD has been a physician of internal medicine in private practice in Baltimore, MD, since 2007 and has served the Islamic Society of Baltimore Free Health Clinic since 2015. He is a spiritual teacher rooted in the Islamic traditions of Qadiri and Shadhili Sufi spirituality. He teaches to all seekers and emphasizes direct experience in his teaching methodology. He is the founder of Hudur Institute, which seeks to revive the contemplative disciplines of Islam in contemporary living. He began studying basic Islamic sacred sciences with local scholars at the age of 17. During medical school, he began to study Islamic theology and philosophy, spirituality, and comparative religion with various esteemed teachers, and he regularly delivers sermons to local masjids in the Greater Baltimore-Maryland region. His interests include wellness medicine, meditation, external and internal martial arts, chi gong, yoga, and mindfulness practice, and he has studied and practiced meditation and self-inquiry with various teachers inside and outside the Islamic tradition.
He is a member of the teaching faculty of Alkaram Institute and Albalagh Academy, where he teaches various courses on Islamic meditation, including
methods found in Islam’s spiritual traditions and how to apply them to contemplatively living and Prophetically embodying the Five Pillars of Religion.
He calls his approach to meditation, contemplative inquiry, and spiritual guidance the practice of presence (hudur). His forthcoming books include,
Discovering Islamic Meditation: An Introduction With Guided Instruction, Islam of the Heart: Living Religion with Presence, as well as, The Practice of Presence in Islamic Spirituality: A Guide to Meditation, Retreat, and Contemplative Living.
