Program Resources

THE HEART OF REPENTANCE

WELCOME & ORIENTATION

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RESOURCES

Salām ʿalaykum. We warmly welcome you to our online program, “THE HEART OF REPENTANCE | Turning before Returning.” Your presence among us is an invaluable blessing and we look forward to hosting you all from the comfort of your own homes. Please use this document as a reference for all the links and resources you will need to gain full access to our program. The details below are private and must not be shared with anyone who has not registered for the program. Please read carefully, as the answers to frequently asked questions are herein provided.

Join our WhatsApp group via THIS LINK in order to receive important notifications before and during the program, including potential modifications to the program schedule. This will be our primary mode of communication as opposed to email.
Our live sessions are available through Zoom via THIS LINK, and the password is “repentance.”
All sessions will be uploaded and accessible for later viewing on Lanturna’s YouTube channel via THIS LINK.

PLEASE READ THROUGH EACH TAB CAREFULLY

ORIENTATION

This program is not merely a series of lectures on the merits of repentance. Most of what is gained will return to what you invest. We recommend the following to glean the greatest benefit from each session:

Layered Intentions – Pen your intentions in order to best orient yourself to receive the knowledge that will be conveyed in the book and in each session.
Lustration – Attend each class in a state of wuḍūʾ (ritual purity), for seeking knowledge is worship that radiates brighter when the soul is bathed in light.
Devotional Practices – Throughout the program, commit to praying immediately as the time for each prayer enters, perform all your voluntary prayers, and recite Sūrat Yā Sīn by morning and Sūrat al-Mulk by evening. Perform qiyām al-layl (night vigil) at least one of those nights. And recite Sūrat al-Kahf Friday eve. These were among the consistent practices the Prophet ﷺ.
Ambience – To the extent possible, set an ambience that befits hosting the greatest story ever told. You are encouraged to share your pictures to encourage others to do the same using the hashtag mentioned above.
Personal Connection – Let us always remember that we are not merely studying the words of the Prophet ﷺ, rather, we seek to enter into the divine presence through those blessed words.

May Allah bless our intentions and grant us that intimacy with His Messenger ﷺ that will bring us life, love, and light in this world, and his companionship in the next. And may He bless and sanctify our beloved Prophet and his family and companions.

SCHEDULE

All sessions are according to Eastern Time and will be uploaded for convenient viewing.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11
8:30 – 9:00	Intentions
9:00 – 9:30	Sūrat al-Mulk & ʿIshāʾ
9:30 – 10:30	Session I
10:30 – 11:00	Prayers of the Prophet ﷺ
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12
10:15 – 10:30	Sūrat Yā Sīn
10:30 – 12:00	Session II
12:00 – 1:00	Ẓuhr & Lunch
1:00 – 2:30	Session III
2:30 – 3:30	ʿAṣr & Break
3:30 – 5:00	Session IV
5:00 – 6:00	Maghrib & Break
6:00 – 7:00	Session V
7:00 – 9:00	Dinner & Break
9:00 – 9:30	Sūrat al-Mulk & ʿIshāʾ
9:30 – 10:30	Session VI
10:30 – 11:00	Prayers of the Prophet ﷺ
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13
10:15 – 10:30	Sūrat Yā Sīn
10:30 – 11:30	Session VII
11:30 – 11:45	Break
11:45 – 12:30	Q & A
12:30 – 1:30	Session VIII
1:30 – 2:30	Ẓuhr & Lunch
2:30 – 3:30	Session IX

DESCRIPTION

Allah said فَتَلَقَّىٰ آدَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِ كَلِمَاتٍ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ Adam received words from his Lord, and He relented to him, for He is relenting, compassionate (al-Baqarah 2:37). Yes, with words of repentance, the covenant with God is not restored, but sanctified, for Ādam was created for redemption after the fall. Abū Hurayrah once heard the Prophet ﷺ declare والذي نفسي بيده لو لم تذنبوا لذهب الله بكم وجاء بقوم يذنبون فيستغفرون الله تعالى فيغفر لهم “I swear by Him in Whose hand is my soul! If you were to sin no more, Allah would replace you with a people who would sin just to repent to Allah, the Exalted, that He may forgive them.” Medina was the city of redemption. In Medina, the penitent drunkard was one of the dearest of all men to his heart ﷺ. In Medina, a man once sought to stamp out the flames of arrogant tribalism under the foot of his brother. In Medina, the sincere repentance of one woman would have sufficed the sins of the entire city! Imam al-Ghazzālī wrote in the Book of Repentance that, like Ādam, we are prone to err, but the real sin is in following him in his error while not following him in his repentance. Lanturna invites you to a moment, a witnessing, a turning, to the consecration of a sacred covenant.

Be sure to download “Prophetic Prayers” (al-Rātib al-Shahīr) for our Friday and Saturday evening sessions.

PROPHETIC PRAYERS

When selecting the book for this retreat, it was our desire that students experience al-Ghazzālī’s discussion on repentance in his own voice. However, the book that we recommended not only misrepresents its author as a translation, but it includes dubious content that is not even sourced in Imām al-Ghazzālī’s discourse on the subject. The translation is unreliable and its incoherent presentation betrays the elegance and beauty of the original. We accept full responsibility for this oversight, for we had assumed that the book was a faithful translation of the section on repentance in the Imām’s magnum opus Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn. Therefore, we have issued a full refund to everyone who has ordered the book, and recommend that you discard the book for its unreliability and for its numerous problematic passages that are nowhere to be found in Imām al-Ghazzālī’s original Book of Repentance. You should see the refund on your credit card statements within 5-10 business days in shāʾ Allāh.

The book that will be used for this course is M.S. Stern’s translation of the Book of Repentance and it is available for download below. You may read along with us if you like and are encouraged to refer to it after the retreat as a reference.

THE BOOK OF REPENTANCE

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