"Returning to the Qur'an" Pre-Khutbah Bayan by Anse Susan Mouallem (7/29/16)

Syrian scholar Anse Susan Mouallem gave the pre-khutbah bayan (talk) at The Women's Mosque of America on July 29th, 2016. In her bayan, Anse Susan reminds the congregation of the importance of returning to the message of the Qur'an and interacting with its meaning on a daily basis, rather than treating the Qur'an as art to be passively admired on bookshelves or opened only at the time of funerals. This jumma'a marked the first of The Women's Mosque of America's 3-part post-jumma'a discussion circle series on #BlackLivesMatter and how Muslims can draw upon the example of the Prophet Muhammad (p) to use our hearts, tongues, and hands to stand for justice.

Bio:
Anse Susan Mouallem was born in Syria. Her father is from Damascus and her mother is from England. Susan grew up in the vibrant, diverse city of Damascus and studied pharmacy at the University of Damascus. Her passion however was for the scholarly learning of Islam. Since she was in high school, she took an interest in learning more about Islam. She studied Quaran, Tafseer, Hadeeth, Tajweed, and Fiqh, among other subjects, with a number of Damascus’s leading women scholars. She received a certificate of Tajweed (Ijazah) in reading the Qur’an from Al-Sheikh Muhedeen Kurdi. For 30 years, Susan has been studying and teaching Islamic studies in Damascus, England, and Saudi Arabia to young children, women, and converts. Susan’s main other passion is working with young children. She taught for 10 years at Damascus’s Dar Al-Farah (Home of Joy) School. She currently lives in Damascus, Syria, and visits her children and her grandchildren living in the UK and the US.