Information can also be found on our website, in "Donation",

https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/

10 Rajab (Dec. 31): Birth of Imam Muhammad al-Jawad (p), 195 A.H.

🌿 السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ الْبَرَّ التَّقِيَّ الْإِمَامَ الْوَفِيَّ

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRagz8v-1fF64syWCOntMn8fHSwQMxjFp

🔻MIT Nahj al-Balagha Series, in English
"Letter 53: Letter of Imam Ali (p) to Malik al-Ashtar"
speaker: H. I. Hasan Doagoo

10 sessions — continued

#Nahj_al_Balagha_Letter_53

Lecture 11 will be in January, insha’Allah. Above, you can find the 10 sessions we have held so far on Letter 53, available on our YouTube channel.

Special Event, Dedicated to the Birth Anniversary of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (p)

🌐 In-Person, EN Lecture

Speaker: Dr. Sadik Kassim
Lecture: "13 Rajab: When the Ka’bah Recognized Fatima bint Asad"

Date
Friday January 2nd, 2026
7:15 pm to 9:15 pm (Eastern Time)

Location
MIT Tang Center, E51-395, 2 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02142

Schedule
7:15-8:00 Dinner and Socialization
8:00-8:10 Quran Recitation
8:10-8:15 Poem
8:15-9:00 Lecture and Q&A, in English
9:00-9:15 Ziyarat Amin Allah

- About Speaker (Bio)

https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

Wishing you and your family a blessed Year 2026 filled with hope, health, and peace.

@zekrMIT

🌷Some parts of Munajat Imam Ali (as) - Masjid Kufa🌷

مَوْلايَ يا مَوْلايَ اِرْحَمْني بِرَحْمَتِكَ
My Lord, O my Lord, have mercy on me by Your mercy,

وَارْضَ عَنّي بِجُودِكَ وَكَرَمِكَ وَفَضْلِكَ
and be pleased with me by Your Generosity and Your Magnanimity and Your Grace,

يا ذَا الْجُودِ وَالاِحْسانِ وَالطَّوْلِ وَالِإمْتِنانِ
O the Generous, and Beneficent, O the Almighty and the Benefactor,

بِرَحْمَتِكَ يا اَرْحَمَ الرّاحِمينَ
By your Mercy, O the most Merciful of the Merciful.

Our biweekly programs for the year 2026 will begin with Quran Study on Friday, January 9, followed by Dua Kumayl & Lecture on Thursday, January 15.

✳️ Please note that each year, depending on several factors—primarily upcoming occasions—we determine the schedule by deciding which program to begin with, followed by the other program the following week.

visit us:
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

Special Topic Lecture Series

🌐 Virtual, EN Lecture

🔹Sundays 7:15-9:00 pm (US ET), Starting Jan 11, 2026
Lecture (EN), "Religious Landscape of Pre-Islamic Arabia: An Analysis Based on Primary (Epigraphic) and Contemporary Sources"
Speaker: Farhad Ghoddoussi

Zoom Participation (virtual):
https://mit.zoom.us/j/92377466698
Meeting ID: 923 7746 6698

- About Speaker: (Bio)

#pre_islamic_arabia
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

Quran Study, Surah Ta-Ha [20:9-79], Part I

🌐 Hybrid, EN Lecture

Date
Friday January 9th, 2026
7:30 pm to 9:30 pm (US Eastern Time)

Location
MIT Tang Center, E51-376, 2 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02142

Schedule
7:30-7:40 Ziyarat Ale-Yasin
7:40-8:45 Exegesis (Tafsir), in English, Dr. Hassan Khalil
Topic: "Chapter 20, Surah Ta-Ha, Verses 9-79," Part I
8:45-9:00 Q&A
9:00-9:30 Dinner

Zoom Participation (hybrid):
https://mit.zoom.us/j/95948516788

- About Speaker (Bio)

https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

upcoming events, Jan 11-15, 2026

▫️Sun, Jan 11, 7:15-9:00 pm (virtual, EN)
Special Topics, 01, "Religious Landscape of Pre-Islamic Arabia", Farhad Ghoddoussi, Wayne State University, Michigan.

▫️Thu, Jan 15, 7:15-9:30 pm (hybrid, EN)
Dua Kumayl & Lecture, Dedicated to Eid al-Mab'ath.

visit us:
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

Special Topic Lecture Series, Lec01

🔻Topic: Introduction and Discussion about Methodology

🌐 Virtual, EN Lecture

Date
Sunday January 11th, 2026
7:15 pm to 9:00 pm (US Eastern Time)

Location
Online, Detail Below

Schedule
7:15-7:20 Login to Zoom
7:20-8:45 Lecture, in English, Dr. Farhad Ghoddoussi
Topic: "Religious Landscape of Pre-Islamic Arabia: An Analysis Based on Primary (Epigraphic) and Contemporary Sources," Lec01
8:45-9:00 Q&A

Zoom Participation (virtual):
https://mit.zoom.us/j/92377466698

- About Speaker (Bio)

#pre_islamic_arabia
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

Dua Kumayl & Lecture, in Commemoration of Mab'ath

🌐 Hybrid, EN Lecture

Date
Thursday January 15th, 2026
7:15 pm to 9:30 pm (US Eastern Time)

Location
MIT Tang Center, E51-395, 2 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02142

Schedule
7:15-7:20 Quran Recitation
7:20-7:30 Ziyarat Imam Musa al-Kadhim (p)
7:30-8:00 Dua Kumayl
8:00-8:45 Lecture, in English, Dr. Muhammad Ali Radhawi (joining by zoom)
Title: "Messages of Islam in the Modern World"
8:45-8:50 Q&A
8:50-9:00 Ziyarat of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
9:00-9:30 Dinner

Zoom Participation (hybrid):
https://mit.zoom.us/j/95948516788

- About Speaker (Bio)

https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

25 Rajab (Jan. 15): Martyrdom of Imam Musa al-Kadhim (p), 183 A.H.

للّٰهُمَّ إِنِّى أَسْأَلُك بِالتَّجَلِّى الْأَعْظَمِ فِى هٰذِهِ اللَّيْلَةِ مِنَ الشَّهْرِ الْمُعَظَّمِ ، وَالْمُرْسَلِ الْمُكَرَّمِ ، أَنْ تُصَلِّىَ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ وَأَنْ تَغْفِرَ لَنا مَا أَنْتَ بِهِ مِنَّا أَعْلَمُ ، يَا مَنْ يَعْلَمُ وَلَا نَعْلَمُ .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4YgqzqMAx0&t=1s

🔻"Messages of Islam in the Modern World"
Dua Kumayl & Lecture, Program for Eid al-Mab'ath 1447
Jan 15, 2026

upcoming events, Jan 18-23, 2026

▫️Sun, Jan 18, 7:15-9:00 pm (virtual, EN)
Special Topics, 02, "Religious Landscape of Pre-Islamic Arabia", Farhad Ghoddoussi, Wayne State University, Michigan.

▫️Fri, Jan 23, 7:30-9:30 pm (hybrid, EN)
Quran Study, Surah Ta-Ha.

visit us:
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

Special Topic Lecture Series, Lec02

🔻Topic: Judaism in the Pre-Islamic Arabia – A Survey Based on the Primary Sources

🌐 Virtual, EN Lecture

Date
Sunday January 18th, 2026
7:15 pm to 9:00 pm (US Eastern Time)

Location
Online, Detail Below

Schedule
7:15-7:20 Login to Zoom
7:20-8:45 Lecture, in English, Dr. Farhad Ghoddoussi
Topic: "Religious Landscape of Pre-Islamic Arabia: An Analysis Based on Primary (Epigraphic) and Contemporary Sources," Lec02
8:45-9:00 Q&A

Zoom Participation (virtual):
https://mit.zoom.us/j/92377466698

- About Speaker (Bio)

#pre_islamic_arabia
https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py0CqsroCTc&list=PLRagz8v-1fF6KN1zX99EBH80W56NN-TFL&t=1s

🔻"Religious Landscape of Pre-Islamic Arabia: An Analysis Based on Primary (Epigraphic) and Contemporary Sources," Lec01
speaker: Dr. Farhad Ghoddoussi
Jan 11, 2026

Topic: Introduction and Discussion about Methodology

Summary:
In this lecture series, our goal is to gain a better understanding of the religious and social background of the audience and community that became the first believers in the message of Prophet Muhammad (ص).

That is, we aim to understand and, to some extent, reconstruct and contextualize how the earliest audience—both those who believed in this message and those who did not—might have understood Prophet Muhammad's revelations, later collected in the book known as the Qurʾān. How did the Jews, Christians, and polytheists (Gentiles) in Mecca, Medina, and elsewhere perceive the message presented in these revelations?

We adopt a historical approach, surveying the religious landscape of Late Antique Arabia from the 2nd century AD through the 7th century, focusing on three communities: Jewish, Christian, and Gentile. In our discussion, we focus on primary and contemporary sources rather than secondary and later ones.

Accordingly, our discussion relies on:
1) Dated or datable material evidence, which is considered both primary and contemporary and will consist mostly of inscriptions in their two categories: monumental and graffiti.

2) Contemporary literary evidence, which is divided into primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are in Arabic and include the Qurʾān, the Constitution of Medina, and pre-Islamic Arabic poetry. Secondary sources are non-Arabic texts, mostly in Syriac and Greek, written by scholars living in the Near East.

3) Non-contemporary literary evidence, This is a vast pool of texts in Arabic, Persian, Greek, Syriac, and other languages. Although some contain eyewitness narrations and are therefore apparently primary sources, the time span between the events and their recording means they are usually treated by Western scholarship as secondary sources.

In this first lecture, we examined inscriptions and the validity of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry as primary and contemporary sources in greater detail.

#pre_islamic_arabia

The Crescent Moon of the Month of Shaban 1447 A.H. From the Moon-Sighting Committee of The Council of Shia Muslim Scholars of North America - Read more here:
https://ow.ly/m11u50XXjNP

🔹Tuesday, January 20, 2026, for all regions south of the line extending from the city of Philadelphia on the East Coast, passing through Detroit and Chicago, and ending at the cities of Seattle and Vancouver on the West Coast, God willing.

🔹⁠Wednesday, January 21, 2026, for all other regions north of the above-mentioned line; thus, Tuesday will be the last day of the month of Rajab.

3 Shaban: Birthday Anniversary of Imam Hussain ibn Ali (p)
4 Shaban: Birthday Anniversary of Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas (p)
5 Shaban: Birth Anniversary of Imam Zayn al-Abidin (p)
15 Shaban: Birth Anniversary of Imam al-Mahdi (p)

Quran Study, Surah Ta-Ha [20:9-79], Part II

🌐 Hybrid, EN Lecture

Date
Friday January 23rd, 2026
7:30 pm to 9:30 pm (US Eastern Time)

Location
MIT Tang Center, E51-376, 2 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02142

Schedule
7:30-7:40 Ziyarat Ale-Yasin
7:40-8:45 Exegesis (Tafsir), in English, Dr. Hassan Khalil
Topic: "Chapter 20, Surah Ta-Ha, Verses 9-79," Part II
8:45-9:00 Q&A
9:00-9:30 Dinner

Zoom Participation (hybrid):
https://mit.zoom.us/j/95948516788

- About Speaker (Bio)

https://sites.mit.edu/zekrmit/
@zekrMIT