In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may God’s blessings and peace be upon the Seal of the Prophets, his chosen family, and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment.
We welcome you all to your home BaytulHuda The House of Guidance.
What is the significance of the name of (BaytulHuda)?
Home, in the consciousness of each one of us, is a source of peace, security, and happiness. Home is the place where a person is most comfortable, and the word home itself is a word that ignites feelings of reassurance and comfortability.
As long as there is no good or blessing in any house if the name of God Almighty is not mentioned in it, (no supplication, no prayer, no reading of the Qur’an, no learning of religion.) we want this house of ours to be a “house of guidance”, that is, a house of knowledge, goodness, blessing and light.
We want it to be a house that brings us closer to God and does not distance us from Him, according to the words of the Messenger of God (may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family).
‘Your Lord addresses you, saying, ‘O son of Adam! Devote yourself exclusively to My worship and I will fill your heart with wealth and your hands with ready sustenance. O son of Adam! Do not distance yourself from Me or I will fill your heart with poverty and your hands with work [to preoccupy you].’ 1
We want to learn in this house of ours what will benefit us in this world and the hereafter, in accordance with the words of the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali (peace be upon him):
“Work for this world as if you will live forever, and work for your hereafter as if you will die tomorrow.”
Based on this, we chose the name BaytulHuda.
Why did we create a new association?
As a result of our work at the "HOODAN-NOOR Guidance of the Light" School, and teaching for the past nine years, we are in constant, direct, and close contact with families and students, The bond we have formed with our students and their families, opened our eyes to the issues and complications within our community especially with the youth.
As you know, Children grow up and become fathers and mothers, and generations produce generations. Our Alawite Muslim sect has become large in number here in Sydney. Consequently, the needs of the members of our community are growing day after day, and our society has come to need more associations and institutions that are concerned with meeting the needs of the people of our community, as is the case with other sects and communities.
In this way, we do not compete with anyone in regard, rather we complement the work of others and support them, and if there is competition, then it is competition in doing good only, which benefits everyone, with full respect and appreciation for what others offer, and our hands always remain extended to cooperate with everyone in what serves the society.
Imam Ali (peace be upon him) says: “From happiness is success for good deeds.” 2
And as long as we have the ability to give in order to serve our society, we -with God’s grace and strength- will not fail and will not stand idly by in the face of the increasing needs of our children. Therefore, we have taken an additional step that will entail more grave responsibilities, dedication, and redoubled efforts, it is important to note, it is impossible for us to succeed without cooperation. With the combined efforts of many, we resolved and trusted in God, and we took the initiative voluntarily in cooperation with the rest of the volunteers in our community, to offer what we have of good deeds, and our reward and your reward are due to God Almighty...
How to establish the association and the importance of creating a work team?
We began with reflecting on individuals we knew who stood out to us and then proposed our ideas to them, since then we’ve acquired a team of volunteering, giving, and commitment, who believed in the goals we had set. Furthermore, we spent months of follow-up until we completed the complex legal foundational matters, then researched to find the appropriate center and negotiated with the council to rent the space for specific hours on specific days. We have agreed on Tuesdays and Thursdays 5:00 to 7:00pm every fortnight.
- Tuesday is exclusively for females from the age of twelve and above, and they have a long-term work plan, and you can see the details on our Instagram page. This includes the 12 weeks wellness and self-improvement plan and 24 weeks religion plan.
- And Thursday is open to all genders, from the age of twelve and above. We have an idea of what we will present, but we do not have a fixed work plan for it. Rather, we will decide on it each sessions layout according to the proposals that we receive from you.
Currently, we have a female work team from our students in (Hoodan-Noor), and from the mothers of our students who are committed and concerned for the future of their children and the well-being of their society, and they want the benefit and goodness to spread to all our community. They are working hard and committed and have held several meetings over the past 6 months to discuss details, organize matters, and develop a plan to do and distribute tasks. This means that this team in “BaytulHuda” is ready and organized, and here it is necessary to point out the very, very important role of the Alawite woman. We will later devote a lecture to talk about this matter in some detail, God willing.
All our thanks and appreciations go to Alawite women, especially the volunteers at (BaytulHuda).
As for the male work team, to be honest, it is not yet complete, and work is still ongoing in this field, and perhaps I am negligent because the many responsibilities I assume consume most of my time, which makes me negligent in the matter of social communication, but we currently have a good group of young people who are enthusiastic and passionate about science and knowledge. They have the energy and ability to work together and give.
And God willing, you will see new and young faces standing behind this platform to present their knowledge and ideas to benefit others. We will work -God willing- with these young people to develop a complete plan to do, to teach various matters of Sharia law, doctrine, jurisprudence, interpretation, and the biography of the prophets, the infallible imams, the chosen and sincere companions, the saints and the righteous.
Here we call on every individual who is loyal to his Alawite faith, loves the members of his sect, wants to serve his community, and is able to commit to doing what is beneficial, to communicate with us and share his ideas so that we can cooperate, consult, advise, advocate, and agree on the best method for achieving goals... in accordance with the words of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (peace be upon him):
"Brotherhood for the sake of Allah is based on advising each other for the sake of Allah, contributing for His sake, helping each other to obey His commands, forbidding each other from disobeying Him, assisting each other for His sake and sincere affection". 3
As for the association’s goals they are available on our Instagram page for those who wish to have a look.
In fact, we have a lot in mind, and we may be confused where to start, but we were determined to begin, and we took the first steps, and we put our trust in God Almighty, drawing on the words of Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir (peace be upon him):
‘When Allah, most High, knows the good intention of a person, He encompasses him with His protection from all sides.’ 4
God Almighty knows our good intentions, and we ask Him Almighty to encompasses him with His protection from all sides and guide us to what is good and righteous.
In my second speech today, I will talk about our Alawite identity, our affiliation, where our name “Alawites” came from, and what entails us bearing this name. But before that, we open the door to chat and discuss with you about our first word. Then we take ten minutes or a quarter of an hour to rest.
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