The retreat will begin in the evening on Thursday 9 May and continue until mid-day on Sunday 12 May. We offer daily activities from morning to night, but the programme also gives time for contemplative walks by the sea and opportunities to enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings. See full schedule.

The topic for the retreat is Patience and Perseverance. Our esteemed speakers will give numerous talks on this topic to guide and advice us how to best explore, grow and apply these qualities within ourselves and in challenges we face in life.

Breakfast and one warm vegetarian meal will be served Saturday and Sunday. At all other times, a self-serving buffet table will be available with sandwiches, fruit, tea/coffee and more (contributions are welcome). All food served at the retreat will be vegan or vegetarian, participants with other dietary restrictions or allergies are kindly requested to contact us personally. Feel free to bring your own food, cooking facilities are available at the premises.

For those bringing children, please note that children are not expected to take part in the lectures and dhikr sessions. Parents will be responsible for arranging supervision and activities for their children during these times. We recommend that all parents with children, between themselves, organize a rotary system for the supervision of their children during talks and dhikr sessions. There will be indoor as well as outdoor areas reserved for this purpose.

Speakers

Shaykh Afeefuddin Al-Jailani

The Grand Custodian of Maqam Al-Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al‑Jailani, Baghdad, Iraq. Founder of Darul Jailani International. Chairman of Al‑Wariseen Trust, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Malaysian scholar Shaykh Afeefuddin Al‑Jailani was born, raised and studied in Baghdad, Iraq in 1972. He is the 33^rd direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the 19^th direct descendant of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al‑Jailani, may Allah be pleased with him.

The Al‑Jailani family is one of the most well-known families in the Islamic world, and their great great grandfather Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al‑Jailani is one of the most universally acclaimed and celebrated saint, scholar and sufi master of all times. His knowledge and teachings, following the path of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has been well documented in the large number of books he wrote on both sharia (jurisprudence) and tasawwuf (sufism). Throughout the generations and up to the present day, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al‑Jailani’s teachings have been kept alive and practiced by the Muslims throughout the Islamic World.

Shaykh Afeefuddin Al‑Jailani specializes in fiqh and shariah (Islamic law) as well as tasawwuf. He has studied with many Islamic Scholars. One of them was the late Mufti of Iraq, Maulana Shaykh Abdul Karim Al-Mudarris. Shaykh Afeefuddin Al-Jailani has been certified by him as an Islamic scholar with Al‑Ijazah Al‑Elmiyyah, which is one of the most important certification for an Islamic scholar and teacher in the Islamic World.

He is the head of Darul Jailani International and the chairman of Al-Wariseen Trust and has participated in many humanitarian and Islamic seminars and conferences on the topic of Moderate Islamic Studies/Research in Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonisea , Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Turkey, Canada,United States, Denmark, Sweden, Norway etc.

Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ahmed Fredericks

Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ahmed Fredericks was born in Nottingham in the United Kingdom where he completed his schooling before moving to Leicester for University studies. He completed a BEd degree in primary education specialising in Language Arts. He then went on to carry out post-graduate studies in Education in various universities including London University Institute of Education, Strathclyde University and the Open University.

He also did research at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has published a number of articles on education and designed the curriculum of Islamia School London at the time it achieved Voluntary Aided Status. The curriculum was published by the Islamia Schools Trust.

He edited many books on Islam including several under the direct supervision of his teacher, Fethullah Gulen. He has worked as a teacher, Head Teacher and School Prinicipal in England, Scotland, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and USA. As an educational consultant, he has worked on projects in Turkey, Yemen, Kenya, Jordan and South Africa. He has a special interest in special educational needs and additional support and currently works full time as Additional Support Manager for a local education authority. He has worked as a policy advisor for several education authorities and schools including the UK Madrasa network.

His Islamic Studies took him to various parts of the world where he studied under many prominent traditional scholars. They include Ahmed Mashur al‑Haddad under whom he studied in Jeddah and Abdul Rahman al‑Khitamy in Kenya. He translated the Essentials of Islam by Ahmed bin Zayn al‑Habashi and Forty Hadith on the Quran by Mullah ‘Ali al‑Qari and is currently working on translations of al‑Nasaih al‑Dinniya of Imam al-Haddad and Riyadatul Sibyan of Imam al‑Ramli.

Shaykh Abdul Aziz uses his teaching experience and interest in special needs in his dawah work calling people to Allah. Many of the courses he teaches use modern teaching methods and an interactive style. He has taught various books around the world including The Book of Assistance of Imam al‑Haddad and the Forty Hadith of Imam al‑Nawawi. His interest in special educational needs drove him to co-found the organisation Islamic Texts for the Blind (Kitaba), which produces books in Braille and audio format, provides accessible online classes and has an accessible web site with Islamic resources and translations. They work with government and voluntary organisations to meet the religious and cultural needs of disabled Muslims. Shaykh Abdul Aziz authored the book Living with Blindness which was used to launch a number of conferences on The Marginalised in Society addressing issues of disability and access to mosques, institutions and Islamic teachings. He is an active campaigner for free and open access to Islamic teaching for all.

Shaykh Mohammad Muslim Eneborg

Shaykh Mohammad Muslim Eneborg is a Swedish imam, spiritual guide and teacher. After converting to Islam when he was 20 years old, he travelled the Islamic world extensively, particularly North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. These varied insights and experiences would later influence his characteristic balanced and informed view of Islam.

After his travels, he settled in the UK where he completed an ‘Alimiyya (religious sciences) course. He began his studies at the Tablighi Markaz in Dewsbury before moving on to study in India and later at Darul Uloom Bury, Europe’s oldest traditional Islamic college. He has since then worked as an imam at several mosques in the UK and Sweden, taught Islam at universities and other institutions, and been engaged in dialogue and debates about inter-religious cooperation and the role of religion in the modern world.

A spiritual guide in the Chishti, Naqshbandi, Qadiri and Suhrawardi traditions, Shaykh Muslim is a fountain of guidance and spiritual instruction for seekers of all ages and persuasions, in Sweden as well as abroad.