Q&A with Peacemaking MA student Donna Jamila Crews Finney UOS: What first drew you to attending UOS (in its earlier incarnation)? Jamila: I was a social worker. In Austin, we were sending 7 or 8 people to school a year and they were coming back with years off...
A Texas native, Mastura attended a workshop with Ibrahim Jaffe when he visited Austin in 1998. Mastura remembers thinking to herself, "This was nice, but I don't feel inclined to join the school." A few nights later, Mastura sat straight up in bed in the middle of the...
As-salaam alaykum, As we approach the end of our fundraising campaign, and of our generous donor's matching pledge, beloveds are stepping forward to give support to the University in new and creative ways. Nura Ducca, a current 4th year student, who contributes...
As we celebrate the many blessings and gifts of Ramadan and return to a different pace in the world, we can all take a moment to treasure the wellspring of love and generosity flowing between ourselves and the Divine, and between all the beloved members of our...
by: Amber Safa Buckholz Anyone who has spent time at the Land has seen Julia Junkin's artwork: from beautifully handwritten Fatihas to whimsical reminders to remove your shoes, her signature touch has been scattered throughout the buildings like a scavenger hunt....
By Elise Salam "I love the University. I believe in it," says Page Zahra Janeff of Austin. Page has walked the Sufi path for over a decade and now re-enters the healing school of the Shadhuliyya Sufi Tariqa for the second time. "It's different for me now as a...
In the last article on how to protect your heart, you learned that the solution for protection is not to build walls, but to live in the deep place in your heart that holds your essential goodness and purity and is connected completely to God. But as you know, unless...
Have you ever held a newborn child? You can feel the purity radiating off of them. They are still very close to God. We can feel the deep place in them that holds the throne of God. The newborn has not yet experienced the hurts and frustrations of the world that...
At some point in life, each of us will experience a broken heart. The feeling of brokenness might come from rejection by a loved one. It may come from deep disappointment that things in your life are not working out in a way you would like. It may come from the loss...
Sometimes people have a negative reaction to "repentance" or "asking for forgiveness." For some people, the idea of repentance can feel heavy and loaded with a lot of shame and guilt. The problem is, few people really understand what it REALLY means. Here are 3 new...
