An in depth exploration of the multiple facets of marriage designed to equip Muslims with enhanced relationship skills and strategies. Topics will include: selecting a spouse, intimacy, communication, gender roles, marriage in Islam and more.
Some objectives include:

-Incorporation and utilization of Islamic and personal spirituality toward enhancing relationship
-Establishing Effective Communication Skills
-Education about Islamic concepts related to marriage
-Increasing effectiveness in selecting and maintaining a spouse
-Education about psychological and marital research on effective marriages.
-Helping solve contemporary dilemmas
-Education regarding marital resiliency factors
-Discussion of intimacy, its role and solutions from the research
-Presentation on gender differences (Islamic & Psychological)


Speakers:

1. Hooman Keshavarzi, MA, LCPC

Hooman Keshavarzi is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, holds a Masters of Clinical Psychology and a Bachelors of Science – specialist psychology track/minor in Islamic Studies. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Argosy University Chicago, American Islamic College, Hartford Seminary, instructor of psychology at Islamic Online University and founder/director of Khalil Center – a community spiritual & mental wellness center. He is also a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding at the Global Health Center, conducting research on topics related to Muslims and Mental Health. Hooman Keshavarzi is a national public speaker and trainer currently serving as a Clinical supervisor of graduate students of clinical psychology at the Village of Hoffman Estates (DHS). He also delivers seminars on specialized topics around multiculturalism and psychology.

Hooman Keshavarzi has also authored numerous published academic papers in recognized peer-reviewed journals on integrating Islamic spirituality into psych.

In addition to his academic training, Hooman Keshavarzi has studied Islamic theology both formally and informally. He is a student of Shaykh Muhammad Zakariya from Toronto, Canada, where he attended his hadith and spiritual discourses for a number of years. After moving to Chicago, he studied informally with Shaykh Azeemuddin Ahmed. He did some coursework with Shaykh Amin Kholwadia in Islamic counseling and formally studied for a year at Darul Qasim. He then moved onto study at Darus Salam foundation, completing three years of Islamic education and where he is continuing his Islamic studies.


2. Ustadha Rania Awaad, MD

Raised in the U.S., Ustadha Rania Awaad began her formal study of the traditional Islamic sciences when her parents permitted her to travel to Damascus, Syria at the age of 14. Her desire to continue studying the Deen resulted in multiple trips back to Damascus, interspersed between her high school, college and medical studies. She was honored to receive Ijaazah (authorization to teach) several branches of the Shari’ah sciences at the hands of many renowned scholars, including many female scholars. She has received Ijaazah to teach Tajwid in both the Hafs and Warsh recitations from the late eminent Syrian scholar, Shaykh Abu Hassan al-Kurdi. In addition to completing several advanced texts of the Shafi’i madhhab, she is licensed to teach texts of Maliki fiqh, Adab and Ihsan. Currently, Ustadha Rania teaches online and local classes for The Rahmah Foundation, Rabata, and is on faculty of Zaytuna College where she teaches courses in Shafi’i fiqh, women’s issues in fiqh, and has helped develop and co-direct the Tajweed and Hifz progam.

Ustadha Rania also a medical doctor with a specialty in Psychiatry. She completed her Psychiatric residency and fellowship training at Stanford University where she is currently on the faculty as a Clinical Instructor in the Stanford Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences department. Her medical interests include addressing mental health care concerns in the Muslim community- particularly that of Muslim women and girls. She has been awarded grants from the NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) to conduct research on this topic and has presented her findings at several medical conferences. Other on-going endeavors include the compilation of manuscripts addressing female-related mental health and medical issues from a fiqh-oriented perspective. She currently serves as the Director of the Rahmah Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching Muslim women and girls traditional Islamic knowledge. In this capacity she also heads the Murbbiyah Mentoring Program which trains young women how to teach and mentor Muslim girls and teens. Ustadha Rania is both a wife and a mother; she has been counseling and teaching women classes on Tajwid, Shafi’i Fiqh, Ihsan, marriage and raising children since 1999. External Event Url
Islamic Society of Milwaukee West
, Brookfield, WI, United States