Healing Hearts
By the mercy of Allah, Al Khalil Academy hosted the Healing Hearts spiritual retreat in collaboration with Sacred Learning (based in Chicago, IL) in the auspicious company of Shaykh Dr. Husain Abdul Sattar (DB). This program focused on topics such as spiritual purification (tazkiyah) and excellence (ihsan) in the Quran and Sunnah, the science of tasawwuf, the benefits of daily Quranic recitation and dhikr, and balancing the body and the soul.
About Shaykh Husain (DB)
Shaykh Husain was born in the United States (Chicago, Illinois) in 1972. After completing his primary education in his hometown, he joined the University of Chicago as an undergraduate where he studied Biology, Arabic, and Islamic Civilization. It was during this period that he began his study of sacred knowledge, studying Arabic grammar (nahw), Hanafi jurisprudence (fiqh) and principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) under ‘ulama (scholars) in Chicago. In 1994, Shaykh Husain also began training in Islamic spirituality (tasawwuf).
After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Shaykh Husain enrolled in the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago. Along with his medical studies, he continued his studies of sacred knowledge. In his final year, he took leave from medical school to focus on his religious studies, traveling to Syria and then Pakistan, where he studied a traditional curriculum for a number of years under some of their greatest scholars. Throughout his years of study, Shaykh Husain also continued his training in Islamic Spirituality (tasawwuf) and was formally authorized to teach tasawwuf in July 2001.
Shaykh Husain is currently a Professor of Pathology at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and is a practicing Surgical Pathologist at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Professionally, he is most widely known for his contributions to medical education. His textbook Fundamentals of Pathology is one of the most popular medical textbooks worldwide and his medical education website (Pathoma.com) is utilized by the most medical students across the globe.
Shaykh Husain resides in Chicago with his wife and children. During his free time, he teaches and lectures across the United States on various subjects of Islamic knowledge, with an emphasis on purification of the soul.