Becoming Means of Good Character: Examining Our Flaws and Their Remedies as Parents

Sheikh Zahir Bacchus

Course Overview

Everyone wants to give their children the best religious upbringing in order to have their children become pious God loving servants. Parenting is not easy these days but striving to be the best parent is essential. However being the best parent means that we also have to examine ourselves and our flaws. Transforming ourselves to become means of good character is key to raising pious children. This course examines the flaws of the self and their remedies from a parenting angle. We will learn along the way that by refining our character, we can shape our children’s character to be morally sound.

Shaykh Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami’s treatise on the Infamies of the soul and their treatments will be used as the basis of the course.

Course Aims

• Learning the love of Allah and the Prophet 
• Being aware of the bad qualities and infamies of the soul (عيوب النفس) that we have 
• Learning and implementing the ways to heal ourselves from it 
• Bettering our children by way of bettering ourselves 
• Gaining the best qualities of good characters so it transfers to our children

Course Structure

• Weekly live sessions with Instructor – Recorded for you in case you miss it
• Covering four traits on average per week
• A weekly reflection on today’s challenges and trends in society in light of the weekly wisdom
• 15-20 minutes of weekly Q/A built in to live sessions

About Shaikh Zahir Bacchus

Zahir Bacchus grew up in Toronto completed his B.Sc. at the University of Toronto before traveling abroad in 1996 to study at the University of Jordan Arabic Program.  After spending one year in Jordan, he joined and completed the Arabic program at the University of Damascus and it is in Damascus that he would spend the next six years of uninterrupted study.  He had the blessing of learning and sitting in the company of the highly acclaimed scholars of Amman and Damascus.

He returned to Toronto after 7 years abroad and started to conduct classes in the GTA, giving back to the community that he grew up in.  Since then, he co-founded the Lote Tree Foundation in 2005, a very successful private elementary school in Brampton.  He serves as a director of the Canadian Council of Imam, a member of the Muslim Advisory Committee for the Peel Regional Police, a steering committee member of the Interfaith Council of Peel, and a member of the Faith Forward Committee of the Peel District School Board.  He has continued his education, obtaining certifications in teaching and counseling which has led him to conduct workshops throughout North America on character education and youth development.