A Suḥbah Retreat

Mindfulness in Islam:
Journey of the Self

A Day for the Heart to Return

Saturday, June 20, 2026Acampo, California11:30 AM to Maghrib

The Retreat

A day to return.

For one day in late June, we gather at a private property in the vineyard country of Northern California to do what the tradition has done for centuries: come together in remembrance of Allah, in the company of others walking the same path.

Suḥbah is the Arabic word for that companionship. Ḥuḍūr al-qalb, the presence of the heart, is what the day is for.

Knowing the self is the door to knowing Allah. Whoever knows himself knows his Lord. This day is given fully to allow the self to journey toward seeing His mercy and nearness with more vigilance and more heart.

The retreat moves through five parts, from morning arrival to Maghrib at sunset. We pray in congregation, sit together in silence, speak with intention and listen fully, and learn from scholars grounded in the tradition. At the close of the day we share a meal, embrace our companionship, and leave with hearts more grounded in Allah's remembrance.

This is not a workshop or a wellness retreat. It is a day shaped by the classical Islamic spiritual tradition, the Sunnah of our beloved Prophetﷺ, and the teachings of those who have walked this path before us.

We hope you will join us in this journey.

For Whom

Who this retreat is for.

You're looking for depth beyond the weekly khutbah.

You believe the tradition has more to offer than you've been able to access on your own. You want a guided way in.

You've never been on a retreat and you're curious.

This is a single day, not a week. You can sit with what surfaces, and go home in your own bed by night. The first hour is built for arrival, with coffee and tea and unhurried welcome.

You've done retreats and want an Islamic one.

The practices you've encountered elsewhere — mindfulness, silence, paired listening, journaled reflection — are real. They are also already in this tradition, named differently, framed within tawhid. This retreat is for participants who want depth held in their own faith.

Your Journey

Five parts, from arrival to Maghrib.

IArrival & Welcome

The day opens slowly, with warm hospitality and unhurried welcome. There is time to settle into the room and meet the company before we begin together.

IIMeeting the Self

We begin with prayer in congregation and a foundational teaching on the self in Islam. From the very first moment, we are pointed toward the question that will travel with us through the rest of the day.

IIIThe Heart's Compass

The longest stretch of the day moves through practice in silence, solitude, and reflection. Together we seek the truth of what controls the heart, what distances us from Allah, and what brings us closer.

IVThe Return

A teaching on tawbah opens this movement, followed by the practice of writing what we are turning from. We carry ourselves through tazkiyah with care, and end with dhikr on divine revelation, with a present heart.

VSuhbah & Closing

The day comes back together over a communal dinner and a closing teaching on what we are carrying home. Each person leaves with a more present heart, carrying the journey forward with Allah's guidance. We pray Maghrib together at the day's end.

The Lessons

The lessons we'll move through.

This retreat moves through lessons on Islamic spirituality the tradition has refined over centuries. Each concept we touch is a way of pointing the heart back toward Allah. The Arabic terms here are doorways into living practice, ways of carrying the self through a deeper connection with our reality and with Allah.

The day itself, from arrival through Maghrib, holds the shape of a deeply spiritual day, the kind a person might choose to live not as routine but as a way of life. Prayer, silence, tazkiyah, suhbah, dhikr, and the shared meal at the close are all forms of ibadah, all movement with the heart and of the heart. These hours are a single day's rhythm shaped to be lived again, in your own time, in your own life.

النَّفْس

an-Nafs

The Self. The door we begin at.

نِيَّة

Niyyah

Intention. The orienting of the heart before any action.

مُرَاقَبَة

Murāqabah

Watchful presence. To know that Allah sees you.

تَفَكُّر

Tafakkur

Reflection. The Qur'an's invitation to slow, honest thought.

تَوْبَة

Tawbah

Return. The word itself means to turn back.

حُضُور القَلْب

Ḥuḍūr al-Qalb

Presence of the heart. What the day is named for.

Our Teachers

Who you'll learn with.

Dr. Sherif Ahmed

Host Scholar

Imam, Islamic scholar, chaplain, and educator. Dr. Ahmed holds a Doctorate in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of Colorado and a Master's from HEC Paris, and a second Master's in Islamic Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary. He has started a third Master's in Pastoral Care with Sutter Health. His studies have spanned English Literature, Business Administration, NPO leadership and management, and Islamic Studies. He serves Muslim communities across Northern California through teaching, leadership, and spiritual counsel.

Ustadha Hosai Mojaddidi

Guest Teacher

For over twenty years, Hosai Mojaddidi has served Muslim communities in the Bay Area and Southern California as a teacher, spiritual counselor, and mental health advocate. Her work brings together traditional Islamic learning with practical spiritual care, drawing on the chain of scholarship she first encountered in the classes of Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. She co-founded Mental Health for Muslims (MH4M) with Dr. Nafisa Sekandari and currently teaches at Ta'leef Collective in the Bay Area.

Brother Zubair Ali

Guide

Developmental coach focused on human growth, contemplative practice, and spiritual development. He holds a Bachelor's in Psychology and a Master's in Transformational Leadership and Coaching, and is credentialed as a Graduate School Educated Coach (GSEC) and scholar-practitioner. He has trained professionally through the International Coaching Federation and the Human Emergence Group.

Sister Navishtha Shah

Guide

Developmental coach working with women and leaders, with over a decade of leadership in California's public mental health system. Her practice draws on embodied contemplative work, breathwork, and the integration of emotional intelligence into spiritual development. Her work joins somatic and contemplative traditions with careful attention to how the body holds and releases what the heart carries. She has trained professionally through the International Coaching Federation and the Human Emergence Group.

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