3 days · 10 places + up to 10 commuters · From $999 · 30% deposit · Payment plans
“Saloua has an inner radar. She intuitively knows exactly what each guest needs.” · Daniela, Google review
"Come, whoever you are, come. The subject tonight is Love, and for tomorrow night as well. I know no better topic for us to discuss until we all die."
— Jalal ad-Din Rumi
The invitation
For the seeker who has carried Rumi in the bookshelf and felt recognized.
There is a line of lovers that runs underneath the noise of the world. Rabia al-Adawiyya, who taught the heart to love the Divine for love's own sake — not from fear, not for reward, but the way water loves the sea. Rumi, who whirled because his teacher told him the universe is dancing — why are you standing still? Ibn Arabi and his teacher Fatima of Cordoba. Al-Ghazali, who wrote of the alchemy of the heart eight hundred years ago. Lalla Mimuna, the Moroccan saint whose tomb seekers still visit at dawn.
They taught the same thing for a thousand years: beneath everything we chase is one longing wearing a thousand faces — the longing to come home to the Beloved. In the Sufi way, the Beloved is the Divine. And the ache you feel is not a flaw. It is the door.
This retreat is an entry into that lineage — and the work of polishing the heart's mirror until it reflects the light it was always meant to hold.
It is not a meditation retreat. It is not a wellness vacation. It is a structured weekend immersion into the practices Sufi teachers have used for a thousand years to turn toward divine love: dhikr (sacred remembrance), breath, embodied movement, sound, poetry, the five daily prayers of the path, and the slow unveiling of what the heart already knows.
The framing is Sufi-rooted. The language is universal. Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, secular, seeking — every seeker who feels the pull is welcome.
"Saloua holds space with grace, wisdom, and a quiet strength that makes you feel safe, seen, and supported. It's rare to meet someone who can tune in so deeply to others, and even rarer to find that in such a serene, natural setting. This is an experience shaped by someone who truly understands the art of healing."
— Daniela · Munaya guest
What's inside the container
Friday to Sunday, one unbroken container
One chosen for you, your companion for the year
Held inclusively — all are welcome to join
Saloua Lahlou & Julia Sumaya Considine Pierce
What you'll carry home
Four specific promises. We don't oversell.
A name of the Beloved that is yours.
One divine quality — the Loving, the Merciful, the Gentle — felt for you in prayer by Sumaya before the weekend begins, hand-prepared on a card in purple and gold, and given to you as your companion for the year ahead.
A daily practice that goes home with you.
Five minutes a day. Your name, paired with breath and gesture. A portable practice anchored on a card you keep by your bed.
A direct experience of the Sufi path.
The actual practices — dhikr, sama, embodied movement, sacred sound, Quranic recitation, the five daily prayers — held by a Sufi teacher who carries the lineage and a daughter of the Moroccan way.
A heart that has remembered.
The felt sense of inner clarity and ease that lasts. The soul, settled back inside the body. The kind of quiet that only comes from doing the work.
The weekend journey
Presence. Love. Soul.
Three days. One movement of the heart.
Friday · Presence
Opening the Door · "I am here."
The evening answers the pilgrim's first words at the House of God: I have come. I am present. Everything is designed to land you — out of the car, out of your week, out of your head — into this moment, this body, this land.
Arrival & Receive Your Divine Quality. Welcome tea on arrival. Settle into your room. Receive the divine quality Sumaya has felt for you — your sacred name and companion for the weekend.
Dinner Together. A Mediterranean meal shared around the table — the last unhurried meal before the inward turn.
A Taste of Sufism: Dhikr & Sound. Quranic recitation by Saloua opens the evening. Saloua and Sumaya offer an opening teaching weaving the mystery of the divine qualities and the timeless wisdom of the Sufi path. The evening closes with dhikr — sacred remembrance — held in the resonance of crystal bowls and a sound healing immersion offered by Saloua.
Prayer times are woven through the evening. You're welcome to join and simply feel the energy of it.
Saturday · Love
The Heart That Turns · QALB
We sit with the Arabic word for heart — قلب QALB — which means "to turn." The heart is always turning: toward the world, and then back again to the Divine. This day is that returning.
Dawn Dhikr & Fajr Prayer (optional but cherished). We meet at the pavilion to hold dhikr and watch the first light come over the Blue Ridge. Fajr is at 5:17. All are welcome.
Morning Movement. Breath and gentle movement to wake the body before the day asks anything of it.
Breakfast. Nourishment together.
Heart Teaching: The Heart That Turns. Sumaya invites you to lay down the busyness of the world and turn within — toward the eternal divine light at your center. The teaching of QALB. The heart's work is to keep turning back.
Lunch. Mediterranean, light, anti-inflammatory.
Afternoon Movement. We return to the body to integrate.
The Inner Life. Sumaya teaches the development of the self toward the deep love inside the heart — supporting the self in turning from its outer desires to face divine love, to face God inside the heart. The teaching is followed by a quiet practice held together.
Dinner.
The Remembrance. Dhikr — the heart of the Sufi path. The remembrance held in the resonance of crystal bowls and a sound healing immersion offered by Saloua. Sumaya holds the opening with her own words. The names of love sung together, with free movement as the music moves you.
Prayer times are woven through the day. You're welcome to join and simply feel the energy of it.
Sunday · Soul
Carrying the Beloved Home
How do I stay open to the love? How do I stay connected to my soul once I've left the land?
Dawn Dhikr & Fajr Prayer (optional). The name that abides — As-Salam, the Source of Peace.
Morning Movement. Gentle breath and movement to gather what has opened.
Breakfast. Slow. Soft. The conversation of seekers who have been changed together.
The Practice That Goes Home. Closing Circle. A portable practice to help you embody the Sufi path. Each seeker shares what their divine quality showed them. Sumaya teaches the practice that goes home with you — your name, your breath, your gesture. You receive your dhikr practice card. The morning closes with the Final Blessing & Closing Du'a.
Departure.
Prayer times are woven through the morning. You're welcome to join and simply feel the energy of it.
A signature element of Alchemy of the Heart
The Naming: Your Divine Quality
Before you arrive at Munaya, Sumaya sits with your name in prayer.
Of the 99 names of the Beloved, one is yours for this season of your life. Al-Wadud, the Loving. Ar-Rahman, the Merciful. Al-Lateef, the Gentle. As-Salam, the Peace.
Sumaya feels into each guest individually — listening for the quality of the Beloved that this particular heart is being asked to hold this year. She does not choose it. She receives it through prayer, and prepares your card by hand in purple and gold before you cross the threshold of Munaya.
On Friday afternoon, after the welcome tea, she places it in your hand. She offers a sentence on why this quality is being given to you.
For the rest of the weekend, this name is your companion. You walk the land breathing it. You sit with it in silence. You hear it sung in the dhikr Saturday night. On Sunday morning, you share what it showed you.
You leave with the card, with the explanation of the quality, and with a written practice — the breath, the gesture, the sentence that brings the name into your daily life.
This is not a meditation. It is a gift from the lineage to you — by name.
The heart of the path
Dhikr — the remembrance that polishes the heart.
In the Sufi tradition, dhikr (ذِكْر) means remembrance. It is the central practice of the path — the repetition of a sacred name, a breath, a phrase, until the noise of the world quiets and what is true is heard again.
It is what Rabia was doing in the desert. What Rumi did with his teacher. What Al-Ghazali called the polishing of the heart's mirror. What women have whispered in the kitchens of Fes and Marrakech and Damascus for a thousand years, hands moving over prayer beads while bread rose on the stove.
Across this weekend, dhikr is woven through every gathering. Sometimes it is the soft repetition of one of the 99 names of the Beloved — Al-Wadud, Ar-Rahman, As-Salam. Sometimes it is the rhythmic chant of La ilaha illa Allah — there is nothing but the One. Sometimes it is the single syllable Hu — the breath of the divine name itself.
You don't need to know the words. You don't need to be Muslim or Sufi. You don't need any prior experience. The body learns dhikr the way it learns to breathe — by being in a room where it's happening.
By Sunday, you'll carry a five-minute dhikr practice home with you — your divine quality, your breath, your gesture, on a card that fits in your pocket. The remembrance that becomes a daily return.
This is the medicine of the weekend. Everything else is in service of it.
See the sanctuary
Step Onto the Land
Some things can't be described, only felt. This is the place you'll come home to.
Your guides
Held by Saloua & Sumaya
Saloua Lahlou
Founder of Munaya · Keeper of the container · Sound healer · Daughter of the Moroccan way
Saloua is the founder of Munaya, a 15-acre sanctuary in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She is Moroccan, raised in Fes on Sufi tradition — a city of saints, scholars, and silence. She studied dhikr and Quranic recitation from childhood and led dhikr circles as a young woman. She holds the architecture of the weekend, pours the tea in the lineage of her grandmother, recites Quran to open each session, and offers sound healing immersions on Friday and Saturday evenings — the gateway into the deepest practices of the retreat.
Julia Sumaya Considine Pierce, MPH, MDiv
Sufi teacher · Health educator · Award-winning author
Julia began her studies of Shadhiliyya Sufism and Sufi healing in 1998. She has offered Sufi healing and teachings for over two decades. Julia Sumaya Considine Pierce is a Sufi teacher, health educator, and award-winning author who creates spaces for people of all backgrounds to explore the Sacred through embodied practice and guided meditation. For over twenty years, she has worked with children and youth in schools and community programs. She accompanies women in retreats and spiritual mentoring, weaving together Sufi teachings, contemplative wisdom, and health education. Sumaya is the author of My Body Is Sacred: Tales of Health and Wellness for Little Girls, which won the Gold Award in the 2026 Nautilus Book Awards. She leads retreats and desert journeys that invite participants into authentic connection and a living experience of the Divine — however they name it.
"Sumaya has a beautiful, loving heart. Whenever I connect with her, she brings me into light, into joy, into peace. I come into alignment with who I am. She helps me feel that I am more than who I am — that there is a purpose for why we are here, and that love is truly present. She brings the deepest truth inside of me to the surface — the truth that I love myself, I love my higher self, and that everything I do is for the sake of that love. She has helped me heal from shame, anxiety, and fear. I feel more grounded in myself. I feel heard. Thank you for all that you are, Sumaya. Deeply, thank you."
— Duygu L.
Who belongs here
You feel the pull — even if you don't have the words yet.
- You carry an ache that achievement cannot satisfy.
- You are craving to meet your soul at a deeper layer — sober, devotional, in a real tradition.
- You come from any tradition — Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, secular, seeking — and feel called to the inner mysteries of the heart.
- You want to return to the mystical inheritance your culture carries.
- You are ready to meet yourself, and the Divine, in the same room.
This retreat is open to all genders. All seekers are welcome.
Reserve your place
Ten places. Three ways to join.
A 30% deposit secures your place.
The waitlist gets first choice of rooms and hears the dates before anyone else.
Deposit $300
For seekers nearby who wish to attend the full daytime and evening practices without overnight accommodation. Includes all teachings, ceremonies, meals, sound healings, your divine quality card, and dhikr practice card.
“I left feeling completely renewed, grounded, and grateful.” · Diana, Google review
Deposit $629
A shared room in Munaya Maison or in one of the Moroccan domes — Casablanca, Chefchaouen, or Fes. All teachings, ceremonies, meals, sound healings, and your divine quality and practice card included.
“I left feeling completely renewed, grounded, and grateful.” · Diana, Google review
Deposit $749
A private room in Munaya Maison — your own threshold to cross at the end of each day. All teachings, ceremonies, meals, sound healings, and your divine quality and practice card included.
“I left feeling completely renewed, grounded, and grateful.” · Diana, Google review
Payment plans
Payment plans available. We support monthly installments via Affirm or Splitit at checkout — your full investment can be split across multiple months at no extra cost to you.
A note on financial accessibility
If the investment feels out of reach but your heart is being called to this retreat, please reach out to us at saloua@munaya.com. We hold limited capacity for adjusted pricing based on circumstance. The path does not turn anyone away who is truly being called.
Not sure yet? Book a discovery call
Included
All meals (Mediterranean cleanse menu, with gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian options) · All teachings with Sumaya · Quranic recitation by Saloua · All sound healings · Your divine quality, hand-prepared in purple and gold · Your dhikr practice card · The Moroccan tea ceremony · Daily prayers held inclusively · Embodied movement and partner practice · Access to the Munaya land, spa, sauna, and cold plunge · Pre-retreat welcome call · A printed companion booklet with poetry and teachings from Al-Ghazali, Rumi, Ibn Arabi, and Rabia · One post-retreat Zoom call with Saloua and Sumaya, approximately two weeks after the retreat, to support integration
Questions
What you're wondering.
The door is open.
Your heart is calling. Will you answer the call?
10 places. Up to 10 commuters. One weekend. A lineage that has waited for you.
“Saloua has an inner radar. She intuitively knows exactly what each guest needs.” · Daniela, Google review
Dates coming soon · Munaya · Marshall, NC
Alchemy of the Heart is a retreat of Munaya · 112 Munaya Way, Marshall, NC 28753
Questions? Email saloua@munaya.com