[::..JIMAS..::]
Salam everyone...
It has been such a long time since my last post. It has been such a hectic month with personal and work issues. Alhamdullilah, things are a bit perky now. Ramadhan is stumbling upon us really quickly. I'm very excited as usual. Such a blessed month. Some people out there might not like this post, as I am always accused of "Farah being in the Zone" whenever i post an Islamic post. However, as a blog, it is supposed to reflect my inner feelings. So, please bear with me, or just not read it.
I just returned from JIMAS which is an Islamic Conference held in Leicester. I have never been to one before, but hey, I'm open to new things. I must admit, my initial intention to go there was because it was such a long weekend and I really do not know what to do with myself. But as days go by, I was quite excited as I know there will be a lot of lessons to be learnt from the many different Shaykhs that will be delivering the talks.
Now, as usual, Islamic conferences are normally catered for everyone from all backgrounds. Accommodation, i must say was Alhamdullilah, food was Alhamdullilah, and everything else was Alhamdullilah! hehe...I shall not say any further. But what I will say was how one incident really touched my heart.
I have never ever ever seen anyone take their Shahadah before. But in JIMAS, i got to see three at one go. It was a couple with a child, and another lady. The ladies were already wearing hijabs, and they just took their shahadahs. I was in tears as I watch them enter into their new lives. It was wonderful. Religion is not an issue to be dealt with lightly, and if you put yourselves in their shoes, and had to take on another religion, I am sure you will never be able to make that choice. But they, they accepted Islam out of their own choice. And that makes them so wonderful. Many times we take our religion for granted just because we are born Muslims. But truly, we have a choice to honour Islam in our hearts and minds. After they took their shahadahs, there was Takbir from the men's side, and there were some shy Takbir's from the ladies' side as well. It was just too overwhelming that even Abu Muntassir was moved to tears.
I spent some time also observing people around me. The campus was divided into ladies and men only. Naturally, you will get some husbands straying into our corner. I am seriously not bothered. If I had a husband, i would probably have strayed into his area! But Islam comes in all shaped, sizes and colour. We have American, Canadian, Nigerian, African, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesians, Singaporean, Australian, Malaysian, Danish, English, Middle Eastern....and it was just global. Not to mention mix marriages. The chairman is a Bengali and his wife is a Chinese. I saw an Indonesian lady with her Nigerian husband. A Japanese lady with her African Husband, a German man with an Australian wife, an English lady with a Pakistani Husband. Masya Allah. They all looked happy with their little kids. I also saw elderly, real old English ladies wearing black abaiyas and khimar. Some were even in Niqabs. The men were in their thobes and jubahs, some had the arabic scarves embellishing their robes. Some white men with big beards. You will feel so happy seeing how diverse Islam is and how new Muslims proudly embrace their new religion in all aspects even in their dressings. I ought to be ashamed of myself. My outfits was rubbish, so I took upon myself to get some abaiyas and jubahs. Also as a preparation to go to a nice special place. Special mention to the little boys in miniature Islamic outfits to look like their dads, some even wearing an Islamic turban. When i saw little boys, I mean like 3 yrs old. And also to little toddler girls wearing miniature black abaiyas and hijabs. Soooo cute. And they are so used to it. They do not try to wriggle out of it. Amazing!
Some of the topics were interested, some to me were just plain boring. I particularly enjoyed topics like Ramadan, things on Paradise, Good Manners, Youth and Islam and Gender Interactions. However, when it comes to Islam and Politics, it is just something that irritates me. True, we have to think about Islamic oppressions in other parts of the world, and Islamophobia. But it is really not my cup of tea. I think of them in my hearts. One Shaykh that i really really enjoyed was Mohammad AlShareef. By Allah, he was so charismatic, engaging and interesting. His Quranic recitation was to die for. And his topic was Good Manners. He touched on some subjects like how to treat your guest well, how mother-in-laws and daughter-in-law realations can be imporved, proper adab during greeting, how not to hurt people's feeling. It was wonderful. And yes, i woke up early for that lecture without even expecting to learn anything out of it. Farah and conferences, normally doesn't work. I am mostly either half asleep or comatose amongst the audience.
So, I went to Shaykh Mohammad AlShareef's organisation's website, to listen to his Ramadhan talk, and i really enjoyed it. Then i went on to listen to another talk and was pleasantly surprised. Mars and Venus? Hmmm....we don't normally get that kind of thing in an Islamic Talk. But stay tuned, Insya Allah we all can benefit from my next post.
I attached some pictures of Izza and I.
Farah
"My Lord! I am in absolute need of the good You send me."