The believer is harder than a mountain, for the mountain - The World ...

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Leadership Development ProgrammeLos Angeles, CaliforniaOn the weekend of 2 to 4 January 2009, theShia Ithna-Asheri Islamic Jamaat of Los Angeles(SIIJLA) hosted an enlightening LeadershipDevelopment Programme (LDP) at their centre inPico Rivera. The Programme was co-sponsoredby The World Federation of KSIMC and The NorthAmerican Shia Ithna-asheri Muslim CommunitiesOrganization (NASIMCO). The Programme wasdesigned to help participants grow mentally,emotionally, and spiritually through a three-dayintensive educational experience.16 participants (ages 24 to 70) took part in theworkshop, with seven of the participants fromSIIJLA Jamaat. The programme was led by twofacilitators from England, Dr. Akber Mohamedaliand Br. Yasin Rahim, as well as one facilitatorin-training,Sr. Tahera Rashid. The facilitatorsencouraged the attendees to:• Look deep inside themselves, and appreciatetheir own “fitra” (a gift from God), as well as thefitra of others.• Obtain a deeper understanding of themselves,as well as the people around them.Islamic FestivitiesToronto, CanadaTo give the public a chance to experience thevarious holidays celebrated by different faithgroups, the York Regional Police (YRP) held its 4thAnnual Holidays event on 6 December 2009. TheTableegh Committee of the ISI Jamaat of Torontowas invited to take part in the event.The lessons learned in the LDP are valuable forthe success and growth in many different spheresincluding family, community, workplace, andgovernment.The workshop generated a positive energy in allof the participants where some were inspired toundertake important projects in the community.Nazneen Nathani-Mirza, Mazaher Sivjee andMinhal Kalyan agreed upon the importance oforganising charitable volunteer activities for theLos Angeles Jamaat. Other participants had morepersonal moments of enlightenment, ranging froma confirmation of faith and spirituality, a drive tostop procrastinating, and an urge to balanceboth head and heart. Whatever the discovery, asDr. Akber and Br. Yasin frequently reminded thegroup, “When the student is ready, the teacher willappear.”As Muslims were soon to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha,it was the perfect opportunity to put up a displayon Hajj and its significance. The basis of Hajj wasexplained, starting with Prophet Abraham (AS), thefather of the 3 Abrahamic faiths: Islam, Judaismand Christianity. A Shia Adhan clock, a beautifulpicture depicting the congregation of millions ofMuslims during Hajj, a miniature Rozo and severalcolourful tasbihs were among the items displayed.The event was very much appreciated by all,especially by the York Regional Police. The Chief ofPolice, Chief Armand La Barge was interviewed, andexpressed his sincere gratitude and appreciationfor all of the Committee’s efforts. He also thankedthe Jaffari Islamic Centre and presented the Tablighteam with a certificate of participation.Along with the Vishnu Temple, the followers of theKWANZA principles, and the Jewish Community,the Jaffari Islamic Centre presented a display onEid. One of the tables showcased how a Muslimfamily celebrates.12Insight Jamaadi al Ula 1431 / May 2010
Second Annual Reverts ConferenceBrampton, OntarioThe second annual International RevertConference was held at the Masumeen IslamicCentre in Brampton, Ontario on the 11th and 12thof October 2009.The Revert Muslim Association (RMA) has beengrowing since 2005. The organization endeavoursto serve people who adopt Islam as their religion,not just online but in the physical world as well.Its website and forums are among the top searchengine hits for issues related to reversion toIslam.A diverse audience of men, women and childrenattended the conference. A few hundred born andrevert Shia Muslims from Canada, the US, theUK, and various other locales joined together forthe sake of God to socialize, pray together, anddiscuss topics ranging as widely as prejudice andGhusl Mayyit (ablution of the dead body).Many reverts to Shia Islam feel isolated from thelarger Shia community, and many do not survive.Statistics suggest as much as half of reverts toShia Islam eventually leave the religion, with someof the primary reasons being lack of resources andsocial support. The intent of the conference was tobring together reverts and born Muslims in orderto help create the belonging and unity as well asthe knowledge and inspiration necessary for all toprosper spiritually.The two-day event included lectures from notedscholars such as Brother Hassanain Rajabali,Shaikh Saleem Bhimji, Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi,and Shaikh Hasnain Kassamali, as well as otherengaging speakers, many of them reverts, such asBrother Ulrick Vieux, a trained Harvard psychologistoriginally from Haiti who spoke about addictionand psychology of the Islamic community, BrotherRobert Virdeen, a financial consultant who spokeabout Islamic financial investments, Brother JoeRamagali, who spoke about his master’s thesison Islamic Liberation Theology, and Sister RoshniHafeez, a vision-impaired revert who spoke aboutMuslims with disabilities as well as media andactivism.Other topics included Qur’an, Fiqh of Salat, SpiritualReality of Food, Meditation in Islam, Fatima Zahra(AS) as a Role Model, Breaking the Cycle of Abuse,Hijab, Thawab of a Muslimah, Sexual Etiquette,Divorced With Children, Prejudice, Tribalism,Parenting, Social Networking, Hajj, Striving forExcellence in Our Institutions, Witnesses to OurActions, Taqlid, Youth’s Role in Society, a GhuslMayyit demonstration, and a Question and Answersession with scholars and speakers.The social networking aspect of the conferencewas extremely important. One of the greatestbenefits of the event was that it allowed people tomeet others with similar beliefs in a Western worldwhere they may be few and far between. Manyof the attendees may have non-Muslim familyand have a strong need to make connectionswith other Shias. As people travelled home fromthe event, all did so having made new friends tohelp one another strive in the way of Allah. Withinhours of the event’s end, people were adding theirnew friends online on Facebook, posting photos,sending messages in e-mail groups and forums,and all making plans to reach out to one another,support one another on the path of Islam, andextend the benefits of the conference well beyondthe confines of the two-day event.Insight Jamaadi al Ula 1431 / May 2010 13
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