Monday 18 June 2012

Me, Myself & Allah...

Asalam waliykum sisters,

Yes you read the title correctly its Me, myself and Allah and not "I".
The purpose of this event was to unite muslimahs from all over Britain, to share our desire to come closer to Allah. The event gave practical advice and tips to sisters, that we can all implement in our lives. I found the event very beneficial and the speakers were so inspiring. I took many notes and inshallah hope to summaries key points from speakers. Of course when i returned home i bore zawaji to death with every detail. Mashallah he listened and showed interest.

The event took place at Kensington Town
Hall (see Above), many Islamic events take place here. The stage was decorated with the same theme colours of the booklet, and sisters who participated in the event and volunteers also wore the colours; pinks and purples.
Due to being a sisters event i felt it would be inappropriate to take photos. The hall is perfect for these events, with a large foyer where there was a mini bazaar. Mashallah again like the other sisters conference i attended, the turn out was phenomenal, lots of sisters from all walks of life attended.
For more photos and to check out the face book group, please click here.


The main aim of the conference was to remind sisters that whatever our statues is in society we have an important role to play, whether we are mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, grandmothers etc. As sister Sayyidah Zaidi of Working Muslim said seeking knowledge is not only for single sisters. Sister Sayyidah gave examples from her life, how she was seeking knowledge before marriage and ensured it would always be that way even after marriage. The importance of making sure your spouse supports you and accepts this. We should not stop seeking knowledge due to changes in life, whether that is marriage, moving away, having children, death of loved ones and so forth.



Ustadh Musleh Khan, yes a male speaker was the first to take to the stage. Mashallah the perfect person to get it started, why? Well he is a marriage counsellor and married himself with kids. He also conducts many courses geared towards Muslim women. So we can safely say he knows women well enough.


Finding True happiness, the title of brother khans mini lecture. Mashallah he had so many good points, and everything he said i wrote down and listened to attentively. His words were so beneficial. He covered many areas, how to obtain happiness through the dunya, with the means Allah has made permissible.
If we start off with the intention to please Allah, and strive towards this then all our actions inshallah should reflect them. Examples such as seeking knowledge, being grateful, finding marriage and love, your friends etc can all make us happy or the opposite by doing things with incorrect intentions can lead to us not feeling any happiness at all.
Brother Khan stated correctly, in his conclusion that true happiness lies in good deeds, i would also like to add to that, that ultimately true happiness is obtained by obeying our lord and seeking the pleasure of Allah.

lovely goody bag given at the event


Amal Stapley, mashallah such a wonderful sister, so calm and positive. After listening to her lecture i can fully appreciate why she is a life coach. She has such a positive and uplifting personality that really motivates people. Click here to check out her life coaching website and blog.
To summaries the talk given by sister Amal, is to have confidence to do what is right for us, and what is pleasing to Allah. In particular Amal focused on the career woman, being able to have the confidence to say what we want to do, and doing it. Not to procrastinate, actually set our goals, write them down verbalise them to your self and to others. Make an action plan and ultimately follow it through.
I particularly loved her example; being like a baby, when learning to walk the baby falls over many times, hurts itself many times and cries. However, does the baby stop learning to walk? Gives up on that dream of walking like others? No the baby tries and tries again until it succeed. When did we loose that determination, when did we become so fearful of what others think, so much so that we put off what we want, and dream.
Mashallah this woman really made me feel so peaceful and at the end gave me the confidence to question my life, and the choices i may of made for others. Mashallah.

Rings from the Bazaar for my two beautiful sister in laws :D


Like a breath of fresh air, this woman made me sit up right in my chair made me want to get up and do something. Sister Zohra Sarwari, a life coach, a business woman, an author, and a home school teacher to 3 of her children and her nephew. My first thought Subhanallah all of that, where does she get the energy the motivation from. Only from Allah, her intention is pure and to seek the pleasure of Allah. This woman was inspirational and i could only listen and look at her in awe. Mashallah words can not express fully what this woman is like. May Allah reward her for her drive and spirit to be able to help others, and encourage so many.
Sister Zohra had two topics, raising the next generation and productivity during Ramadan. They picked the best person for these topics. The whole lecture was full of energy and so interactive.
The key points from the first talk were;
- Start with good manners.
- Be proactive
- best intention

When i asked sister Zohra about starting off with homeschooling, did she attended university, or courses to help her with homeschooling. To my surprise she said no to all of it. Informing me all she had was the intention. Mashallah, gives hope to all those mothers who want to home school but worry they do not have the academics to do so. Zohra admits that now her young children know more about Islam then she does, and they are teaching her. Mashallah, she was honest with us to explain this didn't happen overnight. A lot of bad habits had developed and consistency was needed to break them. My heart melted when she spoke of the tarbiyya(manners) her children posses. The respect for their parents, respect for others and haya/modesty, Mashallah. They have become shining examples to society, benefiting other children and society. Not being a menace to society as we see in our own communities.

The second talk, productivity during Ramadan covered many practical tips we can all implement. Easy things we can all do in preparation to Ramadan. If we start these tasks now we can implement this easier during Ramadan. One thing that i have started alhamdulillah is to read Quran along side zawaji, mashallah he is blessed to know much Quran and recite it correctly so its handy to recite Quran when he is around he can correct me and also encourage me. I do this 30mins a day, a page after fajr and 5 pages in the evening.
Here are a few points mentioned by sister Zohra:
-Fasting sunnah days, Mondays and Thrusdays
-Read 30mins of Quran a day and reflect on what you have read.
-Make a dua list/ or a book of dua
-Learn about the wisdom behind Salaht, understand the actions, and the words.
-Start with charitable acts now, feeding the poor, visitng a neighbour, and the sick etc.

One thing that i can fully understand and agree with, Zohra mentioned about how we as women obsess over cooking a new meal every night during Ramadan. Its a waste of time, we should make a meal that will last a couple of days so we can spend your time before maghrib wisely. This is a the best time to offer dua/prayer before breaking our fast. Also a good time to read Quran and discuss aspects of Islam.


Finally the last speaker i will talk about is Hafizah Ismail, I have never heard of this sister before and it was the first time to see her, and be aware of her counselling group. The group is Children of Jannah and you can visit the site here to find out more information. Briefly, the group is for those effected by losing a child, in particular aimed at women who have lost a child. I have to admit i was not fully aware of the extent of the issues and i did not realise how many people suffer in silence, and how many women who deal with this are so misunderstood.
One thing that sister Hafizah mentioned was that many people around a woman who has lost a child can make many "bee" like statements, as in say things and use words that sting and worsen the situation. That we should be making "Butterfly" statements instead, which recognises this is a life changing experience and is not the end, but the start of a new life; making uplifting statements. Mashallah what a wonderful way to turn such sore words into positive ones.
It can be easy to say things that we feel are helping a sister but in fact making things worse.

In summary: " we should use words to help the griever float like a butterfly and not words that sting like a bee".

There were a few other speakers and to find out more, and for those who were unable to attend, mercy mission have been kind enough to provide this video.

Our duty as Muslims is to Allah and we can show gratefulness by building exemplary Islamic community that does not only benefit Muslims but the whole of the community and ummah.

I was also super happy at the event as FINALLY i could subscribe to Sisters Magazine, my favourite magazine ever. I have been trying for months online but due to technical issues i was unable to subscribe. But now, Alhamdulillah i am the proud owner of two copies that i have read thoroughly and enjoyed so much, thank you sister LaYinka for helping me sign up.

May and June issue of Sisters Magazine

Jazakallah khier for reading this super long post, i do hope it was worth the read and you find baraka in it. Please forgive me for any mistakes i have made, any of which are from me. If there is any goodness in this, it is from Allah. And Allah knows best.

Wa'aliykum asalam.


If you attended the event, please do comment and let me know how you found the event. If you would like more details on the speakers or want to ask me a question please comment below. Jazakallah khier.

3 comments:

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