Seeds of change... be the gardeners, sowing the seeds

Asalam waliykum Sisters, 

A couple of weeks ago, on the 20^th May I was fortunate enough to attended, along with over 1000 women the ‘Seeds of Change’ women’s conference at the plaza hotel in London. It is the first of its kind organised by the well-known iERA. If you do not know who they are please visit iera.org.uk. The main objective of this organisation is to give dawah (Spreading the message of Islam) through different mediums. Mashallah they are really successful due to the sheer enthusiasm, sacrifice and dedication of all those involved. If you have ever been to one of their talks or dawah retreats you will understand what I mean. Many of those involved volunteer and do not get paid, but their reward is with Allah inshallah.

This was the first women’s only conference I had been to. Thus, I was excited and already felt empowered, on saying that, there were a couple of male speakers that doesn’t really count though.

Welcome and information booklet

The whole purpose of the event was to make us women realise the potential we have in whatever area, occupation we are in; we have the ability to fulfill our duty to give dawah. We are not exempt due to being women and leave the men to do all the work. If anything we have more ability to spread Islam whether it is given dawah and speaking openly and honestly to people when we go to the salon, picking our kids up from school, taken them to appointments or inviting their friends around etc.

This is the Dawah gift box given to all the sisters who attended. It is packed full of goodies, this is not for us to keep, well we can read it but we must pass this on to someone who needs it more then us. It does not have to be a non Muslim or a complete stranger. This could be given to family or a friend who has fallen off the straight path and needs some guidance. The best thing about this box is you can place some sweets inside and give it to your family, friends, neighbour etc as a present. What a brilliant idea. I have no idea who i will give mine too, so many people who will benefit from this. You can order a box of your own online at  www.onereason.info

                                                                                

The message resonated in my head we do not need to prove to people Islam is the true religion; we only need to convey the message. We have done our part once we have given them the correct information on Islam and a true glimpse at the faith. As Brother Abu Hafsa so kindly put it, we are the “Engines”, we the mothers, daughters, wives; sisters and are the back bone the engine of any family and community. Mashallah as usual Brother Abu Hafsa entertained us and gave an informative lecture. One point that has stuck in my mind is the fact that women have such a high priority in Islam, sure I can say this, but have you ever realised in the Quran Allah mentions the believing women, and the mothers of the prophets many times. We do not hear mention of the fathers of the prophets unless they were prophets themselves. I did not even comprehend this until Brother Abu Hafsa mentioned this.

As well as learning to give dawah and having the confidence to talk about Islam to our neighbours and strangers we meet, the guest speakers reminded us constantly that as women we are precious gifts to the ummah, to our families. We should not be afraid to speak the truth and spread the deen; we live in times much better than that of the prophets.  They lived in times when speaking of tawhid, the oneness of Allah was a crime and punishable by death. I can reassuringly say that in the UK and most parts of the world this is not an issue. So why should we be afraid, what are we afraid of? Why is it so hard to say to someone “hey do you know who your lord is?” Why did we learn to doubt ourselves and allow our tongues to tighten at the thought of speaking about something so beautiful and true? I am in this boat as well, Alhamdulillah the event really opened my eyes and mind and gave me the confidence to be proactive starting a dialogue with non-muslims. 

All the guest speakers were brilliant mashallah, all linking their topics to one another solidifying the main purpose of the event. I make dua Allah accepts all their efforts and rewards them and their families immensly, Ameen.  

Really not enough words and time to fully explain what I learnt that day and I hope this summed up the key points and I hope this provides a platform for people to look into dawah. If you do get the opportunity to attend an iERA event please do it is a real eye opener. Remember it is our obligation. For those sisters unable to attend you have plenty of notice the sisters and iERA will be holding another women's conference inshallah next year. 

The "Hospital" like bracelet you have to
wear once you register at the event. 

Jazaka Allah khier for reading, Please do share this post, like and comment. 

Wasalam -x-

If anyone attended the event and you would like to share your thoughts and what you learnt please do contact me and comment below. If you would like more information comment and I will try and help the best I can. Jazakallah khier