Reflections and Gems of Youth Conf/ICNA 06

[SaniaCJ]

assalamu alaykum

AHH ITS OVER!! n im so sad. me and my friend were just sayin how we miss ICNA. Alhamdulilah it was good..speech's were awesome as usuall..

so its time..post ur gems, reflections, good times, some speech's u really liked, ...the booths [ a.k.a YM BOOTHH!!!! ] and ofcourse the bazaar ETC!!

so post post n post..cuz i kno u wanna.


inshallah ill start off with suntin that Altaf hussain said:

"Take account before you are called to account".

and

"Pray before there are prayers upon you."


SO INSHALLAH GET POSTIN!!!!! :hijab:


-Sania

[Yassy]

I gotta say that this was one of the nicest ICNA/MAS convention that me and my family have gone to so far. I mean, I had to throw out the biggest tantrum just to convince my dad to go this year, but it was really worth it. Because when we got there, everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, in my family enjoyed the whole event so much that they were already making plans for coming again next year (and it wasn't even over yet; lol). My dad was like "InshaAllah, we're going to go to every ICNA/MAS convention from now on". The speakers in this convention were so good, mashaAllah. Almost all of them inspired me and/or my relatives in one way or another.

And, oh yeah, the Youth Conference was OFF-THE-HOOK! :D I went to like every session, and it was great.
The bazaar pwned too, of course. I got myself a ninja sword and all the books/lectures that I could ever want!

[BintFozi]

Unfortunately my notes are pretty scattered as I was in and out of sessions for the most part. I do have a few one liners I'll put up for now:

"Love- toilet seat. Love- toilet seat. Where's the logic?" (That was so funny.)

"Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."

"Knowledge is the lost property of the believer; wherever he finds it, he keeps it."

"The purity of our actions depends always on the purity of our hearts."

[myname's Umber]

I agree Rida, Dr. Sameera's 1 AM Marriage talk was so funny, and very cool.

The idea that you should compete for good deeds w/ your spouse, and not keep tabs such as 'I always do more for him' or 'he never does that, I always have to sacrifice' is the wrong, wrong, wrong methodology. Rather, we should compete w/ our spouces; and who doesn't want to be the best :niqab: spouse :brother2: ?

Her talk had a lot of simple, yet effective techniques to combat the 'marrige blues' associated after the '2 year love syndrome'.

[crazeeeA]

from sister iman badawi's talk:

2 questions to bear in mind as a traveller in this world:
who are you?
what do you want?

-we need to remember and make a fine distinction between this duniya and the aakhirah. she reminded us to perfect one's internal self rather than the external; perfection of our selves for the aakhirah over duniya.

-she told us that Rasulullah sallahu alayihi wasallam explained how this world is not even worth the wing of a mosquito (fly) ! how small is a mosquito?? and on top of that, the wing of a mosquito ??!! subhanaAllah - so what is the worth of the world we run after and are dearly attached to?

may Allah grant us this understanding and make us work for the aakhirah and not be endulged in the temporary duniya ...

[crazeeeA]

sister sumera khan's lecture on a sister's pursuit of gaining islamic knowledge -

-she tells us that 'for sure those who fear Allah (swT) are those with knowledge" because Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, says, "It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah." [35:28]

-ulamaa = people with knowledge
fadl 'ilm = ettiquetes of knowledge

-one thing she started her talk with was about her close friends and who she befriended when embarking on this journey she had with gaining islamic knowledge (she mentioned sister iman badawi as being one of her guiding lights) - she mentioned this as being a great factor for you towards gaining knowledge

-she mentioned practical steps to becoming a student of knowledge:
=good companionship
=du'a - ikhlas
=love (for the deen, gaining the pleasure of Allah (Swt), for Rasulullah (saw) - love may hurt but it's all worth it.
=profound sense of time - sacrificing sleep, etc.
=jannah as a goal

someone please correct me if im wrong.
- she also mentioned this last line before ending her talk: a bee spends and sacrifices his time making honey, right? what about us? are we spending time, being "busy as a bee," in the Way of Allah (swt).

that just reminded me of how wack it is to think about a little creature being MORE busy than someone who has the ability and capability to do MUCH more......

right??? lol.

WAllahuAlam....

[BintFozi]

From Sumaira Khan's lecture, these were the "ingredients" she gave us to become successful students of knowledge. It's the same as Amena's, almost, but I added some notes to the points.

- Find yourself a real life role model-- someone who is also working towards gaining more knowledge of Islam.
- Ikhlas-- be sincere in your quest for knowledge. You will only be truly motivated when you are sincerely looking to learn more about Islam. If not you will learn but you will not be rewarded or truly gain from your experience.
- Have pure intentions-- similar to the point about Ikhlas. In Islam all of our actions depend on our intentions. (This reminded me of the hadith in which the three men- a martyr, a man of knowledge, and a man who gave charity are all cast into the Fire because their aim was to please the people instead of Allah.)
- Love-- love Allah and love Islam. If you don't love it, you won't strive harder and harder to learn more about it. And if you don't love Allah (SWT) your not going to make that extra effort or that journey or spend that money to learn about His deen and gain His pleasure. I always think about this when it comes to school. Like for me, if I hated reading I would be insane to be majoring in English. But I love it so the fact that I have to read 5 books at a time doesn't bother me.
- Be motivated by Jannah-- know that your ultimate goal is the Garden of Bliss. Read about its descriptions because it will make you love it and strive for it more.
- Have a profound sense of time and its transience-- be painfully aware of the ticking of the clock. Remember that every breath that comes out of you brings you closer to your grave. This will help you in your quest for knowledge because you won't waste your time on other things. Realize that you will be spending more time below the ground than above it.

That last line was maaaaad deep, I had to bold it so it stands out.

There was this one thing that Khalid Griggs said that makes so much sense, but I really think we forget it at times:
"Allah has commanded that you love your fellow brother. You can't call people to Islam with any sort of hatred or prejiduce against them."
I see it happen so often-- we make ourselves the victims and say that people hate us and that's why they turn away from Islam. But we're not exactly innocent either, because if we cared for them we'd go that extra mile to teach them about our Deen. When he said this I was thinking to myself, "Yooo, where have you been all my life??" Or something along those lines, LOL. :D

[BintFozi]

Hey, does anyone have Sameera Ahmad's powerpoint? I forgot to write down her e-mail address... e-mail me if you have it InshaAllah.

[*amaney*]

wow mashaAllah, u guys took down some awesome notes....keep them coming u guys, so those of us who couldnt attend could gain some of the knowledge u guys learned abt, and that way UR rewards r multiplied as well ;)

aka KEEP POSTING!

[myname's Umber]

we will Amaney, now that things are slowwwly getting back to normal (in terms of energy, pleasing parents after you're gone for a few days, lol etc.)


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=love (for the deen, gaining the pleasure of Allah (Swt), for Rasulullah (saw) - love may hurt but it's all worth it.


it's sooo true
it hurts to get up and make wudu and pray in the wee hours', but it's soo worth it, your relationship only grows. It's really hard when you are so comfy in your own world to take risks, to get out of your zone of friends, to be a better Muslim.

It may be hard, but as Rida quoted Sumera Khan who quoted Thomas Edison, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."

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Iman Badawi (I think, or was it Sumera Khan?)

"The world is created for you and you are are created for the Akhirah.'

'The night and the day are like a treasure chest'


more notes to come inshaAllah.

[BintFozi]

I got her powerpoint if any one wants it. Her talk was on marriage, ooh la la. :p