Be Easy
I’m not gonna to lie, one of my side-intentions for going to Michigan to attend the MMYC Conference last weekend was to finally get some Tim Horton’s after such a long time.
Putting that aside, I was legitimately excited for the experience of meeting new brothers and seeing what this weekend was all about. Little did I know that it’d seriously change my life, no joke.
Rolling into the camp donning my sharpest Aseel thobe, rocking the freshly lined up puffy beard, I was ready to have a great halal time with some brothers. Their idea of a great time was a little different than mine, however. The first night’s entertainment session was a prime example of this.
Saqib and I were sitting on the side when the first artist was announced. The crowd was cheering, but to our surprise the majority of the cheering was coming from the sisters’ side! I mean astaghfirAllah, don’t they have any modesty? I shook my head at Saqib, his face showing that he knew exactly where my disappointment was directed.
The weekend continued with events on the same wavelength, going against the grain of my “conservative” views. Girls cheering, no physical separation, kids ditching speeches - I was in shock to see that this was a Muslim conference holding 300 kids. What was the point if no one was going to take it seriously, and even if they did, they didn’t do it according to the proper methodology, with clear and accurate fiqh rulings supporting their actions?
My answer came on Saturday afternoon. One of the sister organizers came up to the podium.
“Assalamu Alaykum brothers and sisters, we have a special announcement for all of you…sister do you want to come and give it?”
Hesitantly, a teenage sister made her way nervously to the podium, shyly smiling with a mix of delight and anxiety.
“I just wanted to say,” she paused as tears rolled down her cheeks, “that I didn’t even want to come here. I didn’t think I’d fit in, but my friend just told me to come and that I’d have a good time. After coming and experiencing the conference, I feel that I’ve never been in a place with so much faith before. I’ve never experienced such sisterhood, such love. After seeing all of this here, and seeing all of the things I should be doing, I’ve decided to wear the hijab.”
I had never seen a standing ovation for a sister deciding to start wearing hijab. The room was booming was cheers and clapping, takbeers and “Allahuakbars!” we’re bouncing off of the walls. While it was awesome seeing a sister change her image from Aishwariya Rai to a righteous sister, there was still so much wrong in this scenario, it was ridiculous. Or was there?
After seeing something like that, I’ve come to a realization: the stubborn ways must go. The newly-hijabi sister and I had experienced the same conference, been to the same talks, and met the same people. Yet, while I sat there and knitpicked, criticizing every possible point and minor flaw I had noticed, she experienced and allowed her heart to be shown the light of true Islam. Yes, there may have been some questionable aspects here and there, but this conference changed her life. And upon realizing that, it changed mine.
Meeting those kids last weekend really changed my perspective on a lot of issues, especially how I want to do dawah. No longer will you find me debating with others about different groups or institutes, or about aqeedah or fiqh. I’ve discovered that the work to be done is grass-roots, that these kids need life-changing experiences to bring them closer to Our Lord, the One, the Most-High.
No matter what road gets them there, as long as it’s clear of major faults, they should take it and find Islam at the end of it, insha Allah. And if that means going to DarulHikmah instead of AlMaghrib, or AlMaghrib instead of Zaytuna, or anywhere instead of another anywhere then so be it. There’s a lot more to do than argue and let politics get in the way of guidance, and these kids are depending on us realizing that. In the apple orchard of Islam, take the fruit which will help satisfy you hunger and leave the fruit which will not.
“Be easy,” I was once advised. “Be easy.”
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5 Responses to “Be Easy”
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Long Live MMYC !
theres an urdu saying which is similar
“light laylo”
looks like aishwariya’s going for a new image..
Yeah, hopefully it works out for her.
I thought there could be no better visual reminder for a brother to lower his gaze than an angry Mr. T. Yeah?
Seen that tactic before. Good one, though.