Would the Prophet (S) be Part of this Event?

SubhanAllah, I wonder, what people are thinking when they do these things in the name of Islam? On the heels of my posts on RIS vs TDC, and Sami Yusuf vs Yvonne Ridley, here is one that combines both.

Look at this video... I am sorry, it is music, but you have to see it... hear it closely... hear the lyrics, hear the sisters with hijab singing, screaming, jumping... one sister offers herself to be "leaned on".

Click here to see "Aisha" by Outlandish (Viewer-discretion Advised. By the way, what an appropriate name 'Outlandish', subhanAllah--- perhaps it should have been called Islamically outlandish)

Please someone explain to me the difference between this concert and a generic U-2 concert? Oh, I know, U-2 are kuffar singers, right... anymore? OK, ok, I know there are more differences, but the PROBLEM is why are there so many SIMILARITIES? Show this video to a non-Muslim and ask him or her if they see a difference, and they will probably tell you that it looks and plays like any other concert.

I know RIS is doing good stuff, but I challenge the good brothers who organize it to just answer ONE question: Would Prophet (S) be part of this event? Would he (S) approve of it? Or would he be embarrassed of what is going on in the name of Islam? To be honest, I don't even think this is a sufi/sunnah question... I doubt even any of the sufi-leaners would accept this. I doubt that Hamza Yusuf would approve of it. At least, I hope he wouldn't.

Shame on us, that we twist this deen to suit our desires! Shame on us for changing the names of things to make them halal... So, that mom and dad won't allow their daughters at the Eminem concert, but they are happy to send them to the RIS concert. Let me tell you, mom and dad-- you have just been duped!

May Allah guide all the activists to truth, to not compromise the religion for the sake of numbers.

Texas Dawah Lectures...

Br. Omar of Lotaenterprises continues to add more detailed notes from some of the best lectures at Texas Dawah.... Don't be a stranger to his blog!

http://lotaenterprises.wordpress.com/

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A sister was kind enough to transcribe another of Yasir's lecture "Relationship between Reasons
and Revelation... jazakillahkhair:
---------------------------
Thank you, I enjoy reading your blogs and links to others about TDC06 lecture notes, particularly lotaenterprise and ibnhayderabadee (spelling?). I wanted to share this notes (not edited) that I have poorly recorded with screaming babies and transcripted myself by sending to yours anonymously. I hope many will benefit from it and share it with others. To Sheikh Yasir, jazzakumullahu khairan and may Allah ta'ala showers you with His protection. Ameen

anonymous - wish fathers to babysit too.

The relationship between reason and revelation – Transcript lecture by Sheikh Yasir Qadhi TDC2006

There are 4 issues mentioned on the subject of roles of reasons of revelation in Islam:

1 Why concept of reasoning?
2 What is the role the Qur’an has given that says about man’s intellect?
3 What is the purpose if intellect and why did Allah blessed man with knowledge?
4 The dangers of going into extreme on all sides?

Firstly, why are we talking about this concept of reasoning?

We are living in a new age and time, entering well within the scientific era of technological advancement in every sphere of science. There is ever increasing emphasis in intellect in every single academic in rational thoughts and less and less emphasis on religion. The average vestige of our time is spent on trust of intellect and science more than trust in any religion. The average westerners look down on spirituality and religion and even if they believe in it, it will only be on odd time like once a while, once a week or once struck with trials and it doesn’t affect them. As they firmly believe what science, what reasons and intellect ell them to believe. Therefore we are living in time where traditional values are being challenged, being re-examined. People are taking a fresh look, not just at Islam but everything. Like wise an improper understanding of the role of intellect will leads to deviation in both ways. If we say that we are blind following in a religion then a Hindu can come and say: “Just like you a blind believer in Islam, I too a blind believer in my religion. What rights have you to look down the fact that I worship a cow?” And a Christian can come and say the same thing and a Jew and an atheist too can come say the same thing and all can say “I am a believer because I have a blind faith.”
There is a line of boundary that we can come to and this is the reason of the role of intellect, and this is the purpose of this topic.

Second, now let us look at the role of aqil in the Qur’an. Aqil means intellect and reason and from the concordance of the Qur’an to present all the words with aqil used and looked at every single instance of the occurrence of the word aqil with all of it’s derivatives aqil, aqala, takqiluun and all of these derivatives. Also of words that similar to them, such as faqkarah, fakiha, alima yaklamuun, and afala tafakkaruun (why don’t you think?) and I have looked at all these verses in the Qur’an that numbers in the hundred. I have then divided these verses and put them into categories that Allah has challenged us to think. They are divided into 4 such categories that I have based upon my opinion, the purpose of aqil that Allah has mentioned in the Qur’an and illustrate in the Sunnah. Now we all know especially living in this country where many are talking about the emphasis of the intellect. We all know that Allah tells us in the Qur’an: Why don’t you think? Why don’t you ponder? (Affala yaqkiluun), We have revealed the book for people who think. So we all know that Allah challenges us to think like in

Surah al Baqarah : 219
“This is why the verse is made clear so that you can think.”

Surah al Zumar : 42
“In these creations are signs for those who think.”

Surah al Baqarah : 242
“So that you can understand and ponder

Surah al Baqarah : 164
“I have created the sun and the moon, the alternate of night and day; I sent the shift in the river; the wind with rain as miracles for those who think.”

So Allah is challenging us to think, to ponder, all of us read this but very few have looked at the context of these verses.

Who is Allah vesting in?
Who is Allah talking to?
Who is Allah asking to ponder?

I have come out about 4 categories of reasons; and people that Allah Addresses to think on specific circumstances:

1 Allah address those who do not believe that Allah is the creator in the first place i.e. atheist and agnostics or those who do not believe in One deity. Basically, Allah is addressing those who do not believe in one God, either they rejecting the God or affirming many Gods, idols worship, Hindus, pagans, animists etc. Allah challenges them to use their minds, contemplate to the conclusion that there is only one God. This is the majority of verses about; challenges us to think to those who do not affirm to the Oneness of Allah.
Of these verses: Ar- Room : 8 “Do they not ponder over the creation around them, and the heavens and the earth? Don’t they think about this? (the subjects of science, physic, biology and chemistry), don’t they see for themselves : In these are signs for those who think and contemplate.”

Likewise the prophet Ibraheem alayhis sallam when he destroyed all the idols except the largest one and placed the axe on the largest idol. When the people came and accused him and want to punish him, he gave them a speech and of what he said to them: How do you think of those idols that you worship? Woe to you and what you worship beside Allah, can’t you think, don’t you have brains, can’t you understand that these idols are destroyed and not worth of worship? So Allah is telling them to think that a cow is not worthy of worship; that an idol is not worthy of worship; that a man who was sacrificed on a cross is not worthy of worship. Use your brain to come to a conclusions that Allah and only Allah is worthy of worship. Dozens of verses of this category.

2 The second category that Allah addresses and ask us to think and ponder are those who believe in a God, believe in Allah may be but they reject the prophets and the last prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him. So the first category to affirm in One God, the second category to accept the prophet hood.

In this category, Allah challenges mankind to think, to ponder, to reflect, to contemplate, to be logical and come to the conclusion that this man was prophet of God. Dozens of verses explain this:

Al Araf : 184 “Don’t they think, don’t they ponder, there is no madness in this companion of theirs i.e. Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him, don’t they think that he is a normal sane human being.” Why he is doing what he is doing? Why he is telling you to believe in Allah? And go through so much pressure, so much hatred, what is he benefiting in this? Don’t you think and ponder?”

As Saba : 46 “Say, (announce to mankind) all I ask of you is to do one thing that you stand up for the sake of Allah and then think and ponder that this man is a normal human being, chosen as prophet of god, use your brain, read his biography, read his seerah that he is a mortal human being that Allah has raise to be a prophet of Allah.

Yunus : 16 “Say, (announce to them) if Allah had so willed, I would not have recited the Qur’an to you nor that I had any knowledge of what it is, indeed I live a life time amongst you before this, don’t you think, don’t you see.” The verse is referring to: for 40 years the prophet peace and blessings be upon him, did not do anything abnormal, living a life time amongst his people and didn’t do anything to recite the Qur’an and all of the sudden, one day he sprung up reciting the most poignant, melodious, miraculous verses, powerful message that the Arabs have ever heard. The Prophet peace and blessings be upon him asked them to think, where does this come from? I did not write anything, I was not an author, nor a learned. I lived a life time amongst you before this, don’t you think? So once again the challenge is to think and come to the conclusion that this man is the prophet of Allah.

3 The third category is addressed to the believers. There are very few of these verses for the believers but because they already believe in Allah and believe in the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him.

Al Imran : 191 Allah asks them to ponder: “The believers are those who think, who remember Allah always and they think about the creation of the heavens and the earth and they say: Oh Allah, you create all of this not in vain, not for no reason so save us from the fire”

So they use their mind and intellect to marvel at the beauty of creation around them. They marvel at natural sciences around them and increase them in imaan (faith). What does it do at the end of the day? It increases their faith, bring them closer to Allah, their spirituality goes up, they feel the connection with Allah and they feel that all of these have a purpose and they say: Oh Allah grants us Jannah (paradise) and save us from the fire.

So the purpose of intellect in this category is to see his creation around us and use them to ponder and reflect to come closer to Allah, increase in imaan. Look at the stars the sun when it rises and sets, the moon cycle. Look at the beauty of life itself. Animals, plants, that of creation of Allah: An Nahl, “This is creation of Allah, so show me where are the creator other than Allah?” Ponder over the creation and through it to increase our imaan.

4 Finally the last category is for mankind to ponder over the Qur’an and Sunnah and implement it. Ponder over the Qur’an and the Sunnah in order to implement it, to understand it and not to contradict or challenge it.

Surah Yusuf : 2 “We have revealed this Qur’an in Arabic so you can think and understand.” So Allah reveals the Qur’an in a language that every one understands, so that they can ponder, deduce rulings and commandment and worship Allah properly. Allah says: understand the Qur’an and ponder.
The instruction is to understand the Qur’an and NOT challenge it. The aqil is used to understand the Qur’an what Allah is saying and not to reject it simply because we don’t understand it. (This is said to be the opinion of Sheikh Yasir Qadhi himself and no scholars have so far come out with this opinion before, perhaps, he said: you can come out with other opinion as well on why we have been asked to think.)

What is the meaning of aqil in the Arabic language?

Aqala: To withhold and restrain, nothing to do with intelligent, that is why a camel rein is called ‘Iqal; in the hadith of Abu Bakr RA for those who did not give zakat, he said: “I will hold the ‘Iqal” i.e. to hold back the camel.

What has this to do with intelligent? This is the beauty of Arabic language. The more you study the more you’ll love the eloquence.”

A person’s aqil is called aqil because it supposed to restraint him from foolish or ridiculous act in this world that will harm him in his life and the hereafter and that is why those who go to the fire of hell are described in the Qur’an as being without aqal i.e. stupid, the qur’an described them as unintelligent and foolish because they did not have aqal. They may be able to solve quadratic equations and calculate how to send space rocket to the moon but their aqal could not even tell them the purpose of life so they are ignorant people.

In Surah al Mulk : 10, Allah says: “The people of Jahannam said: if we had aqil, we would not have been from the people of the fire.” And that is why every single person who disobeys Allah is a foolish person, stupid person literally. Allah calls the sinner foolish.

In Surah an Nisa : 92, Allah says: “Allah will accept the repentance of those who commit a sin foolishly and then they repent from Allah.”

Ibn Abbas said: “Every single person who disobeys Allah is a foolish.”

Meaning he didn’t use the brain and intellect that Allah gave him. He was foolish and stupid. That is why Allah said that He will forgive those who sin in the state of foolishness because you cannot sin in the state of intelligence. You cannot be intelligent and disobey Allah. By default when you disobey Allah you don’t really have intelligent. Have we learned the beauty of the meaning of the word aqil, every person who disobeys Allah is a jahil or an ignorant fool.

Notice here before we move on, the aqil has never been used in the Qur’an telling the believers to understand the rationalize Allah’s will, not once. Allah never asked: “Think why you have to fast, why pray?” On the contrary, Allah praises the believers first in the verse of the Qur’an by saying they believe in the unseen, they have blind faith (al Baqarah : 2). Allah did not praise the believers because they rationalized, He praises the believers for their blind faith.

What are the dangers in given aqil supremacy over the Qur’an and Sunnah? What happens when our logic leaves us to conclusion to be in opposition to the Qur’an and Sunnah? What should we do?

Logic here is meant by everything about common sense, science, ethic and entire gamut of mathematical equation on looking at into the world like modern science tells us that we are descendants of apes. Our Prophet peace and blessings be upon him told us that we are descendants of Adam and Eve. What do you do when there is a conflict between modern thoughts, ethic and philosophy, science and opposite Qur’an and Sunnah?

What and how should we resolve this?

First, we must understand that there can never be real contradiction between the Qur’an and intellect, reasons or common sense. In other words it is not possible for modern science to proof something that the Qur’an has another opinion and we have to believe this as believers and rationalize it based on common sense, in both, why so and how? Where does the Qur’an comes from? It is the Kalam of Allah i.e. the speech of Allah. What is modern science? It is the creation of Allah. If we claim there is a contradiction between the creation of Allah and speech of Allah then we are saying (nauuthoobillah) there is a problem with God himself. Look at the consequence in this. To claim that modern science proves x and Qur’an proves y and that x and y cannot meet, either this or that, what we are saying is that there is a problem with Allah himself. So as Muslim we believe, it is not possible for the Qur’an to contradict real reason, rational thought, common sense, natural science? No, that is not possible. To claim this contradiction means there is problem with the origin i.e. Allah himself and this is not acceptable.

Second, we have to realize that aqil does not have a precise limit (it is not infallible), thus reasons and logic does not have precise parameters. What might be logic to one person may be foolish to another vise-verse. In fact how many times in our lives we made decisions and thought it was the best and within a few days, weeks and months we changed our minds and proved ourselves wrong too many times. Therefore who decide what and truly logical or not? There are no precise limits. An example of this is the past Islamic group in history who claim to follow the aqil like the philosophers and the Mu’tazilah and other people of Kalam. All said our aqil is what we are going to base our religion on and yet every group reaches a conclusion other than the other group. Just look at the philosophers are segments of mankind who presume the aqil is all that you need to attain solution to everything and every single problem in life. The aqil will tell you why you are here, where are you going, what is the purpose of life. This is the basis premise of philosophers and yet we notice since the beginning of time until our time, no two philosophers have ever answered all these questions in exactly the same line. One philosopher said God does not exist, one said God is dead (auuthoobillah). One group said these are His attributes and that are not His attributes. A fourth group affirmed predestination, the 5th denied the Qadr and each of this group claim to follow aqil so this shows us that the inter-contradiction between those who claimed to be following the reason of logic is not sufficient proof that it is not a full proof criteria between reason and logic. You don’t know what is right and wrong.

Third, to claim that if there is a contradiction between reason and logic of the verses from the Qur’an, that we should give precedent to science i.e. like the theory of evolution. To say that this contradict the Qur’an and to say that Adam as some type of ape or Neanderthal type of species homo sapient or something. Say that we know that the theory of evolution is true and we cannot understand the Qur’an literally. What you are saying is that “I will not believe the scripture of Allah. I will give precedent to my intellect and reason based on science over Allah’s command and this goes against the very essence of servitude. As it was in the first verse of the Qur’an: “This is a book for those who believe in the unseen”

Fourth, the fourth point talks about when there is a contradiction between reason and intellect. Supposed that there was a contradiction between reason of intellect and the Qur’an, theoretically then ask a question. Should we follow the intellect or the Qur’an? Common sense will tell us to use our intellect to follow the Qur’an. Common sense, reason and intellect tell us to follow the Qur’an and reject reasoning. And this is not a contradictory at all. Reason and intellect leads us to a conclusion that there is one God and that the Prophet is one of the prophets of Allah, and the Qur’an is the book of Allah and this is achieved through reasons and intellect. After we have come to this conclusion, then blind faith will succinct.

So when someone asks, are you a blind believer? Yes I am a blind believer based upon rationality. Yes, reason leads you to a conclusion that the Qur’an is the book of Allah. Once you have come to that conclusion, your mind ceases to function, to challenge that text. It’s only function now is to understand the text and work on how to implement it. When you do not believe, the Qur’an challenges you to believe and once you believe in the creator and His messenger the purposes of the mind changes from not to not believe in Allah and His messenger but “to understand” the text that Allah revealed. So supposed, now you find some contradiction between the Qur’an and modern science, between the Qur’an and reasons, reason and common sense tell you to reject your common sense and follow guidance instead. An example was given by Ibn Taymiyah in a similitude, supposed you go to a town, walk into it’s people and you are from some where else wanting to find out about a fatwa (ruling) and you don’t know anyone. You then asked somebody, brother A to point you to a scholar who pointed you to a Sheikh. The Sheikh gave his fatwa and brother A came back and say, “The Sheikh was wrong and I am right and that you must listen to me because I am the one who told you about the Sheikh so I am more knowledgeable that him.” The brother A has contradicted himself by showing you to the Sheikh first. His testimony is now not valid.

Thus the last point gives emphasis on:

The evil implication by saying that the Qur’an and Sunnah contradict common sense, reasons and aqil, and that we should follow aqil instead. You are saying the Qur’an and Sunnah are not divine, they are not real thing. You are saying the prophet did not complete this religion and leaving us with confused religion: A religion that goes against the logic of science. Allah gave us mind and intellect and then gave us book that contradicts our aqil that goes against the mind. You are basically saying anyone can come and change the Qur’an and Sunnah as they see fit and as they wish. History tell us our study of intellectual history of group of philosopher Ibn Sinna, Ibn Rush that they believe in all in common sense and said they can be no Day of Judgment. My aqil tells me God cannot resurrect the dead (Ibn Sinna said this), thus he rejected verses of the Qur’an that talk about resurrection and said it’s just metaphor. Ibn Arabi said these are fables of desert people, there’s no such thing as real Jannah because his aqil tells him to do so. The point is who decide which is aqil and which is isn’t?

What are the roles of aqil?

Aqil is a sense, it is an organ and many people do not realize this. It is faculty that Allah has bless us with and has a function and has its limit, like eyes, ears, nose and taste buds are all faculties and they are infallible. We see a mirage in a desert and we think it is water and it is not. Our vision tells us something that can be false. So our faculties can be at fault and are not infallible. Like we cannot see in the dark and it does not mean objects are not there or we cannot see beyond this room. Similarly our aqil has its limit. The problem is there is no criterion for us to decide what those limits are, what the physical tangible are and when it comes to aqil, how do we set the limits? Where does it stop short at being acceptable or not right of foolish?

The answer is there is no criterion for judgment i.e. it is not physical. This is the main problem why of philosophers fell into and scientists rationalize has gone to extreme. They don’t have limit to aqil because he cant’ see it unlike seeing, tasting and smelling and we know the limit but not in aqil. So aqil is not infallible, like we tend to forget and made mistakes and thought we were right when we did it.

It is an organ that Allah blesses us different from the animals in order for us to worship Allah in a prescribed way.

It is an organ used to corroborate, work together, aid, help, solidify and strengthen and not meant to contradict what is in the Qur’an and Sunnah but rather helps to understand it.

Allah is the one who has given us intellect and He is the one who reveals the scriptures and the sign of Islam is that the intellect should correspond to scripture. Not that the intellect is greater than the scripture, no, but that the intellect and scripture match one another.

The intellect will never be able to understand all that is in the scripture but at the same time there will be never be a contradiction between the intellect and scripture.

Conclusions by Ahlil Sunnah of the past:

Abu Mudhaffar As Sam’aanee RaheemuAllah said:

The deciding factors that separate us Sunni Muslim from all the other Muslims, seculars and numerous others is the issue of the intellect. For they have built their religion from what they presumed as based on intellect:

Modern man, western society has built it ethics, morality, philosopher of life, secularism, democracy, humanism, freedom on what they considered to be best. They have made all others to be subservient to all these what they considered to best.

Whereas true Muslims the Ahlil Sunnah, they based their obedience to Allah and His Messenger and the intellect follows that.

Abu Mudhaffar said over one thousand years ago: “For have the basis of religion in the intellect alone, men would not have any need of inspiration from the books or the prophets and they would have no need for commandments of prohibitions from Allah and every human being would have only be left to his intellect alone. For the very fact that Allah sent books and prophets shows us that our intellect cannot ultimately guide us straight, thus aqil has a role to differentiate between real and false prophets, this is divine and that is not. Once the aqil has chose that and get to that conclusion its role ceases to be questioned but to accept”

Abu Mudhaffar concludes that: “as for these people if they were to say “la illaha illallah”, my aqil is the rasool of Allah, they will not be far from the truth”

The purpose of aqil is for us Muslims to understand the message of Islam, to come closer to Allah, to increase our imaan. The aqil was never meant to take the place of the command of Qur’an and the Sunnah.

May Allah give us the intelligent and imaan put together to be real Muslims.

(transcript taken from the recorded lecture at TDC2006)

Texas Dawah Links

Of course, I am not the only one in the post-TDC-sadness-syndrome. Many others are talking about it... here are a few links to peruse:

Abdur-Rahman Chao's Blog:
http://synkronyzer.wordpress.com/2006/12/28/post-tdc-syndrome/

Lota Enterprises:
http://lotaenterprises.wordpress.com/tag/texas-dawah/

Al-Maghrib forums:
http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=18608
http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=18785

Crescent Youth forums (needs registration before viewing):
http://www.crescentyouth.com/board/showthread.php?t=12911
http://www.crescentyouth.com/board/showthread.php?t=12928
http://www.crescentyouth.com/board/showthread.php?t=12918
http://www.crescentyouth.com/board/showthread.php?t=12923

Ruth's Straight Path blog:
http://blogs.chron.com/thestraightpath/2006/12/texas_dawah_convention_this_we.html

Young Muslims forums:
http://forum.ymsite.com/showthread.php?t=5284

Amar Razali blog (mostly in Malaysian):
http://amarrazali.blogspirit.com/

Positive Story on Texas Dawah on Fox 26 News

Here's the link to a FOX clip about the Texas Dawah Convention. It is truly amazing when FOX will say anything positive about Islam.

Here's the link

Islam Conference at the Brown Convention Center Show that Islam and Terrorism Have Nothing in Common
Islam and terror was the main topic at a conference at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Organizers say the meeting was to show terrorist how hide behind Islam and they twist the teachings of Islam for personal gain. They tell the purpose of the convetion was to teach young people the need to challenge extremist.

Texas Dawah Day 4 (Conclusion)

Sadness started to seep in as the last words of yet another great TDC were spoken... sadness of leaving the brotherhood and the Hajj-like (well about 1% of it) environment at the Convention. The concluding session of TDC covered the title of the Convention -- "Islam, a light for all ages". Br. Sidky, Sh. Hasan Khalil, Sh. Sadakullah, Sh. Ibrahim Dremali, Sh. Yasir Qadhi, and finally Sh. Waleed took turns to make some concluding gems

Before the actual wrap-ups, a brother who had come all the way from the Caribbean JUST for the Convention presented a 5-10 minute slide-show on Islam in the Caribbeans. He started with some historical background, then broke it down with other interesting statistics about Muslims there. 10% of Trinidad and Guyana, for instance, is composed of Muslims. There are dawah activities there, Islamic schools, and of course Islamic politics! The brother closed with telling the audience that he did not want our funds, just our duas. Even though his presentation was simple and straightforward, it touched many people, and reminded us of how Allah's noor is reaching every corner of the globe.

Br. Ahmed Sidky was succinct and cool. He talked about how he was not practising Muslim, that he went to the Mosque just to pray his 2 rakahs of tarawih, then leave with his friends, but the Imam stopped him, smiled at him, and asked him to come to Qiyaam. Br. Ahmed asked, what Qiyaam was, and the Imam reply to them was, "just come". When he did come, he asked the Imam to give him advice because he was leaving for America. The Imam replied, "go to the Masjid whenever you can and as much as you can". Br. Ahmed asked him, "that's it?", because he is used to Sheikhs "talking too much" (audience enjoys that comment with a big laughter). The Imam replied with "yes". Br. Ahmed said this advice changed his life, because he would keep this commitment to the Masjid, and that this was advice to the audience.

Sh. Hasan Khalil started with some beautiful recitation. He reminded the audience that the Quran was a light from Allah. He said that Muslims want everyone to be guided with this light, but we have to do this with compassion and concern. He insisted that it will not be easy, that we need to expect hardships, but as someone relying on Allah, why would we stop? He asked the audience to apply what was learned. To do small actions out of sincerity. He mentioned that he felt like a stranger when stepping out of the Convention, due to the presence of Muslim brotherhood and love.

This was Sh. Sadullah Khan's first time at the Convention and he had many words of praise for it. He reminded the audience that sometimes we focus on rituals (which we should), but sometimes we miss the bigger purpose behind the rituals, such as the affect of prayer on brotherhood. He urged the audience to bridge the gap between values and action, between the glorious past and future. He said there was no such thing as "we live in a bad time". We blame the time for being bad, but it isn't bad, time will be what we want it to be. We are the problem, if we do good, then we will make it "good time" instead. We not only have to do Islamic activities, but also be involved in social works, such as feeding the hungry, etc. He ended with reminding us that we need to spread the light we earned here. That it was more important to be just than to demand justice.

Sh. Ibrahim Dremali started by telling the audience that his message was going to be one of optimism and positive energy. He admitted that Muslims were going through hardships. But, he also reminded us that the Mongols were far worse in their oppression. And later these same tyrants converted to the message of the people they killed, and became some of the greatest dai'as. He urged the Muslims to not give up, things will change. But things will change only if we change ourselves. He reminded the audience of the Prophetic saying, where when asked by his companions to make dua for Allah's victory, he reminded them about the previous nations, who had it so much harder, such that a hole would be dug, with the believer placed in it, and then cut into half. He ended on the note of hope and certainty, as the Prophet had said that things will progress from Prophethood to just Khilafa, to just Kingdoms, to dictators (hint: sounds a lot like our time), and then back to the khilafa upon the nabuwa (the message of Islam).

Sh. Yasir Qadhi (needs to hyperlinks for intros) said that he was stumped by Br. Ahmed's statement that Shayookh spoke too much... that he did not know whether he will justify Ahmed's assertion or cut his speech short. Good start Yasir, humor always works wonders. He also said that the Caribbean presentation reminded him of the hadith where the Prophet (S) said that Allah rolled the earth for him, so that he could see the East and the West and what he saw was this Ummah was everywhere subhanAllah...and we see the evidence of this. Who could have thought that ummah was thriving in Caribbean, he asked the audience if anyone knew where Carribean even was (the brother who did the presentation raised his hand and the audience enjoyed that). Yasir reminded everyone that the Ummah was thriving. Yes, he said, that we do live in times that can be depressing. But the depression cannot and should not last permanently. How about the story of Taif, where the Prophet was unsuccessful after 10 yrs of dawah, pelted, bleeding, till he stumbled 5 miles away! He was in shock. But right after this shock, the Prophet came across a man, who he gave dawah, and this man became a Muslim. So, he did not let one sad incident prevent the good from another. Yasir asserted that Wallahi if we are not saddened by the Muslim situation, then we don't have faith. But that we needed to use the sadness to do something positive, and not to despair. We will overcome, this is the promise of Allah. But change begins with me and change begins with you. What can we do, Sheikh asked? Some people think that they have the responsibility of the entire ummah upon their shoulders, and they get depressed, and not do anything! Think differently, what can we do to benefit the ummah, that we need to stop thinking we can fix the entire world, and start with tiny steps first, and make an impact on things we can control and/or affect. That we use our individual unique talents to do something constructive. Then, we'll see the domino effect. Sh. Yasir then set forth the parable of the ummah like the room where the lights go out. And each person takes out a small light, consequently leading to the whole room being lighted. [See the blog entry with Yasir's video on the 12x6 hijab, which was a repetition of this parable]. He questioned the audience if Salahudin knew what he will become when he grew up? No. So how do you know that you won't be the next salahudin or ibn taymiah? At the least if we can't affect anyone else, we can at least change ourselves, and save our souls from the hellfire. Was that not sufficient in itself as a reason to do something? So after the Convention, will we the same? Or will we change? Yasir concluded with the Quranic ayah, that they wish to destroy light of Allah, of surety Allah will perfect the light , even if the disbelievers don't like it.

Sh. Waleed was the last to take the podium. He took some lessons from the Seerah and spoke about the need for optimism. Once a young woman came whose name was Asiya, and the Prophet called her Jamilah, another man came whose name was Harb (war) and the Prophet said, no, you are Silm (peace), and so on. Names reflect the spirits of optimism or pessimism and the Prophet (S) did not lose the opportunity to spread the spirit of optimism. When he preached, he delivered messages, brimming with optimism. He (S) said to not say inshallah after dua, because that means you are adding some uncertainty, and pessimism in the supplication to Allah, have no doubt about it. However, optimism, Sh. Waleed, asserted was a skill that needed to be developed, and he gave several pointers: (1) Put your trust in Allah, He will deliver, because He has control over all the dominion. He mentioned the hadith where the whole mankind cannot do something or do something if Allah has not permitted it, (2) Be optimistic in appearance, look fresh, smell good [Amad's comment: esp. if you have to come to pray Jamah, so you don't have to make your brother try to steal fresh air far away from you :)], (3) Smile, it will help u get over problems, (4) Fill your heart with goodness, and it will make you optimistic. Sheikh mentioned a joke about a person who was a chain smoker, and when the local Sheikh asked him to quit, the guy gave him the proverbial "make dua for me". So, the local Sheikh took him in front of the Kabah and started making dua for more than 10 minutes, to give this smoker everything one could think of in the duniya and the akhira. The smoker, right behind him, was in high heavens, repeating amen after amen. In the end the Sheikh concluded the dua by saying "Ya Allah, don't accept any of my duas for him until he quits smoking!" The audience went into fits of laughter! (5) Choose to use positive words, (6) Be practical in your goals, so that you do not set yourself up for failure, and finally (7) Allah created us in different levels, so don't try to do everything that others do, but instead focus on your own strengths and on your own energies.

Alhamdulillah, truly, Texas Dawah was a blessed event. There were really no fights, no arguments to speak of. A few small issues here and there. But overall, the atmosphere was unmatched, the speakers were highly motivated, and the audience entirely thrilled. The number of people who witnessed this event was unofficially between 3000 to 3500. Considering that likely 500-1000 of Texas Dawah's potential attendees were at Hajj, this large number was truly outstanding. The Bazaar was great too, with a variety of Islamic stuff. It was pretty interesting to see how Islamic literature has increased and how the quality has really went up a notch. Inshallah, the CDs of all the lectures should be available soon...when that happens I'll post a reminder here. If you weren't there, and you wanted to be there, well, then there is no excuse not to get these CDs and obtain some of the light that the attendees received. And I urge all of the readers to please make plans for the next Texas Dawah, "Family in Focus: the best of you is the best to his family".

Texas Dawah Day 3

Another terrific day at Texas Dawah, although there was steep drop in the night entertainment value.

A few highlights from today:
Yasir Q.'s lectures were awesome as usual. For his second MSA lecture, the hall was overflowing to the point that they moved the lecture downstairs in the open prayer area to accommodate the large audience. His lecture on "Making Progress with Progressives" was excellently prepared. Since I attend this one, I have a few mental notes... in other words, there may be some errors, so don't quote me on this. His speech revolved around a fictional nation called "Veganapolis", where all the nationals only ate veggies, and they considered the rest of the world as "Primary", where people were uncivilized due to their eating habits (i.e. they ate meat). At this point, a man had 3 children: Salman, Khalid and Ali. When he died, his children were in a state of mental crises in their father's adopted homeland of Veganapolis. After some serious study, Salman came to his brothers and tells them that they have been duped, that Islam is indeed a false religion since all the Islamic texts are fill of carnivorous information, including the Prophet's love of a meat dish. So, according to Salman, a religion with such low 'morals' cannot be true. The brothers listen to Salman in great distress. It's Khalid's turn. He tells Salman that Salman has some valid points, but he has not done justice to the religion. Rather, Khalid says, in essence, "why do you want Allah to do everything?" That is, that the religion came for a certain time and place, and that we now have to adjust it to the new region. He further says that if you look at the madahibs, indeed the Hanafi madhab for instance disallows many types of meat from the sea, so the whole religion can and should evolve. So, Khalid tells Salman, I am a Muslim alhamdulilah, and the intellectual, 'reformed' Muslims need to adjust to the new reality of Veganapolis. It is now Ali's turn. He tells his brothers that though they stand apart in their declarations of faiths, they are indeed not that far apart. Both of them are operation from the same paradigm. Both hold the premise that meat is bad, and that eating meat is uncivilized and wrong, and assume that this must be true, and this must be the way god wanted it. But, who said so? Who makes that call? Yes, there are some things that are universally understood, like stealing is wrong, murder is wrong, etc. But, other things are different to different people. Some may like it, others may not. So, if it is not divine, then it is not an absolute reality or a firm premise. So, really, Ali tells both his brothers, both of you are indeed wrong. In fact, Ali tells Khalid, you have a bigger problem, because you have thrown water over 1400 years of scholarship and texts, so you will continue to face obstacle over obstacle as you try to blend your worldly premises with the divine messages. At least, Salman has completely separated himself from the religion, which no longer makes him accountable to be judged upon it.

Besides the 2 lectures that Sh. Yasir gave, he also participated in a get-together with AlMaghrib students. Here, we got to see another side of Mr. Q. He was asked about the conferences he attended recently, esp. about the one in Denmark alongside Irshad Manji, and other so-called progressives. And his answers were interesting to say the least. This would be considered privileged information... ask your qabeelah rep. to find out more!

Khalid, of course, stands for the progressives! They are a minority, but they are affecting people and their message is full of self-contradictions, and problems. Yes, there is some element of truth in their message. Indeed, every culture may have some difficulty in accepting all elements of Islam. When the revelations of inheritance for women was revealed in Makkah, the Sahaba had a hard time coming to terms with that, because it did not make sense to them. Similar is the case to certain things in certain places, as the world evolves, and human mentality changes. But, the message of Islam, if allowed to change with whims and desires, will no longer be the same message given by Allah. Sh. Yasir also threw water over comparisons that Progressives make with their being similar to Mutazilah. Yes, some elements of similarity exist, like rejection of hadith, like arrogance, etc. but while the Mutazilah were concerned with real matters of theology like predestination, etc., progressives complete concerns are around worldly human rights issues, like gay rights, women rights, etc. So, it is in fact an insult to the Mutazilah to be compared with Progressives!

Another speech I sat with was in the MSA with Abdur Rahman Chao, a Taiwanese student of knowledge from Maryland. He delved into many taboo topics about human sexuality, esp. as concerned with the youth. He talked about the pervasive amount of porn on the net, and how it can affect the human mind. There was much more that I am sure the teens in the crowd appreciated the frankness of.

Isa Galloway and Mohamed Elibiary talked about 'Navigating the Spheres of Influence'. Isa made some great points about influencing the different publics. He reminded the audience of the attacks on Texas Dawah by Chris Baker in 2003 due to a Shia Saudi dissident who fed the media misleading information about a scholar who was to speak to the audience via videolink. Texas Dawah passed that media test quite well, and build bridges with Baker. In fact, Baker was invited to Texas Dawah last year, and accepted but could not make it. Instead, Chris Critico came and talked to the audience. So, making bridges with different spheres of influence is an important step to get our message heard. Sh. Waleed's "In the mind of the terrorist" touched this somewhat tricky subject, and he mentioned several points to why and how the terrorists have lost touch with Islamic reality and how they have misinterpreted and sometimes even mis-translated religious edicts to suit their own message. He talked about how suicide attacks are becoming so common, and why these people don't consider the consequences of such an attack a million times before committing it. Because if they are indeed wrong, they will go to hell, so how is it that they are making this such an easy decision?

The career fair had a panel of eight guests who talked about different careers, which are in need of Muslims. A pschycotherapist mentiond how much Muslims are needed in this field. Because if Muslim kids come to a non-Muslim pschytrist to talk about problems with girls, what will the non-Muslim therapist know about this Muslim kid's values? The other reps. were from media industry, dentistry, etc.

The kids enjoyed a great showing by the Mad Scientist Show! Late night shows included a game-show, that kind of fell flat. It seems that game-shows just don't work well at Texas Dawah! However, it was followed by a fascinating short-movie production by the SEMY (Southeast Muslim youth) group that charted the story of Hajjaj ibn Yusuf and the scholar Sa'd ibn Jubeir. The movie was entitled 'the Scholar and the Tyrant'. The half an hour show was moving and well-directed. Well done!

Houston Chronicle Highlights Texas Dawah Convention

Finally, Chronicle wakes up to the event of the year, and something positive about Muslims. But credit where credit's due... where are the TV stations, where is 740KTRH, which is always jumping on Muslims' case about not doing 'enough' to portray positive images.

To the Muslim readers, take one minute, and email the author anne.kilday@chron.com, as well as the Readers' Rep: readerrep@chron.com and thank them for the positive story

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4423492.html

Dec. 23, 2006, 10:57PM
'For the benefit of all mankind'
Local conference highlights Quran's teachings about the importance of honoring animals

By ANNE MARIE KILDAY
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

A red-tailed hawk and a large horned owl were brought on stage Saturday morning as participants in the state's largest Islamic conference learned about Muslim values and animal rights.

"Animals have been created by Allah for the benefit of all mankind," said Sheik Yasir Qadhi. "This is a very fundamental idea in Islam."

Because animal rights have become an issue in recent years, Qadhi, a Ph.D. student of theology at Yale University, said he decided to study the issue as it relates to Muslims.

Qadhi said the Quran teaches that one reason God created animals was to worship God and to inspire people to do the same.

"One verse says, 'You will appreciate their beauty,' and that brings you closer to God," Qadhi said. "It is a part of faith and spirituality to contemplate nature around you. Believers are those who contemplate the creation, and that brings them closer to God."

'A finer point'

Animals rights are "a finer point" of the Muslim faith, but Qadhi said he wanted to study the issue and make the presentation during the conference.

An estimated 3,000 Muslims participated in the five-day Texas Dawah convention, which continues through Tuesday at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The hawk and horned owls were brought on stage by members of Wildlife Rehab & Education a nonprofit organization that helps rescue and rehabilitate injured animals in the Houston and Galveston area. The Texas Dawah convention made a contribution to the organization. Volunteers also took the wild birds into the convention's "Kid Zone" for a demonstration.

During his lecture, Qadhi cited specific verses from the Quran relating to the treatment of animals.

The animal rights specifically noted in the Quran include the proper feeding of animals; the merciful treatment of animals; using animals for the purpose they were created; leaving animals in their "natural state," without mutilation, and allowing animals to live, unless they are a threat or a nuisance, Qadhi said.

Other highlights

For example, he said, Muslims can take steps to kill ants, roaches and rodents in their homes or property to protect their food and their children.

The five-day conference also included an interfaith panel discussion about the First Amendment, a discussion about tolerance in Islam and an award ceremony to honor positive role models in the American Muslim Community.

Awards were presented Saturday to former Houston Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon, Farouq Al-Baz who participated in the Apollo program as supervisor of lunar science planning at Bellcomm Inc., a division of AT&T; Charif Bassiouni, law professor and president emeritus of the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University in Chicago; and Sen. Larry Shaw a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly.

anne.kilday@chron.com

Texas Dawah Day 2

TODAY, it ROCKED!
My boys from Delaware are saying, "I heaardd dat!"

Yasir Q.'s lecture on Animal Rights was excellent. He gave the examples of the woman who went to the hellfire due to a cat, though she was a Muslim. While another woman who was a prostitute went to paradise with her compassion, feeding a thirsty dog.

Ibrahim Dremali's lecture on Khushoo in Prayer was amazing. He explained the Surah Fatiha and the hadith on it. And if you learn everything about this Surah we read in every rakah, then it will affect your whole prayer.

Sh. Salah as Sawy talked about the difference of opinion among the madahibs. His lectures were in Arabic, and his classes were packed.

The 2 highlights of the whole Convention were (1) Celebrating their success, profiling high-achieving Muslims of America, and (2) Late night with Irtiza Hasan, who could take on Jon Stewart after tonight's performance.

In celebrating the success of 4 individuals in America, Texas Dawah awarded honors to Larry Shaw, Senator from North Carolina; Cherrif Basyouni, Nobel Prize Nominee; Hakeem Olajuwan, NBA great, and Muslim role-model; Farooq al-Baz, part of the Apollo missions, and recognized at NASA for great achievements. The message from all of them was quite clear: as a Muslim, you have to work double as hard to achieve what a typical American would, because you look different, you talk different, and your name is different. But, they emphasized that knowledge will take you places where nothing else will, and will get you respected.

Late night with Irtiza was extremely entertaining. First up, Irtiza, following Jon Stewart's lead, showed several interesting pictures that threw the audience into fits of laughter. Then, the two brothers: Shariq and Bassam, who traveled all around Texas, documenting Muslims in the state, took the stage and shared interesting stories. After that, Larry Shaw took stage. He shared his experience in that he was supposed to fly to a CAIR dinner (he is on their national board), but didn't feel 'good' about it, and refused despite pleas from the CAIR organizers. And only to find out that this plane crashed, all 48 passengers dead, and the 49th, Larry Shaw, was not on board subhanAllah! Then Reem took stage... this girl memorized the Quran at the age of 7, and Irtiza shared a story about her, where she took her mom's credit card, and bought Finding Nemo over the internet (when she was 5 yrs old). Her dad (moa) took a few minutes to highlight how great Houston was (as opposed to Northeast America), and how we miss Houston. Then, I plagiarized a few notes from Reem's mother about the efforts and reasons for her memorization.

The next guest on Irtiza's show requires special mention. William Rodriguez was the last person to be pulled out of the rubble on 9/11. He gave a moving account of the events of that day. He talked about his efforts to get a proper and true investigation of 9/11, about his testimony in front of Congress, and other achievements and recognitions. Then, he vowed the audience, by telling them that he had recently become a Muslim!! He said that the aim of American media was to criminalize all the Muslims, yet when he went to Malaysia, he received better treatment than he had ever received. He took shahada at the hands of Sheikh Yusuf Estes, Allahu Akbar!

The last 2 guests were Sh. Waleed and Sh. Ibrahim Dremali. Irtiza reminded them of a story from Sh. Hasan Khalil where the imam went to the rest-room with his microphone (and it was on!). Both the 2 guest Shayookhs started laughing hard. It was interesting to hear that both the Shayookh had done a lot of diving. In fact, Sh. Ibrahim Dremali prayed Maghrib underwater (otherwise he would have missed it)! This reminded Sh. Waleed about the Sahaba-- it rained so hard in Makkah that there was flooding, so the Sahaba swam for the tawaaf around Kaba, diving to kiss the black stone. Also interestingly, Sh. Ibrahim also is a 3rd degree black-belt in karate, and loves to hunt! This is besides his doctorates in Islamic Shariah, and geology. Also. Sh. Ibrahim mentioned that he had recently been recognized by NASA for his study of minerals on the West and East coasts of Florida. Mashallah, what a full life, both worldly and for the akhirah!

Texas Dawah Day 1

Note: I have been pulled into organizational activities, so my blog will be weak at best... I'll try to pull info. from other people... see the following links for more blogs/tid-bits:
http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=18785
http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=18781

The highlight of today was the khutbah that we went to at the ISGH-SEZ mosque. The khateeb was Ibrahim Dremali. And he did not disappoint! All the major Mosques of Houston hosted speakers of TDC... Yasir Qadhi was the Main Center, Dr. Mamduh Mohammed (a surprise last-minute showing) at the El-Farooq, and so on. Houston had a real treat today!

So Sh. Ibrahim's Khutbah was full of gems (as our AlMaghrib brothers call it). He captured each person's attention and never let it go till the last words of the Khutbah. He talked about living with Taqwa, not just talking about it. He urged people to live for the akhira, not for the duniya. A funeral prayer was supposed to follow the Khutbah, and he used this opportunity to remind the folks that today we are praying for someone, tomorrow others will be praying for us. Every person will depart. He reminded people of the 4 things that afflict us, that will make our life miserable and not something Allah desires for us: (1) Consistent worry about issues in life (2) Work that never ends, (3) Fear of poverty, and never feeling satisfied, (4) Hope in worldly things that is never quenched.

Registration was pretty active, but tomorrow will be the big explosion inshallah of pre-registrations, and new registrations.

The only session today was the open session on 1st Amendment, and the place of religion in public life. The discussion was interesting, and touched many subjects of public life. Sh. Waleed mentioned how the Prophet never prohibited freedom of expression, and how he worked with the Jews of Madinah when he came there. Other people with more detailed notes can comment inshallah.

Texas Dawah Blog - Prelude

Today, Texas Dawah kinda began, with the official opening of the "Muslims in Texas" exhibit organized by University of Texas MSA. It was a media event. Well, at least the Chronicle showed up, which was good of them. As we Muslims all know, there would be a lot more media if Muslims were involved in something negative, and not much interest when it is positive. Side-bar to Muslim-bashers, this is another example of media not covering the 'good Muslims'.
Anyway, the event was still mashallah well-organized. Simple and succint. Some portraits and banners were set up. There were some honorary guests: MJ Khan, who is an elected member of the Houston City Council, which is quite a big deal here (its the 4th largest city in America). Rodwan Saleh, the respected President of ISGH was there. Mashallah, he is a humble man, probably the best president that ISGH has ever had. And there was Sh. Waleed of course and Esa Galloway (former Ex. Director of CAIR Houston). Of course, the purpose was to get some news out on the Convention, hopefully the Chronicle article will help. I'll post the link to it when I see it. Registrations have been very encouraging so far... may Allah make this the most successful TDC.

Back to Houston, for Vacation (??!) and Texas Dawah...

I have arrived in good ole Houston... yesterday, I landed in the city that I love most in America. Yeah, its bland, its hot, its humid and its flat. But you know what, you could have the ugliest kid, but to you he would be the most beautiful. So, I grew up (at least since i have been in America as a teenager) in Houston. And Houston grew on me. It is absolutely true that the culture and environment of a city will affect all of its people... so the southern hospitality creeps into the Muslim community here as well. While up in the Northeast where I HAD to move, the non-friendliness, the independent, uncaring nature has also seeped into the Muslim community there. Of course exceptions all around.
I will be spending my vacation in Houston--- who would have thought that one would want to spend his vacation in Houston?? Well when you leave Houston, you miss it.
I'll be at Texas Dawah inshallah starting Friday. I was planning to be simply an attendee for the FIRST time instead of running around like a chicken with a neck cut-off, as has been the case in my previous years as an organizer. However, I was given the glad (or sad depending on how you see it) tidings by Sh. Waleed himself that I will be the 3rd floor manager... what?? Well, I'll find out what that means when I get there. For now, I am happy to help Texas Dawah, the infant that I cradled, the giant that it has become. Alhamdulilah.

Threatened by a 12x6 Piece of Cloth-- Yasir Rises to the Occasion!

Take 12 minutes of your time to watch this bombastic, superlative display of powerful oration in front of 30,000+ people.

“Correct me if I’m wrong here, but the way I see it is that if you feel threatened by this piece of cloth, you feel this is shaking your identity, and challenging who you are, then I think that shows your own prejudices, and your own fears, and your own xenophobia, and your own hatred of our religion.”

ALTERNATIVE LOCATION:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HeziacT1-XU

Texas Dawah Releases an AMAZING Program

THE PROGRAM HAS BEEN UPLOADED... JUST GOING THROUGH IT GIVES ME THE GOOSE-BUMPS... IT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING (CAPS OUT OF EXCITEMENT!)

http://www.texasdawah.org/txdawah/program.html

One small snippet:
Friday, December 22nd, 2006
7:10 - 8:40 PM Assembly B
The 1st Amendment: Religious Liberty, Free Speech, and Open Government -Protecting the Foundation of America

Greg Abbott, The Attorney General of TX (invited); Suzzii Paynter, Executive Director of the Christian Life Commision of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; Gene Policinski, Executive Dirctor of the First Amendment Center; and Br. Mohammad Elibiary

TDC Video

Get a taste of Texas Dawah (TDC), Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRMfT8HVJtE (about 5 mins)

Shorter version: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-972607880278511949&q=texas+dawah

Another location for the larger version:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7825707656422849440&q=texas+dawah

11 Reasons to attend Texas Dawah!!!

www.texasdawah.org

1) TDC just recieved confirmation from two additional speakers; Shk. Yasir Birjas and Shk. Mohammad Faqih!

2) There will be a Muslim career program with seven panelists discussing halal career options for Muslims outside of the usual careers Muslims seem to aim for.

3) This year we will have amazing recreational activities, and programs including indoor rockclimbing, as well as basketball tournaments. We will have a guest Shaykh that will come by to shoot air ball with the brothers!

4) The Texas Dawah Convention will be hosting a History of Islam in Texas, 'research and presentation'. This is a brilliant piece organized by brothers at the University of Texas MSA and sponsored by Clear Lake Islamic Center and Texas Dawah Convention.

5) By far this convention will be one of the most amazing and the largest in Houston, with amazing speakers and programs for the 5,000 plus attendees expected, insha'Allah.

6) We will have as our guest, one of the highest Muslim elected in the US government, Senator Larry Shaw, from North Carolina. Closer to home we will have Texas's very own Teacher of the Year, Patricia El-Kassir.

7) The environment is a constant faith booster. Scholars, Friends, and families will fill the convention center. Insha Allah pure bliss will surround each and everyone of the attendees.

8) For all our single brothers and sisters out there, we will have a matrimonial program at TDC.

9) There will be an array of wonderful parallel sessions for adults, MSA, youth, and sister-only sessions. There will also be a sister's talk show and leadership-training seminar!

10) Unlike any other convention, this convention will have students of knowledge directly involved with the organization. This ensures that everyone will be getting the most of what he/she can from this convention. By having the Shayookh, and other students of knowledge directing the program, it helps to increase and ensure great quality and results insha' Allah.

11) For those who cannot wait what the Texas Dawah Convention has in store for next year, there will be a sneak peak at the theme and topic for TDC VII! Don't miss out!