For those of you ladies who missed the BEING ME Conference held at MATRADE Exhibition Centre on the 30th June 2012, here are my notes that I managed to jot down. Unfortunately, I don't have notes from all speakers though. Hopefully everyone can benefit from this post, insyaAllah. ;)
Session 1: Free from all other masters –
Empowering women
Speaker: Yasmin Mogahed (USA)
·
Prevalent standard of a woman: man & beauty
·
In Islam, the rightful standard; the
relationship with God
·
Scale of rightneous and pious
·
Men à
only a companion, not a saviour
·
We are here not to please man, but to God alone!
·
What you seek is not a worldly material
·
Journey begins at marriage, where your spouse
will become the greatest test
·
There are 2 types of love
o
Getting all that you wanted
o
Not about what you are getting but of what you
are giving; selfless love
·
Love for men is inconsistent
Session 2: Achieving balance inside out
Speaker: Sheikh Yahya Ibrahim
·
In going through our lives, there are 2 extremes;
either ADDITION or NEGATION. We must try to achieve balance between dunya and
akhirah.
o
Addition
§
Too extreme in performing ibadah to Allah(e.g 24
hours always pray, no sleep, fast everyday), neglecting other dunya
responsibilitiesà
they will become misguided people.
§
Why is this? Because the ibadah they have done
will not touch/soften their hearts as their ibadah is only of the outer
experience. Instead of Ya Allah (Please guide me through this … etc …), will
become Why Allah (Why me Allah? I have performed ibadah day and night, but why
do you give me this … etc …)
o
Negation
§
Only living for dunya, neglecting akhirah à Obviously sinful
·
Iman tends/can fade away, therefore we must
always ask for iman to revitalize in your heart. Ask from Allah!
·
Sometimes, the heart can also break. It is a
shame if it breaks for other than Allah. Moreover if it is broken by someone
who doesn’t love Allah, it is far way terrible/horrible.
·
At times, we may love something else more than
Allah. Then need to sit back and reflect on yourself.
·
Always trust Allah is there to guide us through.
·
Take lessons from what you see around you. Never
will Allah let you get away unchallenged!
·
Tip: Read 3 times surah Al-Ikhlas, get pahala of
reading whole Quran. Read 10 times, a palace is built for you in Jannah.
Session 4: The power of change
Speaker: Dr Fadilah Grine
·
Most important thing about change:
IDEA/PERCEPTION
·
Feel the fear of changing because that is your
enemy!
·
Remember that
o
If we only fear Allah: we tend to become
extremist
o
If we only love Allah: we tend to disobey Him
o
If we fear & love Allah: a good balance!
·
People are able to twist religion. Eg; cultural
aspects etc.
·
Allah will never change somebody unless they
change what is in themselves.
·
Change is a process that comes from within
·
The Rasul always istighfar 100 times/day
·
In order to change, we must have plans and goals
that you need to achieve.
·
Change step by step, not all at one go.
·
No delay, no negotiation, must change to a
better person!
Session 5: Do we really love Allah the
most?
Speaker: Yasmin Mogahed
·
Love is like a lawsuit à you need evidence
·
The heart is only for God, and for Him alone. If
it is not, the need to shift/change.
·
If the heart is only for man, remember that
marriage is only half of deen.
·
Whatever lives in the heart describe you.
Askthese questions to yourself
o
What are you most afraid of losing?
o
What do you think of when you wake up?
o
What do you think of when you go to sleep?
o
What do you think during solah?
·
Love speaks for itself!
