|
Report on CoEJ Youth Leaders Meeting |
|
|
In the Name of Allah, the Most Kind and the Most Merciful
Report on CoEJ Youth leaders Meeting 9th September 2007, Leicester
By Jaffer Ali Ladak – Milton Keynes
Salaam ‘Alaykum WR,
All praise belongs to Allah the Almighty, for allowing the youth of our community to convene, discuss and learn from each other. Youth representatives from Birmingham, Wessex, Peterborough and notably Sweden joined us; we pray the Almighty to grant us the opportunity to maintain these activities and to make the best use of them.
We began the day mixing with the senior members of CoEJ and the Jama’ats representatives. I find this important to note as the youth must continue to learn from our elders and meeting with familiar and new faces gives us the opportunity to network and appreciate what our community leaders are doing.
On this note, we were honoured by a presentation from Muhsin Dharamsi, a person who’s efforts for the community and specifically the youth are known worldwide.
Muhsin Uncle started on a sad note by declaring his departure from the country, only to continue his work in India. While he will be greatly missed, it is now up to the next generations to ensure his excellent work continues. Among the efforts championed by Muhsin Uncle, we find his drive toward better preparation and understanding of marriage, an improved understanding of cultural fusion and a real desire to develop youth participation at all levels. Growing up in ‘the West’ I felt these topics are fundamental themes which must be addressed from the Mimbar and Madaris alike, however I was most pleased to see Muhsin Uncle address issues such as the media, Jama’at orientation and even the long term survival of the Khoja community which are (unfortunately) not regularly addressed within our institutions. It was these notions that sparked a daylong debate between the representatives on the roles of the Resident Alim and the President, so much so that Milton Keynes proposed to host a meeting to continue these discussions amongst all the Jama’ats in December. While there are several focal points to Muhsin Uncle’s presentation, I would like to particularly highlight the significance of “having our own agenda”. Muhsin Uncle repeatedly highlighted that the Shi’a community has been very reactive and have failed to address certain issues before their happening. In my personal opinion Muhsin Uncle left this topic quite vague to allow the group to reflect upon what challenges the Shayateen will place before our communities and how best to resolve them. On behalf of the Youth Representatives and the Community at large, I would like to thank Muhsin Uncle for his lifetime of service. May Allah the Almighty reward him in a way only He can.
Following (an excellent) lunch, we viewed the video presentation entitled “the journey home” providing an insight into the outstanding work done in India. While we may read and listen to reports, nothing imprints the message to your heart quite like watching the harsh realities of our brothers and sisters. A big well done on the excellent production of the film and a quick mention to those who designed the poster (making use of the recent CoEJ course). We look forward to viewing the whole film on ‘Eid al-Ghadeer.
We concluded the session by recapping our thoughts and declaring what we had learnt from the day; networking, different ideas and philosophies, knowledge that there are so many prominent and hardworking youths in our communities – and that Naare Haidery was originally a war cry! As for me, I learnt through “the journey home” video and Muhsin Uncles testimony of facilitating 60,000 people to become literate, that the youth in CoEJ have the chance to change the whole world – it’s just how much and how hard we work at it…
I would like to thank Sadiq Datoo, his team and the whole of CoEJ for allowing us this opportunity. May Allah the Almighty grant us the opportunity to achieve our goals.
Jaffer Ladak |
