Mera Aanchal Meri Pehchan- Women’s Conference and Cultural Festival
A two-day Women’s Conference and Cultural Festival was organized by the Mumbai chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) on the 16th and 17th of December 2017 at the YMCA grounds and attended by thousands of ladies. Here is an overview of the sessions:
The Conference was inaugurated by Mrs. Salma Lokhandwala (Director, Anjuman Islam group of Schools) and Mrs. Salma Baig (President, JIH Mumbai Ladies Wing). The layout of the Conference comprised of a grand central stage which hosted various speeches and panel discussions on religious and social matters and numerous exhibitory stalls that provided information to the ladies about the issues they face in their daily life so that they might develop self-confidence and be capable of making their homes a reflection of paradise, in addition to a food court and recreation area.
After the inauguration, the second session began at 2pm with a melodious recitation of the Qur’an by Mrs. Sadiya Abdul Qadeer. The inaugural address was delivered by Mrs. Saleha Sadiq. She emphasized that ‘Mera Aanchal Meri Pehchan’ is not merely a topic of this event, but also the slogan of our lives; it is our identity. Our Lord has not just created us and left us to fend for ourselves. He has bestowed upon us His guidance as well. But we have forsaken his guidelines and carried ourselves and our coming generations on the brink of destruction. Women are being exploited and they are routinely subjected to injustice. She reminded the audience that God does not change the condition of a people until they change themselves. Hence, we need to change. We need to turn back to Islam. We cannot change our condition by just lamenting over it. Mere slogans of equality and liberty are not enough. The only change that is required is to reignite our passions. What is required is to surrender ourselves to Islam. She advised the ladies to seek help in this regard by studying the Qur’an and the Hadith.
This was followed by an action song by the young girls of GIO that struck a chord with the audience.
The keynote address was delivered by Mrs. Salma Baig. She said that we are facing scores of issues today and the cause of all these issues can be traced back to our materialistic mindsets. Citing the 110th ayat of Surah Aal’ Imran and a Hadith on stopping injustice, she underscored that the Muslim Ummah is not living up to these guidelines. She cautioned the audience that the world is trying its best to overthrow the Islamic law and restrict Islam to meditation and prayers, which form only 20% of our life. The remaining 80% of our life is spent in worldly dealings, but we have erroneously kept it out of the purview of Islam. Contrary to our approach, the Prophet ﷺ, she reminded, was a social reformer who spent his entire life in solving the problems of society. She urged the audience to refrain from separating worldly affairs from religion and to concentrate on productive work in society which would curb social evils.
Mrs. Ishrat Shahabuddin was invited to share her life experiences with the audience. She encouraged the ladies to progress in life and achieve something. She stressed upon the value of hard work and dedication. A teacher by profession, she succeeded in developing the school she inherited from her husband from a capacity of 150 to the current capacity of 1700 students. She said that the objective of one’s pursuit should always be the hereafter. She reminded the mothers of their responsibility of being their children’s first teachers and urged the ladies to never lose hope in life.
The chief guest, Mrs. Salma Lokhandwala began her address by elaborating upon the teachings of Islam and stressing that Islam teaches a woman to adopt modesty and dignity. The sorry state of our youngsters today is a result of abandoning these Islamic teachings. Reminiscing about her childhood, she narrated that Islamic teachings were an integral part of her life. It is because the parents are neglecting this responsibility of grooming their children according to Islam that we see children getting addicted to drugs and other addictives. She said that modern education, devoid of religious education, is turning out to be a curse for our children. Our only hope, she averred, is to imbibe Islamic teachings in our children and asked to audience to seek God’s help in this regard through prayers and fervent supplications.
Mrs. Fakhira, who is the President of the ladies’ wing of JIH Chennai and CAC member, began by introducing the status of Islam and the role of ladies. She insisted that Islam is the sole solution to the problems of the world, but the Islamophobia that has been cultivated against it is keeping people away from it. The only way to establish justice in society is to study Islam and convey it to others and advised upon a 4-point formula for the same- calling people towards righteousness, refraining from acting against Islam, serving society and reforming ourselves. She warned the audience that if they fail to act upon these points, the future would prove to be more constrained for them and the later generations.
The first day concluded with a cultural program that was held in the evening from sunset to 9pm, and included recitations, dramas, poetry, solo performance etc.
The second day of the program began with a recitation of the Qur’an, after which Mrs. Mumtaz Nazeer was invited to the dais to speak to the audience on the depressing state of ladies today. She asked the audience to follow the examples of Lady Mary, Lady Hajirah, Lady Khadijah and Lady Fatimah. She said that ladies were treated very poorly in the past, but Prophet Muhammad ﷺ granted them a dignified status in society. She lamented that the entire world is again showing signs of those dark ages and cited statistical data to substantiate her point.
This was followed by a panel discussion on Gender Equality. The panel was composed of Mrs. Tanveer Khanum, Mrs. Fakhirah and Mrs. Farhana Shah, and it was coordinated by Mrs. Mrs. Jabeen Chaudhary.
The second session began at 2pm with a speech by Dr. Asma Zohra who had come all the way from Hyderabad. She pointed out that materialism has robbed humanity of its values and made the family system meaningless. It is the need of the day to study about and implement the task of inviting people to righteousness and forbidding evil. Thereafter, Mrs. Nahida Khan presented her study of a Hadith and explained the difference between good and evil and the things expected from us.
The Presidential speech was delivered by Mr. Taufeeq Aslam Khan, President of JIH Maharashtra. Speaking on the Islamic approach to marriage and weddings, he reminded the audience that piety should be the primary quality that needs to be sought after, and that the consent of the bride should not be ignored. He noted that the entire issue of triple talaq spoke volumes about our ignorance about Islam, opening up the doors to misguided rites and rituals. He explained how the Prophet ﷺ has advised men to treat their ladies with kindness and generosity. He also reminded mothers about their responsibilities vis-a-vis the future generations and advised the ladies to spend at least an hour everyday to understand Islam. He encouraged them to convey the correct teachings of Islam to other sisters as well and help remove misunderstandings about Islam from their minds.
As the program drew to its conclusion, Mrs. Abida Abdussalaam extended the vote of thanks. This was followed by the much-awaited prize distribution ceremony. All the participants were awarded with certificates, cheques and other prizes. The program concluded with a heartfelt supplication by Mrs. Salma Baig.
The two-day conference instilled in the hearts and minds of the ladies the firm belief that the only way to attain success and salvation was to follow the teachings of Islam and abide by the example of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The overall reach of this conference can be gauged by the fact that 35000 competition folders, 20000 conference folders and 70000 conference handbills had been circulated. 124000 people have viewed its promos on Facebook, other paid and organic promotion through FB recorded around 6 Lakhs and much more on YouTube. More than a lakh sms was received in a week and 15000 shares have been recorded on Whatsapp. Total Reach of the conference is twelve lakhs, twenty-six thousand, nine hundred and thirty-one.
Consolidated Report:
People reached by programs and printed material:
226,931
Social Media and SMS: 800000
Print Media: 200000
Total : 1,226,931
