Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah, the SP Women’s Conference went very well on Saturday. It was the first event of its kind hosted by SunniPath and with about 100 participants can be said it was a definite success. I’m sure most of the attendees can agree that we would love to see more one day conferences because they rejuvenate us and help us reconnect, Alhamdulillah. May Allah reward everyone who was involved with the planning of the event- it was very beneficial.

There were students from various countries attending and though most people would think it was only sisters who attended, there were even a few brothers. The first topic that was covered was “Our Purpose in Life.”

Our Purpose in Life

In this session, Ustadha Zaynab helped remind us that though we wear many hats in life, the one role that take priority over all others and supersedes them is that of ubudiyya, or servanthood to Allah. Being such, we should be mindful of the fact that even the roles we play in life such as daughter, sister, mother, wife, student, teacher, etcetera - can become means by which we worship Allah. When we remember Allah in our actions or intend to fulfill our roles to please Him, then insha’Allah our reward will be based on such intentions.

Ustadha Zaynab discussed how there are multiple reasons why we may feel disconnected from our purpose, there may be internal and external pressures but the way reconnect is to increase in our acts of worship, our ibadah. Ibadah comes from the root word that means to communicate, so when we are performing acts of worship, it is as if we are communicating with Allah. She emphasized that to worship Allah is to love Allah- He is the one above all who deserves to be praised and worshiped. She reminded us that this is the definition of God- He is the one who everyone is in need of, but He is in need of no one. So when we are worshiping Allah, it is in fact a benefit to us.

Ustadha Zaynab also reminded us that when we feel a disconnect we should increase our non-obligatory acts of worship, such as sunna prayers or supererogatory acts and also increase in our dhikr, or remembrance of Allah. She gave us eight key statements of remembrance and they are: La illaha illa Allah, Subhan’Allah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar, La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah, AstaghfirAllah, Rabbigh firli wa tub ‘alayya and Allahumma salli’ ala Sayyidina Muhammadin wa Aalihi wa sallim.

Before we finally wrapped us this session, Ustadha Zaynab again reminded us that life is a test and Allah tests us and sends tribulations to benefit us insha’Allah they will serve as a means of drawing us closer to Him. And to pass this test we must adhere to the guidelines in the Qur’an and Sunna and remember that we can only be responsible for ourselves. So even when others are not fulfilling their roles, what is important is that we fulfill our roles because Allah will ask us about how we acted and the blame is on us if we had the capacity to fulfill the Divine command (of keeping the ties of the womb, of being kind and dutiful to our parents, etcetera) and did not do so.

May Allah gives us all tawfiq and allow us to become better servants. Insha’Allah May He grant us patience and forbearance and draw us closer to Him.