Alhamdulilah by the Grace of Almighty Allah (SWT) and His Beloved Prophet (PBUH), Minhaj Sisters League (The Hague NL) arranged exclusive and unique gatherings for Sisters this Ramadan called 'Ramadan Spiritual Weekends'.

These four weekends were full of knowledge and spiritual fulfillment. Every weekend in Ramadan these sessions were held in Minhaj-ul-Quran Centre, The Hague. The weekly sessions were led by Sister Sumaira Faisal (former President Minhaj Women League Markaz) in Urdu, with live translation to Dutch being done on screen. Several sisters attended the programs.

The schedule of the program was in the following order:

• Surah with Urdu translation of Irfan ul Quran, translated by Shaykh ul Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
• Ahadith from the Hadith compendium ‘Al-Minhaj al-Sawi min al-Hadith al-Nabawi ’, compiled by Shaykh ul Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri.
• Work and CD/ speeches of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri
• Fiqh subjects
• Asma-ul-Husna from the book Al-Fuyudat al-Muhammadiyya, written by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri.

Selected surahs were explained with the Urdu translation of Irfan ul Quran. The sessions commenced with a beautiful Quran recitation in Sheikh Mishary Rashids’ heavenly voice. English translation of the recitation was shown on screen so that the participants could understand the beauty of Allah (SWT’s) words. After the recitation sister Sumaira provided an Urdu translation from Irfan ul Quran and gave a short explanation about the recited Quranic Surah. The following Surahs were recited and explained:

• Surah Ar Rahman
• Surah Yasin
• Surah Mulk
• Surah Waqiah
• Surah Anfal

The session then continued with a brief study and discussion of various Ahadith from the Hadith compendium ‘Al-Minhaj al-Sawi min al-Hadith al-Nabawi’.

During the Ramadan Spiritual Weekends we also went through some other works of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri, among others the following books were discussed:

• ‘Falsafa-e-Sawm’
• ‘Imaan ka Markaz-o-Mehwar Zaat-e-Mustafa (PBUH)’
• ‘Husn-e-Ahwal’
• ‘Hayat-un-Nabi (PBUH)’
• ‘Aqida-e-Shafat un Nabi (PBUH)’
• ‘Aqida-e-Tawassul’
• ‘Jami‘ al-Sunna fima Yahtaj Ilayh Aakhir al-Umma’, the following subjects were discussed:
  • Ahl-e-Bait (R.A)
  • Awliya Allah
  • Sahaba Ikram (R.A)

A lecture of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri was then showed which was related to the Surah which was recited at the start. The following lectures were shown on a projector:

• ‘Allah se maafi maango’
• ‘Hijrat Ilallah (Migration towards Allah)’
• ‘Mahabbat-e-Elahi’
• ‘Allah or banday mein rishta-e-Mahabbat’
• ‘Laylat-ul-Qadr’ - Itikaf lecture 2012

Sister Sumaira then discussed some Fiqh subjects as well such as Fasting, Purification and Salaat for example.

All 99 names of Allah (SWT), the Asma-ul-Husna were also taught with its meaning taken from the book Al-Fuyudat al-Muhammadiyya of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. The sessions then ended with Naat, Zikr and Salaat-ul-Tasbih. The session of Sunday 28th of July was special one as participants commemorated Sayyida-e-Kainat Hazrat Fatima (ra) and the Ahl-e-Bait (ra). Sayyida-e-Kainat Hazrat Fatima (ra) is the daughter of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and was very special and dear to him. Sayyida-e-Kainat Hazrat Fatima (ra) was presented as a role model for women in the west. Her life and sacrifices are an example for the Muslim women even after 1400 years. The programme started with a recitation of the Holy Quran. The participants listened to the recitation of Ayat-e-Tadheer from Surah Al Ahzab.

A part of the lecture ‘Shaan-e-Sayyida-e-Kainat Bazuban-e-Sarwar-e-Kainat’ of Shaykh ul Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri was then shown on a projector. After this, sister Sumaira described the virtues of Sayyida-e-Kainat (ra) and explained relevant Ahadith from the book ‘Shaan-e-Sayyida-e-Kainat’ by Shaykh ul Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri. During this session a special Manqabat was presented in respect of Sayyida-e-Kainat Hazrat Fatima (ra) and the Ahl-e-Bait (ra). At the end everyone was gifted a red rose, around 70 women and sisters attended this session.

Reported by Marinah Syed Shah and Nosheen Ali