Minhaj Sisters UK brought back the most anticipated event of the year, Al-Tazkiya! The two-day event aims to enhance and develop spirituality and faith among the participants through the company of Dr Ghazala Hassan Qadri.

Due to unpredictable circumstances arising out of Covid-19, Al-Tazkiya was held online again this year which led to sisters registering from all over the world! This year, Al-Tazkiya’s theme was ‘The Quest for Knowledge: Connecting our Past, Present and Future’. The objective was to inspire sisters with our past and to make them proud of our Islamic heritage. But at the same time make them aware of the importance of knowledge and that gaining it does not stop at attaining a degree or for a better job but is much more than that. In order to understand and attain the true essence of Knowledge and reach the great heights of it, one needs to be attached to Allah Almighty, the Beloved Prophet (PBUH) and the Holy Quran.

Al-Tazkiya 2021 began at 11:00AM with the opening ceremony hosted by Sister Ansa Hussain (President of Minhaj Sisters UK). Sister Reeda Sheikh commenced the session with a beautiful recitation of the Holy Quran. This was followed by the Barakah Sisters performing a variety of nasheeds to enhance the spiritual feeling of the event. Sister Ansa highlighted the aims of Al-Tazkiya and introduced our amazing line-up of guests and speakers.

Following on from the thrilling opening ceremony, there was a great anticipation for the activities to begin. Sister Ambreen Mehmood (Al-Tazkiya 2021 Project Lead) led a webinar titled ‘Discoveries by Islamic Civilization and the Role They Played in Shaping Today’s Society’. Sister Ambreen discussed the great Muslim contributions that were made during the Islamic Golden Era, where Muslim empire flourished in every field of knowledge and these achievements have been unmatched since then.

The Muslims strived for excellence in knowledge, as Islam and Holy Prophet (PBUH) urged Muslims to strive to attain knowledge from the cradle to the grave and even if they had to travel as far as China to attain beneficial knowledge, Muslims considered researching and attaining knowledge as an act of worship that took them close to Allah Almighty.

Nowadays, when knowledge is at our fingertips, unfortunately we have failed to achieve excellence of knowledge and have become stagnant in our quest of knowledge. What are we lacking? What is causing hindrance in our quest of knowledge? We have lost our link and connection to Allah Almighty, and His Beloved Messenger (PBUH) and we are no longer seeking guidance from the Holy Quran.

If we want to attain excellence, then we must turn back to the Holy Quran and its teachings through which we will become linked with Allah Almighty and the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The attendees thoroughly benefitted from this informative webinar and were looking forward to the next session to begin!