Voice of British Muslim Women

Arfa Yassir, Swindon

From the corner of my eye, I was looking at the table which the stage secretary had asked me to place a flower vase and some other things on. I placed the vase in the centre, thinking it looked “best” that way, contrary to what I was told which was to place it towards the right-hand side. The stage secretary would come in, busy in her tasks, and place the vase towards the right again, and I would repeatedly “correct” her “mistake”. Quite an assistance that was! Being a young Nasirah (member of the girls’ auxiliary), it was my first experience to assist with any task at the Ijtema. This juggling continued until finally she walked in with a box and took out all the stuff she had to place on the table and arranged it. I had no other option but to look away and think “it wasn’t me!” 

This was the first lesson that I unconsciously learned: not everyone can assert their own version of what is “best”, and when you’re working on a hierarchical team, you might not be privy to each and every detail, so it’s better to work and contribute within your scope, and discuss whenever you think you have ideas.  

If we look at the corporate world as well, there is no product, venture or service that is possible without a coherent team effort. Individual brilliances will amount to limited or no professional progress, if you don’t know how to deliver within a team environment. Co-existing, leading, following, overlooking each other’s mistakes, helping each other no matter the circumstances, are the factors that can even help bring together a family, as well as any other team.  
 
Although the blessed event of Ijtema is about spiritual uplift and religious academic learning, it also serves as an institution for learning a diverse and broad range of life skills. It is literally an event by women, for women, ranging from planning to management of the event the teams, the individuals, food, accommodation, competitions and so on, whilst keeping in the mind the resources at hand. Lajna members come together to make their event possible through their own humble efforts within various interconnected teams.  

Different parts of the world have different challenges, for example in some countries, security and managing the number of people; each year people are carefully selected to attend the Ijtema so that everyone is given an equal opportunity to attend and participate. The event must not be conspicuous in the locality, Lajna will not always get permission to arrange it at the mosque, and they might have to break the event up into sub-events at different venues on different dates. Planning for such events has to be even more detailed and complex. In spite of it, Lajna will manage to find ways to work around such challenges, although they will never stop coming! 

At a Lajna Ijtema wherever in the world it takes place, every team within the hierarchy will confront and solve their own challenges, hence you cannot name a life skill which does not come into play. Communication skills, interpersonal skills, problem solving, creative and critical thinking, resilience, time, financial, stress management, a healthy spirit of competition, adapting to change of circumstances – the list of skills gained goes on forever! 

Be it the listeners, who learn new things, those who fulfilled various duties, or those who have connected with the community and felt the bond of sisterhood get stronger, the entire event helps every woman who attends, to walk out with more self-esteem, confidence, knowledge and a sense of a strongly knit community under the love of God Almighty.  From praying together to serving together towards a common goal, it is all about personal growth, growth which makes us humble, thankful and leads us closer to God Almighty’s love. Undoubtedly, Ijtema helps us towards the ultimate goal of our lives, the love of God and His creation.