Muktamar 2009 – A Different One [Part 2]

Muktamar 1

Liyana and my car’s got lost in downtown since we didn’t have a GPS and the Google Map only said one name of the road while it has 2 names (pelik jalan2 kat US ni, kiri nama lain, kanan nama lain). So we accidentally made a tour around there while trying to get back to the highway. Mind me, I know I’ve been there three times but I don’t remember much of the roads. Ehhe~

Checked into the hotel, I got the same room with Angah, Kak Anum and Kak Firuz. The room was nice Alhamdulillah. :D

And being with Angah as the co-Ameerah Muktamar, she’s outside most of the time till midnight to make sure everything will go smoothly. Kak Anum too, is responsible for MasterPIES booth worked hard preparing all the things for sale and reviews for visitors. Well, I thought I’d be free most of the time attending all the lectures. But in the end, I did skip a lecture for a meeting (my last meetings?)

Here in Atlanta, I met lots lots of new people who I never met before. Even earlier in Vandy, the huge group of freshmen made me feel quite out of place when I have to get into the same car with them. But, tak kenal maka tak cinta right? ;) Now I know Syifaa, Azirah (Jirah, macam ni ke eja?), Hafifah… and others. The other univ’s clans – Na’illah, Dila, Asilah, Atikah, Deeja… alamak I forgot their names. Maaf! But I’ll remember all your faces inshaAllah !

Ok let’s just highlight what’s important…

Muktamar 2

Qiyamullail – I think it’s a bit good job for myself, I managed to attend 2 out of 4 nights of qiyamullail compared to last year’s! Alhamdulillah.. Last year was a disaster since I slept very very late, or did sleep for 2-3 hours before running back and forth working. And I see this year’s committee are very good in managing, a number of them did wake up early for qiyamullail and I helped my sister waking people up (though takde orang bukak pintu pun bila kejut huhu~)

Perasmian – Our event was inaugurated by Indonesian Representative and MSD Chicago Director and the huge banner was later placed at one of ballrooms. I like the banner – ceria, clear, and not too fancy.

Lectures – Most of the lectures were superb mashaAllah! I admit I was always feeling sleepy plus I was still sick with flu. This year, IMSA’s parallel lectures did not interest me much since most of them talked about kids.. Soo… hehe~ And the good thing is the MISG lectures were really good even though we only had 2 speakers! 2 of our invited speakers could not attend Muktamar due to some problems (Visa problem mainly I guess). Ust. Zamri Hashim, Timbalan Mufti Perak and Sheikh Omar Baloch from Furqaan Institute of Quranic Education (based in Chicago!!) filled almost all the parallel sessions. JazakumaLlahu khayr katheera!

In the first main session (speaker: Ust Syamsi, Sh. Omar, Ust Joban), Ust. Syamsi mentioned what we have to do in uniting and serving community here in North America. One of them is Ma’rifatul Ishamul Fardi (Individual Affirmative). We should have positive perceptions to people other than our own ethnic. Islam is for all, not for a particular group or ethnic. Same goes to us as Malays, I must say a lot of Muslims (not all) I met here have stronger beliefs than us who are born and live in Islamic community. Therefore, we should work on together to bring Islam to the top of the world inshaAllah!

During a talk by Ust Zamri titled “Peribadi Penggoncang Dunia”, he said the characters of a “Penggoncang Dunia”, which is commonly listed as 10 muwasofat tarbiyyah (you can search on this online).

As far as we see now, human had lost their humanity – people do whatever they want, doing zina, riba’, corruption, not even have the love towards each other as sahabah. We have to work hard to get back the humanity into humans, to have everything back to fitrah of human beings…

Another point that I got in of the tazkirah subuh, “Utamakan diri sendiri dalam ibadah utama (solat, puasa, dan lain2), tetapi utamakanlah orang lain dalam hal-hal dunia”. Given by Ustazah Wirianingsih. This reminds me of the hadith

لا يؤمن احدكم حتى يحب لاءخيه ما يحب لنفسه

Annual General Meeting MISG 2009 – this was the big session. Though I’m not part of Qiyadah anymore, being one of the Shura members gave me a different angle of seeing MISG. As I’m leaving the position, we discussed new resolutions for 2010 and I hope the new Shura Board and Qiyadah executives will work hard to bring up back MISG for 2010. Finally, 3 new faces of Shura board will lead with 4 old members. The qiyadah members were not introduced yet during the meeting, but the President was announced. May Allah help them and us to maintain and improve the Islamic environment in USA, and among Malaysians to be specific.

Yaumun Nisa – Honestly, I was a bit frustrated to see less MISG sisters attending the ta’aruf sessions as this is the time to bridge the gap between MISG and IMSA sisters. But I know the parallel lecture for brothers was attractive. So I do not want to comment much. The game time also happened to face the same thing, but it’s the other reasons. I did enjoy the Tebak Sahabat Nabi (Quiz of the Companions) though I only managed to answer 1 question! The other groups were so fast raising up their hands while I’m still waiting for the question to finish. Haha… I’m sorry mbak2, I caused the group to lose. Mbak Rita still remembers me, mashaAllah, as well as Mbak Rina, and mbak Novi. I’m going to miss them much!

Performance night – I did only watch the first show by the kids from 3-6 years old. They sang Shahadah nasyeed, I’m not sure by whom but definitely a kids’ song. It was sooo cute! At the end of the performance, the kids gave their donation box they collected to an Atlanta representative for Atlanta Islamic programs! They were sooo cute, waiting and asking on the mic who is the representative. The imam of Masjid Atlanta wasn’t able to come I think. Later after that, I was called for a meeting with the new qiyadah members. As usual, I said the same thing every year as a reminder hehe~

LDK session

Well, I guess that’s just it. I woke up late for jama’ah Subuh, and unfortunately, the closing ceremony was done earlier, right after Ma’thurat reading, instead of 9 am. Between 9.30 – 11.00 am, we had farewell among us as many of us were heading back or going somewhere else. As for my group, we joined Post Muktamar.

# I did almost cry listening to IMSA sisters’ performance, as I miss so much my dearly sisters who graduated with me, as well as sisters who couldn’t come to Muktamar this year. And this time, not many seniors came, so the farewell was not too emotional I think. Hehe.. The sisters from Iowa were so happening cheering me up lots of time. The sisters from Purdue working hard selling cute souvenirs and gave me free gift. And, I’ll make sure I see you again, Izzati. Ok? #

I will remember all those relationships we have made inshaAllah!

Next: Post-Muktamar