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Muslim American Society Holds First Sister's Day Event
By Sahar Kassaimah
LOS ANGELES, Aug 19 (IslamOnline) - The Muslim American Society (MAS) on Saturday held its first annual women's convention at Fullerton University in Los Angeles, Calif., under the theme of "The American Muslimah: Rising to the Challenge".
Around 525 Muslim women of different nationalities from the Los Angeles and San Diego areas attended the convention, which started at 10:00 a.m. and was extended until 10:00 p.m.
Among the distinguished speakers invited by MAS was Sheikh Wagdy Ghoneim, Sheikh Hamdi Sadik, Sheikh Ahmad Sakr, Sr. Shahina Siddiqui and Sr. Mahdy.
The convention's programs and activities were addressed to English speakers, whom represented the majority of the attendees. However, there was an Arabic parallel program for Arabic speakers which included two fiqh sessions for Sheikh Wagdi and Sheikh Hamdi, as well as a parallel lecture for Sheikh Wagdy, about the purification of the American Muslima's soul.
When asked about the purpose of the convention, Abdussalam Syraj al-Deen, the convention's moderator, said, "We aim to create a distinct annual activity for the Muslim woman to connect her directly to our scholars and Sheikhs."
"We also want to train the Muslim sisters to organize and manage their programs and activities," he added.
Huda Ahmad said, "It's really a great idea to have a special convention organized, managed and attended by the Muslim sisters," adding, "I think we need such activities once every while to discuss our own issues and ask our questions."
"Nowadays, the social and family problems started to appear and increase in the Muslim community," she said. "At these conventions, our scholars can rebuild and reform the Muslim family, by teaching the Muslim mother how to protect her family from being dissolved in the non-Muslim society."
In the meantime, Asmaa, 25, also attending the convention, believes that it is very important to train the Muslim woman to be a leader.
"We are living in America where women have a great role in the society. But, what's about the Muslim American women? Where are we in the map? We have almost no influence in this society," she said.
"We need to learn how to be involved, how to organize and how to change. And I think these activities are good steps to achieve that."
On the other hand, Amani, 45, said, "It is a good beginning, but we wish if we can have more women speakers and scholars."
Intessar Hassoun said, "It is great chance to meet many sisters. It was not just an educational conference, but also a place where different sisters got to socialize and shared their views.
"Because it was an all women conference, sisters were more comfortable asking private questions that might be hard to be asked in front of husbands or children."
Assal al-Salman said, "It was a very nice and comfortable environment. Women came from all over to enjoy a nice educational conference. Basically, it was a success in every way."
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