On the 28th January 2012 Mississauga Muslim Community Centre (MMCC), Canada held its annual Mawlid conference celebrating the birth of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.). It was a Alhamdulillah a great success with sisters of all walks of life attending.

The keynote speaker was Sister Ghazala Qadri, member of the Supreme Council (MQI) and General Secretary of Minhaj-ul-Qur’an Women League International.

The guests of honor were Sister Ayesha Qurrat-ul-Ain, Sister Khadjia Qurrat-ul-Ain and Sister Basima Hassan Qadri the daughters and granddaughter of Sayyidi Shaykh-ul-Islam. The event was organized by the Minhaj-ul-Qur’an Women’s League, Mississauga

This conference was also graced by many sisters who sang poignant nasheeds creating a lovely atmosphere that all enjoyed.

The youth sisters in particular made a very big impact under the guidance of sister Rabia Malik and sister Zuniera Afzal. After putting in many hours of practice their team of over 20 nasheed artists delighted the audience with their renditions of Arabic and Urdu Nasheeds.

This was complimented by Sister Rana’s own unique style hosting of the event.

Indeed the entire program was a collective effort by all of the Minhaj-ul-Qur’an brothers and sisters. A special note of appreciation to sister Shabnum Arshad for her wonderful décor of flowers and drapes for the stage along with her assistants sister Anwar and sister Ayesha. The Sister’s Mawlid Conference is one of many programs that are held throughout the Greater Toronto Area by IMQ Canada during Rabi-ul-Awal with many gatherings taking place in homes and halls remembering Allah Almighty’s beloved Prophet (saw) and the many favors that He has bestowed upon us.

On this occasion Sister Ghazala Qadri spoke about the charismatic personality of the beloved Prophet of Islam and how he was sent to this earth as a role model for all of us to follow. She implored everyone present to celebrate this wonderful occasion by trying to emulate and adopt the habits and characteristics of what the Holy Prophet (saw) preached in their own lives and to vow to change their lives for the better. On this particular occasion she highlighted the particular quality of patience that the Holy Prophet (saw) cultivated whilst presenting Islam to his followers. She illustrated through examples of his seerah how many obstacles he had to face, hardship and adversity but at every stage showed great tolerance, mercy and compassion for his fellow human beings.

Allah Almighty in his Majesty, throughout the Qur’an guides His beloved prophet on the mechanisms of sabr and patience which are in fact guiding principles for us to follow. Sister Ghazala Qadri illustrated from the Holy Qur’an how Allah Almighty states true patience can only be adopted if you do so for the sake of Allah (swt) alone. If one seeks only the pleasure of Allah when tolerating injustice or hardship that becomes the strongest motivational factor for change. However in order to perfect this motivation one needs to create a strong link with Allah (swt) which can only be done through having a great attachment, love and affection with Allah’s (swt)beloved, the Holy Prophet (saw). This attachment and love needs nourishment and nurturing throughout one’s life and the holy month of Rabi-ul-Awal is a unique time to allow this to be cultivated and then flourish.

Sister Ghazala Qadri also referred the sisters to the many works of Sayyidi Shaykh-ul-Islam on topics relating to Mawlid-un-Nabi and the personal characteristics of the Holy Prophet (saw). All of the participants were urged to purchase the many CD’s, DVD’s and books of Sayyidi Shakh-ul-Islam and reminded that all proceeds of the sale go towards supporting the numerous projects of MQI.

Sister Shahida Malik and her team organized an excellent book stall which proved to be a great success. May Allah Almighty accept the hard efforts of all those involved.