ISNA '06

the intro:

as promised, my extremely lengthy isna review...

for those unaware, i recently attended the 43rd Annual ISNA Islamic Convention in chicago during labor day weekend. i went last year and hated it. alhumdulillah, this year was quite a different experience.

if you've read my numerous ISNA-related blurbs on islamica, some of this might sound familiar. but i added and formatted a quite bit so this is more of an extensive review. this is probably more for my benefit than yours; the closest i'll get to typing up my non-existant notes.

the peoples:

last year was the year i saw everyone from albuquerque; this year, i ran into half of albany, it seems. alhumdulillah, it's always a pleasure to meet up with people you havent seen or talked to in years(and yes, even some childhood friends from the troy days). one of the best things about ISNA is that feeling of Ummah [community], of sisterhood/brotherhood from the fellow practicing muslims around the US and canadia. this year was also the year i got to meet numerous islamicans (of www.islamicaweb.com fame). verily, i heart these people. who would've thought an online community would inspire and help increase my iman so much? alhumdulillah. though because of the increased socialization from last year, it's only natural that i have to write about...

lobby scene:

this was the first year i really had an opinion on the issue. last year, i'd fly by the lobby and never really stopped long enough to get a negative vibe. but this year, even though the majority of my time spent there was waiting in line for coffee or waiting for some friends to show up, some of the things i'd heard/seen absolutely disgusted me to the core. though there were plenty of people down there who were "just talking"; tons of clusters of only-guys and only-girls, the "religious" people as well as the "shady" ones and i'm sure, inshaAllah, mixed groups who kept their conversations completely halal. but this is what got to me, more and more as the convention drew on: yea, i spent some time down there. no, i wasnt hitting on anyone or being hit on. no, i dont feel as though i was doing anything wrong (except, perhaps, one time where i should've done something better). but honestly, why subject yourself to such an environment? we know we have weaknesses; why would we test them?

thinking back to some of the things i'd seen and heard, i literally feel nauseous. may Allah swt forgive me for my mistakes (the ones i make knowingly and unknowingly). may He prevent anyone from using my mistakes as an example of how a muslim should and is allowed to act. may He make my path to jannah easy for me and allow me to entrance. may He forgive me, may He forgive me, may He forgive me. ya Allah, please grant this for me and for all people. ameen.

the most depressing thing about ISNA, and i swear, this image will forever be burned into my memory iA, happened late sunday night. i was sitting with some friends in the hall that extends from the elevator to the rooms. it's like 3 am, and we're on the 7th floor by our rooms. we see suhaib webb go up to his room on the 8th floor, slowly walking down the hall, glancing over the edge every so often. he stops for a second and leans over the edge of the railing to look down towards the restaurant/lobby area of the hyatt. following his gaze, i see the crowded lobby filled with various people smoking hookah, playing poker, guys and girls sitting in each others' laps etc etc. and he stands for like 10 mins with this look on his face that i can't even describe; sadness, anger, confusion, helplessness. mind you, this was literally like an hour or so after he finished his speech at the impromptu entertainment session on sunday night. be reminded that, mashaAllah, the man had a qiyam til fajr on saturday night, was up for a 9 am session on sunday morning and was still awake made late on sunday to speak at an enetertainment session for the youth. after all his work, all his speeches, all his time and energy that he's put into helping US try to improve ourselves, that's the site he had to see as he walks back to his bed at the end of isna weekend. may Allah reward him in this life and the next. may He soften our hearts to receive and implement His Message. ameen.

sessions that stood out:

but despite the downside, i still, alhumdulillah, had an amazing time at the convention. i thought the lectures were much better this year than last year (but that's possibly because i just happened to attend bad ones last year). a good mix of spirituality and practicality. i know i went to a session on friday night, but i honestly don't remember much about it. do yourself a favor and remember to surround yourself with people who you know have a good balance between attending lectures and hanging out (read: eating awesome food on devon. mmm food on devon. more about that later). take notes, even if you feel as though they dont make sense -- even a sentence here and there will spark a memory for you and will iA be beneficial.

one amazing features that isna had this year was the availability of audio lectures from the current isna, available for sale about 2 hours after the session ends. i didn't really realize this until sunday so i was unable to check out the prices or which sessions were featured, but if they're only a few bucks, it would definitely be worth it get ahold of the spiritually uplifting and deen intensive sessions.

they had the location for the "after fajr sessions" wrong...for every day. missed the first day, but alhumdulillah was able to attend sunday and monday. simple, general, short and yet uplifting. i couldn't, for the love of me, remember much of what was said, but i know it rarely had to do with the topic listed. i would advocate a more intensive session but, let's face it, it's fajr. it's like 5 am. ain't nobody learning nuffin that early. but alhumdulillah, it's always an amazing feeling to pray fajr in congregation and especially a joy when the congregation is larger than the congregation at your local masjid for jummah, mashaAllah (the few numbers at jummah due to a small muslim population, and not low attendence/deficient iman, alhumdulillah).

i loved the session "our dollars, ourselves: muslims betwee charitableness and consumerism" with sheikh abdullah adhami, dr. ingrid mattson and naeem muhammad. dr mattson brought up some amazing points about the plague of consumerism that seems to be gripping much of the muslim american population (she related a story about a guy who, when asked to characterize muslims, responded with "they all like to drive black BMWs") and reminded us of not only what's important for ourselves, but to remember that we're setting an example in the US of how muslims should be. the most beautiful part of naeem muhammad's speech was when he was talking about a community of muslims who get together at least once a week to deliver food to the homeless. the area is recognized by the homeless and when a local news team interviewed them one friday, asking them why they were congregating around this area, one man replied "the muslims are coming with food." mashaAllah, how amazing would it be to be characterized as such? the best dawah we can give is just to follow the prophetic example. go donate to "islamic relief" (note the link on the right hand side of the screen). great, thanks.

the saturday night ISNA main session was absolutely electrifying. ingrid mattson's standing ovation literally brought tears to my eyes; i can't even imagine how overwhelmed she must have felt. to hear the scholars speak about her with such fondness and reverence was amazing, subhanAllah. may Allah swt reward and preserve them all. i loved robert fisk's speech, but was utterly confused at the audience's clapping. at one point, i swear people clapped at people being bludgeoned to death (astagfirullah). granted, i know they were clapping at the fact that fisk was actually exposing such news stories, but it was odd nonetheless. when the almost the entire audience stood on its feet, clapping, shouting, and whistling in approval at fisk's condemnation of oppressive muslim dictatorships, i was absolutely amazed. i kid you not, i had completely forgotten that muslims who don't allow themselves to fall prey to blind hatred of anything non-muslim (rather than unislamic) existed. suhaib webb, zaid shakir, hamza yusuf, abdallah idris, altaf hussain etc etc were all amazing, eloquent, motivations and unifying as usual, mashaAllah. it was the first time i'd heard suhaib webb speak. mashaAllah, he surpassed the hype.

my copy of the program is messed up so i can't recall the session title, but it was about the crisis..es (?) in lebanon/palestine. 2 for 2 ISNAs, altaf hussain made me cry. he was telling a story about himself and his infant son about to board a train in chicago. the platform was empty, his son was asleep. as the train rushed in, making this huge calamity of noise, his son's eyes shot wide open, his body shook with terror, his hands were clenched and, because there was nothing else to do, his son cried and wailed in fright. altaf hussain said he felt as though he had just witnessed firsthand the type of terror children in lebanon must have been feeling the last few weeks; to be woken from sleep at the sound of bombs dropping, to be utterly lost and confused and scared and not have a clue what was happening, what would happen, whether or not anyone would survive. subhanAllah. he and zaid shakir spoke of activism to condemn all wrongful acts of terrorism -- including and ESPECIALLY those committed by muslims.

just as the image of suhaib webb's disappointment on sunday night will always be burned into my memory, i, inshaAllah, will never forget the charged warmth in the impromptu (?) entertainment session on sunday. i walked in late, but caught the second half of ramadan beat boxing and, alhumdulillah, all of suhaib webb's speech. despite his soft voice, his words were amazingly inspirational, urging us to not only improve ourselves but to spread that inner peace to the environment around us. perhaps it was the informal atmosphere; most of the chairs had been put away so the attendees simply sat on the floor around an open area that served as a stage. everyone was sleepy, relaxed, enjoying the show and spending time with their friends and fellow muslims. it's an amazing feeling to be around other muslims whom you know (or, at least , pray/hope) are striving to improve themselves islamically, to please Allah swt. if you're often surrounded by non-practicing muslims or the ones who seem to only want to go through the motions and do the bare minimum, i think you'd agree that we often forget the other ones are still even there; we begin to feel ridiculous because no one in our everyday lives seems to share our beliefs. it's amazing to know that you have a support system of people who go through the same trials and tribulations and share the same values as yourself.

throughout the weekend, all the scholars seemed to have one constant running theme throughout their MSA/MYNA lectures: "we know it's hard, we know you make mistakes, but despite that, we support you." it was a welcome change from "if you're not practicing, you better turn around and fix yourself before you die and go to hell.... because you will." it was as though they understood the difficulties we go through, felt empathy, prayed for our souls and were willing to do everything in their power to help us on our journey. i felt this was especially true with Altaf Hussain and Suhaib Webb... or maybe it's because they've grown up in the US and i feel as though they can better empathize would our generation and the problems we endure. mashaAllah, may Allah swt reward all the scholars in this life and the next.

big word up to altaf hussain, zaid shakir and suhaib webb -- they all seemed to be doing 84903283 lectures isna weekend. i'm sure there were other people who did the same, but the majority of the sessions i attended featured at least one of these three scholars. i can only imagine how tiring it must be and how much preparation is necessary to give so many talks in a matter of 2.5 days. all for Allah swt, to help us improve our condition inshaAllah. may Allah swt reward them and all the scholars for their work. ameen.

next year, i think i'd like to do a lot more ibadah-oriented things (ie, qiyams) in addition to the lectures. considering i live in the boonies, it's an amazing feeling to pray with so many muslims, knowing that you're all there for one purpose, directing your worship to please Allah swt.

bazaar:

the bazaar sucked, in my opinion. no one was giving good deals/prices and i had yet to receive a reasonable discount by sunday. the hijab selection wasn't that great and the ones that were decent were extremely expensive. they sold out of under-sleeves in normal colors after like the first hour. though i carried a list of books with the online prices, booksellers were still intent to overcharge me, insisting they'd give me an overall discount so it'd even out in the end. the one up-side were the hilarious shirts from islamica, hijabman and maniac muslim. i heart my "fasting but not furious" shirt and am deeply mourning the fact that i didnt get a "your mom... [back] has heaven beneath her feet" shirt :( if anyone's got the hook up, holla.

the food:

i never ate at the convention; heard it was overpriced and not worth it. but i did manage to get some giordano's (twice), italian express, ghareeb nawaz, usmania's, jumbo halal chinese and tahoora. second year in a row that i failed to go to the imfamous sabri nehari. next year, inshaAllah :)

i'll shut up now. :) salaam
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