A Masterclass Review
On 25th June 2023, both ISB Campus regulars and new faces to ISB, came together for an all day in person Masterclass on “Building Ihsaan in our lives”.
Arriving to Birmingham’s Al-Mahdi institute remarkably early for a Sunday morning, the day began with salaams, introductions and reintroductions followed by a reminder of ISB Campus’ missions and upcoming events from the chair-person of the day, Rasheed. After that, Maha and Ammar treated us to our first icebreaker, a challenging kahoot quiz with questions ranging from the most populated city in China to the name of the Angel of Hell. The quiz was a close competition between Zaaki and our first speaker of the day Dr. Riza, with Zaaki ultimately taking the win.
Dr. Riza’s talk focused on the relationship between you and God in the path to success through ihsaan. Dr Riza talked about the vertical relationship between us and Allah and the horizontal relationship between us and our community, highlighting the importance of working with our community in the process. Related to this, Dr. Riza posed interesting philosophical questions for discussion: how we know what we know, the layers of reasoning behind what we do and even the question who we are. One point that stood out from this was the idea of looking for ayaat (signs of Allah) not just in revelation through the Quran, but in every aspect of creation. This served as a reminder to recognize Allah’s Love and realize our true purpose as servants of Allah.
Following the talk, we took a well deserved break. We ate amongst the trees of the Al-Mahdi Institute’s gardens, catching up with old friends and happily making new ones- a few trees were even climbed!
After that we prayed behind Harees under the Chandeliers and high ceilings of the institute’s chapel. As light shone through the stained glass windows of the converted church, we heard a brief reminder from Alex where she reflected upon the biblical story of the tower of Babel and Islamic perspectives on the beauty of diversity, both within our teachings and between nations.
Following the talk, we took a well deserved break. We ate amongst the trees of the Al-Mahdi Institute’s gardens, catching up with old friends and happily making new ones- a few trees were even climbed!
After that we prayed behind Harees under the Chandeliers and high ceilings of the institute’s chapel. As light shone through the stained glass windows of the converted church, we heard a brief reminder from Alex where she reflected upon the biblical story of the tower of Babel and Islamic perspectives on the beauty of diversity, both within our teachings and between nations.
Next was Aunty Sara’s talk on building ihsaan through marital and family relationships.
From her wisdom organising with ISB, practicing as a doctor and building a family of her own, Aunty Sara reminded us of the importance of building a home based on common values and taqwa, finding a spouse that complements our skills and goals in life, and working to cultivate a loving and flourishing home in which to raise one’s future children. She gave us a range of practical tips and things to consider, so that – to our mostly unmarried audience – we could go into our futures finding a spouse that would be the emotional, physical and ethical support that we need. This might be symbolised well by the fact that it was Uncle Khalid changing the slides in the background as she talked!
After a short break, Shaykh Amer – our final speaker – built on Aunty Sara’s advice, bringing in his perspectives from both fiqh and experiences and training as a counsellor. We discussed gender roles in a marriage and the relationship between the Prophet SAW and his wife Khadija RA. This was part of highlighting how we can find a wide range of examples for marital relationships in the life of our prophet SAW. Shaykh Amer talked about the importance of being the same person in and outside the house – balancing softness and hardness- and brought that into the idea of bringing ihsaan in our family lives. This then gave us space to ask the Sheikh questions and clarify points from both Islamic and relational points of view.
After that we had a Q&A with all three speakers before preparing for dinner. This was paired with a birthday surprise for Ammar and more chances to catch up and mingle. Overall the day was hugely educational and enriching, as well as the perfect opportunity to spend time with some very cool people for the sake of Allah!
