PRINCIPAL FORUM (3rd) ANNUAL CONFERENCE
– Jamadal Ula 1446/29th November 2024
VENUE: Masjide Noorul Islam
GUEST SPEAKERS: 1) Moulana Saifuddeen Nisar Saheb
2) Mufti Shabbir Ahmed Saheb (DB)
APPROXIMATE ATTENDEES: 350 teachers from 27
different Madrasahs in total
(200 Male / 140 female)
On Friday 29th
November 2024 corresponding to 28th Jamadal Ula 1446, I attended the
Principal Forum conference as an ustaadh (Teacher) of one of the madrasahs in
Blackburn. As I arrived shortly after
4.45pm in the masjid car park, I proceeded to enter the masjid from the main
entrance to be greeted by other teachers from other madrasahs all here for the
same purpose – to benefit from the guest speakers and network amongst other
ustaadhs.
The host venue – Masjid e
Noorul Islam is one of the oldest masjids in Blackburn from the 1960s. Although the newly renovated building might
make you not see this.
The masjid has 2 jamat khanas
– one on the ground floor and one on the second floor.
5:00pm – Moulana
Muhammad Karolia (Principal of Madrasah Noorul Islam) initiated the conference
as the MC and reminded us of the journey from the last 10 years of Principal
Forum and how we had got to this stage from the previous years efforts. As he spoke, a video showcasing some of the
previous work and collaborations completed by PF were shown and the madrasahs
that have united on this noble cause over the years on various madrasah related
projects.
5:10pm – Moulana
Muhammad called upon an ustaadh of Masjid e Noorul islam to render tilawat
(recitation) of the Glorious Qur’an before inviting the first guest of
honour.
5:20pm – After the
tilawat of the Quran, the conference commenced by Moulana Muhammad calling upon
the guest of honour – Moulana Saifuddeen Nisar Saheb (Bradford). He explained the credentials of Moulana and
his pedigree on addressing contemporary challenges faced by our Muslim youths
today.
Moulana Saifuddeen talk was an eye opener and very helpful as a madrasah teacher to navigate the ever-changing challenges facing our children today. The whole speech along with the slides can be seen below:
6:10pm – As Moulana Saifuddeen Sb finished his
talk, it almost felt like we still wanted more but time was not on our side.
Isha Azan took place as Isha Jamat was at 6:15pm.
6:15pm – Mufti Saleh sb (the imam at Noorul Islam)
led the Esha salah in congregation and the men all joined downstairs and the
women joined from upstairs.
6:35pm – The second
session of the conference was initiated by Moulana Reeyaz Bala Sb (the imam of
Masjide Hidayah, Blackburn). Moulana
Reeyaz conveyed heartfelt gratitude on behalf of the Principal Forum to the
hosts – Masjide Noorul Islam who had done an amazing job over the past week
preparing for this conference for all Madrasah teachers. Masjid e Noorul Islam was going to feed all
the guests after the conference too as a dawat from the masjid. A very humbling gesture indeed! May Allah SWT grant them barakah.
Moulana Reeyaz re-iterated the
beauty of this unity within our madrasahs and the importance of the work
carried out over the years by the various Madrasah Principals under the
Principal Forum banner.
6:40pm-7:20pm – Moulana then introduced the guest of honour for this session – Hadhrat Mufti Shabbir Ahmed sb (Damat Barakatuhum). Mufti Shabbir sb needs no introduction as most of the UK, in fact most of the world knows who he is, and he is the Teacher of teachers. He is a senior scholar and senior teacher of Hadith and Iftaa. He is renowned across the globe.
Mufti Shabbir sb imparted some
pearls of wisdom in his short speech and then asked Hadhrat Moulana Fadhle
Haq Wadee Sb (Damat Barakaatuhum) to also impart some words of wisdom. The event was beautifully enveloped by the
final duaa made by Hadhrat Mufti Iqramul Haq sb (Damat Barakatuhum)
This whole speech and the final Duaa can be heard in the audio link below:
7:30pm The event closed
with a food dawat for all the teachers hosted by the Masjid management of
Noorul Islam. The food started with
Soji, chicken legs and finished with lamb Biryani. All the ustaadhs from different madrasahs sat
together in one room eating together was a scene which really was beautiful and
had to be seen to be truly understood.
The food was ON POINT TOO!
Overall, I will remember this
experience for years to come and take back the learning from this day in my
classroom in madrasah. Likewise, 300
other teachers will do the same and this undoubtedly will have a positive
ripple effect on our main audience in madrasah – our children and their Emaan.
Jazakallah Khair to the Ulama
who work tirelessly behind the scenes at Principal Forum for making this day
possible for us all.
As a result, we can better
ourselves in our respective madrasahs and bring about the correct teaching and
tarbiyyah for our children in safeguarding their Emaan and empowering them to
be proud Muslim ambassadors in the UK
A teacher in a Madrasah in Blackburn
