When she told me I should go with her to a convention named Revival of the Islamic Spirit, a sense of utter cynical thought hit me hard. I said to myself, " is this a mass forum to cajole the minds of different faiths into accepting another religion?".
I was ready to take the plunge at one point. Not exactly knowing what is in store. We enter this fabulous architectural structure and I see people. None of whom transmitted vibes of any one religion or faith. Ah! That's a pleasant welcome. We get our tickets and glide down the long escalators to the main arena.
The first thing to catch my haywire attention is the elephantine hoarding which displays a picture of a young girl in a distorted state. It reads "I am a refugee". It is a piece of art made to create awareness about the 9.8 million innocent lives who now carry the burden of being tagged as refugees and some people have the audacity to call them outcasts.
I fathomed the message, the theme, the vibe of the whole event in split seconds. This wasn't about Islam! It was bigger than just a religious consensus. It was about humanity.
It's a fair. A gathering of people from the majestic Islamic faith from different facets and corners of North America. These individuals get together for 3 long days from dawn to dusk. They display art, they provide food, they sell ittar (traditional Muslim musk), they sell books, they network, they collect donations (for building a bright future for the less fortunate ones), they pray together, they laugh, they shed tears for those facing atrocities around the world (regardless of the faith), they attend long speeches, and they unite as one!
You see, there are scholars from across continents who come and deliver mind boggling anecdotes. They amplify the feelings of human gratitude and generosity through excerpts from the holy book of "Quran". Now, not once in their lectures or speeches are they trying to up sell their religion. You won't hear them say things like "Islam is the ultimate religion or your guide to heaven". They talk about life and it's varied trepidations and phases. They talk about youth, they talk about parenthood, about marriage, about how some people misconstrue the message of Islam and make others get involved in wrongdoing to humanity.
I was flabbergasted when one lean looking guy, who is famed to be a scholar of some level, came up to the podium and when he walked off in 9 minutes, he had convinced quite a few folks to contribute towards the state of Syria. Those 9 minutes resulted into a total net donation of 170,000 Canadian Dollars. It shows, not that people want to splurge. It shows that there is hope. Hope for humanity. You and I could be at the receiving end some day and if people like this lean scholar and people like those who loosened their purse strings on the night exist, believe me you, we will always have hope.
I went in a human and came out a better one. I left a burden of another cynical virtue out and I rejuvenated again. Life is so strange as it takes you through the most daunted and illustrious examples in the most unexpected ways and forms.
Religion I feel is just that rope we humans hang on to when we see other humans create rifts and conjure atrocities. No matter who and what you follow, or if you follow, places like these and events like these will go a long way in Reviving your spirit..!!
Ragz..
