3 Days of Biryani

This is not a ‘blog dakwah’. My blog is about subjects that interest me, which may include but is certainly not limited to muslim issues and Islam. Even then, I prefer my discourses on Islam to be intellectual and of a sober nature. As such, you’ll find, in this blog, few references to anyone’s personal experiences, their level of iman nor even, Muslims’ the world over all time favourite, “How I Came To Islam” tales.

However, I cannot but state that the past few days as anything else than an iman ‘high’.

There goes my first paragraph.

Describing the first Annual Australian Islamic Conference is difficult. It dealt with real-world issues and concerns, yet at the same time many hearts were touched. Controversies accompanied the conference but its findings stressed gentleness. Even the audience themselves; for a local conference, was overwhelmingly international. Only the biryanis perhaps have an accurate description.

However, this could be its Achilles heel. In its bid to cover as many areas conceivable, the conference could lose its focus. This may not be the case at present, when the Australian Muslim population is only few in number, but when it grows (and since these are muslims we’re speaking of, I would add; exponentially) can the impact the conference had on the delegates be replicated once the technical nature of the varied discussions increase? Or would it become of interest only to academics and dyed-in-the-wool Islamists?

Of course, I may be missing the woods for the trees here. The organizers, Mercy Mission, have after all stated that they do not intend to be a jack of all trades, but instead, a platform to facilitate projects and share resources. A DHL for Muslim organizations ,if you will, which IMHO is a wonderful and novel idea. Administrative efficiency is seldom the forte of Muslim organizations (probably due to their largely voluntary nature), but if through Mercy Mission these organizations can make their ideas work and be implemented widely by providing supply-chain services that are beyond the capacity of the organizations i.e. national advertising, technological know-how, then perhaps that exponential growth may not pose such a problem after all.

My petty concerns aside, I do feel it was a wonderful experience. It was odd initially to see the Melbourne University's Economics and Commerce Building turn into a mini Taman Melewar, but then you realize what you were observing were really the reality of Muslims. Not radical militants, certainly not assimilating apologists, but rather a colourful bunch of families who want, as Shabir Ally puts it, “maximum happiness one earth, and maximum happiness in the hereafter.”

To the speakers, Dr Jamal Badawi, Shabir Ally, Waleed Basyouni, Tawfique Chowdury, and Yvonne Ridley, I thank you for sharing your invaluable knowledge and experience with us. May it be of great benefit to all, and may you be rewarded for your service. To the organizers, I congratulate and thank you for organising a conference of such scale smoothly (albeit delayed) and successfully beating expectations. I pray that next year’s conference be far better, In Sha Allah.