Bismillah, walhamdulillah, waS’Salatu was’salamu ‘alaa rasulihi’l kareem, wa ‘ala aalihee wa aSHaabihee ajma’een.

Dubai. Bling City. An Emirate known the World over as being “larger than life.” The recently concluded second iteration of the Dubai International Peace Convention affected this moniker to a tee. Under the aegis of the Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum World Peace Awards Committee, this year’s event pulled out all the stops and provided a World-class Islamic conference. The agenda was clear; Peace and how to achieve it. The solution was simple; implement Islam in our lives, individually and as a society, which ought to come naturally to us Muslims.

The event witnessed visitors numbering in the hundreds of thousands over the weekend. The Jumu’ah congregation of 60,000+ was led by World-renowned Qari Mishary Rashid al Afasy of Kuwait. The masses in attendance were treated to an eclectic selection of Scholars and Du’aat, addressing the issue of Global Peace through the multi-pronged, holistic and practical teachings of Islam. A large bazaar featured dozens of Muslim-owned SMEs showcasing their products and several Islamic organizations promoting their activities to visitors.

Team Kalemah was present in full force at the DIPC Bazaar, and a huge hit with the crowd. We gave away hundreds of da’wah brochures. We promoted our upcoming, intensive, exclusively-for-sisters weekend workshop “Nurturing Emaan in Children,” with dozens of people registering for the course. DVDs and MP3s from our previous seminars were on sale and extremely popular with the crowd. A prize draw, with scholarships to Kalemah courses, DVDs and other gifts being given away, drew several thousand entries. We also gave away hundreds of “Kalemah Kids” balloons to children, the demand being so great that at times we couldn’t blow up the balloons fast enough. We came, we saw, we called to Islam.

Several DIPC speakers visited our stall, got a chance to meet Team Kalemah and learn of our work. Some of these speakers will be invited to Dubai by Kalemah in the near future, in sha'Allah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrullah, we were blessed with the opportunity to meet and network with other Islamic organizations from around the World. The ability to talk to these organizations, exchange ideas and experiences, arrange collaborations and gain general mutual benefit fee sabeelillah was a tremendous emaan boost. Da’wah is hard work and many obstacles, man-made and Shaytan-made, block the way of those calling to the Straight Path. By the Grace of the Almighty, meeting these organizations and seeing the amazing work they do was both inspiring and motivating. In sha' Allah, we are actively looking into collaborating with a few of these organizations in the near future. We also felt a strong sense of accomplishment because even though Kalemah is a small, young organization (compared to others in attendance that are household names Worldwide), our activities and impact compare very favorably with theirs. It felt really amazing to be a part of the global Islamic Awakening. And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala alone is the source of All success.

“And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful.” [Suratu Aali ‘Imran 3:108] 

Allahumma salli wa sallim ‘ala nabiyyina wa habibina Muhammad.