What I saw at the Salafi Winter Dawrah 2011

From Taqweem Ahsan, Head of Masjid as-Sunnah, Hounslow, UK

What I saw at the Salafi Winter Dawrah 2011

Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah

All Hamd is for Allah and may the salat and the salam be upon the Mes senger of Allah. To Proceed:

I wanted to share some of what i observed at this years conference in Birmingham organised by our noble salafi brothers at Masjid As-Salafi, Wright Street, Brimingham.

Firstly due to the late and little advertising of the Birmingham conference and some other issues, i was not expecting the conference to be that busy but much to my surprise this years conference of 1432H was BY FAR the busiest and most packed that i have EVER seen it and all Hamd is for Allah!

Having lived through approx 40 Maktabah Salafiyyah conferences over a period of 20 years (as there are usually two national salafi conferences per year which take place in birmingham, one in the summer and one in the winter) and having attended most of them, the conference of 1432H was awe inspiring and by far the busiest!

The masjid was practically full with many brothers having to stand u nable to find anywhere to sit at all during the lectures. As for those who were sitting, then many of them including myself were squashed between others having no where to go and no where to move for hours (thats if you didnt want to get up to leave and risk losing your space and perhaps not be able to come back into the masjid for a while due to the crowd of people stuck in the door way).

Masha'Allah there were brothers from all over the country north and south and from many cities where the dawah salafiyyah had newly entered. There was also an increase in the numbers of brothers from those citues where the dawatus-Salafiyyah had entered over the last few years and all praise belongs to Allah.

There also seemed to be a large and significant increase from a new, fresh and younger age group from amongst the teens which was really nice to see.

I booked a number of rooms in a nearby hotel for me and my family throughout the period of the confer ence but was told from some of those who slept in the masjid that it was a very difficult task to sleep there due to the increased number of people staying there, resulting in people having very little room to sleep.

As soon as we reached the car park on Saturday afternoon besides the Salafi Masjid to park our car, the first salafis me and my family set our eyes upon were the family of Abu Talha Dawood Burbank. All of them, the young family of Abu talhah, brothers and sisters, quitely walking to the masjid by themselves led by Talhah. It was truly a hunbling sight and a time to thank Allah for the favours of Allah upon us for having reached Birmingham, 200 miles away, in one piece and unharmed. By Allah through out the conference whenever my eye caught a glancing glimpse of Talhah, i saw him with a smile on his face. May Allah keep us all firm and pleased with the Qadr of Allah and save us all from difficulties and trials and tribulations which test our faith.
I was really pleased to see our brothers from Daras-Sunnah Shephereds Bush attending in force as usual sitting as close to the front as possible. Alhamdulillah when i saw them as a jama'ah i could only thank and praise Allah Azza wa Jal for having protected them and kept them steadfast and united throughout these times of trials and tribulations, may Allah keep them firm.

They are in my estimation an excellent example to follow and be permissably envied for the sake of Allah due to the patience, love and brotherhood which exists between them and i truly wish i could have been from their companions or they from ours. Masha'Allah Tabarakallah. It is unfortunate the same can not be said of our own community but Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala is the Most Wise and guides whom He wishes and trials individuals and communities in order to expose and debase them or raise them all of which occurs as a means of purification.

I was also pleased to see a numbe r of younger brothers from Masjid As-Sunnah Cranford i.e. those in the mid-teens who had made it to the conference using a commercial coach service. Even though there were a number of brothers who did not attend, it did not prevent them from getting together, organising themselves and making it to the conference by themselves. A truly pleasing sight and all Hamd is for Allah!

There were, as usual, a good number of brothers who had made it to the conference from various countires in europe, SubhanAllah!

As for the lectures then they were indeed excellent. Our noble Shaykh Al-Allaamah Ubayd A-Jaabiree gave an excellent lecture, as usual, explaining the virtue of Ahlus-Sunnah in this life and the hereafter and their excellent characteristics and the evils of ahlul-bid'ah and their charcteristics. Masha'Allah tabarakallah. May Allah protect the Ulema of Ahlus-Sunnah from the evil of that which has been created from amongst mankind and jinn.

As per usua l Shaykh Falah Isma'eel brought his knowledge to the table along with his humour, concern and light heartedness towards his brothers in the gathering and in the questions and answers session there was much benefit wa lillahil-Hamd. Despite having a major ankle replacement operation he still came in order to benefit the people. Subhanallah, an excellent example indeed! May Allah reward him with good and keep him steadfast and allow him to benefit ahlus-Sunnah throughout his life.

Our noble brothers Abu Iyyad Amjad Rafiq and Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Waahid gave some excellent lectures on the Ma'iyyah of Allah and the principles of Ahlus-Sunnah regarding this Ma'iyyah. A brief history of the Jahmiyyah and how this sect came about and a detail of its lineage and the same for the Mu'tazilah, was discussed! Tremendous! Also that which was highlighted was the evil effects of the works of Aristotle which primarily included introducing greek philoshophy into the Islamic Aqeedah and the devestating effects this philosophy has had upon the muslim world til this present day and how its ideology has plagued the Muslim Ummah and its institutions such that its acceptance is growning rapidly like cancer throughout the Muslim world.

Abu Hakeem gave an excellent lecture on the tafseer of Suratul-Fatihah and an explanation of the 'Siratul-Mustaqeem' from the salaf. Masha'Allah an excellent lecture indeed.

I did not attend on Friday so i donot know if Shaykh Rabee's or Shaykh Muhammad ibn Hadees link-up took place.

So overall it was an excellent conference with an excellent attendance reflecting how the dawatus-Salafiyyah is continously growing in the UK and the west despite the efforts of some who try to disfigure and harm it and wish for its demise and it reminded me by contrast how the salafi conference was twenty years ago, in Birmingham, during winter. I remember it was 1991 (or maybe 1992) and it was my first conference and the n umber of people who attended was enough to form one large circle!

All praise be to Allah, how the dawatus-Salafiyyah has increase by leaps and bounds and may it continue to increase rapidly. Ameen!

May the salat and the salam be upon the Messenger of Allah and all Hamd is for Allah Lord of all the worlds.

Wasalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.

Taqweem.