Day 3 of Al-Tazkiya 2019 began with another relaxing yoga session by Sister Rosina Nawaz where sisters warmed up before the different sport activities planned. The blitz session consisted of climbing, abseiling, zip wire, archery and aerial trek course. The session was thoroughly enjoyed by all participants.

Not long after, the sisters got to play some competitive sports; choosing between rounders and basketball, they played in different teams, competing against each other. Despite being very competitive, it was an enjoyable session. The sports activities were a great way for sisters to feel fresh and energised for the rest of the day.

Lunch was followed by the first session of the day which began with Tilawat by Sister Roohi and Nasheed by Sister Rabeeah. Thereafter, a Minhaj Welfare Foundation presentation was delivered by Adnan Sohail. He spoke about the notion of preserving human life and dignity based upon the teachings of Quran and Sunnah. He also spoke about their different projects such as Emergency Relief, Raise a Family, Water for All, Healthcare, Qurbaani, EduCare and Orphan Care.

Dr Ghazala Hassan Qadri then presented her second talk titled Steadfastness and Motivation for MQI: How can we maintain our Dawah commitments? She discussed what motivation is and how to remain motivated when working for the mission.

When working for the mission, you enter with your body, your physical outer self, and you also enter with your Ruh, your inner soul. The inner and outer self work together. She explained how when you first enter the mission you are extremely motivated, but as your body tires, your inner commitments also tire and you become less motivated however as you don’t physically see this, you don’t believe you are less motivated. From there, she reiterated that you create defence mechanisms i.e. good deeds, to stay motivated and not stray from the right path. She also spoke about the advice given by Shaykh-ul-Islam about motivation: The first step is having knowledge about your aims and objectives; The second step is awareness and feelings; The third step is realisation, when you have this then no matter what, you will never stay at home and do nothing. She concluded her talk by encouraging sisters to support the different projects of Minhaj-ul-Quran.

One of the most anticipated sessions of al-Tazkiya 2019 was the Nasiha Session with Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. Shaykh-ul-Islam gave some words of appreciation to those sisters who made the retreat successful and beneficial to all participants by promoting the cause of the mission. He spoke about purification and how it is needed for healthy development; you can not progress unless you’re purified and if you get rid of the influences of evil, then you will be purified. Evil does not come through one single direction; it has many phases and paths to get to you. Those who have faith and believe in the unseen, the more guidance they start getting by Allah SWT.

Hazoor Shaykh-ul-Islam advised to try to keep our Iman strong and the easiest way is to get involved in Minhaj Sisters and create our own company and environment to strengthen our Iman. He concluded the session with a special Dua for all the participants.

A short presentation by Sister Sumaiyah Ali followed this on the topic of Islam, Feminism and Identity Politics. She spoke about the history of feminism and about feminism, in today’s society. She also spoke about feminism in Islam and the misconceptions that exist.

We then had a session on inspirational stories where the participants shared stories from their lives to help inspire others. The penultimate day of Al-Tazkiya ended with a spiritual session by the Barakah Sisters: nasheeds, hamd and dhikr was followed by a dua by Rania Hussain (Walsall). The participants felt spiritual and are looking forward to the last day of Al-Tazkiya 2019.