The final day of Al-Tazkiya 2023 was full of mixed emotions; time had flown by so quickly! Although sisters were looking forward to day 3, there was a feeling of sadness that it was all coming to an end so soon.

Sister Nour Cauveren delivered her final workshop, a Practical Guide to Resilience and Gratitude. Nour spoke about journaling through the Quran. During the session attendees picked a verse and spent 10 minutes contemplating over it and then personalising the message of the Quran. The session concluded with Sister Nour asking all to pray to Allah Almighty that Barakah is put in the time we spend during our lives.

This was followed by the final session of Al-Tazkiya 2023 with Sister Misbah Wahid as the host. She introduced Sister Aaiza Iqbal who recited the verses of the Holy Quran beautifully. Nasheed was read by Sister Taiyyba Tabassum in her melodious voice. Sister Misbah then introduced Dr Ghazala Qadri to deliver her final lecture.

Dr Ghazala’s fourth talk with the participants of Al-Tazkiya 2023 was about the purpose of our lives.

She explained how there are rights and responsibilities owed to Allah (Huquq ul Allah) and there are rights and responsibilities owed to the people (Huquq ul Abaad)

She stated that when we are practising the Huquq ul Allah we should make sure that it does not only become a habit. It should be done with the intention of changing yourself and with concentration. We need to make the effort to know and learn what the rights of Allah (SWT) are; we need to make the time to learn the basic fundamentals of the Deen. Dr Ghazala Qadri mentioned the courses on offer from Minhaj College Manchester (MCM) as an example.

For Huquq ul Abaad (Rights of the People), she explained what the rights of others are and that each one of us has a responsibility on a global level, not just for those people within our own ambit. She further delved into the duty given to us by Allah (swt) that shows us our collective responsibility to each other.

Dr Ghazala concluded the session by explaining that this is the type of Dawah work Minhaj-ul-Quran International and Minhaj Sisters UK is doing, and it is the aim of this organisation to provide us with platforms to help us to fulfil this responsibility given by Allah (SWT).

She explained that Allah (SWT) has stated that we will be raised with our leaders on the Last day and we are so lucky to have such a great leader like Shaykh ul Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri to follow. She also reminded the participants that good company is that when you see someone, their appearance reminds you of Allah (SWT); when they speak, they increase you in good knowledge that helps get you closer to Allah (SWT) the Prophet (saw); and when they act, it reminds you of the afterlife.

Dr Ghazala left us with the question, are you ready to present your deeds to Allah (SWT)?

To conclude, a closing ceremony was held to thank all the participants of Al-Tazkiya 2023, as well as the organisers and volunteers who worked extremely hard to make this retreat possible. The raffle winner of the painting of Shaykh-ul-Islam was also announced. Congratulations to Brother Awais from MWF, who funnily enough was the only male to purchase raffle tickets!

A copy of the Quranic Encyclopaedia, signed by Shaykh-ul-Islam, was won by Sister Uzma Bashir from London!

The feedback received from the participants of Al-Tazkiya 2023 was found to be extremely positive:

“We all had an AMAZING time, alhamdulillah we learned so much as well as having fun together.

I really wanted to stress that the fact that this camp was females only we felt so comfortable, it felt like we were in our homes, we could let our hair down. Looking forward to our next al-Tazkiya camp insha'Allah”

“This has been a very spiritual and enlightening experience, where I learnt a lot of helpful information. I enjoyed all the sessions and I am grateful for having the opportunity to be able to spend this time with amazing speakers such as Dr. Ghazala Qadri and spend time in their company. Great experience Alhamdulillah. Can’t wait for next year’s”