Minhaj Youth League Norway carried on the tradition from previous years and arranged an Iftaar program this year as well. The Iftaar program took place on Sunday the 13th September, and was for both sisters and brothers.

After a process of inviting people trough posters, flyers, internet, e-mail, text messages and personal invitations - about 100 sisters and brothers joined us in the Iftaar program.

The programme started with recitation of the Holy Quran by Qari Ghulam Mustafa, and continued with the Norwegian translation by Brother Zulqarnain Hussain from MYL, followed by a welcome speech by Brother Atif Rauf Qadri, the president of MYL Norway.

Brother Hassan Naveed and Zartash Bashir performed their duty as stage secretaries, and welcomed Sheema Naat Council to recite a beautiful Nasheed with duff in the glory of Rasool Allah Sallalahu Alayhi Wa Aalihi wa Sallim.

Followed by this was a short movie called “Devil vs Atif”. This movie was about how we need to control our nafs even though the devil is chained down in the holy month of Ramadan. Brother Atif Rauf Qadri played the role as Atif, and Brother Wasif Majeed played the role as the devil. All short movies shown during the programme were made by Minhaj Youth League Norway, and both brothers and sisters did a great job producing them.

Brother Wasif Majeed spoke about spiritualism, different periods in Ramadan (ashra), and emphasized the importance of Layla tul Qadr, giving reference from the Holy Quran and Hadith.

After an informative and engaging presentation by Brother Wasif Majeed, there was another short movie shown. “Respect for parents”. This is a movie about importance of respecting our parents. It is about a mother and her daughter, and about how easily we forget the respect for parents. Sister Madia Bashir played the role as the mother, while sister Sanah Aslam played the role as the daughter.

Sister Maryam Nasim and Sister Amna Zafar (both from MYL), gave a presentation about Aagosh. They spoke about what Aagosh is and what its goals are. The sisters also accounted for the different ways one can contribute.

After the presentation, MYL Norway showed another short movie. “Panda wins..not the devil” is about the importance of praying at time. The rolls in this movie are played by Brother Atif Rauf Qadri and Brother Hassan Naveed, who leave their activities and go to pray.

Further on, Sister Iqra Ejaz and Sister Fatima Zafar spoke about the importance of continuing the good deeds after Ramadan. Giving references from the holy Quran and Hadith they also gave ten suggestions about how to maintain the same routine.

The sisters from MYL had to stop their presentation half way since it was time for Iftaar. The sisters went down to the second floor for Iftaar and to perform Maghrib Prayer. The brothers did the same on the third floor. After the Iftaar, the programme continued with Sister Iqra Ejaz and Sister Fatima Zafar finishing their presentation.

After the presentation, brothers from Minhaj Naat Council recited a beautiful Nasheed in the glory of Rasool Allah Sallalahu Alayhi wa Aalihi wa Salim.

Respected brother Nasir Ali Awan joined us for question and answer session. The sisters and brothers were given pen and paper to write down their questions, and brother Nasir Ali Awan answered them in an understandable and informative way.

Towards the end of the programme we showed “Ramadan bloopers”, a short movie about the mistakes made by brothers and sisters during the making of all short movies.

The programme ended with Dua by the respected brother Nasir Ali Awan.

Report by: Hassan Naveed
Minhaj Youth League, Norway