Ireland Blog - July 2009

Assalamualaikum wbt.

Alhamdulillah, we’re in the middle of summer holiday and will embrace Ramadhan very soon! The FOSIS Ireland team has been doing LOADS of running-arounds since elected in March and is now getting ready for next term.

Before settling down for study weeks, we have managed to get in touch with all Islamic Societies to get them re-affiliated and sat in most of their AGMs and meetings to explain what we have in mind and to get inputs from them as well. We have until today 9 ISOCs affiliated and hope to work together with the brothers and sisters in a few more universities and colleges to form new  ISOCs and reach the maximum number of 12 insyaAllah. A meeting with all Dublin’s ISOCs was also done in March and I daresay it was one of the most memorable meetings I’ve ever been in! Alhamdulillah, as the Muslim community in Ireland grows, there are more people, especially amongst the local Muslims who are now getting into universities and on board the ISOCs. It is also good to see that the balance between the international students and the locals in ISOCs looks like its going create a very dynamic sphere for the Muslim youth to continue giving an contributing to the society insyaAllah.

Besides that, we have also managed to help the Irish Cancer Society, finding them yellow ‘hijabis’ and brothers to help on Daffodil Day- an annual charity drive done by ICS. Alhamdulillah.

Right after exam, the team- FOSIS Ireland committee, as well as ISOC committees went for a getaway in Kerry. We also invited many of our alumni whom have been a tremendous help, giving us input and lectures as well as helping out in the kitchen subhanallah! Designing it to be a relaxed platform for all of us to chill, spend some time with one another, discuss our plans and ideas and learn and bond, the getaway was a good head start for better coordination and administration amongst the ISOCs and between the ISOCs and FOSIS this term. More on this can be read in the news section.

On the other hand, right after that, the sisters have been encouraging others to join the Flora Women’s Marathon on the Bank Holiday of 1st June.

The team then concentrated back on getting things planned for next term. Among others, we are preparing for Fresher’s Week in universities and colleges, Eid events, Speaker’s Tour, Camps, IAW and etc.  Lines of communications, finance and relations with local Muslim and Community Organizations were also revisited and dusted. Alhamdulillah, FOSIS Ireland continues to get huge support from the Islamic Foundation Ireland, Islamic Cultural Centre Ireland and look set to be working closely with the New Communities Project and many other NGOs as we go along.

In the meantime, since the campuses are mostly empty, we helped with and joined Muslim Youth Ireland (MYI) activities. Among highlights, are the MYI camp where most of us (apparently, also the committee of MYI) became organizing team and team leaders. It was good to get in touch with the younger ones, forcing ourselves to somehow feel responsible enough to be the best example that would hopefully inspire them. There was a lot I personally learned from them- among others, the fact that 5-7 years of age gap do make a HUGE difference in terms of how well you relate with others, so imagine the headache our parents might  be having with us! LOL.

Alhamdulillah, while FOSIS and ISOCs might be one of the more active ones during school term, MYI, along with the local organizations and mosques kept the momentum going for the Muslims in Ireland. Being quite a small community, these kind of activities makes a huge difference to us and hopefully, with everyone working together to continue this healthy environment, we would be able to maintain a bi’ah solehah (a good ambience to maintain and increase our faith/iman).

Lastly, in this post I would like to share a bit about the theme of the Speaker’s Tour that we hope to organize sometime in November next term insyaAllah. From inputs and ideas of many brothers and sisters in the syura and ISOCs, we have decided that the theme for this year would revolve around Islamic Revivalism. The Muslim youth in Ireland is facing a demanding and unique dilemma. There is a vacuum and need of leaders and role models in society. While the long term vision of FOSIS Ireland is to produce the next reviver of the deen from amongst the youth who will be equipped with Islamic knowledge, general knowledge, can comprehend the political agenda locally and nationally worldwide and be in comfort with the media arena insyaAllah.

Hence we hope that in this particular Speaker’s Tour, we would be able to cater for this particular need by enlightening the public, especially in campuses about the glorious history of the prophets and companions, Islamic civilizations and leaders. Hopefully from that we would then bring forth the issues surrounding the society and youth, outline the roles and responsibilities the youth can play in bringing a positive impact in the world we live in today, motivate and inspire them. More details will follow suit insyaAllah. Check us out on our website and facebook! We would also welcome any suggestions and ideas from all of you.

Until next,

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Munirah Hishamshah