Updated 10 November 2010
On Sunday, October 31 2010 Husseini Islamic Center organized a successful Workshop titled "Truth Hurts: The United Voices of Muslims Against Domestic and Child Abuse". The aim of the workshop was to understand the need to recognize, counter and educate ourselves about abuse within our community and the outside society. The workshop catered to 18 years and above audience and the overwhelming response in registration showed the triumph and necessity of such an essential topic. We were blessed to have an encouraging participation with 80 registrants, which was beyond our expectation.
The workshop had speakers that accumulated between them a diverse range of experiences concerning this vital topic. Our speakers included Sis Akilah-Haneef Jabari from the Jafferi Support Services in Toronto, her bachelor degree in Philosophy and Masters in Social Work contributed to her exceptional presentation, in addition her experience with the Shia Islamic Community of Toronto for the past 10 years was valued by the audience. Mwalana Shamshad from Dallas, Texas was an additional inspiration to the audience, as he brought with him an astonishing hybrid of Islamic background from his 10 years of studying in Qum and his secular experience from a Masters in Art of Counseling. Furthermore, we had Imam Sykes, whose experience as a convert to the Islamic faith and his bachelor's in Psychology was without a doubt a breath of fresh air, plus his Masters in Religious Services from the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Science in Virginia gave him a strong religious foothold. Finally, we were proud to have our beloved Resident Alim, Mwalana Baig as part of the panel of speakers, and his knowledge gained from Hawza-e-Ilmiyya Wali-ul-Asr in Madaina, New York and his years in Iran were priceless and absolutely essential to the workshop.
The Workshop was divided into two segments, a presentation session in the morning and a discussion session in the afternoon; hence this allowed the audience a passive informative period and an afternoon phase of active dialogue with the speakers.
The topics presented were what is abuse, domestic abuse in our communities worldwide and the effect of domestic abuse on children, how to prevent marital conflicts from escalating into violence and the role of teachers and community leaders in the lives of abused children.
The discussion evolved around how to recognize abuse and counter abuse, Islamic perspective on abuse, signs of an abuse when choosing a spouse and abuse recognition and laws for teachers.
Alhamdullilah the success of the event was seen from the appreciative smiles, nods and excellent feedback from the participants. We look forward to such support from our community in the coming years as we embark on a journey to create a stable family structure that can help nurture the army of our Awaited Imam. Ameen!
Sincere appreciation goes to the organizing committee, the participants, volunteers, speakers and the Jaffari Support Services of Toronto.
For further information visit www.orlandocenter.org