Sister Ghazala speaks at Texas Mawlid Celebration-2012

The Din of Islam is not just about praying and reciting the Qur'an. It is also about living with a full and beneficial life for others. With the topic as Islam and education, and the Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him), the Texas Mawlid Celebration team (TMC) of Dallas Fort Worth organized and celebrated its fourth prestigious annual Mawlid Festival with great enthusiasm and respect this year on April 7 at the Dallas Black Arts Theater in Dallas, Texas. TMC is made up of different religious, civic, social, cultural and business organizations from the Dallas Ft. Worth area, particularly Minhaj-ul-Quran International-North America, Dallas Chapter, Institute of Ilm Center of Dallas and the Agha Khan Council of North Texas.

In the most Islamic events, only Muslims and members that are affiliated with the program attend the event. The uniqueness of this event is that not only all Islamic groups, but non-Muslims as well, come together to this event and express their feelings. The TMC team works hard throughout the year to bring together all Muslims and non-Muslims for this programme.

The objective is to bring the whole mankind together on one platform of common ground, celebrate the birth of the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), and spread the message of Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him) of love, peace, tolerance, harmony, understanding, and equality to the whole mankind. The beauty of this event was that more than a thousand people from intra-faith and other religious backgrounds including faith leaders, intellectuals, and academics attended the programme. They all came together from across the state and celebrated the event in a befitting manner.

The program was held in three sessions. The first session was proceeded by the youth group with the recitation of the Holy Qur'an followed by nasheeds written by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. The audience appreciated the performance of the youth group, especially the group nasheed recitation. All the nasheeds were translated in English and projected in the background screen to convey the message clearly to the audience.

The second session included the speeches of different faith leaders. The main message was that the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) was sent as Rahmatul-lil-Alameen (mercy to all the worlds). He was not a Prophet for Muslims only, but was also sent for the whole of mankind.

The key note speaker of the event was attorney-at-law, President of Minhaj-ul-Quran International Women League, member of Supreme Council Minhaj-ul-Quran International, Sister Ghazala Hassan Qadri (the beloved daughter-in-law of Shaykh-ul-Islam), who came all the way from Canada with her six year old son, Ahmad Mustafa Qadri, (who recited a beautiful nasheed that touched the hearts of everyone at the start of the program). Sister Ghazala delivered a captivating speech about the love of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) that left the audience spellbound with her oratory skills, depth of knowledge, and beautiful style. By sharing her profitable knowledge with the attendees, she emphasized particularly on the importance of teaching our children about Islam, including the teachings, sayings, and hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Mrs Ghazala Hassan Qadri also kept the audience riveted by stressing the importance of education of not only the world but also of the din (religion) in helping shape a better future of our Ummah through our children. She mentioned a beautiful hadith of the Holy Prophet - the Holy Prophet had stated three things: to teach our children about the love of the Holy Prophet, the love of the Ahl-e-bait (Prophet’s Household), and knowledge of the Holy Quran.

Sister Ghazala highlighted the importance of the love of the Holy Prophet by explaining that if we are consumed with his love, then his likes become our likes, and his dislikes become our dislikes; if we love the Holy Prophet ardently, we will wish to follow in his footsteps. Throughout her speech, Sister Ghazala mentioned several hadiths regarding the mercy of the Holy Prophet to believers and non-believers of his time.

Other guests and speakers included Texas State Representative Lon Burnham, who stated that the “root of your faith is what Muhammad (SAW) taught us about so many years ago. It is about love, about compassion, and about understanding and not just tolerating but embracing the differences of others…He further mentioned that it is really important to remember that we are just not here for this occasion of the birth of the great Prophet, but we are here also for the greater good and greater wellbeing of the human kind.”

Lon Burnham concluded his speech by stating, “as we celebrate tonight, I would just beseech you to please recommit to the core values of the Quran that we take forward for families and communities, and recommit to embracing larger communities and being in communities of brotherhood and sisterhood of all those around us so we can live in a better country and in a better world with peace, harmony, and understanding.”

The third session concluded the program with nasheed recitations in English, Urdu, Arabic, and Punjabi by various intra-faith reciters, including internationally renowned Milad Raza Qadri from Scotland.

This free event included not only dinner, but also festivities such as face painting and balloon twisting for young kids. Performers were presented with bouquets of flowers and special souvenirs from the TMC team. The main organizers of this event were Sami Qureshi, Dr. Mansoor Mian, Qazi Mujeeb Khalil, Muhammad Amir, Mohsin Mughal, Bilal Mian, Riffat Qazi, Rizwana Qureshi, Rehana Ahmed, Sadia Shakeel, Hashir Siddiqui, and many more adults and youth from other faiths.