*ya* Muslimeeeeen Wasat!!!?

[*Aasiyah*]

YA UKHTI, YA UKHTI...WHERE ART THOU YA UKHTI...?

I must admit...I felt ashamed to know that there were not enough sisters compared to brothers in HOK. It was usually the other way around every time I attended other Al-Maghrib classes. Well, I know Siraaj had asked us to hand in note cards about solutions to this problem, but we didn't have enough time to think. Can you (brothers 'n sisters)please post up reasons why sisters are not showing up, and post solutions and ideas to remedy this problem? JAZAKALLAH KHAIR.

"GIVE YOUR EXCUSES A BLACK EYE!"
Sisters, we are the ones who raise the ummah, the Sahabis and mujahideen won victorious battles courageously...look at the results, the mothers are the biggest factors/reason of those results. Those victories will be ours again inshaAllah...educate yourself and become like Zubair's r.a. mother. Al-Maghrib is the ultimate learning experience(mind, body, 'n soul). It has all the right ingredients for optimal learning.
The active kuffar/shayateen have a conspiracy against the Muslimahs...The first tactic they implement to destroy a successful country is to corrupt the women. So educate yourselves in terms of the fard learning of the Deen. They want us to fight amonst ourselves and deteriorate our community with jahiliya and the material world, whether it be clothes or the 'RESUME'--"I'm a woman hear me roar"-type of thing. Empower yourself with Allah's swt standards, not Kuffar standards.
Fight your nafs that IBLEES covets...I hope to see you and 1 other muslimah (brothers bring your sisters or else I'll have my husband give you a friendly beat down), you bring to class NEXT SATURDAY...inshaAllah.

[AbdelRahmanMurphy]

You will never beat us in attendance. Alhamdulilah.

(Competition for the sake of Allah :-P)

Aasiyah, I agree we need to find out where the sisters are at! Insha'Allah we'll talk more about this issue at the Sisters' Q and A next weekend.

[Rabiya]

Originally Posted by *Aasiyah*

YA UKHTI, YA UKHTI...WHERE ART THOU YA UKHTI...?

I must admit...I felt ashamed to know that there were not enough sisters compared to brothers in HOK. It was usually the other way around every time I attended other Al-Maghrib classes. Well, I know Siraaj had asked us to hand in note cards about solutions to this problem, but we didn't have enough time to think. Can you (brothers 'n sisters)please post up reasons why sisters are not showing up, and post solutions and ideas to remedy this problem? JAZAKALLAH KHAIR.

"GIVE YOUR EXCUSES A BLACK EYE!"
Sisters, we are the ones who raise the ummah, the Sahabis and mujahideen won victorious battles courageously...look at the results, the mothers are the biggest factors/reason of those results. Those victories will be ours again inshaAllah...educate yourself and become like Zubair's r.a. mother. Al-Maghrib is the ultimate learning experience(mind, body, 'n soul). It has all the right ingredients for optimal learning.
The active kuffar/shayateen have a conspiracy against the Muslimahs...The first tactic they implement to destroy a successful country is to corrupt the women. So educate yourselves in terms of the fard learning of the Deen. They want us to fight amonst ourselves and deteriorate our community with jahiliya and the material world, whether it be clothes or the 'RESUME'--"I'm a woman hear me roar"-type of thing. Empower yourself with Allah's swt standards, not Kuffar standards.
Fight your nafs that IBLEES covets...I hope to see you and 1 other muslimah (brothers bring your sisters or else I'll have my husband give you a friendly beat down), you bring to class NEXT SATURDAY...inshaAllah.

Chill habibti : ) Lets see what happens inshaAllah. If nothing works out, then you know what we can do? muhahahha evil idea of Red Carpet.

I hope you know what I'm talking about

later,

Salaaam.

[Umm Nusaybah]

Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

'alo.

Ok, I wrote on my notecard that the biggest thing is probably the baby-sitting issue. We really need baby-sitters so these sisters with children can go.

One sure way to guarantee results is to incorporate marriage into the topic! lol...

Transportation!!! I know that for some people in Illinois, this hotel is too north. Maybe what we could do is have carpooling.

Some of my friends didn't come because of the cost.

Yes, sis Umm Nusaybah, babysitting and cost were two of the most common issues on the notecards and I appreciate everyone's feedback on the cards
First, regarding babysitting, we actually attempted to set up babysitting but did not in the end due to so little response from sisters for it. We emailed over 500 hundred families who attended both LOG and IlmFest asked them if they were interested in babysitting, but only two people responded, one who was in not even from Chicago. It would be logical to assume that if there is such a high demand for it and these sisters really wanted to attend the class (no excusitis involved), there would have been a greater response.
As you mentioned cost is another issue. Although both cost and babysitting are issues for many people, I don't believe they are the main reasons why we have a lack of sisters in the class.
Insha'Allah I will share more about why I think so this weekend at the sisters q and a, and insha'Allah you can all give me your feedback.
Jazakallahu khairun

[AbdelRahmanMurphy]

Originally Posted by Umm Nusaybah

Some of my friends didn't come because of the cost.

Alhamdulilah, we have scholarships, sponsorships, and other ways to take care of costs of the class or people who cannot afford. There really isn't an excuse for money anymore - Banu Wasat, alhamdulilah, has made it a priority to make sure finances don't get in the way of seeking knowledge. Let these friends of yours know that they can gain some 'ilm - no excuses. Contact finance.wasat@gmail.com, insha Allah.

[fevzy]

Originally Posted by Olivia

Yes, sis Umm Nusaybah, babysitting and cost were two of the most common issues on the notecards and I appreciate everyone's feedback on the cards

Prolly, marketing was another issue. From the number of students attending the class, I'm very sure the marketing technique used was efficient. I don't know what kind of marketing was done but prolly the marketing approach was too general or too specific to certain segments of population (younger people - see the demographic characteristics of students).

I assume that the class was advertised at the masjid, esp at the Friday prayer. Maybe we can include the reasons why sisters, wives, or mothers should take this class.

Anyways, I was a little dissappointed that the uncles who asked desi questions to Yasir Qadi are not in HoK.

As I mentioned earlier, although babysitting was cited as the number one reason, many sisters are college-aged and not married, or do not have children, and many of them did not attend. That's one target.

The other target is sisters with children. To this issue, we have 3 solutions in which one group of people address the problem:

1. The mothers find babysitters from their family ahead of time, in anticipation of the class (mother, mother in law, etc).
2. The Qabeelah raises funds from the qabeelah itself to provide free babysitting.
3. AlMaghrib Institute provides a babysitting stipend to Qabeelahs which show a great need for babysitting.

As for money, I think Abdelrahman Murphy covered that pretty well. We've told everyone repeatedly that money cannot be used as an excuse as we would find a way insha'Allah for people to afford the class, and alhamdullillaah, we've done it for both classes now, and we plan on continuing, insha'Allah.

My personal opinion is that the biggest factor has been awareness through word of mouth advertising. I think awareness through flyers is weak. Awareness through word of mouth advertising means we all have to get together and start talking up the classes, insha'Allah.

Now, keep in mind, we still had just shy of 200 students, so we didn't really do "bad" by the standards of most qabeelahs. However, we did bad by our own standard of being the MONSTER QABEELAH, and therefore, we have to do better on the next class, insha'Allah.

Siraaj

[Mohsin]

the location might be a problem. I know a few people from the south side who were put off from coming because of the distance, especially ppl who don't have cars.