From the very beginning of Islamic history, Muslim women have played crucial roles in the propagation of the Deen of Allah. One only has to glance at the writings of Muslim past to appreciate how women have been an influential force in the spreading and flourishing of this religion. Sadly to say, during our present times, the Islamic revival suffers from an inherent weakness as a result of restricted and limited efforts of Islamic Education and Tarbiyah (education) being focused on women.
Breaking Boundaries
As-Suffa Institute aspires to provide women with the knowledge, resources and confidence they needed to fulfil their rights and responsibilities within the home as well as the further community. Recognising full well that the need of education with women is greater than that with men considering their roles as wives and mothers, and the fact that women are more suited to guiding and educating the women-folk of the community due to no restraints on communication, As-Suffa Institute has striven to provide sisters with the resources they need to excel. The opening of the Alimah classes provided sisters with the same opportunity as brothers to study comprehensively the Deen of Allah. Furthermore, all intensive courses delivered by As-Suffa Institute have been open to both brothers and sisters with segregation being maintained throughout all of our events.
Activities
The newly developed sisters’ side of As-Suffa Institute has extended the target audience further within the short time frame they have been operating. From amongst the projects that have been thus far undertaken:
- Summer YouthScheme 2011 gave a chance for young girls to experience exciting sessions engrained with an Islamic ethos. Activities ranged from exciting outdoor trips such as horse riding and archery, to entertaining indoor sessions such as Wii tournaments, calligraphy, sewing, and Qiraat competitions. As-Suffa Institute aims to push this programme to the next level in the coming years and attract more youngsters to the beauty of Islam through more enjoyable routes.
- Sisters coffee mornings are a monthly occurrence at As-Suffa Institute, aimed primarily at mothers. The environment provided is casual with a qualified, charismatic ‘alimah delivering short reminders that teach the mothers of our nation about their Religion.
- As-Suffa Institute also holds regular gatherings where sisters are encouraged to get to know each other by having social events throughout the year specifically during Ramadan and when recruiting new volunteers. This encourages halal networking within an Islamically engrained environment.