Honestly, does it get better than last Friday night? Everything you could possibly ask for in a ladies night out. There was mocktails, dressing up, food, dessert, massages, henna, henna gifts, jewellery, abaya’s and hijabs galore! Also, the unforgettable and totally epic speakers and the surviving soldiers who gave us tears, lumps in our throats, and hope in our guts – all in one room, crammed with beautiful ladies, and overflowing splendour.
I’ve never seen so much power, or witnessed so much energy, or touched by so many emotions all in one night – it really was ladies fighting together. This was reinforced with every fighter that had to stop talking to put herself back together, with every hug that was given with sincere support and with every post-it written that said “I AM…”
I could go on and on into much detail about everything that happened, but 4 and a half hours only felt a few minutes because the night was so packed and it was truly amazing. The night started off with a cancer survivor – a young woman who lived through her darkest days wearing a mask for all her loved ones in order to keep them strong. In the process, she collapsed within, and started suffering from severe anxiety and depression – but after getting the right help, she came shining through. Followed by our Aaliyah who gave us an informative and a very different perspective of the wombs environment, the roots of anxiety/depression, the possible causes in our day to day lives of what could add to the potential of experiencing either and what to do to avoid these factors.
Wajeeha then exploded the stage with all these women’s voices that you would have never thought they had if you had seen them alone. There were glorious shouts of positivity that exclaimed, “I am a diamond, I am Allah’s creation, I am worthy of love and affection!” This is where the energy and power kicked in. Another story of a survivor of intense domestic violence, which involved unspeakable incidents and tore everyone’s heart in the room, but after coming to Islam, fighting hard, she came out stronger and healthier than ever. Leyla took centre stage, and it has to be her best yet. She spoke in detail about her horrifying abuse and how she has felt; she spoke of her successes and announced that she is finally over it! The emotional rollercoaster continued as another story filled our pages, with a sister who struggled through 3 traumatic marriages with horrific experiences, but yet managed to make the whole room smile when she ended with, “and for that reason, I would not have changed a thing, alhamdulillah.”
Afshan reminded us how women are the captain of ships, if we sink, everything else sinks. Therefore, it is so important to take out some positive me time, to recharge our batteries, to recharge the belief in ourselves, and the relationship we have with Allah. We also have to make acceptance of problems a part of our routine, rather than attempting to make them disappear, which also means that it’s okay to be takers rather than focusing on solely being givers. Mayameen from the Tulip Trust stamped how we need to stop assuming depression correlates to lack of imaan, rather it’s a lack of faith in themselves than Allah. The Year of Sorrow from the Seerah was a perfect example given to support this, but although the Prophet never lacked in faith, he still experienced sadness which in today’s terminology is depression. With the launch of the Tulip Trust’s free anonymous website, we would like to wish the organisation much success!
The energetic duo Farah Ahmad from Sunrise Radio and Zara Mobeen Tariq allowed the night to unfold seamlessly as excellent hosts, and Zara’s excellent poems were a fantastic way to end the main chunk of the evening. Dinner was great, dessert was even better, the money raised was honourable, the stalls were wonderful, and the whole night was one to remember.
JazakAllah Khair to the organisers, a huge well done to our speakers, and many, many duas to the survivors who have stolen our hearts. May Allah reward and bless all those involved, may He keep those have struggled close to Him and grant them a noble place in Jannah, and may He make it easy for those currently suffering from depression or other mental health disorders, and save us all from grief and hardship. Ameen. Ameen. Ameen.
*Shout out to all the lovely sisters that allowed me to snap away at their hands and welcome to all the new signups!
Here’s to looking forward to next year!
