Themed ‘Islam: the religion of peace and understanding’, the Dubai International Peace Convention 2010 is a three-day event and was inaugurated on Thursday by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council. Due to work and some other obligations, we couldn’t attend the opening. However, we went there today to pray Jumma and attend a couple of lectures.
The Jumma prayer today was held at the Dubai Airport Expo Center, and was led by Dr Shaikh Abdul Rahman Al Sudais, Imam and Orator of the Grand Mosque in Makkah. All the VIPs from across the Gulf arrived, hence the strict security check. There were police men all over the place. And the crowd was such that it seemed like people have gathered for Eid prayers.
There was a two-hour lunch break, followed by a series of Islamic lectures in English.
All pictures were taken with a cellphone.
In the picture below, you can see Shaikh Yousuf Estes, the speaker we had been looking forward to see in person and listen to …
He is simply amazing, mashaAllah! He talked about getting to know the Prophet of peace, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him. Shaikh Yousuf’s words were clear and simple, yet he touched the hearts of everyone present in that large room.
Four people accepted Islam even before he was finished with his talk, subhanAllah! One of them was a man named, Gabriel. He was in tears when he proclaimed shahada and was hugged by Shaikh Yousuf …
Then three women accepted Islam a while later. It was a truly emotional moment. We stayed until after maghrib.
There is still one more day of lectures tomorrow. Details of the program and their timings here.
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Alhumdulillah, we are grateful to Allah that he has grant us this opportunity to hear such nice speakers on Islam.
Alhumdulillah, indeed! I will remember yesterday for the rest of my life.
Aw mashaAllah, you went! I really wanted to go, but transportation was an issue sadly- as it always seems to be. Do tell us more about what went on during it!! 😀
Perhaps next time, Joud, inshaAllah. We weren’t able to go today due to work, and I feel bad. But I cherish the experience from yesterday 🙂
Shaikh Yousuf Estes is so funny! Masood and I really like him.
There was an exhibition too where Islamic books and CDs were being sold. Also, there were stalls that sold water purifier/filters. Even real estate developers were there, lol.
Oh, and there was a free health-check up too (they’ve got the second longest queue, the first was for the men’s room).
subahannalah!
i went yesterday too! it was amazing.. when 4 people entered islam every body was in tears, including me. allahu akbar! may allah guide them in right path
Ameen! May Allah give hidayah to all of us.
U said that the convention was regarding the topic:” Islam: the religion of peace and understanding”
btw which “peace” they were talking about.. i.e. peace among only moslem nations or peace among nations having other faiths too ??
and is it necessary to convert somebody to Islam for bringing “Peace”….
Anonymous, this convention was aimed to “gain global unity through peace by bridging gaps, building relations and developing understanding among the people of the world in the light of The Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.” It aimed to remove the misconceptions a lot of people have about Islam, specifically the violence part.
It is not necessary to convert someone to Islam to bring peace. See, that is another misconception. I mentioned in the post that 4 people accepted Islam. None of them were asked to convert. These people walked up on their own and willingly decided to submit to Allah. They came to learn about Islam. They listened. And they got inspired.
Wow, we seriously need to educate muslims and non-muslims alike for the misconceptions… the TV channels esp. CNN and BBC potrays everything against islam which is so disappointing cause they themselves dont have a clue about islam. hehehe
Anyways.. nice answer to anonymous!
Point to be noted: No religion teaches the followers to hurt a human being. It is simply a guidance. For the best guidance, we need to search and that search would always end in Islam. Try it !
Sonia, even the internet is filled with crappy, baseless allegations about Islam. You are absolutely right. It is very important for us to spread the true message of Islam by being a good example ourselves.
Love your comment, Sis! Good to see you here *hugs*
SubhanAllah, four people!
Yousuf Estes is amazing, I love his talks!
Yes, Smiley, he is! And I really enjoy watching his videos on Youtube.
I like this Sheikh – he is funny, humourous (some speakers can be quite the doom and gloom type!) and explains complicated concepts to the layman.
I heard him at RIS I think once. And sadly, these type of conventions weren’t present when I was in Dubai (although I am shocked they didn’t want to have the world’s largest Islamic conference!) 🙂
I hope they get more and more amazing speakers to speak at these conventions. Some speakers, such as Tariq Ramadan, aren’t allowed to speak at some places in the Middle East which is a shame. We need all types of voices!
That’s right, Mezba. Shaikh Yousuf has this friendly approach towards explaining even the most complicated concepts. There’s never a dull moment when he’s speaking.
Dubai now hosts these large conferences at least twice a year now. This one was pretty huge, too bad we couldn’t attend all three days.
Yes, we do need all types of voices. But you know how it is here.
Dr Zakir and his organization is doing great job in order to introduce Islam as a message of peace. We should encourage our non-muslim friends to attend such events, and we can contribute at our level to spread the message of Islam.
You’ve contributed by putting up such a nice article!
Adeel, Dr. Zakir is another one of our favorites! Shaikh Yousuf Estes described him as a man with a brain like a computer. Too bad we missed Dr. Zakir’s lecture in this year’s Peace Convention.
This is exactly what we need from each religion’s leaders, and everybody should spend some time to listen, to understand, and to learn, making some efforts to realize that is up to us to practice in the right way.
The good inspiration is there, for each and everyone of us: we do have to open our minds and our hearts to listen to it.
I agree, Francesca. We can not just force some one to submit to a certain faith; everyone is free to make their own choices. And to make the right choice, we need to open our minds and hearts to learn.
where do u get the videos / DVD /CD of DIPC 2010?
Finally the DVDs are out… almost 11 months after the event. You can order your set (10 dvds) online at the link below. Unfortunately they deliver only in UAE. The payment is done online as well (paypal).
http://www.peaceconvention.com/ordersets.aspx
Ma’assalama