“No good comes out of their secret consultations except when they decide to spend in the cause of the poor or to do works of public welfare or to effect reconciliation and reformation among people. And whoso does that, seeking the pleasure of Allah, We shall soon bestow on him a great reward’” (Holy Qur’an, Ch.4:V.115)
Alhamdulillah, so it came to passed that PAAMA East Region held its maiden programme, a Talim and Tarbiyyat Forum, at Baitul Ahad, Newham, on the 30th May, 2015. It started around 4:30pm in the main hall of the mosque.
The forum started off with a Tilawat and it’ English rendition from Ali Muwanda Sahib. The next to speak was the President of PAAMA East Region, Abdul-Shaheed Nasirudeen. In his welcome address, he gave a brief update of the PAAMA East Region activities for the past month since he was appointed. He said a Steering Committee had been put in place to run the affairs of the region pending the approval of an Executive.
After that the programme moved to the main speakers for the day. The first to speak was the National Secretary Tarbiyyat UK, Nisar Orchard Sahib who gave an hour long presentation on ‘General Tarbiyyat Matters. It was projected on TV screens to both the men’s and ladies’ sides of the audience. He began his presentation by encouraging everyone to participate and to feel free to ask questions as the presentation was on. In the main, he outlined a series of strategies for gauging Tarbiyyat activities namely congregational prayers, Tabligh events, chanda payments, optional fasting and many more. He concluded by saying that Tarbiyyat simply means continuously ‘washing up’ ones’ spiritual self in order to attain the highest stage of righteousness.
After the presentation PAAMA National President, Tommy Kallon Sahib, took to the podium to give his speech entitled ‘Islamic Moral Values’. Opening his speech, President Kallon thanked the Steering Committee for holding the event. In a nutshell, he said Islamic moral values spring from Quranic teachings and the precepts of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He admonished all to endeavour to live the Islamic way of life.
To draw the curtains down for the forum, the Regional Missionary for East Region, Safeer Khan Sahib, was called to give the closing prayer and after that dinner was served. This was followed by Asr prayer led by the Regional Missionary.
In total 53 members attended the event including members of the PAAMA National Executive and members from London Region. Lajna recorded 22 attendees and the men recorded 31. May Allah bless Ahmadiyyat and enable us to serve it in righteousness. Ameen.