2nd Workout Session

Brothers and Sisters,
Assalamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Alhamdulillah, we praise Allah for His mercy and for allowing us to spend time together for this workout. Peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet, his family, his companions and the companions of his companions, and to all who strive in His cause.

Today is Vesak Day. On this day devout Buddhist reiterate their determination to lead noble lives, to develop their minds, to practise loving-kindness and to bring peace and harmony to humanity. In many ways, we are also aiming to do that, and more, including to seek Allah's pleasures, to strengthen our ukhuwwah, to renew our commitment to Islam, to increase our contributions to our community and to preserve the well-being of Singapore, our beautiful country.

The first workout that took place during the Chinese New Year holiday in 2006 at the Boys Brigade Campsite was a watershed for us. It was the first time we had participants from several and different organisations coming together to offer ideas and later follow-through the initiatives developed through the workout. The first workout had a lasting impact on me - it was a gathering of minds and souls and a reunion of sorts; brothers and sisters who once were together in campus, met again after taking different journeys of tarbiyah and da'wah. The ta'aruf session took much longer that the time allocated - a testimony of renewed friendship and brotherhood or sisterhood. And the workout ended with a long list of ideas and initiatives for participants to develop and implement where viable. Beyond the list of ideas, we also broke the glass ceiling that shapes our previous organisation-centric approach to da'wah.

I am pleased to report that several of these ideas and initiatives have taken a life of its own, in different platforms and programmes. Some are embedded in existing programmes, while others shaped new programmes and pushed the envelope much to the discomfort and complaints from some members of our community. The most significant achievement are the work done with NTUMS and NUSMS, the BRMY and TMSN camps. A direct outcome of this initiative is our Breakfast Club@Kassim, and alhamdulillah, the club has managed to sustain interest among the brothers. Some sisters are now asking us why they are not invited - a testimony of success and usefulness of the club.

Another success story is the creative use of media for da'wah. We discussed the need to have groups of artistic talent to reach out to youth and the creative young. We may not be able to claim all credits, but alhamdulillah, there were several initiatives to achieve this goal, including the 8-minute film making competition, the alunan kasih song writing competition, Sis Lieja's attempt at cerpen writing for Suria and many others. And on working with specific influence groups, we have started conversations with polytechnic lecturers, renewed our relationship with teachers and partnered with theatre and silat groups. Since we have left the implementation of the ideas and initiatives to interested participants and groups, along with its loose and laisser-faire modus operandi, there are no verifiable means to measure success accurately.

There were other initiatives that did not take off: mentoring programme for students in campus, networking with university academics, and development of (tarbiyah) content for all the initiatives and programmes created by the workout to develop potential du'at and leaders for da'wah. But this must not discourage us from moving forward - in fact it should motivate us further.

Our thanks and appreciation goes to all who have in one way or another helped implement those ideas and initiatives.

But as we move forward, we must also take cognizant of the changing landscape and the aspirations of the young. The traditional attraction and affiliation to formal da'wah and social organisations are no longer prevalent in our community. Many young persons aspire to do something and contribute, but at their own time, through their specific interests and by themselves. How do we response to these aspirations, including other black swans and unknown unknowns?

This workout session hopes to create new stimuli, energy and interest groups that will embrace many young persons and others who may not find a calling to participate through programmes and membership of existing da'wah organisations. For this workout, we intend to discuss and develop a business plan of sorts on four initiatives: a) the tarbiyah triangle, b) rumahtangga dakwah, c) outdoor programmes, d) new media.

We may not be able to delve substantively into all four initiatives today, but I am confident that we will have enough inputs to develop these initiatives and implement it in the near future.

May Allah (swt) guide us in our journey today, and grant us a good outcome for this workout.