An Eid meet and greet event was held on Sunday 7 August 2022 at James Cook University (JCU), Townsville.
It was a joint event was organised by Muslim Student Association (JCU MSA ) along with the Australian Islamic Medical Association (AIMA) and Islamic Medical Association of Queensland (IMAQ)
Eid is a time to celebrate and enjoy with family and friends, but how often are we reminded to reflect upon the significance of the sacrifice in Prophet Ibrahim’s (a) life and think about the importance we give Allah in our own.
This event was open to students from all faculties of JCU including medicine, IT, those pursuing PhD’s and from varied ethnic backgrounds.
The event was addressed by 2 speakers, Dr Usama Shahid from the Townsville University Hospital and Dr Omer Shareef, Vice President of IMAQ.
Dr Usama’s talk began with a wakeup call from Surah Hadid: “Has the time not yet come for the believers’ hearts to be humbled at the remembrance of Allah…” (Quran 57:16)
This one ayah debased all my excuses like: ‘once I get into Uni I’ll have more time for my spiritual needs’, ‘once these exams finish, I’ll listen to more Islamic lectures’ or ‘once I’m stable in my job I’ll go back to Hifz’.
But the reality is that life will not pause for you to come back to Allah, there will always be something pulling you back, convincing you that Allah can wait but the dunya cannot.
Every decision we make is an active choice between this life and the next; between what we want and what Allah wants.
Although it’s hard to wake up for my 7am compulsory classes, I’ll never miss any because of the consequences. So why is it that some mornings I must battle and struggle with myself to wake up for Fajr?
I understand the consequences are much greater than missing a class, yet I’m comparatively lenient with myself. We work day and night for our worldly goals while stressing we aren’t doing enough, but congratulate ourselves for the bare minimum for Islam.
Dr Shareef shared from Surah Najm: Each of you will only be left with your efforts. So, what greater comfort could there be that there are no outcomes required of us, except our heartfelt efforts.
There were also takeaways on the benefits of being content and expressing gratitude.
The most beloved of deeds to Allah are those that are most consistent, even if they are small. (Bukhari).
In light of this, the MSA members began planning a fortnightly meetup to explore the Prophet’s (s) life and learn how to apply his examples in the modern way to strive for continual progression and improvement as Australian Muslims.
Overall, it was a night filled with food and laughter, but also advice from Dr Usama Shahid and Dr Omar Shareef who spoke about life lessons to take away from Eid-ul-Adha.
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