To all of you, our beloved Hitched! stakeholders, I would like to sincerely apologize for the delay in this week’s newsletter distribution! The reason for the delay was that I had the wonderful opportunity this past weekend to attend the National Council of Nigerian Muslim Organizations’ Platform Conference. Platform is an annual conference where Nigerian-Muslims and the diaspora from all across the United States migrate to the host city to embark on four days of spiritual, mental, social and physical growth. This year’s conference took place just down the road from us in Dallas, TX. This year’s conference was off the chain! FANTASTIC! From the moment my “Travel Sahaba” and  I arrived into Dallas I could absolutely feel the love! As I darted in and out of Islamic sessions, I found it very easy to network with Nigerian-Muslims I had never met before. Many of whom were quite impressive and had exceptional accomplishments. My personal favorite, my one sister from the New England area with both her Bachelor and Medical Degrees from the prestigious Harvard University!…That’s right folks! I jokingly state that not even Barack or Michelle Obama pulled that one off! Even they only obtained one of their degrees from Harvard! That is one more Harvard degree than I have, but I digress, my experience at this year’s Platform was absolutely brilliant, Alhamdulillah!

Perhaps my most memorable takeaway was the session I sat in given by Brother/up and coming Sheikh Youssef Kromah. Youssef Kromah is a young West African-American brother currently studying Fiqh (and other disciplines) at the prestigious AlAzhar University in Egypt. His session was titled, “Making It”: Lessons from our Pious Predecessors. In his session he touched on the stories of our Predecessors and the lessons we should extract from them. He discussed Imam Ahmed and the story of the baker. He discussed Khawla bint At-Thalaba, the complaining woman whom Allah heard her cry and sent down Surah Mujadilah. He discussed Imam Bukhari and the money that he threw over board a boatship. He also discussed a few contemporary stories of the mosque keeper who used to smoke weed on the side of the masjid.  The lessons to be learned from these stories:

1. Dhikr is of the greatness of Islam

2. Be your authentic you.

3. Change does not happen over night

4. Brothers, never oppress a sister and to the sisters, vice versa! (Not in this order by the way!)

Next week’s Platform Conference will take place in sunny Tampa, Florida December 22 – 26, 2018. If you are a Nigerian or a Nigerian-American living in the United States or even Canada, you definitely do not want to miss next year’s conference. And to learn more about the National Council of Nigerian Muslim Organizations (NCNMO) or Masjid Mumineen, which is the Houston chapter affiliate, please check out the following websites: www.ncnmo.org or www.masjidulmumineen.org. Tell them Hitched! sent you!