Her Name is Julie, She's a Hafidha | Reflections from Ilm Summit 2010

It has been a while since I wrote a blog post on a relevant event in my life. Though many of us may journey through our lives looking for purpose, thrill, and other such feelings, I wish to share an event from a trip which I recently took to Houston, Texas for a program known as “Ilm Summit” which greatly provided me with a means to grow in my religion and hopefully InshaAllah turn out as a better person afterwards. Here is one experience which really made an impact on me:

During one of the first daily wildcard sessions at Ilm Summit, our instructors asked us all to be present at this session. Everyone was a little taken-a-back at this request since the usual wild card session is a voluntary event. All the students had accepted the notion that something immensely important was about to take place. The irony is that it was not something anyone present in the conference may have expected.

Everyone in the AlMaghrib community knows that Sr. Julie Lowe is one of the main logistical handlers at Ilm Summit every year when it comes to organizing hospitality related matters for the students. But little did anyone know the real value that this sister possessed amongst all of the attendees as a student of knowledge who takes her knowledge and puts it into verbatim and physical action.

Last year during Ilm Summit 2009, Ustadh Wisam and Shaykh Uthman would be perpetually reminding the students about the importance of maintaining a relationship with the Qur’an by reading, memorizing, and learning the book of God. By taking these advices and gems into consideration, Sr. Julie made an intention around this time to commit the entire Qur’an to memory. Not only was she able to start her memorization in Ilm Summit 2009 and finish it by Ilm Summit 2010, rather, she is also a convert to Islam and a full-time practicing attorney. What Sr. Julie was able to accomplish in such a short period of time made the statement “I do not have time” sound like pure rubbish to me. While students usually spend three to four years memorizing the Qur’an while studying in madrasas and Islamic schools, Sr. Julie was able to finish her tahfeedh within a year and set the bar for perfection to high areas which will take effort to reach.

This is just one experience which I had at Ilm Summit. There are many more which I will be sharing in a few more posts, inshaAllah.

In the meantime, check out my experience of Ilm Summit from last year by clicking here and also see the reviews of my roommate from Ilm Summit Siraaj Muhammad at MuslimMatters.org. And of course, don't forget about experiences of Ilm Summit MuslimYouthMusings, a youth blog which I write for.