CONFERENCE REPORT 2016

[3:8] “Our Lord, let not our hearts waver, now that You have guided us. Shower us with Your mercy; You are the Grantor.”

The 31st annual conference of the United Submitters International was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada July 29-31, 2016. The Friday sermon was delivered by brother Omar from the Vancouver community. He offered several valuable reminders for us to remember to use our hearing, eyes and brains, not to follow blindly, to be aware of how fleeting this life really is, and especially to remember that God is running everything and we must always give Him the credit and the thanks.

We enjoyed, in the next few hours, greeting old friends and meeting new ones. The new submitters shared with us their journeys to submission. It’s always wonderful to see how excited they are. Some had been in submission for years, but this was their first opportunity to attend a conference. They were all bubbling with enthusiasm. And then we spent some time in small groups getting to know people outside our own communities and share the idea of “Ten things we all have in common.”

By God’s grace the talks were inspiring, delivered from the heart. We were treated to a very wide range of topics:  Understanding our ego and how best to fight it; that we are all a work in progress; health and God’s kingdom;

being appreciative of our blessings and aware that we can lose them if we’re not; a look at all the things in the world that are being done “in the name of God;” the Quran is a messenger, it’s complete and fully detailed; as submitters we are gifts to one another. These are only a few of the speeches. There were so many inspiring and thought-provoking ones. We could all draw inspiration from different talks to carry with us for the year.

The zikr was led by many beautiful singers among us, and it was so enjoyable. It lifts your spirit to share with so many others your joy of worshiping God and striving in His cause. It is truly a unifying experience to commemorate our Lord. [13:28] They are the ones whose hearts rejoice in remembering GOD. Absolutely, by remembering GOD, the hearts rejoice.

Vancouver is a lovely city and by God’s grace it was a great place to hold our conference. The Vancouver community put together a pre-conference event in which the public was invited to a seminar on Islam being a misunderstood religion in today’s world. Several submitters spoke on topics such as terrorism and women’s rights in the hopes of helping non-submitters understand what Submission (true Islam) is really all about.

And the grand finale was a wonderful barbecue at Rukhsana’s home. A huge crowd gathered to enjoy good food, music, laughter and joy. We were all so exhilarated we just didn’t want it to end.

It’s a feeling we can keep on enjoying for the whole year. That’s the blessing of the conference—it energizes us to continue striving in the cause of God every day. And when we do, then God promises us a great reward.

God's Promise: Kings and Queens
on Earth

[24:55] GOD promises those among you who believe and lead a righteous life, that He will make them sovereigns on earth, as He did for those before them, and will establish for them the religion He has chosen for them, and will substitute peace and security for them in place of fear. All this because they worship Me alone; they never set up any idols beside Me. Those who disbelieve after this are the truly wicked.

Nargis and Lydia

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