Conference Report 2025

Cont'd from page 3

In the name of God, Most Gracious, most Merciful

[2:152] You shall remember Me, that I may remember you, and be thankful to Me; do not be unappreciative.

[14:7] Your Lord has decreed: “The more you thank Me, the more I give you.” But if you turn unappreciative, then My retribution is severe.

The 40th annual conference of United Submitters International was held from August 1-3, 2025 in Dallas, TX. 40th! That’s an amazing accomplishment. It was wonderful to see how many people who had attended the first few conferences with Dr Khalifa were present at the 40th, still active in submission today. Praise God.

The sermon was delivered by Rafi Calcuttawala. He reminded us that the Quran is our guide, a mercy from God. And many throughout the conference repeated the verse: [2:2] This scripture is infallible; a beacon for the righteous. As humans, we are all flawed, but God and His scripture are infallible.

After the khutba, we enjoyed some “getting acquainted” activities and trivia from the Quran. We shared laughs as we tried to remember different categories in the Quran. It’s always fun to have such group activities.   

And then we were blessed to meet several submitters attending their first conference.

The speeches covered a wide range of topics. Each speaker gave his or her own unique take on a subject, causing all of us to really think about it. We can all benefit from different understandings; it makes us consider where we are in our submission journey. And what we can do to move forward. This is truly the advantage of getting together with so many diverse and wonderful people from all over the world. There is so much knowledge to be shared.

We had wonderful zikr sessions in the evenings. It is always such a joy to share in commemoration of God.

[13:28] They are the ones whose hearts rejoice in remembering GOD.
Absolutely, by remembering GOD, the hearts rejoice.

It was especially heartwarming to see all the children participating in the singing. Their enthusiasm and their lovely voices added so much to the evenings. All in all, the children were so well-behaved, and so eager to join in the zikr. It is a blessing to see the future of Submission.

The conference venue was lovely. The hotel staff were so helpful and the food was delicious and plentiful. We fed our bodies well, as we continued to feed our souls. All a gift from God. And we are so grateful to the Dallas community and the Calcuttawala family for all their hard work arranging the conference, and then taking care of so many people who were able to stay on after the conference officially ended.

That happened on Sunday with a photo session that went on for a long time, as we didn’t want to say goodbye. We pray that everyone will stay focused and motivated through the year, and we look forward to seeing everyone in Tucson in 2026, God willing.

Nargis and Lydia