There was an astoundingly successful Fourth UMAA Convention-- " big and better ",according to Dr. Robert Crane, who has attended all UMAA Conventions. More than 4000 people from the US, Canada, Europe and Pakistan are estimated to have attended this three day soul-searching event in Vienna, Virginia. The 5th Annual UMAA Convention, the UMAA Board decided, will be on May 25-27, 2007. The most visible feature of this convention was the presence of young men and women in their teens,and in 20's and 30's; at times the youth appeared to outnumber the elders. This made this UMAA Convention an amazing spectacle--a beautiful mix of the young and the old, engaged in a three days exercise of re-discovering the old glory that Islam once was. Faces of the old as well as young men and women, who had traveled long distances to be part of this congregation, radiated with joy. This was the the joy of belonging to a living community and being part of an active milieu !
Mubarak Ali Mirjat, a successful illinois entrepreneur, in his welcome speech " called this august assembly of American Shias gathered in Vienna, Virginia " a mosaic of myriad colors... a bouquet of flowers from many gardens ".
It brought tears in my eyes, when speaking on " the State of UMAA", Sayed Moustafa Qazwini, the reknowned scholar in the Muslim world, called it " our domestic pilgrimage of Hajj ". Im his most animated and inspiring address in the concluding session on Sunday, Sayed Moustafa repeatedly called UMAA Convention, "this beautiful convention". He advised the Shias to sign up for the annual membership of UMAA; to help achieve its objectives, UMAA needs two things: volunteers and money, he said
The 4th UMAA Convention is another milestone in its short history towards making American Shias a most vibrant, prosperous and successful community. |
