*This is a guest post by Br. Ali Naqash, a member of Youth Club.
Best 2 days of my life at IIUI, Faisal Masjid auditorium, Sector E-7 Campus
Imagine seeing people of all ages and from various backgrounds smiling, crying and laughing all together. Imagine them realizing how each and every one of them has truly had a rich learning experience and many awe-inspiring moments by listening to world-famous speakers! Now imagine all of that happening in Pakistan! And the amazing thing is that it has happened before too! But words do no justice to how awesome it is! I had missed the previous one, the Winds Of Change (WOC) 2012 tour, and the awe-inspiring video clips of the previous tour made me adamant not to miss out on the one being held this year! And Alhamdulillah, I had the best time of my life. Even though I have traveled much, from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia, the fun that I had in these 2 weeks at the Winds Of Change Tour was truly what the Pakistani Youth, like me, desperately need!
The Winds Of Change tour is an annual event that is organized by Youth Club (YC) with the simple yet much-needed concept of bringing about positive change. It lasts for about 2 weeks and is organized usually in the months of January & February. Although this is only the second time that the tour was held, it has risen in popularity very quickly.
Jam-Packed audience at NUST, H-12 Campus
What started out as a simple concept by a few sisters who participated in the Shifa Inter-Scholastic Tournament (SIST) 2011, became within 2 years, with the mercy of Allah, much dedication, sincerity and a lot of excited volunteers, a large organized platform dedicated to the Youth (which is anyone whose heart is young) by the name of Youth Club! Youth Club has been inviting speakers from the world-renowned Da’wah organization iERA on the WOC tour until now, and hopefully in the future speakers from other parts of the world would also be invited.
In the Winds Of Change tour, various universities, schools and colleges all over Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and elsewhere, invite these speakers to deliver inspiring, motivational and FREE lectures & seminars at their institutes. And not just that, but during SIST, which happens to be Pakistan’s biggest Youth Islamic event and is now an integral part of the yearly Winds Of Change tour, students from as far as Canada & the UK to as near as the next door college compete against each other in exciting events. These include competitions in 3-D art, Short Film, Debates, Spoken Word (Poetry), Tajweed, Nasheed, Calligraphy, Futsal and many more. The amazing stalls put up by Youth Club, Al Falah Manzil, Muslims United and many other organizations made the place look all the more attractive.
The speakers at Winds Of Change Tour by Youth Club have been invited from Pakistan’s top universities such as NUST, LUMS, FAST, Quaid-e-Azam University, Bahria National University, Air University, Shifa College of Medicine, Riphah Medical University, IIUI, Punjab University, UCP (and many more) to schools such as Alma, OPF School, and Lahore Grammar School and all the way to Islamic and Community Centers. The students, faculty and even the administrative staff felt refreshed and highly motivated after listening to the thought provoking words of the speakers.
Attentive Audience at COMSATS University, Islamabad
The purpose of the Winds of Change Tour is to bridge the gap between Islam and Muslims, so as to make Muslims really practicing and not just Muslims by name. As with every noble cause comes great support, no exception was found here as well. People who had never met before, cooperated with each other only for the sake of Allah and loved each other only for His sake and such unparalleled sincerity has truly been a positive change in and of itself! In a country that is occupied with news flashes of robbery, kidnapping and murder, all this is a really good news.
This year’s event featured famous speakers such as Yusuf Chambers, Adnan Rashid, Imran Ibn Mansoor, Raja Zia-ul-Haq (CEO Youth Club), Sarah Chaudhry (for sisters only), Dr. Saeed Akhtar, Dr. Abdus Samie, Kamran Kiyani, Dr. Yousuf Raza etc. After the tour Dr. Tawfique Chawdhury (CEO Mercy Mission World) arrived all the way from Australia on invitation by Al-Huda International Welfare Foundation on a 10-day tour of Pakistan. Considering the fact that some of these speakers had to travel to Pakistan for the first time, goes on to prove just how dedicated they are to the cause of propagating Islam. May Allah accept the efforts done by everyone, Ameen ya Rab!
The Dawah Man – Imran Ibn Mansoor!
If there was anything that I think could make this event even more fantastic, it would be to make it bi-annual because those who can’t attend it in January or February can benefit from it in the summers at least. But, then again, it’s easier said than done. However, there is always room for improvement and in sha Allah if YOU feel like contributing please feel welcome to do so. After all, this is all about inspiring positive change! 🙂
Below, are a few photos from this year’s event:
The one of many feedback notice boards!
Habibi, meaning “My Love” in Arabic, was the perfect backdrop for this photo! 😛
Brother Yusuf Chambers inspiring people!
Brother Imran Ibn Mansour Speaking At Al-Falah Manzil Islamic Centre
At Shifa College of Medicine inside Shifa Hospital
Free Books & Reading Materials!
A great approach to help understand the purpose of Life!
At the YOUTH TALK Studio with (L-R) Brothers Nadeem Ashraf, Yusuf Chambers & Raja Zia-ul-Haq
Brother Hisham Al Hadi, Ladies & gentleman!
The young ones also got a chance to share their opinions
Brother Yusuf Chambers at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
At Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel
The positive Change even in the speakers! 🙂
This is what happens when the speaker gets disturbed too much during a seminar! 😛
Brother Yusuf Chambers explaining in a hilarious way, how he became a Muslim
We ran out of such incredible free books due to their high demand!
The elegantly beautiful official SIST 2013 Poster, designed by Shahraiz Tabassam!
At Oxbridge School – with the little ones!
The SIST 2013 Winning trophy was awarded to the “SIST-ers” team!
Program Recording at FM 102.2 Radio Station
Fahd Ahsan From Head Start School initiating the Program before Brother Adnan Rashid’s Enlightening Seminar
So, if you missed out on the fun this year or you can’t wait and wish to volunteer for the next year’s event or any other event in between, then please, do keep yourself up-to-date on the following links:
http://www.shifastudentsociety.com/
youthclub.pk@gmail.com
http://twitter.com//youthclubpk
Ali Naqash is a Final Year Structural Engineering student at the National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), H-12 Campus, Islamabad, Pakistan, and is a Proud Muslim.
He wants to change himself and the society for the better, even if it be a small positive change. He can be contacted at engineering_logic@yahoo.com or on www.world1stop.com
Ma sha Allah, we wish we had known this a little earlier : ) We were able to get a chance to hear Dr. Tawfique Chowdhry via Al-Huda LIVE link. Karachi events were not very well-coordinated perhaps because of the city’s condition. Didn’t get to know about them. Nevertheless this is a welcome change and indeed, having such events twice in a year will be a treat for us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala place barakah in your efforts, aameen.
Let us know how can we contribute.
BarakAllah feek.
Reblogged this on Youth Club Blog.
Alhamdolilalh…Youth Club is doing an excellent Job for spreading beautiful knowledge of Islam in our much needed youth. May Allah give them bar’akah and Accept their work and bless them with Jannah as reward. Ameen
an excellent and interesting struggle o change the society . May Allah Help you!