To my pen, forgive me for typing..: RIS in review

Monday, December 25, 2006

RIS in review

Friday

No-show due to work.

Saturday

Best speaker - Imam Zaid Shakir

Happiness - FREE halal rice krispy squares.

Hot guy sitting beside me - V!

Cute moment - Watching V play with the little girl who was sitting beside us (confirming my thoughts that he'd make an awesome daddy!)

Interesting - Rabbi Micheal Lerner

Good stuff - Dr. Tariq Ramadan

Annoying - My dumb sisters arguing with each other every five seconds and then both getting lost.

Sunday

Best speaker - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (my all-time favourite).

Emotional moment - When that girl (Ola?) converted to Islam on stage in front of all of us.

Cool person sitting beside me - SARA! Back from South Africa with her cute SA accent :D

Awkwardness - Seeing a girl who used to like V from a few years ago (too bad sister, he's all mine!).

Yummy in my tummy - The cookies Sara brought me from SA (Thnx Sara!).

Weird moment - Seeing a student from my school.

Total boredom - Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah -- sorry but I was just falling asleep with the translations..

Fabulous conclusion - Zaid Shakir's singing :)

15 Comments:

At 1:35 a.m., Anonymous said…

hey, you were there too?

I managed to get a media pass and get some* photos.

*by some, I mean 500
At 1:40 a.m., Anonymous said…

btw, all the speeches were awesome, but I was really moved by Tariq Ramadan's words. He was really speaking from the heart, out of concern.

Oh, and you forgot to add one item to your list from Sunday:
the lady causing a ruckus because Tareq Suwaidan said Ali (ra) didn't write Nahjul Balagha
At 10:18 a.m., 'liya said…

*** Addition: Drama of the day - lady causing a ruckus during Tareq Suwaidan's lecture! ***

Umar: 500! Are you going to put them up somewhere? I'd love to see :)

Did you actually hear what the lady said? I just heard yelling! But I thought his apology was very nice esp when he told the sisters around her to leave her alone (I assume they were telling her to shush).

And on the subject of apologies I also liked Zaid Shakir's to the girl he supposedly raised his voice at... although some dumb teenage girls were sitting in front of me and they all began sighing and pretending they were that girl.
At 10:47 a.m., Anonymous said…

Umar, I would dearly love to see those pictures, all 500 of them.

Liya, nice recap. I thought Hamza Yusuf of the final day rocked, the fitting climax to the 3 days.

As for Suwaidan and the Lady, I think it was when he said Usman (R) was better than Ali (R) in some aspect and the lady got upset. His apology was great, but he was really charismatic.

I know some hardliner Muslims got upset at Tareq Suwaidan and Tareq Ramadan (coz they are progressive and did not hesitate to highlight the failings of the Muslims) but good on them!

My favorite line was Tareq Suwaidan's "Islam is a river not a line". I had invited a friend over who is not very religious minded but getting there, and this was just what the person needed to hear.

Would have loved to run into you and V. We bloggers (3 or 4 of us) usually hung around near the Food 911 thing outside the entrance.
At 1:27 p.m., Anonymous said…

*correction: make that 1,000 photos.

I'll try to put some of them up, although I'm not sure what the property rights are at the moment.

The ruckus happened when Suwaidan was speaking about Nahjul Balagha, and that it was some Shi'i scholar's writing and not Ali's (ra).
The woman shouted "You're wrong, you're wrong! Imam Ali wrote it"
That was really all there was to it.

A friend of mine told me some women started crying when Ramadan was speaking (the one where he kinda broke down on stage).

On the topic of apologies, the same friend tells me that some women got into a fight over reserved seating. Afterwards she came back crying, apologizing for being rude.
At 8:02 p.m., Asmaa said…

The only reason I'm sorry to have missed RIS is Tariq Ramadan. He's just amazing.

Zaid Shakir sings now? That's kind of...weird.
At 8:26 p.m., Anonymous said…

Think I might've seen you there.

Asmaa, it wasn't a "song" it was a nasheed/qasida.
At 8:28 p.m., sara said…

as always, Hamza Yusuf was the best!!!! and i did NOT get an accent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At 9:43 p.m., M&M said…

good recap. i could not go on friday because of work either.

lol ya the "drama" moment was interesting. Tariq Suwaidan was great in handling it.

All the stuff was good on Sunday. Very moving very good.

I had that moment of seeing my teacher when I went last year. I was like "oh salam Ms ____" n she was with her friend, n she is like do not call me Ms ____. its just for school. she is like call me by my first name we are not in school right now, lol.
At 10:33 p.m., 'liya said…

Mezba: I liked Tareq Suwaidan's "Islam is a river not a line" line too :) So you were by the food 911 booth eh? I must have passed it 20 times. And I stood in line to by something from there as well!

Umar: 1000.. wow! Find out if we're allowed to see them!

Some people were quite nuts over their seats. I don't understand how someone could be so selfish as to put their stuff on a chair and expect it to be theirs for the day. Which is why we always ended up sitting in the back. Which actually turned out to be better. Less stuffy.

Asmaa: Yes, Tariq Ramadan is quite amazing. His lecture was very moving. Refer to Anonymous' comment on the singing thing. I should have been more clear. I didn't mean in the lalala sense :D

Anonymous: Should I be scared? ...

Sara: You did. But I like it!

M&M: It wasn't a student from my own class but from one I supply taught a few times. I just turned my head so the student wouldn't see me. I've been seeing too many people outside of school now so the excitement of being recognized like a celebrity is wearing off lol.
At 7:18 p.m., Anonymous said…

Who is V?
At 9:19 p.m., Anonymous said…

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 10:42 p.m., 'liya said…

Anonymous #1: The question is, who are you?

Anonymous #2: Sorry but your comment reveals too many personal details I'd prefer if you emailed me privately for if you want an answer :)
At 12:08 p.m., Anonymous said…

My mom was interested in one of the volunteers, for moi, and she wants to know who he is...

now THAT was how bizarre the entire RIS experience was. Amazingly bizarre and awesome. Def. looking forward to the next one.

PS. I kind of want to know myself. blush.
At 6:14 p.m., 'liya said…

Nab: Was she just interested in him based on how he looked? If so, I'd weirded out by that too. How would you know what type of a person he is?

I'm look forward to the next one already too :)