Islamic Events
Texas Dawah Convention — Day One: The Biggest Eid Carnival in the HISTORY of Houston
Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu
Alhamdulillaah, we just finished the first day of a truly amazing event: The Texas Dawah Convention. Today consisted of a day-long carnival (lasting till 10 pm) right inside Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center. SubhanAllah, this was one of the most awesome Islamic events I have ever been to!
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I have to be honest, beforehand, I was a bit skeptical as to what the carnival would be able to offer, especially being an indoor carnival… but my skepticism was not justified in the least. As advertised, the carnival consisted of 27 games and rides for both children and adults. Also included was a bazaar and many halal food vendors from around Houston. Among the attractions were a live petting zoo (with lambs, goats, and other animals the kids loved), a few huge “high-speed” rides (both of which involved spinning the participants at extremely fast speeds), rock climbing, the classic mechanical bull, amongst many other attractions.
Unfortunately, I was not able to ride any of these rides, as I was personally manning the “bouncing balls” game (you know, that thing with all these hundreds of balls inside where little kids jump around and swim in, etc). Alhamdulillaah, the experience was amazing, despite not being able to ride any adult rides myself.
What truly amazed me more than anything else was that THIS carnival brought together Muslims from all over, not only Houston, but the entire nation (as I have so far met brothers here from Ohio, Wisconsin, Maryland, Virginia, and California) to celebrate Eid as one Ummah. It was truly a blessing seeing all the Muslims coming together and celebrating this joyous occasion in a halal and EXTREMELY FUN way. Often times, we hear Muslims complaining that as a Muslims, they can’t do “fun” things anymore (like, in their mind, listening to music, going to the movies … since so many movies contain faahishah these days)… well, ALHAMDULILLAAHI RABB IL’AALAMEEN, TDC has proved this notion to be COMPLETELY wrong… as experienced today, Muslim can have TONS of halal and tayyib fun, and benefit each other as the Ummah in the process.
Now, to go to sleep in eager anticipation of the awesome set of lectures that awaits me on Day 2 of TDC.
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Amad
December 22, 2007 at 9:08 AM
I am so excited for everyone there, and jealous for myself npt beong there :(
My kids will be reading these updates too and making sure that I knoW how the injustice of them not being there!
Organic Muslimah
December 22, 2007 at 9:44 AM
Links to any pictures, perhaps?
Reem
December 22, 2007 at 1:36 PM
salaam
NO FAIR! I really wish we could be there… why did it have to be the TDC we cant come to? Why couldn’t it be the last one or the next?!!
But, at least my dad is taking us to a 3 week trip to Pakistan, so, I can’t argue with him.
~Reemo~
Yasir Qadhi
December 22, 2007 at 4:44 PM
Salaam Alaikum
I must say my kids and I had a BLAST yesterday… they spent literally eight hours non-stop going from ride to ride (and, yes, I admit, I rode a few of them as well). Ma sha Allah I was very impressed at the quality of the rides and the quantity of people there. I think the event was a resounding success from all angles, wa-Alhamdulillah.
I am confident that this event can become bigger and greater in the years to come.
Yasir
iMuslim
December 22, 2007 at 6:02 PM
Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah
Sounds like a great event, masha’Allah!
If any of the readers who attended have photos, please send them to us, and we’ll post the best ones on the site, insha’Allah. :)
info[at]muslimmatters[dot]org
AnonyMouse
December 22, 2007 at 6:35 PM
I am jealous, jealous, jealous!
Canada better start picking up tips from TDC… the only “big” thing we have here is the RIS conference… which a lot of people find lame and wishy-washy (besides, the entertainment isn’t always 100% halaal – quite a bit of music).
:(
Amad
December 22, 2007 at 7:35 PM
Ris and tdc are very different. While RIS has big name speakers and inspirational-type straight lectures, TDC model is more learning based with workshops, academic style activities and lot of professionals, not speakers (I.e. Psychologists, doctors, etc). So that actual problems are solved and tackled.
Both have a place and need.
Shaykh YQ is attending both… So he should have a basis to compare and contrast… I hope he does, I hope we don’t have to force/beg the shaykh to do it.
SaqibSaab
December 22, 2007 at 11:02 PM
Wish I could have gone so bad. :cry:
May Allah increase Texas Dawah.
ibnabeeomar
December 23, 2007 at 3:06 AM
Carnival was really cool – the biggest surprise for me was getting to see the baby camel in the petting zoo
Organic Muslimah
December 23, 2007 at 10:32 AM
Baby camel? That’s it. I am moving to Texas.
iMuslim
December 23, 2007 at 12:12 PM
OM: You could always move back East – loooads of baby camels there. ;)
Umm Reem
December 23, 2007 at 12:47 PM
Oh well, I suppose some sisters will be sending me their comments, so I am forwarding them here:
———
Yassir Qadhi’s lecture was transferred to the auditorium from the classroom – it was full, as usual – Alhamdullilah. The lecture was “the house of Khadija” Yasser Fazaqa was hilarious too – Mum, Dad I’m in love. Yaser Birjas was good – The Prophet (sallila alaihi wa salam)as a role model for husbands.
… enjoyed the Eid mela very much on Friday. The TDC did very, very well – excelled themselves and even had the foresight to cordon off an area for the girls w.r. to the more active sports like rock-climbing; getting stuck to the wall by velcro and tangled cords that enabled you to fly in the air – Alhamdullilah. I want to send a letter of thanks to the organisers of the mela – ENCORE!!.
Amrooha
December 24, 2007 at 1:33 AM
I guess if you’re not going for Hajj then Texas is the place to be
Sounds Fantastic MashaAllah!
Amad
December 24, 2007 at 2:49 PM
Yup… TDC is the next best spiritual alternative to hajj for us americans :)
I hope that via this blog medium, more of the word gets out such that more people don’t miss this perfect family vacation. Its far and expensive for lots of ppl outside texas, but why not skip that disney trip or other vacation trips and save up for something that will TRULY benefit us and our children!
I am committed to not missing it next year and I’ll take my cousin and family too inshallah. I hope others make this commitment to themselves to for themselves.
restingtraveller
December 24, 2007 at 5:53 PM
inshaAllah i’m in! I’ve been trying to go to TDC for the past three years alhamdulillah, I’ve re-charged my planning and duaas to get there next year bi’ithnillahi ta’ala after hearing these awesome stories!
(still thinking about the baby camel lol :-) it must have been sooo cute)