Tradition of Excellence Continues at Ijtema 2008
Qasim Rashid
August 26, 2008 - AThe great Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." In 2007 MKA USA set a new precedent with over 1000 attendees at the National Ijtema.  In 2008, our aspirations increased to 1111 attendees.  Every Khadim, Tifl, and many guests received email after email, reminding us of the dates, times, and location of the Ijtema. The words Milton, NY were literally tattooed across our computer screens.

Every time we opened our email accounts, the words “National Ijtema” and “1111, Will you be the 1?” appeared.  Conference call after conference call littered the airwaves.  People left one call early to jump on another one, only to later realize they missed that “other” call for another department.

As with 2007, all the work, excitement, and sacrifice came down to that final moment as Respected Sadr Sahib Faheem Younus Qureshi stood before us at the podium.  The hall silent, every ear listened attentively to the wise words of our Respected Sadr.

“Our success is not a result of a number my brothers.  If we don’t achieve some numerical number, does that mean we will be ungrateful to the blessings of Allah?”  Respected Sadr Sahib spoke very frankly and openly as always.  “We are not worried about quantity my brothers, we are worried about quality.”

It seemed pretty clear that we did not make our goal.  Like the year before, thoughts of falling just a few people short filled our minds.

Respected Sadr Sahib continued, “I want each and every one of us to always be thankful to Allah for what he has given us, and to know that our success doesn’t just lie in some number.  With that in mind, please look at the screen to see what the final result of the 2008 Ijtema was.”

One by one, attendance from previous years showed up, all the way to 2007 when we had 1008 attendees.  Sadr sahib gave the instruction and the number for 2008 showed up. 

By the sheer Grace of Allah, MKA USA once again exceeded its target and had 1118 attendees at the National Ijtema.  Respected Sadr Sahib was merely ensuring we did not fall into the trap of thinking that this was our only indicator of success.  Rather, our success was proven through all the hard work, dedication, and prayers we had put forth to bring about another successful Ijtema.  Exceeding our goal of 1111 was simply another wonderful blessing of Allah.

Thus, in the words of Aristotle, our excellence had now become more than just an act.  Indeed, excellence has become the habit of MKA USA.  May Allah always enable each Khadim and Tifl to be worthy of the blessings of Allah, and to serve MKA USA with wholehearted excellence, Insha’allah.