ANNUAL CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
Following ICCI Annual Conference 2019 on 28th & 29th December 2019 titled 'Family & Society Today', below you will find a comprehensive report on the workshops feedback.
Domestic Challenges
CHALLENGES IN CURRENT TIMES
- Recognising the issue and finding solutions that need to be implemented within family
Issues:
- Addiction to social media
- Influence from friends and media
Solutions
- Enrol our children in activities organised by the Centre or sports in general to keep them occupied; balance their time with outdoor activities.
- Limit the use of social media to certain boundaries to avoid spending too much time on online games and social media
- Build and strengthen relationships with our children
- Enhance relationships with our children by learning to compliment them when deserving, even if it is casual so that they will not feel lack of attention from parents which can result in them looking for that certain attention somewhere else.
- Organising more family activities together such as board games night, picnic, or going to the park without distractions of phone, etc.
- Most importantly, constant supplication for our children.
Issues: Preferential treatment
- When one child is favoured over another, or treatment of male vs female is biased
Solutions
- Relationship between parents & the youth should be worked on and considered a priority
- Parents should work on building trusting relationship with children and making their children feel safe to open up to them or trusted persons
- Avoid expressing favouritism between children and do our best to show the same care and love between sons and daughters
- Spending more time with them and listen to their problems without being judgemental and find solutions together as family
- Explain Islam in the right ways that focus on moral values so that children grow up with the right Islamic values.
- When parents workloads are demanding Parents should source alternative projects for their young children to partake in, whether youth club, local mosque activities, sport events, etc.
Issues: Pornography
Solutions
- Monitor use of the internet and social media
- Having more open conversations with children on any sensitive issues that they are facing in regards to their sexuality. (e.g: Mothers with daughter, Fathers with sons)
- Inject Islamic values in your responses to concerns
- Encourage children to find good influence through positive circle of friends within the community
Issues affecting the Irish Muslim community:-
- Internet/Social Media: Youth learn their religion online rather than coming to the mosque
- Drugs more widespread with youth
- More Integration is required
- Not having the ability to differentiate between Islam & Culture – Clash of Identity
- Challenging relationships between the youth and senior members of our community
Solutions for Integration: -
- Working with Irish organisation
- Get involved in the Irish community through charitable work
- Set a good example, be helpful, be positive and it will be reciprocated by the wider Irish community
- Parents should listen to their children about the issues they face
- Find alternatives to elements of the culture that challenge your beliefs
Youth Solutions: -
- Youth should develop their faith positively
- Hypocrisy and lack of trust towards the older members of the community should be addressed
- Work on the foundation of the family. i.e. choosing the right partner
- Concentrate on the establishment of a wholesome community
- Sit and have consultations as a family
- Attract youth to lectures/workshops, by addressing appealing relative topics
Main Points: -
- Many issues affecting the Muslim community currently such as social media, drugs, broken relationships between youth, and a lack of integration with the wider Irish community
- Solutions for most of these issues revolve around focusing on family. Parents should work on making their children safe at home, feeling secure enough to open up about their issues. In addition to this there must be acknowledgment of the cultural differences that exist within many families between parents and children
Pre Marriage Workshop
Attendees of this workshop were split into three groups. Each group was presented with a task they must complete and present in the end.
Group 1 consisted of men only. They were required to provide a SWOT analysis of themselves. They explored their shared strengths, weaknesses, values and threats.
Strengths mentioned included: financial strength, tolerance, problem solving skills & physical strength. Weaknesses include, lack of social skills, dealing with the children, lack of Islamic knowledge. Values included; ‘completing your deen’, support & increase in rizq.
Threats included: financial responsibility & combativeness
Group 2 which consisted only of women were tasked with discussing expectations they have of their husbands and what they find unappealing:
Unlike group 1, women focused more on interpersonal skills they expected their husbands to work on such as kindness, trustworthiness, sense of humour, romance. Some also mentioned that education and knowledge of deen is important.
In addition to this, women also discussed that selfishness, arrogance, excessive jealousy and absence from the home for long periods of time were traits they did not like in their spouses
Group 3 were given tasks of roleplay in fictional scenario’s to effectively display through drama the outcome that might result based on personal attitudes (positive or negative) in a relationship.
