Ahmed Rehab speaks in Seattle
CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab, delivered the youth khutba at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) in Seattle, Washington on April 29th, 2016. That weekend, he also keynoted two sessions on critical thinking and on family values as well as participated on a third panel session at the MAPS 10th Annual Seerah conference.
The conference was attended by hundreds of Muslims from the Seattle community with the theme “Upholding faith and caring for humanity.” Rehab focused on the importance of nurturing critical thinking and analysis skills in our children to be able to rise up to the sophisticated challenges of this globalized information age where cynicism and confusion can shake the confidence and faith of youth. He looked to the Seerah and to Qur’anic revelation as authentic proof for the importance of respecting and cultivating the human mind.
In the family values session, he spoke of the three three’s of marriage.
- Marriage is a union of three not two: man, woman and God, not just man and woman.
- Three prayers should be made by a newly married couple to guide their new life: a prayer for the past (istighfar/forgiveness), the present (hamd/thanks), and the future (raja/hope).
- The three critical components of a healthy marriage are respect, trust, and communication.
Rehab then mentioned an example of the seerah as inspiration for a healthy marriage based on love and compassion. The conference closed with a vibrant Q&A session in which Rehab and the other speakers addressed questions from the audience.