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Conference
Washington D.C.
The 6th Badr International Ethiopian Muslims Federation Conference which was hosted by the First Hijrah Foundation in Washington D.C. has been successfully completed. The First Hijrah Community who demonstrated an excellent and welcoming attitude remained true to its name. The spacious Sheraton hotel caved in to the thousands of attendees who streamed from all over United States and Canada.
While there were some glitches in allocating rooms for everyone, it was quickly resolved by booking extra rooms from the close by Holiday Inn.
The program started
on Thursday at 4:30pm with the recitation of Holy Qura’n by Brother Faisel Bashir of DC and Dua’a by
the prominent and scholar Mufti Sheikh Mohamed Siraj.
Brother Najib Mohamed, president of the First Hijra Foundation of
Washington D.C. welcomed the crowd and excited gathering to this historical convention. He was also thankful to Badr for giving the opportunity of hosting this year’s conference by the First Hijrah Foundation. In the mean time brother Najib appealed to the gathering for forgiveness of any shortcoming or any inconvenience caused during the four days conference.
Brother Mohamed Awal Issa chairman of Badr International Ethiopian Muslims Federation delivered welcoming message to the gathering. In his speech, brother Mohamed appreciated the First Hijrah Foundation for their hospitality and hard working in organizing this event for the second time in the heart of the America’s capital, Washington DC. He also, thanked the participants who came from all over United States and Canada for their efforts to attend the 6th annual Badr International Ethiopian Muslims Federation convention in Washington DC.
He continued his speech briefing the gathering of what he has assessed and viewed during his recent visit to Ethiopia. Brother Mohamed reminded the gathering that Muslims in Ethiopia are suffering and they are in need of quick financial and moral support from their brothers and sisters in Diaspora.
The number of participants was tremendously high to
the extent that one of the famous big Sheraton Hotels in Washington was not enough to accommodate everyone. We were surprised by this huge
turnout which is estimated to be close to 5000 people. It is a positive sign to
see Ethiopian Muslims congregating for the same purpose from different
backgrounds.
Four days events have covered many programs such as lectures by well known Ethiopian Scholars from United States and Canada in Amharic as well as Scholars from United States in English. Beside the Islamic education, there was various discussions on many issues that concern Ethiopian Muslims in Diaspora and at Home.
On Saturday July 29th, Dr. Samuel Aseffa Ambassador of Ethiopia to United States addressed the gathering and expressed his excitement of seeing this huge number of Ethiopian Muslims in Diaspora coming together for a common purpose. After his speech, Dr. Samuel accepted several questions from the gathering regarding matters that concerns Ethiopian Muslims. He was asked various questions including the ineptness of the Ethiopian Islamic Supreme Council and other questions that are relevant to the current affairs of our country.
At the end of his speech Badr requested from the Ambassador to set a time to meet and discuss other issues that were not raised during the question period. As per our request, the Ambassador met with representatives from the various communities in North America at the Ethiopian Embassy. In this meeting which took about two hours, Muslim representatives raised critical issues that need to be addressed such as the corrupt and inefficient leaders of Ethiopian Islamic Supreme Council, investment and the slow process of acquiring land for Ethiopians in Diaspora. The Ambassador promised to provide an answer to some of these issues in a
reasonable time period.
The Board members of Badr and concerned brothers and sisters had an opportunity to meet with some of the opposition parties that were in the US who attended a function that was organized by Dr. Samuel Aseffa at his residence. We seized the opportunity to quiz Mr. Lidetu Ayalleow one of the opposition leaders and others regarding the composition of
his party and lack of Muslim presentations in their party.
Ato Ledetu Ayalew, Member of Parliament
acknowledged of the fact that any political party that spouses democratic
principals will not be able to make headway without fully participation of
Ethiopian Muslims. Although the meeting was informal, Brother Akmel Shamil, Badr’s Public Relation spoke of the importance of working together for the betterment of our country. He also emphasized Ethiopia’s historical place in the Islamic History
for being the first to receive the companions of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) to Ethiopia.
On Sunday Brother Mensur Mohammed, Executive president reported Badr’s 2005 – 2006 achievements and challenges. Br. Mensur informed the audience of the importance of becoming members in order to contribute their share in alleviating the sufferings of their Muslims brothers and sisters.
It is also worth mentioning that this year’s Badr Awards went to the following recipients:
¨ Ethiopian Canadian Muslim Community Association for showing an excellent
community leadership
¨ Muslim Students of Debub University for their work in apprehending the
individual who
was caught abusing the Holy Quran
¨ Brother Muhmoud Suadik was also one of the recipients for his exemplary
work in demonstrating and excellent leadership ability.
The conference created strong brotherly and sisterly bonds in which many found it difficult to see off each other. We praise Allah (sw) to strengthen this love for His sake to persists for years to come Insha’Allah.
As it was opened by the recitation of Holy Quran, the conference wrapped up with the Dua’a by the community elders and prominent Imams.
It was announced that next years’ Badr International Ethiopian Muslims Federation to be hosted in Atlanta Georgia by Hijrah
Islamic
Center of Atlanta.
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