Women in Islam

today our chicago talebaat-ul-kulliyah held the first of its Women in Islam series, with a panel discussion. our six panelists were all around the same age, but had widely differing perspectives regarding the balance of family, career and religion in a bohra woman's life.

it was, in my opinion, fascinating. i think we pulled it off beautifully, although with a better idea of what works and what doesn't for next time as well. the six panelists were in disagreement most of the time, and that was interesting- in the end, it became clear that everyone achieves balance- everyone finds that harmony between life's top priorities- and yet it means something very, very different to every woman.

i feel energized by today's successful event. i feel that we learned something about some people who, in daily life, we never ever question further than "how are you". we found out what their priorities are, what they value and how they value it. we found out a lot about each other, i think, and we let the conversation get to a level where people were putting a lot of honesty and feeling into what they were revealing.

i feel the potential of talebaat, i feel the potential of our relationships with one another. after the seminar my friends and i had lunch with some of the younger girls- girls who we are friendly with but do not know - and in the spirit of today's getting-to-know-you vibe, i felt the potential of so many new relationships.

there are so many things that i feel will come out of today.