Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

While many tourists came to DC to attend the 4th of July celebrations to honor America's 233rd anniversary, I along with about 30,000 Muslims had other plans. I attended the 46th annual convention of ISNA at the DC Convention center, blocks away from the Capitol. There were many programs which were taking place at this year’s conference: Lectures and discussions by Siraj Wahaj, Hamza Yusuf, Yusuf Islam,....., Islamic film festival with the showing of movies and documentaries by Muslims ( I was able to watch New Muslim Cool, yey!), Islamic Art Exhibit with beautiful pieces of wood, calligraphy, pictures,... just amazing and the infamous addictive bazaar!
Heading first to the Bazaar was a mistake my DH can testify to, since I made him walk for hours, mesmerized at all the hijabs, clothes, jewelry, accessories, art,..... Name it, if a business had any touch of Islam in it, it was there. With over 600 booths for vendors and businesses, I felt like a kid lost in a candy store. I wanted to buy everything.


It was good to put a face on all the online Muslim stores I've been to. It was good to touch the clothes and be able to try them on before buying them, good to discover new businesses, new talent, meet people I wouldn't have met otherwise.
On Sunday night, Native Deen and other Muslim groups did a "concert" while Baba Ali from Ummah Films performed a skit.






I attended about 4 lectures in 3 days.... I know, I wish I attended more, but what's a girl to do when lost in a bazaar full of goodies? The speakers as usual were very motivational and inspirational. They focused on real happiness as opposed to fake happiness. Is happiness achieved by maximizing pleasure, earning fame and fortune, or living a life of unlimited leisure? To the contrary, real happiness can only be obtained through the search and acceptance of God. Only believers can achieve genuine happiness. All forms of happiness attained without a firm belief in God, the Almighty, are mere illusions.
As our prophet saw said:

“True enrichment does not come through possessing a lot of wealth, but true enrichment is the enrichment of the soul.”

(Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

We learn from the Quran that happiness is an exclusive quality of the soul. Thus, a body that attains all the material successes it longs for - money, power, fame, etc. - often belongs to an unhappy person. Happiness depends totally on the degree of growth and development attained by the soul, the real person

So, dear readers, are you happy?

(Video from ISNA website)