iERA kicked off January 2018 in style with a five-day specialist dawah training programme for 15 influential imams, scholars and leaders who have access to most of the Muslim community across Canada. This exclusive programme was designed to introduce them to iERA’s dawah training methodology, the GORAP alongside a specific focus on topics around Atheism. Sessions were delivered by iERA CEO Hamza Tzortzis alongside Outreach Specialists, Subboor Ahmad, Imran Hussein and Salahuddin Patel.
After a gruelling opening day, every morning thereafter, the attendees took a multiple-choice examination covering the topics that were taught the previous day. This ensured that they reviewed the content at the end of every day, and once again after fajr to make sure they were internalising what is being delivered.
This immersive programme of study was designed to not only convey certain concepts and ideas about how to convey the message of Islam in a compassionate and intelligent way but as you can see, to challenge the attendees to internalise and implement what they have learned practically in their local communities.
“We LOVED It! It was an amazing experience, we learned so much, especially from the expert in the field. It keeps us on our toes and takes us outside of the box so we can think not just ‘halal’ and ‘haram’, but how to win minds, hearts and souls.” – Alaa Elsayed – Director of Religious Affairs for the Islamic Centre of Canada-ISNA, Director of Public Relations for Mercy Mission World and is a tutor for AlKauthar Institute.
“This was something that opened my eyes, it’s not always just a rational argument, even if you win someone over completely, it doesn’t mean you’re going to win the person, win the heart, uncloud the fitrah.” – Abdurrah Hatia, Imam of the Halton Islamic Association.
This specialist dawah training programme was attended by:
- Imam Yousef Aly – Windsor Islamic Association
- Imam Abdullah Hatia – Halton Islamic Association
- Imam Abdelaziz Eldeeb – Dar Foundation
- Imam Ibrahim Hindy – Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre
- Dr Mustafa Khattab – Anatolia Islamic Centre, Canadian Council Of Imams
- Imam Alaa Elsayed – ISNA Canada
- Imam Muhammad Suliman – Meadowvale Islamic Centre
- Imam Salar Rasoul – Principle, ISNC High School
- Imam Hosam Helal – Islamic Society of St. Catharines
- Imam Mohamed El Osta – i3 Institute
- Imam Mamoun Hassan – Executive Producer, Let The Quran Speak
- Imam Sherif Elsayed – Muslim Community of Edmonton (MCE) Mosque
- Imam Muhammad Abuelezz – Kitchner Masjid
- Omar Abu Saleh – Head Of The Canada Dawah Team
- Ali Usman – Canada Dawah Team