Ma’rifa 2021 Overview

Witness

WITNESS: A Celebration of Imam Ali (A)! The event featured poetry that truly celebrates the Commander of the Faithful.

Speakers

At Ma'rifa 2021, we invited several guests from various backgrounds to offer their insight and experiences in the different facets of becoming. From justice to pop culture, our speakers covered the many different shapes and forms of becoming and how we can engage in the becoming process ourselves.

Team

Meet the team behind the conference who made Ma'rifa 2021 a possibility. Every part of Ma'rifa 2021 is thanks to the hardwork, dedication, and collaboration of the talented people here.

Call for Responses

For Ma’rifa 2021, we invited students to submit their responses to the following prompt: 

The Islamic doctrine of “there is no god but God” teaches us that to reach God, we must first reject all other gods and idols. This is the journey of becoming, rooted in the act of reaching God and finding our true selves. Following in the footsteps of the Prophet as he broke the material idols of the Kaaba, we must embody this doctrine and break the conceptual idols that occupy our hearts. Today, such idols may manifest in our society in the form of prestige, injustice, power, education, or more. They can cloud our sense of self and distract us from the life we should lead, as encouraged by the Prophets and advised by God in the Quran. By practicing self-reflection and acquiring ma’rifa*, we can embark on a journey of becoming to break our false gods, reimagine our aspirations, and reach God.

In this light, what do you think are the main obstacles or idols that are preventing our journey of becoming, as Shi’i students in North America? How can we break and overcome these idols?