In November 2014, the first version of the Teaching Skills Development Programme was developed by MCE after going through a long process of consultations, brainstorming sessions and meetings with teachers, trainers, religious scholars and training institutions.
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31 March 2026 / 12. Shawal 1447
‘Don’t hesitate, come and experience a truly life-changing experience.’ A Mentor’s words from 2013
The privilege of being able to do the ziyarat of Bibi Masooma (AS) and Imam Raza (AS) is an honour in itself, but adding to that the role of a mentor, and being able to impact the lives of our youth for the better, added another dimension to my experience of this trip.
On the first day upon our arrival we were greeted with a lovely lunch and had the added surprise of meeting Yasin uncle from my local jamaat. The following three days of training were conducted by Shaykh Abbas Ismail, Shaykh Komail Rajani, and Qasim Gulamhusain, with support from Yasin uncle. The training programme provided me with the opportunity to reflect and develop not only of myself, but also gave me the skills to develop my relationships with my fellow mentors and mentees.
On the fourth day the mentees started to arrive and for many of them it was their first time on ziyarat to Iran. I saw how the presence and the magnanimity of the shrines impacted and inspired the participants, and it was a truly emotional experience.
The atmosphere created by the boys over the two and a half week period was one to remember. During the bus journeys we were privileged to have many great young reciters from different jamaats, this allowed us to have jashans wherever and whenever we could. The most memorable for myself being the final journey back to the airport, the class moment when brother Mohib was reciting, everyone including Shaykh Komail, Shaykh Mustafa and Agha Nouri, all in sync gave Mohib a deafening “wah wah”.
The overall experience of the trip has allowed me to learn about myself and also about others. Moreover what made the trip an even greater experience was having inspirational role models of all ages around me, from fellow mentors (Ali Mehdi, Imran and Qassim), fellow teachers (Yasin uncle), and fellow scholars (Shaykh Komail and Shaykh Abbas) and the participants of all ages. Having been given this privilege of a life-changing opportunity I hope the call comes again from Imam Ridha (AS) and Bibi Masuma (AS) to allow me to participate in such a programme again.
Lastly to those who are thinking of coming, don’t hesitate, come and experience a truly life-changing experience.
By Alihussein Jaffer of Milton Keynes (currently studying in Portsmouth)
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Updated 13 August 2013
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Mahmud Mumtaz the Deputy of Sacred Premises and Pilgrims’ Affairs of Astan Quds Razavi said "Besides the acceptance of pilgrims at the Guest House (Mehmansara) of Imam Reza (A.S.), we were honored to welcome 2.5 million of dear fasters (Samiun) in the blessed month of Ramadan, and the reception of large number of fasters was completed in 8 minutes."
The final article in The Labayk Series looks at people's most memorable moments from the entire Hajj experience.
