our future generation

Sunday, 26th May 2019

A tweet by a fellow sister opened gates of memories about Ramadhan Youth Challenge. I used to dislike it back when I was in Irsyad because of the pergaulan bebas and the outcome I saw from such camps. I saw how it was an opportunity for madrasah students to kenal2 other students. And kenal2 here refers to between opposite gender…so yah…

Little did I know, I was destined to be part of RYC in years to come when I became heavily involved in the youth scene, as a member of a mosque’s youth group.

My heart was unsettled but I saw and learnt to understand that certain type of activities are crucial. Dakwah comes in many forms. Camps like RYC, is another platform for dakwah. It acts as a recruitment process where we try to touch hearts and minds and not by going too in depth. We instill bits and pieces of development in camps and I think the main focus would be strengthening the social aspect of the development process. To first attract youths and allow them to grow a sense of belonging towards a certain cause, ignite appreciation towards the mosque and ultimately sparking purpose and realisation in ourselves.

And alhamdulillah, I’m glad I joined RYC before because not only did it act as a touchpoint for youths, it was also a ground for the facis and organisers to learn together as a team.

When I first entered the mosque youths scene, I can’t help but to feel the competition between mosques. It felt like it was about quantity, who was attracting more members and who was doing cooler activities. So another plus point about RYC is how we are strategically enforced to collaborate with other mosques in accordance to our clusters. So we had North east (the likes of istighfar, islah, ghufran, etc), South east (MKS, ansar, darul aman, etc), North west and South west. I think there was also central? Not sure ehh. (update: they revamp the cluster groupings again this year)

So back to the part where facis and organisers learnt together, it was a steep learning curve as we had to work alongside people of different perspectives and goals. Which is good as we bounce off ideas and learn to adapt.

I still remember the first 2 and only (so far!) Muslimah only RYC back in 2015 and 2016.

Back then, we had kak Yam who also championed an all ladies camp. It was an alternative to the common narrative of a combined camp. I think it went well because many unwanted interactions were prevented and it allowed ladies to step up and be more confident as camp commandants and leaders. (ok feminists out there, I know we can be leaders in the midst of men too but an all-ladies environment is another level of awesomeness). It is ultimately a safe space and lovely environment to grow in. A short getaway gituu~

Disclaimer: We still combined with the guys when we had a major Ramadhan awareness campaign as we understood that we shouldn’t merely create another wheel in the name of an all ladies event. We acknowledge the power of jamaah and helping out when needed. Really appreciate the Ustaz2 who supported the idea of an all-ladies RYC for 2 years straight. It might not be appealing to many but it did attracted those who prefer such events.

Alhamdulillah ‘ala kulli haaal,

Ok terpanjang cerita. Just teringat ni bila kawan tweet how RYC campers were inconsiderate due to their excited behaviour. We were once them. I’m sure they didn’t mean to get excited and cannot seem to fall asleep in preparation for qiyam. But inshaAllah, that few hours of excitedness, or your inability to sleep due to their excitedness, will bear fruits in the future. (but yes, do tegur them. Adik masih belajar…)

Ohhh also an incident happened which motivated me to write about RYC. So I reported to work at Ansar super super early today (extra motivated for last class kot haha) at about 7.20am to do some set up. When I reached the 4th level, so many adik2 were still there. Awkward sikit sis sorang. But mashaAllah je their akhlak. They ensured the class they used for sleeping was at its best condition as how they first entered it. One even asked me if the class setting is to my standard. I nodded so fast I think my happiness showed. haha. So yes, adik2 masih belajar ❤ (pssst, felt old too haha)

May we use our time as youths to the best of our ability, in things that will invite Allah’s redha…