Dear OIL Members and Supporters,
As’salaam wa’laikum. Muharram is upon us, and recently we have received many inquiries regarding OIL’s plans for this solemn month. Unfortunately, due to prevailing economic conditions and our available resources, we are unable to host a program for Muharram in 2022.
The board was deeply intent on staging an in-person event this year after a difficult pandemic that had stopped us from gathering for the last two years. After finding a venue and speaker, we determined the final total costs were beyond us. Raging inflation has put things out of reach for our small organization.
While this is intensely disappointing for all of us, we do not plan to sit idle this fall. New programs (in-person and online) are in the works for every month from September to December, including an event to mark Arba’een (Chellum), our AGM and the resumption of our OIL TedTalks series.
Also, we have new content coming to our blog. If you have not already explored our new website in detail, please do. You will find easy access to our past programs and a new page dedicated to our thriving Youth Committee. The planned new web content is a series being prepared in conjunction with Dr. Husein Khimjee. It aims to explore the attributes of God in the Islamic tradition (The Beautiful Names of Allah) in a way that is relevant to all of us today. More information will be communicated in the coming weeks.
We know these smaller initiatives can not replace our annual Muharram programming. Our mission has always been to augment our personal and collective spiritual journeys. The upcoming programs represent our commitment to you that OIL will always aim to educate and enlighten, insha’Allah. Please stay tuned for more program updates.
Until then, stay safe.
Sincerely,
Your Oil Board of Directors
