Convert Support Training with Shaykha Dr. Tamara Gray: January 26th, 2025

As a proud partner of Rabata, the Barakah Beauty Collective team is excited to welcome the esteemed Shaykha Dr. Tamara Gray for a special event for Imams and Muslim Community Leaders from the Seattle area to join in a training to ensure you are helping Muslim converts - specifically women converts to our faith in your programming, mosque activities, etc. 

Convert Support Training: This is open to all community members (men and women) with an emphasis on leaders who want to enhance what they are doing to support converts.

Registration required

• Day: Sunday, January 26th, 2025
• Time: 1:30pm-5pm
• Location: MAPS Seattle, 2100 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
• Food: Light refreshments will be served. 

The Convert Training Seminar will include:

• An emphasis on the significance of learning Islamic knowledge for one’s own development 
• A nurturing of the ability to remove cultural context from religious guidelines (e.g., changing your name isn’t a component of becoming Muslim) 
• A focus on drawing out the individual convert’s identity, background, personality, and interests to encourage them to take advantage of their unique abilities 
• Advice on providing possibilities with resources and institutions to help them further their knowledge - not limiting a new Muslim to your own circle 
• Education on understanding behavioral signs which indicate that mental health professionals may be needed and serving as a resource hub for local professionals and services 
• Cultivation of humility - people who want to help new Muslims need to recognize their position of privilege and think outside of their own upbringing 
• A primer on the basic tenets of other faiths, especially Christianity, to recognize the spiritual perspectives that converts bring to Islam

The training will be rooted in the book written on this topic called Project Lina: Bringing Our Whole Selves to Islam. 

• Know yourself. Knowing who we are helps us to serve our religion and each other with serenity. This module unravels our unique personalities with an MBTI personality assessment. This insightful look at who we are connects us to the lives of the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). 
• Declare your independence. Converts are encouraged to seek proper religious knowledge for themselves instead of relying completely on others to explain things to them. This module reviews common Islamic terminology and belief systems and offers tools to gain a proper foundation of religious beliefs as mentioned in holy scriptures and teachings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Discussion will involve the theological history of the Abrahamic faiths and practical aspects of seeking knowledge to declare independence.
• Tend your ties. This module will journey with converts on the types of care they should not only provide for their loved ones, but also the care and attention they should provide for themselves. They will gain insight on the process of selecting a spouse, raising children, creating one’s own traditions, and handling conflict responsibly. The journey invites convert Muslims to journey with their 'akhirah lenses' to strengthen their ties with Allah's creation who have been entrusted to us so that we can attain nearness to Him.

Lina is the Arabic word for palm tree, and the three modules found in this workshop - Know Yourself, Declare Independence, and Tend Your Ties, - provide a springboard from which converts can grow like palm trees, have deep roots, and strong but flexible trunks, and bear wonderful life sustaining fruit. 

Whether new to Islam or a seasoned convert with tales and advice of your own to share, Project Lina will help you continue to bring your whole self to Islam. It is the open arms, the spiritual guidance, and the balanced way forward that converts need for a healthy transition from newbies to vital members of their communities - and then to the leaders their communities need. 

About Shaykha Dr. Tamara Gray

Dr. Tamara Gray is a founder of Rabata, an organization dedicated to promoting positive
cultural change through creative educational experiences.

As executive director, faculty, and chief spirituality officer, she focuses on uplifting Muslim women within community and without. She has a special interest in digital spaces in faith communities.

Dr. Tamara Gray holds a doctorate in leadership from the University of St. Thomas, a master’s degree in Curriculum Theory and Instruction from Temple University and spent twenty years in traditional learning spaces studying Islamic sciences, Quran, and Arabic in Damascus, Syria.

Dr. Gray is also an author and translator. Her publications range from several culturally
appropriate English language curriculum programs to translations of sacred texts. She has authored two books: Joy Jots: Exercises for a happy heart & Project Lina: Bringing our whole selves to Islam and co-translated the Mukhtasir al-Jami’ fi al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya by Samīra Zayid [Compendium of the Collection of Sources on al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya]. Her third book – about theology and creed – is due out in 2024.

In addition to her work at Rabata, Dr. Gray also serves as both faculty and an academic council member for The Islamic Seminary of America, is a Senior Fellow at the Yaqeen Institute and is a member of the Fiqh council of North America. She has recently taken on the position of Board Chair for the Minnesota Multifaith Network Council.

She is a mother of three, grandmother of two, an avid reader and a lover of cultures, coffee,and road trips.

*Barakah Beauty Collective and Michaela Corning LLC are not liable for any adverse reactions you might have as a result of taking part in this event.

**If you have any Covid symptoms, please do not come. 

***Registrations can be canceled 48 hours in advance of the event. Please email info@barakahbeautycollective.com to cancel your registration for a refund to your original payment method. Cancellations inside the 48 hour window, regardless of reasons, will not be refunded. No shows will also not be refunded. Thank you for your understanding!