A "Love Letter" for REVAMP
I love and appreciate everything about what you are doing seriously! It is not intimidating and the relaxed and inviting atmosphere makes me look forward to attending every session!
Seeing my brothers and sisters of Islam struggling at the beginning of the course and witnessing their growth as they work hard to learn what is being taught and being inspired by their progress at the end of the course. Seeing how Brother Aydarus and his team tirelessly carrying on with the lessons and seeing everyone there with the common purpose of serving Allah is what is most impactful to me.
What I love most about the session? The relaxed atmosphere and Brother Aydarus' stories! They are very inspiring and sobering, good reminders that our time here is borrowed and that we should remember it and make the most out of it by doing better as Muslims. They can be sooo entertaining too. Can we please have a session of just Brother Aydarus telling stories of the Prophets and of his experiences??? I'll be the first to sign up! 🙋♀
The minimal fee is a bonus for sure. Not just because it is 'wallet-friendly' but also, knowing that Brother Aydarus is there every week putting in time and effort to sincerely help us with no monetary rewards to be gained served as a good incentive and reminder for me to go and not waste his efforts. Of course, I'd like to be able to say that I'm learning this and I make the effort to be there for Allah's sake but humans being humans, sometimes we just need a bit more of a push, a tangible and physical presence to help us fight against Shaitan's whispers, and motivate us to just be there and for me, Brother Aydarus and his team working tirelessly to do what they can for us is it. Honestly, I've attended lessons that I had to pay relatively more for prior to this and I couldn't complete the course. I'd just give up halfway, either unmotivated or discouraged. So, I guess this arrangement works better for people like me.
I was also intrigued by the 'come as you are' tagline. I've always felt marginalised at religious classes or events because the voice inside my head would constantly tell me I'm not good enough to be amongst these people who seek a closer relationship with Allah. I'd feel self-conscious and leave the place feeling even more hopeless than when I first stepped in. But with Brother Aydarus' constant reassurances that the little steps that we take to become closer to Allah matter and that our struggles are valid, I'm becoming more hopeful that I can become a better Muslim and servant of Allah and InsyaAllah continue my endeavours to seek a closer relationship with Him in every second of my life.
To all my fellow brothers and sisters who are shy to learn, just do it! Don't give yourself time to think about it! Don't procrastinate. Personally, I signed up for this course very late one night and on a random whim. I had come across Revamp's posts a few times and although I had the desire to sign up, I let other factors get in the way of signing up and I didn't. So one sleepless night, I was scrolling through Facebook mindlessly when the post came up again. I remember just sitting up in bed at that moment, determined that I was going to see it through this time. I woke my husband up excitedly. Mind you, this was 1 a.m. so I took advantage of his groggy, sleepy state and practically forced him to agree to go with me. I even signed up with the wrong number because it was so late at night and my mind was tired! It seemed like such a completely random action at that time, but looking back on it, I don't believe it was random. As clichéd as it sounds, I was in despair and feeling hopeless about life. I was thinking too much and feeling too much which resulted in my sleepless nights and Alhamdulillah, Allah has brought me to this place. It's still a loooong journey ahead for me but I finally took that step forward towards Allah.
Long story short, just do it and of course, if you're anything like me and you feel comforted by a familiar presence, bring a partner along. If you're also like me and have trouble convincing people to go with you, do it in the middle of the night when they're at their most vulnerable haha. But seriously though, it's completely okay to go alone also because everyone at the session is super supportive and you'll easily find someone you can rely on for support and who'd make you feel less alone.
Nurul
REcite (Basic Quran Recitation) Participant,
Jan 2020 intake