Over four days in January, our community was honoured to welcome Ustadha Nagebah Hayel to Auckland for Becoming Women of God — a programme rooted in the living tradition of women’s scholarship and the inward journey of the human soul. We were especially grateful to welcome the ladies of our community to Hillsborough Masjid, marking a meaningful milestone as we hosted our first international female scholar within this sacred space. It was a moment of quiet significance, reflecting the masjid’s role not only as a place of prayer but also as a home for women’s learning, reflection, and spiritual growth.
What unfolded was not simply a series of classes, but a shared return to the essentials: the heart, the self, our higher selves, and the path back to Allah.
From the stillness of early-morning reflections to the depth of the Being Human sessions, participants were invited to pause and look inward. Through clear teaching and gentle reminders, Ustadha Nagebah guided us through the inner architecture of the human being — body, intellect, spirit, soul, and heart — and the delicate balance each requires. Many left with a renewed awareness that spiritual imbalance is not always loud or obvious, but often revealed through restlessness, disconnection, or a subtle forgetfulness of purpose.
There were moments of deep learning and moments of joy. The gatherings lifted spirits while also gently opening hearts, allowing light to enter in abundance. This balance of depth and warmth characterised the entire programme. Knowledge was not delivered from a distance, but offered with sincerity, presence, and an ease that invited hearts to soften. Even laughter became a means of connection and healing, reminding us that joy, too, has a place in spiritual growth.
The evening session on Women in Scholarship carried its own distinct beauty. It reminded us that women have always been custodians of sacred knowledge — transmitting faith with wisdom, courage, and sincerity across generations. These reminders were not framed as history alone, but as a living inheritance, one that continues to shape hearts, communities, and futures.
What stood out most throughout the programme was the emphasis on return — a return to our higher selves, a return to the heart, a return to sincerity, and ultimately, a return to Allah. The teachings did not call us to perfection, but to awareness; not to urgency, but to consistency. In exploring ascent and descent, we were reminded that spiritual growth is not linear and that moments of struggle are often invitations to deepen our reliance upon the Divine.
As the tour came to a close, many expressed a shared feeling: that something subtle yet profound had shifted within. A softness. A clarity. A renewed intention to live with greater presence and purpose. These are not changes that announce themselves loudly, but ones that quietly reshape how we pray, how we relate to others, and how we carry ourselves through daily life.
We extend our deepest gratitude to Ustadha Nagebah Hayel for her generosity, wisdom, and warmth, and to all those who attended, supported, and held space for these gatherings. May Allah SWT place lasting benefit in what was learned, allow the seeds planted to grow with sincerity, and grant us the ability to carry this light forward long after the gatherings have ended. Āmeen.
May He, subḥānahu wa taʿālā, make us among those who remember Him often, return to Him sincerely, and strive — gently and steadfastly — to become women of God. Āmeen.