More than likely you’re familiar with TED. TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks in under 18 minutes. It started as a platform dedicated to topics of Technology, Entertainment and Design and now covers almost anything from science to politics.

When Khalil Aleker and Zaheer Parker decided to start Accidental Muslims with a view to eventually have a TED style conference I don’t think they realized how soon it would happen. I first heard about Accidental Muslims early this year and was inspired by their idea to showcase ordinary Muslims making a difference. I wasn’t initially sure where they were going with this until I met them in person when they wanted to interview me for one of their podcasts. I was equally surprised and thrilled to be among the accomplished people they had been talking to. It was then that I learned their purpose, which was to showcase present and future leaders, understand their life story and how their message can impact and inspire us to live, with purpose.

LIVE WITH PURPOSE. This has been the central theme that has come from AccidentalMuslims.com. Even though you may “Accidentally” be a Muslim, you may still live with purpose. To impact positively on the world around you.

So how did it all go down?

I found the conference held this past Saturday at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town to be inspiring and in many ways practical in terms of networking and educational in terms of simply picking up little nuggets of useful advice and information from the various speakers.

The almost 20 speakers themselves were impressive, from Shafiq Morton, journalist and radio presenter on Voice of the Cape, to Mustaq Brey – CEO Brimstone Investments, from Naadiya Moosajee, restaurant owner and Co-Founder & CEO at WomEng to Yaaseen Barnes, well known Cape Town comedian.

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I was particularly impressed by the talk from Aslam Cassiem – WC Ward Councillor whose life story of rags to not riches but reaching his goal and purpose was humbling to hear. His philosophy of having a dream to motivate you in all that you do was something that resonated and I could imagine this talk being of huge benefit to school goers needing motivation and direction.

Lois Strachan, who is a blind inspirational speaker & author spoke about overcoming your limitations. Her’s being that she became blind just before completing her degree. She only realized her own strength when she still managed to complete her degree and then her Masters inspite of being blind. She ended her talk with the powerful words “Even though I may be disabled I will never be disempowered!”.

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Both Faizal Sayed and Mehboob Bawa were outstanding as co MC for the day, Faizal handling the morning and Mehboob the afternoon.

I wasn’t able to stay for the entire day and had to leave before the second tea break after lunch. I missed Yaaseen Barnes doing his bit but managed to catch the video on the Accidental Muslims facebook page. A lot of the content could be a bit heavy, so his talk would have offered a light relief. Not that he did a stand up comedy set, just that he was quite funny in how he told his own story.

MJ Li aka Mohammed Junaid Chafekar also offered a visual display of his Kung Fu skills where he was demonstrating the power of control and discipline.

The event was made possible with the help of some major sponsors, namely Islamic Relief SA , Awqaf SA, Albaraka Bank and Old Mutual. So it was to be expected that at least one sponsor was to take the stage for one of the talks. Saliegh Salaam, Portfolio Manager of Old Mutual gave a very relevant and enlightening commentary on the dangers of Ribba (Interest) and why Islam forbids it. He also gave a run down on the Shariah compliant offering from Old Mutual.

The conference was very well organized and everything went smoothly. There was no space for “babbi time”, everything ran like clockwork. The tea break included tea or coffee and in true Cape Town style, the most delicious bollas and doughnuts served at 3 stations which made crowd control a moot point. Lunch time included a complementary light lunch of a tasty chicken wrap, served in a fomo. It would have been nice if they catered on plates but that would have pushed the ticket price up somewhat I’m sure, and R300 is a reasonable price for this event. This first conference while not sold out but was very well attended.

I want to commend these 2 young and dynamic guys on turning a simple idea into a real movement in such a short time. Well done Khalil and Zaheer. You have set the bar high. I know that with this effort you will touch the lives of many and effect a positive ripple that will come back to you ten fold, Insha Allah.

Their next conference in set to be in Johannesburg in March 2018. I know they are going to kill it over there as well and I would encourage anyone who is needing that surge of inspiration to jumpstart your career or some motivation to be all you can be to be a part of this movement and #LivewithPurpose.