ICNA/MAS Houston Convention re-cap

Asalaamu Alaykum everyone,

I wanted to share my experience at the Icna Convention this past weekend in Houston, Alhamdulliah.

It was an amazing experience. First of all, Houston is so big and I have to give props to all the food options they got down there. My family and I had the opportunity to stay at the same place the convention was being held which was amazing! It was at the Marriott Houston Westchase hotel and it was my first time staying at a hotel that big. I mean they had the ICNA convention there, that should tell you how big that place was.

I had the chance to walk around and meet some amazing people, interact with other organizations that do great work for the Ummah (Muslim community). This is probably the 3rd time I've been to an ICNA convention. I always heard of them, but they were always out of reach and in other states that I couldn't attend. I think my favorite thing about the ICNA convention was how everyone kind of already knew each other. It was hard to find someone who didn't know who I was referring to when making conversations unless they recently converted to islam. People there go way back! They would say something along the lines "oh yeah I was there when he took shahada back in 92" and I would even get a little history lesson on how things started in Houston, like the first mosque, situations that arose and how they overcame different struggles and all sorts of lessons were learned. Also got a ton of hate for my Cowboys jersey but that's all good, thought I would add this in here :-) Houston is very proud of their sports teams lol. I can't wait for the next convention, I hope to see you guys there! Salaams!

Luis Fernandez - IslamInSpanish Dallas Outreach Center Coordinator