On this page we help you get ready mentally, tell you what you need to bring with you, and tell you where to go!  When you think about going to camp… you think of having fun and making friends. Of course we hope you will have fun when you come to our Young Muslim Retreat, and it would be impossible not to leave with a few new friends! But, we want you to come to camp fully prepared. We aren’t talking about sleeping bags and toothbrushes. We want you to completely prepare your mind and your expectations for the experiences you will have with us. This is a camp intended to rejuvenate your spirit and your faith and not just about fun and games. It is very important to us that you make the intention to yourself and to Allah (SWT) that the only reason, or at least the MAIN reason, that you are coming to this camp is to strengthen your Islam and to become a better Muslim. If you are looking for a camp where you will just have a lot of free time to play around and relax then this isn’t the camp for you. We have planned activities and enlightenment sessions in which speakers will come and educate us all about different aspects of Islam and inspire us with their experiences, knowledge, and insight. These sessions have been very much enjoyed by campers in the past and have really brought us together as family in Islam. We pray that Insha’Allah your experience will be life affirming and even life altering as you forge bonds with other Muslims your age and establish yourself more firmly in your faith. Living a truly Islamic life in a non-Muslim country is not easy to say the least. Many of you are in schools where you may be the only Muslim or where you may only see other Muslims passing in the halls occasionally. You don’t really have an opportunity to interact with other Muslims and sometimes you wonder if you are just not supposed to have any friends at all. It is difficult when most of your companions day in and day out cannot understand your religion or your beliefs and practices. They may not respect the need to pray or to properly dress in accordance with Islam. They may try to tempt you to do things that you know are forbidden or simply encourage such things as flirting with the opposite sex by presenting it as harmless as long as you keep it at flirting. The problem is that for them, these things do seem harmless. They are not being guided by the Truth we have in the Qur'an. They are not being guided by the Truth we have in the Sunnah or the Hadith. They are not being guided by any except Shaytan through his twisting and corruption of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Or, perhaps they don’t even ascribe to those religions but adhere to Buddhism, Hinduism, paganism, atheism, agnosticism, or worse. It is so important for you to form strong relationships with other Muslims. These Muslim friends will protect you from the Hellfire on the Day of Judgment as they lead you away from sin and help you stay on the Straight True Path of Islam. At the Young Muslim Retreat you will be surrounded with other young Muslims! We pray that Insha’Allah you will make the most of this opportunity to embrace as many of your sisters in Islam or brothers in Islam (depending on which camp you attend) as possible and make them a permanent part of your daily life even if it is only possible to do that through telephone communication or email. So right now, while you are reading these words, make a commitment to yourself, and to Allah (SWT), that you are coming to this camp with the intention of pleasing Him and gaining His Reward, which is the Best of Rewards, and that you are coming to learn about Islam and to create for yourself your OWN ummah… your own community of Muslim friends. This is your chance. Alhamdulillah!
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