aLIVE Asatizah Awards & Symposium 2025

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

ILHAM Management Committee Members

ILHAM Executive Director, Ustaz Muhammad Hafiz Bin Abdul Rashid

The rest of the Ilham staff, who have worked very hard for this event today

Esteemed asatizah from the Ilham fraternity,

Assalamualaikum wr. wb.

1. Good morning, thank you everyone for making your way here, starting the day very early. I see that the programme is packed with activities, and I am glad that the learning culture in Ilham motivates you to come and enjoy this event and benefit from the speeches and the arrangements that will be held later.

2. When I came here, I spoke to Ustaz Hafiz, counting the number of times I have come to this event. It’s been five consecutive years since we opened from COVID and insyaAllah I hope to see a few more events in the next coming years. As I come, I also see that the programmes are very well curated. The speakers who come to the event to share the experiences with you are also specially selected and the theme is also very apt.

3. It is a great pleasure to join you again for the aLIVE Asatizah Awards Symposium 2025. This also reminds us that this is a gathering of dedication and passion amongst the fraternity, and I am glad that Ilham leaders are also very mindful of this, and they develop our teachers whether full-time or part-time in their journey to become educators. 

4. This year’s theme – ‘Take a Pause: Sabar, Reflection, and Resilience in Education' is very apt. I am also going through a short phase of reflection, and part of the course is also to take a step back to learn, unlearn, relearn, and also to reflect on my leadership journey together with other counterparts from other agencies.

5. It’s been really refreshing and one of the things that I want to share is the ‘unlearning’ that we had this week with the small learning groups. And what makes it even more intense was that we had to pull our devices away. It makes you realise that you actually don’t need to depend on your devices too much. There are pockets of times where you need it. But if you learn how to put it aside and make full use of your time to learn and recharge, you will benefit from it very much. So, take that into consideration as you also learn to teach our young students.

The art of pausing

6. Asatizah are givers by nature. Day after day, you pour your time, energy, and heart into your lessons, students, and aLIVE centres. Sometimes, you carry unseen burdens.

7. This symposium aims to take a moment for yourselves. Your well-being matters. An Asatizah who is calm, grounded, and resilient will inspire that same resilience in their students.

8. They see you, they want to be like you, and they learn all these values from you.

Celebrating excellence

9. This morning, we celebrate 20 outstanding asatizah who have gone beyond their role and duty.

10.  We also congratulate all nominees. To be nominated means your impact is felt not only in classrooms but in the lives you teach daily.

11. Among them is Ustazah Nur Al’ Husainah Binte Mohammed Ali. She began teaching at just 17 and continues to shape young minds at Al-Ansar Mosque. Her students describe her classroom as warm and welcoming environment, filled with thoughtful touches that reflect her care.

12. What makes her stand out is her conviction that teaching is not only about lessons from a book, but lessons from the heart. She draws from her own experiences and invites students to share theirs also. Learning becomes a journey for everyone in her class.

13. But beyond awards, I would also like to acknowledge each and every one of you. You may not be receiving a trophy, you may not have been nominated, but each and every one of you turn up week after week, day after day, for your classes for the aLIVE programme. And your consistency is the true foundation of Islamic learning.

Sabr as strength

14. Education is also changing rapidly with new tools, demands, and challenges. That's where one of the values – sabr – remains essential.

15. It is not passive endurance. It is an active choice to remain steadfast with hope. It carries you through difficult students, it carries with you when lessons that don’t go as planned, and it carries with you in moments of exhaustion.

16. Sabr is strength – as vital to the classroom as any teaching method.

Growing through reflection

17. In the past year, we have also seen more than 900 training places were taken up by asatizah. This shows how eager our asatizah are for learning and growth as part of their developmental journey.

18. But growth is not only about learning new techniques. It is also about reflection. Like I said earlier, in the grind of my work too, we don’t give much time for this. But just this week I have done so much reflection, taking the time out, just a few moments each day. It reminds me that I must go back to the basics to get myself going forward.

19. Today’s symposium creates space to ask ourselves:

    • How am I, really?

    • What will renew you as an educator?

    • What do you need to keep you going on sustainably?

20. These questions help us sustain our calling with Ihsan.

Our journey forward

21. The journey forward is such that each year’s symposium has carried us forward:

    • In 2022, we focused on Excellence.

    • In 2023, we embraced Diversity.

    • In 2024, we explored Technology and Taqwa.

22. This year, we take a pause. Not to slow down permanently, but to reset with purpose. To care for ourselves, or the buzz word now is ‘healing’. So that we may continue to care for others and even more importantly, our youths, who are our future.

In closing

23. Dear asatizah, you are more than educators. You are mentors, guides, and the hearts of our community.

24. Taking care of yourself is not a luxury – it is an Amanah. May this symposium remind us that to teach with excellence, we must also live with balance. Let us continue to serve with Sabr, grow through reflection, and rise with tenacity. Thank you for your patience, your passion, and your perseverance throughout this journey with Ilham and the aLIVE programme, and I wish you a pleasant day ahead.

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.