Stories of Strength & Surrender: Faith, Reflection, & Sisterhood with Ustadha Shamira Chothia Ahmed

Sisters (Ages 13+): Join us for a meaningful gathering exploring the lives of the Four Greatest Women ever created, as mentioned in authentic hadith:
Sayyida Khadija (RA), Sayyida Fāṭima (RA), Sayyida Maryam (AS), and Sayyida Āsiya (AS). This course will guide participants through their lives — not as distant figures of history, but as timeless examples that can inspire the path of every woman today. Through reflective teaching, dhikr, and guided journaling, attendees will be invited to draw strength from their legacy and apply it to their own lives, inshaAllah. Saturday, Sep. 5 | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. PST (lunch break at 1:30 p.m.) | MCC Conference Room | In-person or virtually | $25 early-bird (ends Aug. 29 ) or $35 regular admission (a recording of the program will be available for those who register) | Register at https://mcceastbay.org/greatest-women Lunch can be purchased separately here. We will break for Dhur & lunch at 1:30 p.m. 🌸 Open to all women and teens
🖊 Bring a journal and an open heart Co-sponsored by Her Sacred Path, The Rahmah Foundation, & MCC East Bay MCC has a standing policy that financial need should never hold a person back from attaining spiritual or educational knowledge within the four walls of the Muslim Community Center. For a financial waiver for this event, please email [email protected]. Questions? [email protected] About Ustadha Shamira Ustadha Shamira Chothia Ahmed is passionate about educating and empowering Muslim women to grow in knowledge and closeness to Allah ﷻ. Born and raised in California’s Central Valley, she graduated as valedictorian before briefly pursuing pre-med studies at Georgetown University. Her heart was soon drawn to sacred knowledge, and she began her ‘alimah studies at Dar-ul-Uloom Mu’eenal Islam in South Africa, completing the five-year intensive program at Ja’mia Al-Imam Muhammad Zakariyya in Bradford, UK—one of the first and most renowned Islamic universities for women. She furthered her studies in Damascus, Syria, where she received an ijāzah in Tajwīd of the Ḥafṣ recitation from the late eminent Syrian scholar, Shaykh Ḥasan al-Kurdī. She later earned a Master’s degree in Demographics and Social Analysis from UC Irvine, focusing on Muslim-American identity formation. In 2005, she taught Hanafi fiqh for women at the Zaytuna Institute in California and has since taught across North America. She trained under Mufti Abdur Rahman Ibn Yusuf Mangera in women’s fiqh, also assisting in the preparation of Al-Fiqh al-Akbar Explained. Alongside her teaching, she is also a certified birth doula and lactation educator, offering spiritual and practical support to women in their childbearing years. She is the founder of Her Sacred Path, a global initiative dedicated to spiritually empowering women through classes, mentorship, and community, and the co-founder of the Rahmah Foundation, which has served women’s education in the Bay Area for nearly two decades. A wife and mother of five, she enjoys spending time with her family, fitting in a strength workout when she can, and dreaming of having more time to read.