Some of the traditional outfits for sale at the August 21 Zoyasani event. Photo by Nadiya El-Khatib.
Ayesha Assadullah’s goals for her event company Zoyasani amount to so much more than just holding bazaar-style events, such as the Zoyasani Eid Shopping/Iftar event held this past Sunday at the Ernst Community Cultural Center at the Annandale campus of NOVA Community College.
She strives to mold Zoyasani into an Islam-friendly brand, in which Muslim women can not only feel comfortable enough to socialize and shop in a men-free environment, but can remain in touch with their Islam while at it.
This is a unique goal, because it is no secret that the excitement of the bazaar setting can often bring out the worst in shoppers. That is why it seems almost counterproductive to her aims that Assadullah chose to hold the all-day event not only during Ramadan, but just before the holy month’s last ten nights. But she remained close to her aims, ensuring that the event culminated in a group iftar and even arranging for Ayesha Malik, a graduate of an alima program and teacher at the prestigious Darul Uloom al Madania in Buffalo, NY, to give a khatira just after Maghrib.
“I honestly wanted to have the event as close as possible to the beginning of the last ten nights,” said Assadullah, who said the venue was available on the traditional night before Eid, “because I wanted people to find what they needed for Eid now, and be able to spend the last ten nights focusing on worshipping Allah and making the most of the end of Ramadan.”
And this goal seemed to have resonated for patrons of the event. About 2,000 women made it out to Zoyasani’s Eid Shopping and Iftar event on Sunday, and many said that the unique timing was actually helpful, and perhaps even preferable, to the traditional ‘chand raat’ bazaars held the night before Eid.
“I liked coming today instead of on ‘chand raat’ because it’s nice not to wait until the end of the month when we want to spend time focusing on Allah. Also, just before Eid, there are so many things to prepare, like cooking food and cleaning the house,” said Suhaila Monis, who came to the event to find her daughter Hamna a new Eid outfit.
Monis, who was successful in her search, said she no longer has to worry about Eid clothes, and is relieved to not have to disrupt the final days of the holy month in sifting through the racks at the more chaotic bazaars.
This Zoyasani bazaar was the first after the company’s inaugural event, held in March at the Islamic Center of Northern Virginia in Fairfax. The overwhelming turnout for that event helped Assadullah realize that she needed more space in the future. This year’s bazaar setting allowed for more space.
Shopper Nadya Kuraishi attended both events and said she prefers the Zoyasani events to other ones. “I think the most attractive thing about these events is that there is more of a variety of things to shop for than the traditional south Asian-geared bazaars before Eid. It’s also nice to shop without having any men around. It’s less of a hassle and my husband is not here to keep telling me ‘lets go,’” she added with a laugh.
Assadullah is excited and grateful at the reaction that she has received from patrons and vendors at her Zoyasani events. The dream of owning an event company like this one is very personal to Assadullah. She even named Zoyasani after the childhood name she and her sisters would use when playing ‘House’ and ‘School.’ “We would say ‘okay, you are Ms. Zoyasani,’ she said, chuckling.
Feedback from patrons of Zoyasani have helped Assadullah realize that she can use her brand to answer to many other needs of women in the American Muslim community. “Insha Allah, I hope to somehow add a matrimonial service to the Zoyasani brand and maybe even be able to work with Muslim vendors overseas,” she said. Assadullah is also branching out with her brand in the United States, and said she plans to hold the next event in New York.
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