Sobia Noreen
My Journey of Learning, Searching, and Transformation
Sobia Noreen
I was born in Jhelum in 1985 because my father belonged to the army and was posted there at that time. However, from the age of four onward, I spent all my childhood and early years in the beautiful, peaceful city of Wah Cantt. I was raised in a conventional Sunni Muslim family where religion was present in our lives, though my deeper attachment with knowledge and conscious learning developed gradually over time. After matriculation, I attended a short course at Alhuda. That one-and-a-half-month course changed my life drastically. For the first time, I truly recognized Allah. It felt as though I had discovered the reality of Allah, life, and the Quran for the very first time. Interestingly, after every major journey in my life, I often feel again that now I have discovered a deeper reality of Allah and life. Perhaps learning and recognition continue unfolding in layers throughout life.
Academically, I was never considered an extraordinary student according to grades and numbers, even though I always studied sincerely and worked extremely hard. I used to study my syllabuses thoroughly and deeply, but somehow the results never matched my expectations except on a few occasions. Many years later, around 2025, I realized that perhaps the problem was not my intelligence, but my inability to understand the nature of the educational system itself. I was a deep learner trapped inside a system that mostly rewarded memorization, performance, and exam strategies rather than genuine understanding.
I completed my Master’s degree in Economics in 2007, later completed B.Ed, and eventually pursued another Master’s degree in Islamic Studies with specialization in Quran and Uloom-ul-Quran from Punjab University. However, my real journey of learning began outside formal degrees.
After marriage, life became busy with responsibilities, yet my studies never completely stopped. Even during those years I continued appearing in examinations and remained connected with learning. In 2010, Allah blessed me with my daughter. After her birth, despite the happiness of motherhood, I experienced a strange emptiness within myself — a deep void, boredom, and a lack of higher purpose. It felt as though Allah was pushing me toward another direction in life.
Around that time, Allah introduced me to Alhuda. That became one of the major turning points of my life again. I studied there with intense devotion, often carrying my six-month-old daughter in my lap throughout classes. In 2011, I completed the detailed Taleem-ul-Quran diploma course with distinction. Those years awakened within me a deep love for Quran, learning, and reflection.
At Alhuda, I encountered a style of studying the Quran that felt thoughtful, reasonable, engaging, and deeply appealing to me. In those days, I used to call Alhuda “Jannah” because of its loving, caring, and pious environment. For many years, those feelings remained with me.
Ustaza Farhat Hashmi introduced a decent and refreshing way of studying the Quran through meaningful explanations and engaging teaching methods that I had never experienced before. As, My earlier attempts to learn the Quran had been disappointing. The madrassa culture I encountered often felt rigid and suffocating. In one madrassa, I was told, “First wear a burqa, then come.” I never returned there.
In contrast, the atmosphere of Alhuda gave me a sense of safety and personal freedom. That freedom inspired me to study Islam more deeply and, eventually, to teach Islamic Studies formally in later years.
Their conversations inspired me to study Islam more deeply and eventually teach Islamic Studies formally. Since the educational system required academic qualifications, I pursued another Master’s degree in Islamic Studies privately from Punjab University.
In 2012, I performed Hajj, and that journey transformed me spiritually and intellectually. During those forty-plus days, I attended lectures, interacted with scholars, visited libraries in Masjid-e-Nabwi, Dar a Arqum in Makkah I asked questions in hurrem after namaz session, attended study circles, and spent long hours in reflection and prayer. I felt an intense thirst for deeper understanding of religion. During that journey I became strongly convinced that I needed to learn Arabic in order to connect with the Quran more profoundly.
After returning from Hajj, I enrolled in an Arabic program in Islamabad while pregnant and caring for my little daughter. Though I could continue only for a short period, the exposure left a deep impact on me. In 2013, Allah blessed me with my son.
During my years at Alhuda, I taught Quran and Islamic studies at different levels and served in various departments. I conducted lectures, dars sessions, teacher trainings, and community programs. I also completed a Hadith course focused on Sahih al-Bukhari during 2013–2014.
Alongside my studies, I also taught as visiting faculty in a women’s college for Master’s students. However, my experiences within institutions slowly exposed me to the complex realities of human behavior, insecurities, competition, and contradictions that often exist even in religious and educational spaces. These observations disturbed me deeply and gradually pushed me toward critical reflection about people, systems, knowledge, and sincerity.
Over time, I established my own Quran learning branch at home. That journey was extremely difficult. From arranging flyers, banners, and awareness campaigns to cleaning spaces, managing household responsibilities, preparing lessons, and teaching women — every task demanded effort. My mother supported me greatly during those years. Gradually, with very limited resources but continuous effort, the branch started functioning successfully.
Through those experiences, I encountered many women who were emotionally burdened, intellectually disconnected, or spiritually lost within routine domestic life. This motivated me to design short courses, reflective study plans, parenting discussions, and personal growth sessions specially for women and mothers. My work slowly expanded beyond traditional religious teaching.
Meanwhile, my intellectual struggles were also deepening.
For many years, I had strong reservations regarding Javed Ahmad Ghamidi’s ideas because of what I had heard from others. However, around 2014, one discussion regarding art and aesthetics led me to listen to one of his programs directly. Despite my initial prejudice, I found his reasoning thoughtful and deeply connected with Quranic principles. That experience changed something inside me.
Many of my existing beliefs regarding issues such as Imam Mehdi, the return of Isa (A.S.), music, photography, hijab, beard, and other religious discussions were very different from his perspectives. Therefore, I began listening extensively — not blindly accepting, but sincerely searching for clarity.
Those years became intellectually turbulent for me. My mind was filled with questions arising from life experiences, religious contradictions, social realities, women’s suffering, and the gap between knowledge and character that I often observed around me. I struggled internally for several years.
Then gradually, through deeper study and reflection, I found a new intellectual light. I found explanations of religion that felt more coherent, principle-based, rational, and spiritually meaningful. I realized that truth requires courage — courage to question, to listen sincerely, and to move beyond inherited prejudices.
In 2018, after years of informal learning, I formally entered Almawrid Institute’s educational environment. That became another major transformation in my life. Through Almawrid and its scholars, I studied courses including Understanding the Farahi School of Thought, Al-Islam, Meezan, Al-Bayan, Fundamentals of Quran and Hadith, textual analysis of Quran, philosophy, and other advanced subjects.
I studied under respected scholars including Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, Shehzad Saleem, Hassan Ilyas, Sajid Hameed, Talib Mohsin, Rafi Mufti, and others. Those studies developed within me analytical thinking, deeper understanding of religion, and appreciation for intellectual honesty.
Around the same period, another important turning point entered my life: my exposure to Sir Moiz Amjad and North Consulting.
In 2019, I attended introductory sessions by Sir Moiz Amjad and Najam Shah. Their discussions on human development, parenting, consciousness, principles, and inner transformation shook many of my existing assumptions. I later joined courses such as “Creating Our Vision for the Future World” and “Being the Parents Our Children Deserve.
These studies gave language and structure to many questions I had carried throughout my life.
One of my deepest lifelong questions had always been
Through developmental psychology, transformative learning, Robert Kegan’s work, critical reflection, and human development studies, many of my questions slowly began finding answers.
I started understanding human beings beyond simple labels of “good” and “bad.” I began understanding fears, ego structures, emotional wounds, developmental limitations, defense mechanisms, social conditioning, and inner conflicts.
Gradually my focus shifted toward
- human development
- conscious parenting
- transformative education
- constructivist learning
- counseling
- self-directed education
I also felt increasingly motivated to spread this deeper, holistic understanding of universal principles. The slogan “Wisdom Lies Within” inspired me to participate in online platforms and share a message that had become central to my own journey: learning is lovable, books are friends, and education does not have to be fearful or burdensome.
I wanted to show people that learning is a source of pleasure and growth. Human beings are intrinsically motivated; they seek meaning, understanding, and purpose. They should not be driven solely by rewards, punishments, competition, or external pressures.
My online journey began gradually. During the COVID period, when physical lectures and classes came to a halt, many students continued to ask questions, especially regarding Ramadan and other religious topics. To answer them, I uploaded my first videos on YouTube, along with recordings of public talks and lectures.
Later, after my exposure to the concept of a principle-centered life, I became more intentional about creating educational content and sharing ideas through videos and online discussions.
Long before that, I had always been passionate about learning any skill that could help me communicate and spread beneficial ideas. As early as 2014, I started teaching myself various design and media skills. I used applications such as PicCollage to create hundreds of educational flyers and awareness materials. Later, I learned basic CorelDRAW to design banners, worked with panaflex designers, and continued experimenting with different ways of communicating ideas effectively.
Over time, I learned to use editing tools such as PowerDirector, Canva, and CapCut to create educational content and share my message with a wider audience.
One project that became particularly meaningful to me was documenting the learning journey of my youngest child. I recorded hundreds of audio clips, videos, observations, and reflections to create a resource library for parents. Through these recordings, I tried to demonstrate how children naturally learn through curiosity, questions, exploration, experimentation, and everyday experiences. My goal was to help parents witness the remarkable learning process that unfolds when children are given trust, freedom, meaningful opportunities, and a nurturing environment.I later shared this playlist with many mothers, and Many of them found it useful in developing more meaningful communication with their children and learning the art of listening, responding, and nurturing curiosity rather than merely giving instructions.
I later started conducting workshops, reflective sessions, and counseling work formally. Over time, I conducted numerous workshops and more than two hundred counseling sessions related to parenting, emotional struggles, educational confusion, self-worth, trauma, relationships, and human growth.
Most of my work remained volunteer-based because many people around me could neither afford such support nor fully understand the value of transformative learning.
My own parenting journey transformed me profoundly as well
Through my studies in developmental psychology, progressive education, constructivist theories, and conscious parenting, I gradually moved toward unschooling and alternative education for my own children. That path was beautiful but extremely difficult. I faced criticism, social pressure, misunderstandings, and constant uncertainty. Yet those struggles also deepened my understanding of children, learning, motivation, fear, creativity, and human nature itself.
I became increasingly inspired by thinkers and educators such as Piaget, John Holt, Alfie Kohn, David Gribble, Robert Kegan, Jack Mezirow, and others who viewed learning as a deeply human and developmental process rather than mere academic performance.
Alongside all this, my search for holistic living also continued. During 2021–2022, I joined Wildfit through Mindvalley under Eric Edmeades. Although initially I joined for health and weight loss, the journey transformed my understanding of psychology, habits, food, body awareness, and micro-transformations. It helped me understand how deeply human behavior, emotions, and lifestyle are interconnected.
Over the years, my interests expanded into health awareness, organic lifestyles, architecture for learning spaces, environmental simplicity, and alternative educational environments. I became inspired by people such as Yasmeen Lari and others working on sustainable and humane living models.
Today, my journey still continues.
I do not see myself as someone who has “arrived” at final answers. Rather, I see myself as a continuous learner — someone searching for truth, meaning, sincerity, human development, and deeper understanding of life.
- education
- transformative learning
- Quranic reflection
- parenting
- counseling
- human development
- critical thinking
- and helping people move toward more conscious, meaningful, and self-aware lives
Looking back, I realize my journey has never been linear. It has been full of contradictions, questions, searching, struggle, courage, mistakes, transformation, and growth.
But perhaps that is what real learning truly is.😊
