Oh The Place You’ll Go! insha Allah!

We want to be the change of a community; one that starts from the center home and whose diameter widens like radar.

So we don’t have a history here to attach to. And we’re only at the beginning of hearing educated women speak. Where do we go? Who can we cling to?

This has to be the most inspiring task to fulfill, and my stomach has butterflies, lol!! We are the next generation of women bearing the weight and our means of achieving it is only through the Quran and Sunnah.  Which is why, alhamdullilah, we’re not left to ourselves!

The bridge is reduced even more! alhamdullilah!

Allah Azza wa Jall has preserved the lives of these outgoing women, like Hend (yeah, Hend the wife of Abu Sufyan!!), Ummul Mu’mineen Aisha, and Hafsah bint Sireen! Sheikha Uns the wife of Ibn Hajar, and Sheikha Nafisa, a contemporary and teacher of Imam Shafie’i.  My heart races knowing more and more about the lives of these great and awesome role models. We have the life of Amma bint Khalid, whose voice can give us such a great glimpse of the way society was during the time of Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa salam.

Amma bint Khalid, like us, was the daughter of migrants. Her parents spoke a different language, and she was born and raised in Christian Abyssinia. Her parents were part of the batch of migrants to leave Mecca for Abyssinia.

SubhanAllah, there are a lot of parallels between our lives. She was fluent in the language of the Abyssinians (whatever that was lol), and didn’t know her “mother tongue” as well as her parents did. Dr. Hesham says that this shows how she was part of society and acquired language through interaction with natives- possibly by playing, grocery shopping, explaining why her parents were part of a growing persecution back home- and possibly why she wore hijab. Amazing! And most importantly, she had to establish and retain her identity as a Muslimah, because do you think- that after her parents were persecuted for their beliefs, she would easily give it up? That her parents would ease their responsibility over her because now they’re in a different country with different cultural norms?

SubhanAllah, the adults totaled about one hundred, and when they settled, there were about 50 youth including Amma who were the minority. They didn’t have HalalCo around the corner to buy books from. No internet to learn from scholars around the world. The youth only had their parents to teach them Arabic, because they lived in a time where if they sought knowledge from the source (ie. Rasoolullah) they would have been hunted. And there weren’t universal world organizations claiming to protect them because of their “freedom to believe”.

But look at the shift in mentalities- she’s part of a small group, running for their lives, imagine the difficulties- social, as well as mental, stigmas that rise from knowing you are wanted dead. But she still built her identity and voice.

And this is where her voice is heard most: When they finally migrated to Madina, An Nagashi told the adults to send his salams to the Prophets (s.a.w.). But who do you think carried the message?

As she was leaving the ship, she was the first to tell the Prophet. She was eager to meet him, because she lived her life in his path. He was the man who her father dreamed of saving him from the fire! And she wasn’t perceived as rude for overstepping her bounds- she didn’t have to worry about whether it was okay to talk to this non-mahram and if she was going against the Madani culture. She was talking to the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam. And she had the courage to meet the greatest of men, and greet him with the salams of king. SubhanAllah.

Amma, radi Allahu anha, transitioned well into a society- learning better Arabic, and being a sahabaat of the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam. This is a role model. She is someone we can cling to.

:: tbc ::

The Bridge between Intentions and Actions

Alhamdullilah, we know the purpose of our meetings are like AA quality time and because we genuinely want to see change within ourselves. There’s a bond between us, by Allah’s mercy, which drives us towards wanting to be better beings. But genuine emotions can only carry you so far.  They can only take you up to where you need to act. And that bridge between intentions and actions can be scary big. So how do you act? How do you achieve success, and not fear it?

Just look around in your community. Where are women of substance? Where are those women that really live, and live to please Allah? Who work through their difficulties with honor, in order to secure a blessed afterlife? Women who are our role models- to look up to, and to aspire to be like?

Can you name women who you can run to learn from? Can you count them on both hands? If not learn from – then just simply to ask for advice? What about women who are skilled in a rarity- whether it be a worldly or Islamic field, but a practicing Muslimah?

Zoom out to N.America and Canada. The spectrum has widened, but has the number grown? Can you name these women, and if you can, do they exceed more than 2 hands? Women whose names pop in your mind immediately because they are linked to real efforts of change, and are visible?

The importance of Muslimah activism in our society is historically important, to us, and it doesn’t take too long to realize- that we don’t have a history. We are making it. We are the scratch pad for future generations. The relevance of its absence, (there was no decline or shift), lies within us.

If you, your society and the future of your children matter, then that daunting bridge of intentions has drastically shortened because it has never been tread before. It’s free for it’s taking!

Understand that we are a byproduct of this social absence, and from a greater historical point of view regarding the ummah- we’re the foam of a tide that was once strong.

The larger ummah is vastly unknown to us, but you know of Sh. Ibn Uthaymeen and Sh. Albani, Sh. Bin Baaz. Of Sh. Jafir and even Imam Anwar. Of the traveling Sh. Salah as Sawy. Of Sh. Waleed Basyouni, Suhaib Webb, Yasir Birjas, of Hamza Yousef and Zaid Shakir. You can’t escape Zakir Naik. How many men can you name before you get exhausted? Each specializing in a field if not more, or catering to a crowd. May Allah preserve them.

But where are the women? There are two types of insan. There are two genders, and each is composed of different understandings. The qawamah is with the men, but your point of view in society, your voice in understanding hadith and Islam is missing, and has been missing for centuries!

Now do we see why our ummah is the way it is? Half of a whole is missing. Why do people think a certain way about women in Islam? Where are we to show the critics who we are, and that we have an opinion- and that it might be different from our husbands, and there’s nothing wrong with that because it’s still rooted in Islam.

I’m badgering you with this only to make you aware of our condition, so that we can use this frustration as a catalyst and driving force towards achieving good and pleasing Allah, because this is why we’re here. We’re all here to transform ourselves, to be tested. Allah Azza wa Jal says, “And verily We shall try you till We know those of you who strive hard (for the cause of Allah) and the steadfast, and till We test your record.”

:: tbc ::

Hope for Hope :)

 بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Suratul Kahf:  “… And whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous work, and make none sharer of the worship due unto his Lord. ” (110)

Here’s the first post on Hope!

Last night we said that a disease of our society is that we lack hope. We’ve wilingly adopted a pessimistic mentality, and because of the lack of hope- trials have become difficult to bear. But is it hope that we lack, or is it patience? I think these two are inseparatable bc the root of hope is patience. So how do you overcome being broken? How do you understand that this world is just glitter and show, and still be able to enjoy your life- still be sane?

 

1. We need to live by Suratul Asr: and patiently persevere. We’re so quick for results, but for those who carry on the heritage of the Prophets (alayhi salatu wa salam) they didn’t always see results happen before their eyes. They were the ones who were tested, persecuted and shown the dark undertones of reality. But their names and stories live on after their death as examples for us. Man, our talk is cheap- we know these things but we want immediate change with little effort, and don’t hope for the good that comes from growing pains. Where was imam Malik’s Tylenol when his shoulders were ripped out? rahimahullah. He got through it bc of his hope in Allah’s Mercy, Justice, Wisdom, Knowledge and reward never waivered.

 

2. So, what’s the RPM of your dua? Is it speedy, easy breezy, or slow and chugging? Seriously, if “invocation is the core of worship” (which it is), then why give up on it? That’s like building a home with out a floor. 

 

3. Most importantly, we need to strengthen our faith in Allah Azza wa Jal. Those who lose hope have not given Allah His due rights and estimated measure. They don’t have the proper knowledge and understanding of Allah’s Names and Attributes. So by learning more about Allah and His Essence, we’ll be strengthening our grip of Allah’s rope. We’ll learn through those trials, that Allah is the Most Just and the Best of Providers. That He is the All Aware, and only brings good for the believer. We’ll learn of ayaat  and ahadeeth that continuously point to Allah’s Mercy, even for those who don’t acknowledge His existence, wa eyadhubillah. We’ll be reminded to make dua for Allah never to leave us, not even for the blink of an eye, because we’ll understand that we- all of us, by 100% of our being, are dependent on Him and His Mercy, subhanahu wa ta’ala. We’ll learn of what is meant by fee sabillilah- through the strength of sisterhood and the bonds that the deen has instilled in us, because we’ll be the ones reminding each other of proper worship. :sniffle sniffle: lol

 

So hope for hope my dears, and rise up to the challenge of life to secure a better hereafter. Allah says, “Surely, We have made whatever is on the earth and embellishment for it, so that We may try them (as to) which of them is best in works” [suratul Kahf: 7]

 

 

I know asamaharaha has more to say