I guess this is the end...

Alsalamualaykum Everyone,

Some of you may have been reading my blog since I first started it about 3 1/2 years ago, others may have just recently passed through occasionally. I used to literally be obsessed with this blog and would blog at least once everyday. Since than I've stopped blogging on here, I have a Tumblr blog page.

I've decided to delete this blog soon, I'm not gonna do it today, but in the next coming days I'm going to get around to deleting it. Anything I have written that has been of benefit to you is from Allah swt, and anything wrong is from myself and I pray that Allah will forgive me for that.

If you would like to keep up with me, my tumblr page is http://heaveniswheretheheartis.tumblr.com

and on twitter follow me @RiRi779

The Hijab

Why I wear the hijab

I wear the hijab because it’s an obligation upon every Muslim woman and Allah commanded it in the Quran. I wear it to please Allah swt. When I first started wearing it I did it because I knew it was the right thing to do and it just felt right. I kept trying to put it off until later on in life or until I got married or something, but a friend reminded me that I don’t even know if I’m going to live until tomorrow. I realized that waiting wasn’t worth the risk. 

Why I love wearing the hijab

I love wearing the hijab because it always feels amazing when a fellow Muslim brother or sister sees me and says “Al Salamu Alaykum” just because they recognized me as a Muslim.  I feel a lot more confident in the hijab than I did before when I didn’t wear it. I love the feeling of knowing that I stand for something great and that anything good I do could be da3wa for someone else (or the opposite if I do something wrong because it could turn someone away from Islam) so it’s a big responsibility to wear the hijab, but I’m okay with that alhamdulilah. I’ve learned how to change the way I dress around the hijab and I really love the look of modest clothing and all the different ways I can wear my scarf. I find modesty really beautiful.  

What the hijab means to me

“Hijab” has a couple meanings to me. It has a literal meaning to me which is to wear the “veil” in order to be modest (cover the hair and the shape of the body) and protect my beauty. There’s also the “inner hijab” which is about being modest in speech, the way I act in public (especially with men), lowering my gaze, not gossiping, and just having all around etiquette. 

This is simply what hijab means to me. I don’t follow the definition of hijab I mentioned 100% but I’m working on myself everyday and inshAllah soon I’ll be able to wear the hijab as it should be worn both inside and out. 

Summer Vacation Update

I just realized that I never shared some of my photos from Egypt and Sudan with you all. I had a great summer vacation and got to spend time with both my family in Egypt and Sudan. I stayed in Egypt for only 10 days, but each of those days was filled with something new everyday. I finally got to see the Pyramids up close, I went shopping in Cairo and in the Khan el Khalili Market, and I went to Sharm el Sheikh, Red Sea. I got to experience Ramadan for the first time in Sudan and also Eid. 

Belly Dancer 

The Red Sea

The Great Pyramids of Giza

Family Picture

My and my sister in Cairo

Watching the sun go down Ramadan 2012 Sudan

Ramadan iftaar Sudan

Men praying outside in Sudan

I got henna done on my hands for eid

A mosque in Omdurman, Sudan

VCU Inter-MSA 2012

I attended Virginia Commonwealth University's Inter-MSA event this past weekend where students from George Mason University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Mary Washington, etc attended. It was really nice and we got to interact with each other and meet new people. Brother Joshua Salaam of Native Deen spoke at the event as well as a few other speakers. We attended a talent show and got to know each other. We also had a bonfire and enjoyed quality time together. 

Realizations

Last night I learned that the hijab is not a man repellent. Okay what I mean by repellent, I mean that I thought the hijab would prevent guys that weren’t serious about marriage and just wanted to date me from approaching me and being flirtacious. I was wrong. 1) I couldn’t understand how in the world a non-Muslim guy could imagine me being their type 2) For some odd reason, I always felt like guys automatically understood that I don’t date, so I was just a bit shocked at the thought of a guy actually thinking he could possibly date me.
Have you ever had this happen to you?

D.C. Photoshoot

I went on a trip with one of the programs I'm involved in at my university to D.C. We went to the National Gallery of Art, had lunch in Chinatown, and ended our trip with a visit to the National Museum of the American Indian. All photos were taken by me. 

 

 

Realizations

Everyday when I go out and walk on campus, I see this boy who’s a student at my university who gets around in a wheel chair. Whenever I see him, he always looks so content and I hardly ever see him alone. He’s always with one of his friends.

I always get sad when I see him because I think about the state of my heart and how much I complain about tasks such as walking 15 minutes to class everyday. The other day when I saw him, I thought to myself, “why am I blessed with the ability to walk, while he is confined to a wheelchair?” I honestly don’t know the answer to that question or if there is one right answer, but what I do know is that God is the Most Fair and that people don’t face hardships for nothing. I really love that I can learn something from someone who’s name I don’t even know and hopefully apply something about them to improve myself.

Trick or Treat for UNICEF

Last week and on Halloween night, I participated in my first ever trick or treat for UNICEF event where we went door to door asking people to donate change for children in developing countries. Me and my two friends in the picture made about $151, but together the UMW club made over $1,000! I'm really proud of how successful our event was even though it was only our first time participating. 

Fall Photography

My university is so gorgeous in the Fall. I thought it deserved a photoshoot so I made sure I brought my camera with me on the way to work to snap some shots. I'll make sure to take more photos because my campus is beautiful in the winter as well.

Photography by Riham O. 

Jealousy

what surahs help you feel better when you're feeling down and how can i fix my feelings of jealousy, what does the Quran say about jealousy?

Salamu alaykum,
I apologize for responding so late. These past few days have been hectic and I have a test tomorrow as a matter of fact, but I’m taking a break right now (a.k.a. I hardly studied and decided it’s time for a tumblr break lol). I also don’t like to respond to these type of questions right away unless I know I can respond well because they have to do with Islam and the last thing I would want is to respond with a wrong answer, so inshAllah I don’t misguide anyone with my response. This is a really good question and inshAllah the response is beneficial to other people as well as myself.
The sourah that always makes me feel better when I’m down is surah adh Dhuha (The Morning Light.) I can’t even stress that enough. When I was going through a really tough time months ago, I was really drawn to this sourah. The verses just spoke to me subhanAllah. Later I found out that when one is overcome by anxiety and distress then they should recite Surah adh Dhuha. This surah was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad pbuh when he was going through a tough time and stopped receiving revelations from Allah swt. The people at the time made fun of him and told him that his Lord had forsaken him. He pbuh was feeling really down and felt like Allah was angry with him so Allah swt revealed this surah letting him know that He was pleased with him and that he would be rewarded for his hardships. 
The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said something really profound that I think will help you fix your feelings of jealousy: he pbuh said: “When you see a person who has been given more than you in money and beauty, look to those, who have been given less.” Reported by Muslim, Hadeeth.
There will always be people who have more than you and those that have less than you. If you look at those that have less than you, that will help you to be more grateful for what Allah swt has blessed you with. 
Jealousy is completely normal, and even the Prophet pbuh’s wives experienced it. Although it’s normal to feel jealous sometimes, it’s important to try to control it and not let it turn into envy. If you see that someone else has something you want and you wish it for yourself that is called ghibtah, which is positive envy.  If you wish that that thing was taken away from them and given to you instead, that is destructive jealousy, which you want to avoid at all costs. There’s a hadith that states: ”None of you will truly believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself”. (Al-Bukhari)
So having destructive feelings of jealousy towards another does not fall under the category of loving for your brother what you love for yourself.
This hadith explains when one should be jealous of another:
“No one should be jealous of anything except two people – a man whom Allah has blessed with knowledge and he teaches it; and a man who has money and he spends it in the sake of Allah.” (Bukhari)
Again, jealousy and envy are natural human emotions, but just because they’re natural does not mean we shouldn’t try our best to control ourselves except in the cases explained in the hadith. 
The Prophet Muhammad pbuh warned against jealousy and envy  and the evil feelings it creates between brothers and sisters in Islam. Hasad (jealousy and envy) is a disease of the heart and makes your heart impure, which is very dangerous for your imaan (faith.) 
The Prophet pbuh said: “Beware of jealousy, for verily it destroys good deeds the way fire destroys wood.” [Abu Dawood]
These are some verses in the Quran that  relate to jealousy: Allah says: “Allah favored some of you over others with wealth and properties… Do they deny the favors of Allah?” [Soorah an-Nahl [16: 71] “Do they envy men for what Allah has given them of His Bounty?” [Soorah an-Nisa 4: 54] “It is We Who portion out between them their livelihood in this world, and We raised some of them above others in ranks, so that some may employ others in their work. But the mercy of your Lord is better.” 43:32 “And wish not for the things in which Allâh has made some of you to excel others.” 4:32
To help yourself fix the feelings of jealousy first of all like I mentioned earlier, look at those that have less than you in the hopes of feeling grateful for all the blessings Allah has given you.
Second, make duaa to Allah swt to help rid you of this problem. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say in his du’aa’, “Wa’hdi qalbi wa’slul sakheemata sadri (guide my heart and remove ill will from my breast).” The phrase “guide my heart” means to the straight path, and “remove ill will from my breast” means take away all insincerity and hatred. 
Third, Read the Quran and look deeply into the meanings of the verses. Learn the meanings and work on applying them to your life. Especially Surat al-Falaq (The Daybreak.) “Say: “I seek refuge with (Allâh) the Lord of the daybreak”…”And from the evil of the envier when he envies.” (1-5)
Fourth, having negative envious feelings to someone destroys good deeds so while your working on fixing your problem, work on increasing your good deeds to cancel out the bad ones inshAllah. 
Fifth, count your own blessings not theirs. Keep yourself busy and whenever jealous thoughts cross your mind, seek refuge in Allah from the accursed shaytan. 
Jazak’Allah kheir for this question. It really helped me to reflect on myself and my own problems. I’d also like to mention that I have very little knowledge if any at all when it comes to answering questions about Islam. A lot of this is just my opinion, so please refer to a local imam or skeikh if you have more detailed questions regarding rulings. I hope this helped and I didn’t confuse you.