I Am Woman

I recently came back from the UN Commission on the Status of Women, a conference essentially on feminism and women's issues. Besides attending that conference, I have read a lot about feminism and heard feminist arguments, and I realized that I don't agree with a lot of it. Many feminists will come off as anti-man. They will argue for equality and they will fight for the exact same rights given to man. I personally don't believe that to be women, we need to have the exact same rights as men. The Feminist in me tells me to embrace my inner woman-hood and to demand the God given rights I deserve as a woman. The Feminist in me does not tell me to demand to be like a man, but more like a feminine, beautiful, strong, and intellectual woman. I think as women, we fail to appreciate the beauty of our woman-hood. We don’t appreciate our emotional and sensitive qualities that God placed in us. We don’t appreciate mother-hood, a blessing only women were given. The Prophet pbuh said, “Heaven lies under the feet of the mother.” This is a blessing that wasn’t given to any man and it’s a blessing I believe every woman needs to embrace and appreciate. There is an entire chapter in the Quran titled, An-Nisa (The Women), and there is no chapter titled "The Men."

Just because Allah gave men the responsibility of being the protectors of women, to lead prayers, and many other things, some women like to believe that is not fair. Allah created men and women equally, but He gave us different qualities and responsibilities too. Men have many responsibilities that I don't hear women fighting for. For instance, men are required to give their wives a dowry upon marriage. It's rare that you'll meet a woman who is fighting for her right to give her husband a dowry. Men are also responsible for the feeding and clothing of their wives. Most women won't fight for their right to take care of their husbands in that way. The way I see it, as women many of us are not appreciative. We see what men have and we want it for ourselves while completely neglecting all the blessings Allah gave us that he did not give to men.

I think every woman can have an inner feminist in her, but I do not recognize myself as one. I don’t feel that I need to declare myself a feminist because I am simply in a battle with myself to embrace my inner woman-hood and to me that does not need to be labeled as a public movement.

Revert Story: From Christianity to Islam

This is my friend sister, Morgan Haya's revert story. I’ve known her for about three years now and she took me by surprise by taking her shahada last fall. I’m so grateful that I got a chance to get to know her better and I’m even more grateful that it is Islam that brought us together. For my first post, I really want to share with you her revert story. I'm always inspired by the stories of those that weren't born into Islam. Many of us that are born into this amazing religion take it for granted a lot of the time. For the most part, we didn't have to struggle in the same ways as reverts to practice Islam. If we're born into a Muslim family, we usually don't have to hide in our rooms when we pray or argue with our families over our faith. For lack of better words, we have it easy in comparison to reverts. I hope Morgan's story will inspire you as much it inspired me. If you would like to follow her, her blog is reflexionofhumblemodesty.tumblr.com. She has lots and lots of Islamic posts so I'm sure you will find many interesting posts on her blog. Here is her story:

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim: From the moment I was born I was essentially put into a Christian family. Started going to church at a young age with my aunt & sister. My sister and I always went to Sunday school and youth choir. This was what I saw church as for many years. On September 11, 2001, I was in either 5th grade, and that was the 1st time I heard about Islam. Though everyone around me were saying Muslims are terrorists’ they just destroyed the Twin Towesr, etc.  None the less I wanted to learn about this so-called “terrorist” religion, as the media put it. After years of going to church I suddenly stopped going around the time I started going to middle school.
When The Passion of the Christ came out in 2004, it was a big deal in my family, as all Christians. This movie made me furious, like how can Jesus be beaten and crucified and if he was the “Son of God” then I highly doubt he would have suffered the way he did. Something was just not okay with this depiction of Christ in my eyes. Christianity was just lost to me after that. The following year, Kingdom of Heaven (2005) about the crusades in Jerusalem definitely made me want to learn about Islam in depth.  I loved every time they said “Assalamu alaikum”, “Allahu Akbar”, and the Adhan that played faintly in one scene made my heart melt. It was a given that Islam was in my heart after watching this movie.
Learning about Islam on and off throughout high school while going to church events with my mom, aunt and sister. Watching the history channel became an outlet to gain knowledge as well as the web. Sometime of doing sinful things, senior year of high school I went back to church for a month or so to see if Christianity was for me. I felt like a hypocrite going to church after years of not caring. As I was listening to the Pastor speak during this period, my thoughts were everywhere. So, on my own merit I stopped going to church once again for the many questions that I had about “Why Christianity?” As a result I went back to my old habits.
The summer of 2009 I did this Student Transition Program (STP) at the University of Mary Washington where I got the opportunity not only to take a world religion class and meet some Muslims. This thirst of knowledge made me want to know even more about Islam. Since my 1st year I hadn’t set foot into a church but I meet some young adults who wanted to me to study the Bible. I studied with them some here and there but I still didn’t think Christianity was for me.  The summer of 2011, my aunt wanted me to go to her new church so I went. I liked it but didn’t love it. The people there were friendly but still the whole bases of making a prayer to Jesus as if he were God had me at odds.
When my 3rd year at UMW came around, fall of August 2011, I was really thinking about it, so I looked at how to become a Muslim. I found that you had to declare it by saying the shahadah in front of 2 or more people, preferably in a mosque (masjid) or an Islamic event.  So near the end of September, 6 weeks into the semester I told my friend sister, Wiaam, that I wanted to become Muslim after class. That same week she asked me to come to her dorm. Ended up telling my friend sister Riham that I wanted I wanted to revert to Islam, as well.  They asked me my story and I told them, then they asked if I believed in the Trinity. I answered them with no. That same night I learned how to pray (with a cheat sheet), how to make wudu and how to wear the hijab. So that Friday, September 23, 2011, I was super nervous and really excited to take my shahadah. I went over Riham’s, made wudu and headed over to Jummah prayer. Before the khutbah, Brother Sherif said we will do the shahadah…I repeated him saying,”Lā ʾilāha ʾilá l-Lāh, Muḥammad rasūlu l-Lāh | There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” I was officially a Muslim and was definitely the happiest moment in my life.
 Though I’m struggling with my family about my decision to revert, I’m taking every day one step at a time. May Allah show my family that me becoming a Muslim has changed me for the better, no matter how long it takes them, through my actions, insha’Allah. Ameen.
I’m fortunate to have great friends that I can call my sisters and brothers, who are helping with my struggles and gaining knowledge in this beautiful deen.
Glad Allah Subhanahu wa-ta’ala loved me so much that he guided me to this beautiful deen. I hope Allah Subhanahu wa-ta’ala blesses and preserves me until the end of time. May Allah Subhanahu wa-ta’ala grant me the highest level of Jannah - Jannat al-Fridous. Ameen.
Alhamdulillah for everything, good and bad. Peace & love.

Salam & Hello

This is my first real attempt to really get back into things again. I really love this blog and the community on here. This blog got me through some really important times in my life. I started this blog when I first began to wear the hijab and embarked on my journey towards becoming a better Muslimah. A few months ago I started a Tumblr page that has not benefited me nearly as much as this blog has. I remember a time when I would spend hours researching on Islamic topics and posting them so I could learn from them and so other people could as well inshAllah. I've already expressed how much I missed blogging on here before, but now I intend to take action on that. Also, I decided to change my blog name back to Beauty of Islam, but with a small twist. One Beauty of Islam will now be the name of this blog because there is no other blog with that name and it fits well with my overall message. Although there are many different aspects of Islam that make it beautiful, we all have one thing in common and that is la ilaha illallah muhammad rasool allah. That is the one aspect of Islam that I absolutely love. No matter if you're a Sunni, Shi'a, Sufi, etc, that simple belief unites us all in so many different ways. That phrase is so incredibly powerful and I intend to make that the focal point of my blog. So I'm excited to be back and I can't wait to start posting some interesting and beneficial posts! I want to start on a journey towards revitalizing my faith and inshAllah you can join me on that journey. If you have any topics you would like me to write about please email me at beautyofislam1@yahoo.com. I'll get back to you as soon as I can :).

Best Wishes,

Riham

It's Been Ages

Salamualaykum [Peace and Blessings Upon You All]

It seems like ages since I last posted anything on this blog. Once again I've been caught up with school and also....I have a new blog that has been consuming all of my time lol. As of right now, I still want to keep this blog because it was my first blog and it really kept me focused on Islam. Limiting myself to mainly write about Islam helped me to increase my knowledge alhamdulilah, so slowly I want to get back into it. Also, if you want to get the link to my other blog on Tumblr, please email me at beautyofislam1@yahoo.com or leave your email and I'll send it to you. I blog so much more on there so let me know if you want to keep in touch.

Salams,

Riham :)

True Obedience and Devotion

“After performing Salat Al Maghrib, she put on her make-up, wore her beautiful white dress preparing herself for her wedding party, Then she heard the Adhan of ‘Ishaa and she realized that she broke her Wudu…she told her mother: 

“Mother, I have to go to make wudu and pray ‘Ishaa”

Her mother was shocked: “Are you in ur right frame of mind?!. Guests are waiting for you, to see you! What about your make –up? It will be all washed away by water!!” then she added 

” I am your mother and I order you not to perform salah now! if you make wudu now, I will be angry at you”

Her daughter replied : ”Wallahi I won’t go out from here till I perform my salah! Mother you must know that, ‘There is no obedience to any creature in disobedience to the Creator!’

Her mother said:”What would our guests say about you when you’ll show up in your wedding party without make-up?! You won’t be beautiful in their eyes! and They will make fun of you!”

The daughter asked with a smile: ”Are you worried because I won’t be beautiful in the eyes of created beings? What about my Creator?! I am worried because, if I miss my salah, I won’t be beautiful in His eyes!”

She started to make wudu, and all her make-up was washed away, but she didn’t care…

Then she began her salah and at the moment she bowed down to make sujud, she didn’t realize that it will be her last one! 

Yes! She died while in sujud!"

*Not Original Content*

Sunsets & Ice

Salamualaykum! I hope everyone is doing well. I'm just checking in. I started school last week and as usual life is pretty hectic, but alhamdulilah I'm getting into the swing of things. I'm taking a lot of credits this semester, but I feel like I can handle it. i love almost all my classes and find them super interesting so inshAllah I can find the strength to put in the hard work. Any who, last weekend I was walking to go study and I couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was outside. Literally everything, the trees, the leaves, the branches, the flowers, the berries, and anything else in sight was dripping in ice. It snowed a couple days earlier and the snow melted and turned into ice. It simply was gorgeous so I ran and grabbed my camera. I also snapped a couple shots of the most spectacular sunset I've ever seen (i'm not kidding, it was that gorgeous). Now, I'm not much of a photographer, I was just messing around, but I hope you enjoy these photos :). 

Loss

Lately what has been on my mind is the concept of loss. We’ve all experienced that painful feeling where we feel an uncanny emptiness in our heart because someone is no longer a part our life. It’s a terrible feeling, but if we look beyond that sadness we’re experiencing, i’m convinced that we can find beauty. 

I once heard that those people that spend the least amount of time in our lives have the greatest impact. I believe that to be true because I’ve had this happen many times in my life. About two and a half years ago I met a friend that drastically changed my life. MashAllah, not only did she positively impact my life, but she impacted countless other people’s lives around me. SubhanAllah, Allah placed her in my life at a time when I really needed someone and she was there. Allah swt works in beautiful and mysterious ways and by having her there to support and encourage me, my life was changed. Sadly, she was only in my life for a year and now lives thousands of miles away, but alhamdulilah 3la kulu hal.

Allah also blessed me with someone else who I truly grew to love. When I met that person, I didn’t know they would become such an important part of my life, but surprisingly they did. They helped me during some of the toughest and most defining moments of my life. In a way I depended on them…and they too also left my life. While I was sad and still am, I’m learning to look beyond that and to realize that there is a wisdom behind everything that Allah swt does. In a way, I feel as though that persons purpose in my life is now complete and that I need to move on to something else Allah has prepared me for. I don’t know what it is yet, but I know that it will be great God Willing. 

Sometimes the people we want so badly to remain in our lives are not meant to stay for whatever reason. Not because we did something wrong, but because what we think is best for us now sometimes is what corrupts us. So set yourself free and accept what Allah has decreed for you because after all, He does know best. 

Spring Semester Aspirations

[Long Sigh] it is almost time to head back to school. I'll be leaving in the next few hours to face my impending destiny...Alright I'm being dramatic, but I am really really really not looking forward to this semester. As of right now, I'm taking 18 tough credits and it doesn't help that one of my closest friends won't be there to help keep me sane :/. I'll get through it though inshAllah, I know it. I did really well last semester, so I refuse to let myself undue all the hard work i've done in the past. To keep myself on track, I made a list of aspirations I have for myself this semester. 

- Make Fajr Everyday on Time (InshAllah!) 
- Finish Memorizing Up to the Half Way Point of Sourat al Baqara (InshAllah InshAllah InshAllah)
- Gym It Up
- Eat Healthy Food
- Start Couponing to Save Extra Money
- Succeed Academically
- Volunteer/Give to Charity
- Focus on My Personal Growth
- Find a Summer Internship 
- Blog more on Heaven is Where the Heart is-Beauty of Islam :) (blogging keeps me sane)
- Drink More Tea and Less Coffee (i'm an addict I tell ya)

Yaz The Spaz

If you're a hijabi and anything like me, you're probably constantly seeking hijabi inspiration. It's not easy wearing hijab, especially in the West where stores fail to cater to modest dressers. Finding a hijabi to look up to and gain inspiration from is always a treat, so I wanted to share with you a cute mahajabah who's style impressed me. Introducing Yasemin Kanar a half Cuban half turkish girl living in the U.S., otherwise known as Yaz The Spaz.  She is a Hijab, Make-up and Fashion Consultant, and....a professional fondant cake decorator! She can show you dozens of ways to wrap your scarf and also how to dress. These are some of her hijab styles that I loved the most.

Traditional Wrap
Although this is just a traditional wrap, I really love it. It has a very clean finish to it and it's so simple and easy, but very classy at the same time. Whether your just starting to wear the hijab or have been wearing it for years, this is probably the style you'll wear your hijab in the most.

Wedding Hijab Style

This style gets a bit complicated, but i'm sure you can style it to your liking. I love the way she twisted the hijab and wrapped it into a side bun. This is a style I would love to wear at a party. 

Blue Zebra Hijab Style

I really love the coverage this style gives. At times it can be hard to find a style that looks really good and covers well. I wear this hijab style a lot and I really like it. To gain more coverage on your neck use pins to hold it down. That's a mistake I make a lot, but thanks to Yaz's tutorial on this style I learned how to keep my scarf from shifting and exposing my neck. 

Playful Turban Style

This is the turban style hijab you may have seen before. I've seen this style worn by many people, but I never tried it before. I love how she wore it and how she covered her neck and didn't make this hijab style look so dramatic. It's very playful and fun and seems easy to wrap. I actually plan to try this style some time. 

Side Ruffle Hijab Look

This is a style I probably would have never thought about trying but after watching the tutorial I found it easy and really cute. I need to go buy more turtle necks first lol. 

Hijab Twist with Hood Effect

This is probably my favorite hijab style out of all the ones I showed you today. Once again I love the coverage and it helps that its really cute too. It looks confusing but the tutorial really helps. I'm definetly gonna try this style out and I'm so excited cuz it's casual and I can wear it to uni once classes start next week :). 

Heaven is Where the Heart is

Salamualaykum (Peace Be Upon You All). I know I'm late, but I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year! This is my first post of 2012 and with a new year, I bring to you a new theme and a new blog title!! This isn't spur of the moment but a change I have been meaning to make for a while. There is another blog also with the title The Beauty of Islam so I felt I needed to make a change. After much thinking I finally found the perfect name to give to my blog. Heaven is Where the Heart is, is now the title of this blog as an extension to the Beauty of Islam. My email and URL address will remain the same to make it easier on you and me.

I was inspired to name my blog Heaven is Where the Heart is through the following quote-- "My home is in heaven. I'm just traveling through this world." This quote really spoke to me and I felt it defined exactly how I felt. Me and my friends have this phrase we always say when things go wrong. If we're upset or feeling down, we say "This Stinkin' Duniya!" It always seems to make us feel better for some reason haha. Seriously though...this life is just a test and it will be over in a blink of an eye. In the Noble Quran, Allah swt puts into perspective how short this life really is.

“Allah will say: “What number of years did you stay on earth?”
They will say: “We stayed a day or part of a day.
Ask of those who keep account.”
Allah will say: “You stayed not but a little, if you had only known!
Did you think that We had created you in play (without any purpose),
and that you would not be brought back to Us?”
— (Quran, Surah Al-Mu’minun, 23:112-115)

Reminders such as these really make me long for Jannah (Heaven). While this world can be beautiful at times, I'm constantly reminded that it's beauty doesn't and won't last forever. I see it in my everyday life and all around me. In my personal life, I see that one moment I'm happy..then a few hours later I'm sad. When I turn on the news, one moment they're discussing politics and the next moment they're broadcasting devastation from an enormous Earthquake. This life is so unpredictable and we're not guaranteed anything. Why would we want to choose this world over a life in the Akirah (The Afterlife) where we are promised  eternal happiness? We shouldn't want to choose this world but sadly we do. It's in our nature as humans to become so distracted with what's in front of us that we don't think about what awaits us in the future. As Believers, we can counteract this trait by reading the Quran and remembering death often. These are two cures to increasing our imaan (faith) and maintaining our focus and our hearts on the end goal which is Jannah inshAllah.