But She's Different

But She’s Different

Seeing her being likeable by all people in her circle, hearing good things (almost on everything!) about her from every people who knows her, with her personality who always seems to be happy and making people around her happy with her presence- makes you wonder, “Who is this girl?”

Glaring at her once, you might say, “She seems normal, just like other ordinary Muslim women.” She prays five times a day, just like others. Ok, her hijab- she wears proper hijab; loose and modest clothing, she covers herself well, just like many others. Her friends- She seems to be making friends with everyone, not a big deal! But after spending more time with her, you came to learn more about her. You came to learn one beautiful thing about her which distinguishes her from other ordinary Muslim girls- HER AKHLAQ. It’s her beautiful manners that make her different. It’s her beautiful heart, beautiful soul- attract you most. You have met many Muslim women but she’s different...

She’s always happy. And she makes you feel happy too. You wonder why. Why you feel different in her company? Why do you feel so peaceful and tranquil being in her presence? Now you understand why. She may seem to be ordinary on the outside, but from the inside she is extraordinary. She’s a girl who tastes the joy of faith.  True indeed, “Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest...” (Ar-Ra’d:28)

She observes her duties as a believing woman to her Lord well. So does her towards HIS creations. She’s kind, nice, friendly and generous to all her sisters. She observes her speech- she tries best not to lie even when she’s joking nor she backbites. She speaks nothing except what’s good and beneficial. She observes her actions- not to be hasty nor does she want to act foolishly. She thinks wisely before acts. Then you realize, every single moment you spend with her increase you in knowledge, good deeds and most importantly- your faith. Above all these, you learn that the only thing which drives her to be as such is only one simple concern: “Is Allah pleased with me? Is Allah happy with me?”

Now you wonder why you can’t be like her.
Ukhty, you have the answer.

Yes you can. All you have to do is just start being one. Set the right intention-to please Allah alone. Then strive to do things (in your utmost capability) which please Allah most. Know this: what pleases Allah will please others whom HE is pleased with as they are pleasing HIM too...

So start today. Don’t delay...
May Allah be your best Supporter and best Companion, assisting you to be different and better than yesterday, inshaAllah? Yes. InshaAllah... InshaAllah...

Till we meet again. Wassalamu'alaykum...

It's Tough Being a Girl - Khalid Latif

Bismillah..

A video that brought me to tears.

I couldn't believe there're such issues still in existence??

SubhanAllah.

May Allah grant us hidayah to understand what's Haq and what's Batil and tawfiq to practice upon our knowledge with perseverence and patience. Amin.

Muslim women need to empower their knowledge on deen..

Few disappointing stories he shared on how men should stop 'oppressing' their women.

Good advice and solutions he gave to these men and the society as a whole to correct this problem of (some) muslim men who don't seem to understand what Islam really wants for the muslim women.

You can choose to be the evidence for those negatively stereotyping made upon islam oppressing women or prove that Islam had nothing to do with what-so-ever confusion you have made upon your practice of your false understanding of Islam.

How? Learn your deen and practice what you learned. Act upon the profound knowledge-based on the teachings of the Quran and as-Sunnah..

Choose one. Take latter, not the former.

WATCH.

Wassalamu'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh..

"Story of the parents of a scholar" - MUST LISTEN

"I was MUTE because i do not speak any forbidden word,

and i have never spoken to a man who is not lawful to me..

I am indeed deaf in the sense that i have never sat in a gathering in which there is backbiting, slander, or false and vain speech..

And i am blind in the sense that i have never looked upon a man who is not permissible for me.."

Taaruf with Our New BFFLH!

Bismillah..

Assalamu'alaykum!

I've shared a post here last time on few ideas how to be close to Al-Quran.

Have just created a Hifdh Chart which seems to be more suitable to sisters than to brothers so i'm sharing it with you in this blog.

Click here for the BFFLH Chart.

Best viewed with Microsoft Words-the pdf format changed lots of my format :(

Sorry that it may not be pretty enough for you. This is the best i could do. Made it for myself but simply sharing with you as all i want is the 'ajr(reward) from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if it benefits you in any way! (hope so it will... InshaAllah...)

Always remember me in your du'a..

Wassalam~

Bible in ARABIC?

Bismillah..

ASsalamu'alaykum..

Miracles do happen as nothing could stop Allah in making them happen..

Read a story from FB, it made me questioned my sincerety in this path of learning Islam, improving myself to a better muslima today than days before-what have i done so far?

Hm.. Good question to ponder upon.

Allahu yahdina

...................................................................................

The following incident has been narrated by Colonel Amir Uddin who originally heard it from his wife. Colonel Amir Uddin is a well known caller to Islam through whose effort over 6,000 people have accepted Islam all over the world. He is 86 years old and have been to over 56 countries to call people towards Allah.

During one such journeys to invite people to Islam, his wife met a woman who was a new Muslim. While travelling, they came to know how she became a Muslim. The woman said that she was originally a Christian but her husband was a Muslim. Her husband used to tell her about the oneness of God everyday. One day while she was in the Church, she asked the Priest whether the Muslims' cocept of oneness of God was correct or the Christians' concept of Trinity was correct. The Priest told her that the Muslims are correct and he also advised her to keep this matter secret. She became very confused after hearing this. At night when she went home, she prayed to God to show her which path was the truth. She started reading the Bible thoroughly to search for answers. One night after she prayed to God to show her the truth, she opened the Bible and to her amazement, the entire Bible appeared to her as Arabic text! She mentioned this to an Imam who told her that this was a sign from Allah to accept the Quran as her guidance instead of the Bible. She became Muslim there and then.

Dear readers, such incidents are nothing new. These incidents happen on a daily basis to those who are searching for the truth. We did not come to this world with our own will. We will not leave this world with our own will. Then why live this life according to our own will? A Muslim is that person who submits to the will of Allah. Let us all submit to Allah, Who is the Lord of

everything in and out of this universe.

"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." (Al Quran, 3:85)

When I Told You Not To..

source: click here

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

I wasn't trying to prove

that i'm way better than you.

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

I understood how you felt,it has never been easy,

to hold on to your believe,

just as how you wanted to.

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

i wasn't ignoring you,

and all the trials HE has put you thru'..

How could you take off you hijab,

it's HIS order to obey and you need to,

when all that He wanted,

was just the best for you?

You're beatiful, i know..

And do you really need people to tell you so?

You think HE's cruel and injustice, to give you this precious gift

then not letting you to show?

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

i was just reminding you of HIM,

of our loving LORD,Who creates you beautifully,

and Who just want to preserve your beauty.

You know it's hijab to secure your beauty,I know you feel guilty

so why would you want to take it off, honey?

You'll never win this game,

which you called "please-people' you're playing..

It's Allah ALONE you're pleasing..

So care not what they say,

no worries, let them walk away.

When i told you not to take off your hijab,

i was just being concern,

wanting the best for you,

because i do care and i do love you..

Source: click here

A Step Towards Tolerance Documentary

Bismillah..

Assalamu'alaykum!

I found this video while reading a website. It's very interesting! MashaAllah..

MUST WATCH! Beautiful documentary. A non-muslim woman experienced herself how it felt like wearing head-cover (hijab) in west.

There were parents who even looked 'ready to FIGHT' with her when she waived at their kids while SMILING-That's all she did, no offense :(

A Social Experiment

by ~asmilingmalice

I wrote this on January 22, 2011. At first I wanted to keep this story between me and a few close friends, but in light of what has just recently happened at the Islamic Center of America, I feel that I have to share this story. This is no longer an issue on religion. This is outright discrimination and intolerance. If my story can inspire others, or at least affect someone on a personal level, then I've done all that I can do.


A Social Experiment

Yesterday, I went to the Islamic Center of America. I felt incredibly out of place, being a non-Muslim who wasn't wearing a hijab, and I was very nervous when stepping into the office. Out of respect, I did the best I could to hide my hair by pulling up my coat's hood. I went to the lady at the desk, greeted her with "assalamu alaikum," and she was very happy to answer my questions about the mosque and where to buy a hijab, among other things. She told me that I could observe the prayers, gave me an e-mail to a man who could give me a tour of the center, and told me how to properly wear the hijab. It was a surprisingly warm welcome and I felt pretty at ease.

After observing the service, I noticed a man was selling something in one of the hallways. I walked over there and saw a collection of jewelry and hijabs. I decided that if I were to come back, I should have more than just my coat's big hood. So I bought a pretty green hijab, then stepped into the lady's room to try it on. It's there I met Sona. She was 27-years-old and had converted to Islam a year ago. She helped me with the hijab, we exchanged numbers, and she told me that she would answer any questions I had about the religion, the culture, among other things.

After we parted ways, an idea occurred to me when I was driving home from the mosque. Back in high school, I wanted to do a social experiment for my Sociology class. My sister gave me the idea to wear a hijab out in public to see how people treated me. Back then, I didn't know where to find a hijab. Now that I had one, I thought I would give that experiment another shot. So I put on my new hijab and set out to three public places: a bookstore, the mall, and a restaurant.

The bookstore wasn't entirely unpleasant. There weren't too many people there to begin with, and because the ones there were absorbed in books, it explained why they didn't pay all that much attention to me. One of the ladies who worked there asked me if I needed any help and showed me where the bookstore kept the Qur'an. Overall it was pretty nice.

The mall and the restaurant were quite different.

I wrote this in my status on Facebook: Muslims put up with some of the worst customer service. I am not exaggerating when I say this.

When I stepped into that mall, I realized just how different this particular outing was going to be from others I've had in the past. The first store I walked into was Best Buy, but I visited every store in the mall at least once. No sooner did I step into Best Buy, I noticed how different things were. First of all, the person at the door didn't greet me like he did to other customers entering the store. I didn't think nothing of it at first, and instead I went over to look at the CDs and DVDs in the store. Usually when a customer is browsing the store, one of the employees will approach them and ask if they need any help finding something. This didn't happen once, not even when I made direct eye contact with an employee whom I went to school with. She didn't recognize me. I can't blame her for it, since my long hair was covered up, but I couldn't help but feel that all she saw was my hijab and not me, let alone a customer.

The salespeople at the mall were pretty much the same. There were only a select few who actually said more than one word to me. The employees would not welcome me into their stores. They wouldn't ask if I needed help. They wouldn't ask if I wanted to try on an outfit, even when I was holding it in my hands. They never said "We hope to see you again!" or "Have a nice day," when I left the store. Judging by this consistent reaction from salesperson to salesperson, I couldn't help but feel that they were glad to be rid of me and most definitely didn't hope to see me again. To make matters uncomfortably worse, in every store I went into, I noticed that the same security guard was there. From Spencer's to Borders, this security guard wasn't making it a secret that he was following me everywhere I went.

I want it noted that when I stepped into the mall, I was not wearing a burqa (Muslim clothing that covers all of the body and the face), a chador (Iranian clothing that covers the entire body) or a niqab (a veil that covers the hair and face which reveals only the eyes). In post-September 11th America, the clothing listed would understandably be considered suspicious in case of a burglary or a bomb threat. The clothing makes it difficult, if not impossible, to make a clear identification in case of those threats. Had I been wearing those, I would understand the neglectful salespeople and the security guard trailing me, but all I wore was a hijab. All I was covering was my hair.

I also want it noted that when I entered the mall, I was all smiles: I looked people in the eye and smiled at them. I waved to children. I was just as happy and as approachable as I would have been without the hijab. If I were to smile at someone's child without covering my hair, parents wouldn't get defensive over it and give me dirty looks. They would have smiled back at me. If I wasn't wearing my hijab and smiled at a person who was walking my way, they wouldn't turn their head away from me or refuse to make eye-contact. They would have smiled back. If I had walked into a JC Penny's, a Macy's, a Hot Topic, a Spencer's, or a Forever 21 without my hijab on, people wouldn't have ignored me and avoided me. They would have greeted me and jumped to assist me. If I wasn't wearing my hijab and walked around the mall, I wouldn't have a security guard following me into every store, because they probably would be hounding some other Muslim woman.

All I did was cover my hair. I didn't insult these people. I never did anything to these people. I didn't get into an argument with them, or threaten them, or cause any sort of trouble that would warrant this cold behavior, let alone the attention of a security guard. All I did was cover my hair.

However, I feel that the greatest display of outright discrimination took place at the restaurant. This was my former workplace and many of my ex-coworkers were still working there. None of them recognized me, and as soon as I walked into the restaurant, the hostess (a former co-worker who was looking me right in the face) looked positively stunned that a Muslim woman walked into the place. She didn't recognize me, but led me to a table. I took my seat and opened up the menu, but at the same time my eyes were scanning the area. This table was assigned to a waittress, but a waittress never came to me. Usually, after a person is seated, the waittress comes to the table immediately and asks you if you want a drink. I had to wait for at least five to ten minutes before the hostess returned and asked me if I wanted anything to drink.

None of the waittresses ever came to my table to take my order. None of them asked me if I wanted a refill for my water. None of them asked if I was doing alright or if I needed anything else. To make matters worse, it is expected of the waittresses to ask the customers these questions even if they are not waiting on them. Not one of these waittresses wanted to make eye contact with me, nor did they want to come by me.

It wasn't until I waved at one of my former managers that he even recognized me. It was then that my hostess recognized me. After I told her about everything that happened today, she looked positively shocked. I would hope that she recognized the same discrimination being carried out in this establishment as it did in the previous ones. If this is how the waittresses would treat a girl with just her hair covered, they would definitely treat an actual Muslim woman in this way.

When I was younger, I would hear how people truly felt about Native Americans. Since I look more like my mother and less like my father, these people would be more open about their opinions around me than they would have if my hair was black and my skin was darker. I still get defensive when something like this happens and I've always felt that it was discrimination. However, this was the very first time in my life that I have truly felt discriminated against. When people were talking about Native Americans, they weren't thinking of the white, blond haired woman with 1/4 Ojibwa in her. But when people were ignoring me, glaring at me, following me, denying me service, and weren't welcoming me into their stores or their restaurants, they did it to me. In their eyes, they knew exactly what I was and they didn't want anything to do with me. Even though I did nothing to them but smile.

If this is how we treat Muslims in this country, there will never be peace. There will never be an understanding between religions and cultures. If we shun them, ignore them, and make it blatantly obvious that we don't want them here, we are going against everything that this country is supposed to stand for. And if we carry this ideology that "we don't want them here," "we don't want you to come back here," and "it would be better if you just weren't here at all," how does that make us different from Al Queda, the Nazis, the Westboro Baptist Church, the Ku Klux Klan, or the many other various hate groups in the world? It is this ignorance and this thought process that leads to holocausts.

Look beyond the veil.

______________________________________

"A week after visiting the Islamic Center of America, a man was arrested for attempting to bomb it.

Only a few days ago, Florida Pastor Terry Jones traveled all the way to Dearborn, Michigan to burn a Qur'an infront of the Islamic Center of America.

This is the same pastor who wanted to burn hundreds of Qur'ans on September 11th.

I wanted to keep this story private. But I can't anymore. This is me. This is my experience. And I feel now, more than ever, that it's important to share this with all of you.."

*asmilingmalice