When adopting the faith of one parent seems like you’re betraying the other

This is the latest video from overcome.tv

Whilst Leanna was searching for the truth, she was reunited with her biological father who turned out to be Muslim. But embracing his faith would mean that she’d betrayed the woman who raised her. Watch on to see how God guided her and helped her overcome… 

Watch the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa1vKh9lTiU

A great effort - overcome.tv

I have just recently been introduced to overcome.tv

This is a website aimed at assisting people who would like to become Muslim but may be apprehensive for various reasons.

I would recommend this site for anyone, not only people interested in becoming Muslims. It is overall a resource to learn more about Islam and people's personal paths towards the religion. The site features videos on people's personal stories.

It's always insightful to learn other people's stories and its moving to hear about the different paths that lead people to Islam.

Inshaa- Allah (If Allah wills) I will be posting links to the new videos that they post every Saturday.

I hope that you enjoy watching these and I'm certain that we will all learn a lot from this.

I would just like to commend everyone involved in this effort for their hard work and dedication in assisting others. May Almighty Allah reward them all with the best.

The video for today will be posted soon.

All the best for the year ahead! May it be filled with goodness, peace and happiness.

What is a powerful woman?

While driving on the highway yesterday a billboard caught my attention. It was advertising some TV show called “The Queen” (If I read correctly while zooming past). The image is what stuck with me. At the head of a board room table sat a woman, presumably the “Queen”, and around the table sat all her subjects, the men. The woman at the head represented a conceptualization of the “powerful woman”. She was dressed in a black business suit, hair cut short, poised in a manly stance, clearly in control and dominant.

So what’s the problem with that?  You may very well be thinking this right now.

And the problem the way I see it is this. In order for a woman to be regarded as “powerful” or “in control” she has to basically become like a man. She has to dress like a man (the black business suit), cut her hair like a man (short and cropped) and take on the stance of a man. Somehow it just wouldn’t seem suitable if the “Queen” in this image sported for instance, long hair, wore ,say a floral summer dress or if she was dressed in pink (not that I’m an advocate for pink but in any case) and sat in a feminine posture. If this was the case, the woman would not be taken seriously, or would she?

So what are we saying exactly? Are we saying that the only way a woman can be dominant or can be taken seriously is if she becomes like a man?  I may be wrong here, but doesn’t that go against the basic principles of empowerment? 

It appears as if a woman has to give up everything that defines her womanhood if she is to become powerful or dominant. There is no time for things like motherhood, or marriage. She cannot afford to be soft or feminine, petite and quiet. Nope, she has to be bold and dominant and aggressiveness may be her most treasured trait.

Tell me, how does it make sense to limit women in this way? 

Surely the concept of power has to be vaster than this.

Isn’t a woman “powerful” when she takes on the role of a nurturing mother, or a caring teacher?  Does she not have “power” or “control” when she supports her husband or runs her family?  Can she not be an adviser, a confidante, a friend, and yes even a “boss” if she decides to wear a dress or grow her hair?  Does she automatically become weak and vulnerable if she is soft and feminine?  Does she have to give up all notions of femininity before she can be respected and taken seriously?

So what do we base our ideas of power and control on?  Do we simply follow the standards set by men, the very men who we claim have been given unfair advantage for years. Or do we gain power and control in new ways, and in different ways, and in ways that do not require us to change ourselves completely. Ways that do not discard ‘womanly’ traits.  

These are simply just my musings. There are so many contradictions in the world it would take me too long to discuss them all. Nonetheless, I just found this to be relevant. Maybe it’s something we can all ponder about. 

So I leave you with this question: 

What really makes a woman “powerful”? 

The Beauty of hijaab,

Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), I always regard myself as fortunate to meet Muslim women with such conviction and strength that it moves me. There are many such women, and it brings home the fact that we need to understand the stories of women in order to appreciate them for who they really are. 

The article below was written by a sister I met recently. It is so inspiring to understand the choices and processes that women go through, and it's beautiful to be reminded of how dynamic Muslim women really are. 

I am thankful to sister Rehana for allowing me to post this here. 

Please enjoy the read (see below for meanings of Arabic words)
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The beauty of hijaab, sister Rehana Bint Ismail of Johannesburg, South Africa
SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 / NUJOOMULAYL

Hijaab…nikaab…purda… I don’t have to cover my face its not farz…purda is in the heart not covering the face…that’s what they all say… and that’s what I too believed at first…

My mum started wearing nikaab 15 years ago and at that time there were more and more woman donning the nikaab ! I felt really proud of her taking this big step but never told her my feeling even though I admired her courage..

I got married in 2008 and 1 of the perks of being a home exec was giving up my career of corporate banker after 12 years.It was quite an adjustment but I benefited a lot alhamdulillah ,as I started attending deeni talks for ladies and had ample time to do all the hobbies and courses I couldn’t do whilst pursuing a career.

My husband was and still is a remarkable spouse who always encourages me to new spiritual heights without loosing the essence of ikhlaas or sincerity.He never expressed his wish to see me wear the nikaab but always explained the benefit and the virtues of it to me.

He is a student of deen and a popular leader of the community in a suburb situated within Johannesburg South.
I became very conscious of not wearing it and felt awkward and uncovered when ever we would frequent shopping malls or the local supermarket or bakery as everyone would stare at me and remark ” theres moulana and his new wife”, which at times resulted in me wearing a big pair of sunglasses to cover half my face!

My mum would constantly encourage me to wear the nikaab explaining how important it was to wear it as I was now a “moulanas” wife.

Yeah right forget about everyone else but what about my feeling and thoughts and ambitions !

Having always heard my father speak about his 4 months spent in 1975 ,I asked hubby if he would take me out for 3 days mastooraat jamaat just to experience what it was all about. Now when you leave your home as a couple you have to wear the nikaab till you get to the hosts place and then you have to wear it on your way back home too.

I wasn’t aware that I had to wear it and felt reluctant at first but wore it none the less.It felt good yet somewhat uncomfortable but I felt a sense of “completeness”- kind of like i wished I could always wear it so I secretly bought my first nikaab and started wearing it whenever I would leave home.Hubby didn’t notice.He probably thought it was just a passing phase.

After 2 weeks of wearing it all over he looked at me while driving to Lenz and asked me if the wearing of the purdah was going to be a permanent situation so I said it was a trial phase !!! What a lie because deep down I knew that this was such a great and noble step in my life and I was trying to make it a permanent one too.

Eventually he sat me down and explained to me that Allah swt honours a women who wears the nikaab and told me how proud he was about me taking this step all on my own…subhanallah I felt so chuffed and was waiting for those wise words of approval ….

It is 5 years now since I donned the nikaab and yes …we only wear nikaab for Allah's pleasure.. we are observing modesty and this too is ultimately for the pleasure of Allah swt…a woman modestly dressed is like a pearl in an oyster..

They say Allah honours a woman who wears the nikaab and yes I have witnessed being honoured on many occasions when non-Muslim men come up to hubby and express that they too would love their wives covered up the way I do !

Only Allah swt knows what’s in each persons heart and Allah grant me the steadfastness to improve my akhlaaq and use me as a means of spreading this wonderful concept of hijaab as well as the beautiful deen of Islam !

Alhamdulillah, we, in Aouth Africa are not restricted from practicing any avenue of deen compared to other countries where the hijab is banned, and because of this we have to take full advantage of practicing deen in totality.

Allah swt in his infinite wisdom has bestowed us with so many nemats and besides being the reciters of the kalima and the ummatees of Nabi Mohammed saw , Allah swt has made us woman and have completed us by making modesty a branch of imaan…
It is not farz but waajib to cover the face as ulama explain that it is a protective measure in this time of fitnaa that we are living in where woman are exposed to many evils.

Purdah is not in the heart and if we wish to attain closeness to Allah swt then we will obey his commands willingly or unwillingly ,ultimately for his pleasure, and Allah swt will make it easy for us.

So to all my sisters who are still undecided on taking that great step forward- just take the plunge you will never regret it. Yes Allah swt will honour you, he will make it easy for you and he will protect and elevate you….don’t look back !

Hijaab is my choice and my freedom and I am a proud Muslimah…..Allah hu Akbar !!
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Terminology:

Farz- Compulsory 
Alhamdulillah (All Praise is for Allah)
Deen- Religion
Deeni- Religious 
mastooraat jamaat- basically a religious trip where people gather and interact and discuss religion.(My description does not do justice, but nevertheless)
SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah) 
Akhlaaq- character
Waajib- recommended
nemats- bounties 
kalima - declaration of Faith- testifying that there is only One God and Muhammad (pbuh) is the messenger of God. 
Ummatees- People belonging to one "Ummah" or community.
Imaan- Faith
Fitnaa- trials / tribulations 

The way of women today

Beautiful women, running after the wrong men,

Coaxed by words, uttered so easily and freely ,

meaningless words out in the open,

his exploits forgotten so neatly.  

Intelligent women, losing all reason,

drowning further and deeper in the illusion.

Wishing for things to change and get better,

Covering up faults and lies over and over.

Strong women, brought down so weak,

believeing the worst about themselves,

deceit and treachery they will overlook,

because love and approval is what they seek.

The price seems too high to pay,

Women are far more worthy than this,

Not there simply for amusement and play,

Surely not to be left to sink deep into an abyss.

She should be honoured and cared for,

Instead she is so harshly showed the door,

She gives all she can and more,

she should be loved, cherished and adored.

But the deception continues on and on,

And she is made to feel like she will never belong,

Hating everything about herself,

depending on him, holding on.

Used and abused, and even accused,

Her trust and honour so often misused.

All this for meager justification,

Do we really need a man to give us validation? 

How do we women become so easily fooled?

So easily swayed and beguiled.

How can we believe in empowerment?

Yet give up ourselves so easily.  

Sadly the years do not wisen us,

Examples of others go amiss,

Sweet words and promises are often enough,

Despite the rest of it being a bluff.

The price indeed seems too high,

Women were not created for this,

To be respected and honoured is not a far cry,

We should stop allowing ourselves to get lost!

I’m saddened by what I hear and see,

These women only pretend to be free,

Entrapped in the worst way they can be,

because their imprisonment they refuse to see.

And so the rain came

After days of heat and dryness, fear of water restrictions and planned water cuts, Alhamdulillah (All Praise is for Allah), the rain came, and it didn’t just come, it came in abundance, SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah)! It’s rained so much in the past three days that people are sending out storm warnings. I don’t know yet if this is enough to satisfy the water needs after the drought, but how can we complain when the air is fresh and the grounds are wet and there is hope of more to come.

There are so many lessons to be learnt from this. It reminds us firstly how much in need of Allah we really are. With all our modern technology and so called advancements, we are still reduced to helplessness with simple things like getting rain. What if the rain didn’t come? We would have no power or ability whatsoever to bring about any rain. Our dependence is so real that we will be complete fools if we forget this.

And just like that, if too much rain comes and the storms continue, what will come of us? We could be destroyed in an inkling, unable to control a thing! SubhanAllah, how perfectly does Allah balance everything out and how wonderful it is that everything works in accordance with the Divine Plan?

So just like the rains can come to wash out the heat and bring relief, so too can Allah change difficult situations in an instant. No problem is impossible to solve when we turn to Our Creator for help, nothing is beyond the understanding of Allah, and of course, nothing happens without the wisdom and knowledge of Allah. It’s so easy to get stuck on our problems, believing that things will never change, but who knows, change could be around the corner, we just don’t know that yet.

Trust in Allah is a fundamental part of our faith. Just like Allah is able to control the rains, so too is Allah able to control the events that happen in our lives. Whatever our stories are, whatever saddens or upsets us, whatever longing and wishes we have, there is absolutely no reason to ever despair. Let the world go crazy, our sanity rests in our belief in Allah, and Insha Allah (with the will of Allah) we will never be disappointed. 

May Allah Almighty bless us with beneficial rains, and fill our lives with all that is beneficial!

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Burning Busses, political games and Jacaranda Trees

It’s a crazy time in South Africa at the moment. Students have been protesting for months to get rid of university fees, it’s so bad that the entire academic year has been threatened. More than once, these protesting students have taken to violent means to express their frustration. Busses have been burnt, cars have been stoned, and clashes with police have been reported on. All this violence seems unnecessary, especially in the midst of worldwide violence, one has to wonder how much worst things will get.

And as if that’s not enough, the entire political system is in turmoil. Allegations of fraud, summons of government officials, cases made to cover the tracks of corruption. Who knows what dirty political games are played behind closed doors and high walls. (It’s none the better anywhere else though is it?)

It would seem that there is reason to lose hope, but then, amidst all the chaos, there is still so much beauty in the world. While driving on the streets of Johannesburg the other day, spring in full bloom, I couldn’t help but marvel at the wonderful beauty all around me. Bright purple Jacaranda trees regally decking the sides of roads, its flowers laying down a carpet of purple bliss. Lush green trees, and red and yellow flowered ones in between, and all this continues to thrive even though rain has been scarce. The natural beauty of this city is sometimes so encompassing it makes everything else seem so futile. How can so much evil go on when there is so much beauty?

SubhanAllah, I am hit with a stark realisation or re-realisation if I can put it that way. The beauty comes from the Almighty Creator, and all the turmoil has been created by us humans. Perhaps this reminder is necessary to help us strive to please Allah, perhaps it should be reminding us to be grateful. I know with certainty that it creates hope. It provides peace in a world filled with madness. It brings joy when it seems that everything is falling apart.

Years from now those strong magnificent purple trees may be witnessing completely different scenes played out. Who knows?  Maybe students will succeed in their fight for free education, maybe politicians will end their corruption, maybe rain will come in abundance and the droughts will end. I’m certain though that if those trees continue to stand, they will serve as a reminder, an epitome of beauty and grandeur, and maybe this will make someone think; If this meagre creation of Allah is so magnificent, imagine what the magnificence and grandeur of the One who created it must be like. It cannot be imagined at all, but the thought that there is a Creator who is omnipresent and all-knowing is definitely soothing and comforting.

There is beauty in every turmoil, we just need to look for it!

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Moments and people

There are moments in life that move you, moments that make you feel humbled and fortunate, moments that make you remember that we all have a purpose.

There are people in life that inspire you, people who are so strong despite having to face the worse adversities; people who are able to keep their faith and stay above the water when most other people would be drowning. Recently I have had the chance to meet such a person, an amazing woman, a woman with conviction and courage. A woman who just happens to be a Muslim woman, who completely covers herself, niqab and everything.

How she dresses shouldn’t matter, it shouldn’t even be an object of discussion, but it is, it’s become so because people have decided that it should be an issue, because people find it necessary to dictate what the acceptable modes of dressing are, even though this shouldn’t matter. I mention it because somewhere, someone has decided that a woman cannot be strong, productive, and empowered if she is dressed in clothes that completely cover her.

So here we have yet another example of an extremely strong woman, a woman who has fended for herself and raised her children single handed, a woman who has being making her own choices for longer than she can remember, and you know what, she has chosen her choice of dressing as well, and this only adds to her strength.

So here I am, humbled to have met such a person, in awe at her courage and conviction, moved by the moment she told me that Allah brings people together as and when we need it. This reminds me that Allah is in control of everything and even though the world may seem a mess, there is meaning behind things, and there is always hope. Our hope comes from our connection to Our Creator, our hope comes from our Love for our Creator, our hope comes from our conviction that Our Creator knows what is best for us, and when we connect with each other based on this common understanding, it just makes everything so much more meaningful.

Some moments are inspiring, some moments are needed for us to remember our ultimate purpose on this earth, some moments are so simple, but they mean so much! 

Much Ado about Hair

Last week South African media was bombarded with a very disturbing yet pertinent issue. Girls at more than one school in South Africa decided to protest and speak out after they were faced with discrimination regarding their naturally curly hair. Some girls mentioned that they were asked to straighten their hair for school as their “hairdos”, did not meet school requirements. Many accounts of discrimination and bias surfaced. As can be imagined it caused quite a stir for the schools involved. Now, I understand that school rules are important, but we all know that this issue goes way deeper, particularly in a country with a history like South Africa’s.

Strangely, the issue of “hair” is not a new one. The focus on the type of hair someone has goes back many years. It’s actually quite sad and ridiculous that we have to be discussing this in the first place. Yet over the years people have continuously being stuck in this system where curly hair needs to be straightened in order for it to be regarded as beautiful. Granted there was that time when the “perm” was in fashion and suddenly curly hair was the new cool thing, but that can’t really be counted since it was just another fad.

The fact still remains that people have gone through many lengths just to change their natural hair so that they can fit society’s standards. Malcolm X called this hair straightening a form of self-degradation. He was appalled that people could put themselves through painful processes simply just to have straight hair. I urged people to stick to what was naturally to them. So many years later and we are still stuck in the same debate. What has happened to human progression? 

In my opinion, this is all about the dominant people in society making decisions about what the standards should be. It’s about those power holders who just like everything else, long ago decided what the standards of beauty are, based solely on what was common for them. Curly hair only came to be regarded as inferior because it was not the norm of those in power. This is an old colonial way of thinking, everything that’s different must be inferior-everything that does not fit in should be changed.

How do we spend so much time debating issues like the type of hair people have, or for that matter the colour of peoples skin, or the way a woman dresses when she goes to the beach. How do these seemingly insignificant things become so significant? Do we not have enough problems in the world to deal with?

Sadly, its these very things which creates division in society and it begins the debate on “us”  and “ them”, “ selves”  and “others” – and before we know it people have labelled each other to such an extent that the “other”  begins to be regarded as less than human, less important and in need of change. When this is allowed to continue then this type of thinking becomes ingrained in people to the extent that they are unable to identify what they are doing wrong and how they are actually harming others.

I remember being made to feel different as a young child because of my curly hair. At the time I did not understand the social and political issues which underlie this thinking. All I knew was that other children recognised something different in me. It made me feel inferior, I actually wanted to change. Many years later and I now understand all this. Thankfully and with the Mercy of Allah I have come to accept myself completely and I appreciate myself for who I am. I understand now that there are far too many important things in the world to worry about for us to be stuck on issues like a person’s hair.

For this reason I salute the school girls who came out to protest, because no one should be forced to change simply because they do not fit the standards set out by those in power, because people should not be made to feel inferior based on what was naturally given to them, because although school rules are important, those rules should not exploit or discriminate against anyone. Prejudice has been going on for far too long. When will we stop trying to divide and when will we begin to unite?

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The cruelty of people

Sometimes the actions of people can be very cruel. There is of course the obvious cruelty, like the unfathomable cruelty of someone who is able to get into a truck and mercilessly plunge into other people. Similar cruelty seems to be heightened nowadays. People cruelly murder, rape and abuse others without remorse. I am so often reminded of words that were told to me many years ago; “Human beings have the ability to be higher than the angels and lower than animals”. I will never forget these words, but it’s tragic that these days more often I can see how human beings are giving in to our ability to be lower than the animals.

We would like to believe that we are good people, we hide our cruelty in the wake of these bigger actions of cruelty, and while this may be human nature, it hinders us from improving ourselves. When we are not able to recognize the cruelty in ourselves, how will we ever be able to change it?

I came across an example of how we tend to be so cruel towards others without even considering what we are doing, or the effects of our actions. My example is simple, it may seem insignificant in the grander scheme of world events, but I cannot change world events, I can only change myself.

While browsing the internet I saw a link to an article about how some celebrities have become “monsters” with time. Of course the article was referring to the physical appearance of the chosen celebrities and how they have transformed from “beauties” to “monsters”. The list included men and women, (I can’t be happy that it’s not only women who are subjected to this kind of scrutiny when such scrutiny in itself is horrible), but nonetheless, the list included men as well, which is a change in the pressure that is usually placed on women to look attractive.

Back to the point, I initially looked at these images and had common thoughts like, wow, what has happened to these people… Then I started feeling bad. Firstly, these are human beings, and we can put forth the usual arguments such as they asked for the attention and what not, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is really cruel to be making fun of how people’s appearance have changed over the years. Secondly, who even knows if the pictures we see are real. Thirdly, why on earth does it matter! 

This sort of obsession with looks and appearance, the pressure put on all people to be physically attractive, the teasing and mocking of those who don’t meet societies standards of beauty, all of this is extremely cruel, is it not? Yet most of us would like to believe that we are not cruel.

So I had an internal reprimand to myself, how dare I look at these images and wonder things like what happened to these people? So what if their appearance has changed? Doesn’t that happen to all of us as we get older? How would I feel if people started making fun of the way I look?

Like I said, this may seem like something so insignificant. Indeed, in the wake of attacks on human life, of attempted military coups, of displaced refugees and continuous wars, of lives being lost in masses, in the wake of murder and rape and abuse and torture, how does something like this even matter?

But it does!

Because if we allow ourselves to be cruel, no matter how minimal that cruelty may be, then our levels of cruelty just increase, and before we know it the unfathomable becomes fathomable. So we need to recognise the cruelty in ourselves, and we need to stop it and change it now, because seriously, the world does not need any more cruelty! 

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Book Review- "Behind Picket Fences" - by Hend Hegazi

It is said that you never know what goes on behind closed doors, and if perchance you happened to be the fly on the wall of someone’s home you would be surprised by how different your perception is to what really goes on.

This is the thought I had when reading “Behind Picket Fences” by Hend Hegazi. The narrative focuses on the lives of four families in a neighbourhood and the drama that unfolds shows that what things seem to be is not always as they are. From the psychological and emotional struggles of the beautiful young artist Summer, to the illness suffered by May, the caring mother and loving wife, to the financial difficulties affecting the marriage of Morgan and Mariam this book reminds us that life is filled with various trials. It allows us as the reader to get out of our own world for a while and to broaden our ideas of what life should really be like. We are reminded that no one is without trials. In fact even a seemingly perfect marriage like that of the characters Sidra and Farris is filled with its own trials.

This book is a lovely portrayal of the trials and tribulations of life, the way in which people understand and depict love and the things they would do to achieve happiness. It sheds light on the fact that human beings are complex creatures and our motives and actions may not make sense to each other, but often come from genuine feelings. It touches on the idea of tolerance and reminds us that if we do not empathize with and tolerate one another then we will miss out on having meaningful relationships with others.

The book also allows us to focus on the fact that although we are all very different, in essence we are actually more similar than we think.

I enjoyed how the characters came together to support one another even though they may not have understood each other’s lives or situations. The neighbourly spirit was brought to the fore as characters put their own issues aside to help out and see to the needs of their neighbours. It was refreshing to see people depicted as supportive instead of hostile towards one another.

One thing that bothered me while reading though was that I had to wait a few chapters to find out what happened to the character as the book was divided into 4 stories and each chapter focused on a different story. At times I found myself filled with suspense, wanting to skip chapters just to find out what was going to happen to the characters I was reading about.

All in all I enjoyed reading this book. It tugged at the emotional heartstrings and presented relatable stories. The characters and their struggles are identifiable to people across cultures and religions. What the book focuses on is the human experience and the essence of life. It reminds us not to judge anyone because indeed, we never know what goes on behind closed doors, or in this case, behind picket fences.

To read more about this author:

https://hendhegazi.wordpress.com/about-me/

http://fbpublishinghouse.com/author/hend/

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Accepting ourselves

It starts from a young age… the feeling that you are not good enough and that no matter what you do everyone else around you will always be better. It may seem that you are the only one who doesn’t quite know how to fit in, or how to react. You may find no good in yourself, and the desire to completely change who you are and everything about yourself may be so overwhelming that it consumes you, sometimes to such an extent that you even feel the need to harm yourself.

A while back a blogging friend of mine, Marie, asked me as a mental health professional, if I am seeing more cases of depression, basically more people who are in turmoil. She mentioned to me that when she spoke to people in this field in her locality they told her that there is definitely an increase in cases like depression and so on. I have to agree, in recent years things have definitely escalated and people seem more in need of help now than ever before. I think that working as a counsellor desensitizes you in many ways, but the one thing that still really gets to me is to see people, especially young children, who hate themselves; people with such low self-esteem that they are unable to have any happiness in their lives.

While the reasons for having low self-esteem may differ from situation to situation, I think that it goes back to expectations. Parents’ expectations of what their children should be like, children’s expectations of what they need to be like, societies expectations of what people should be…

Interestingly, and very importantly, all that Allah expects from us is to be good people, to worship Our Creator and obey His rules, and to treat others well, just to do our best!

The One who really matters does not place unrealistic expectations on us, instead He accepts us for who we are, and of course, this makes sense, since Allah created us, and He created us all differently.

I see so many people trying to fit the mould. A mould that has been defined by our societies, societies that happen to be very flawed. I see wonderfully talented people believing that they are worthless, simply because they do not fit that mould. I see beautiful human beings believing that they are nothing, simply because their outer bodies do not appear to be beautiful to others. I see true talent, true potential simply shriveling away and dying, leaving behind it a sad and lonely person, continuously striving to fit the mould!

I learnt a very profound Hadeeth (saying or teaching of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon Him) recently. It’s translated something to this effect:

“Indeed, Allah does not look at your body, and not at your shape, but looks at your hearts.”

SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah), isn’t this a wonderful hadeeth.

This reminds me that all we have to do is accept ourselves for who we are. We need to stop looking at others to define ourselves. We need to stop trying to fit the mould. No person is exactly like the other, and really, why would we want to be the same as others. All of us have our good and bad, no one is perfect, but all we have to do is be good people, with good hearts.

I find myself trying so hard to explain this to people, both adults and children. Sometimes I feel like I am wasting my time, but still I cannot give up, not just yet!

Let me just end by saying that If Our Creator, the One who loves us the most is able to accept us for who we are, then why is it so hard for us to accept ourselves!