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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