Dealing with abuse

As a revert, I guess it's something I expected at some point. I mean you hear stories of racism, parents denying their children, families being broken up... As a revert you just know that along with the blessings you receive, hardship is on its way!
You will encounter it, in some way or another and it is better to be prepared. For each bit of abuse received, ask Allah to help you and you will find strength.

A few minutes ago, I experienced my first verbal abuse. To be honest, in 1.5 years of being a Muslim it's surprising to have not been receiving this sooner.
A and I were on the bus after a nice evening out. I had a scarf loosely on my head, as I always do in the evenings. As we went to get off the bus, a woman yelled:
What the fu** has she got on her head? What does she think she s Indian or something?
I wasn't quite sure she was talking about me, but then I realised there was only us left on the bus.
Her and her other friends went off their way, not before screaming:
No matter how hard you try you ll never fit in anywhere! Or something along those lines.

By then I had picked up they were insulting me ( my brain chose to tune out the other stuff they were saying) I could really feel my temper rising. A just told me to keep walking and I started laughing.

Partly at their stupidity, partly because I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to talk back to them but that would have out me in danger ( they weren't the smallest or kindest looking people). In the end I felt shaky, A felt it was because they d seen me with him they d said that, but I think they just reacted that way because of fear, the fear of a phenomenon happening more and more in the UK: British girls are converting to Islam.

Allah somehow pushed us both home safe, we never talked back which we usually both would have, and it was best that way. Now I will pray that one of their loved ones converts. That will hopefully help them open up their minds to our beautiful faith and teach them a lesson in acceptance. I am shocked but not really upset. I did know this would come one day.

Subhanallah, God gave me strength to get past it safe, inshallah, I will carry on dealing with these things with wisdom.
Goodnight sisters, may Allah protect you all and make you impermeable to insults and abuse. Inshallah
Xx

Post Ramadan lessons

Salam sisters! I don't know about you, but I'm really feeling the withdrawal from Ramadan this week. Everything seems confusing, I feel guilty eating or making myself tea or coffee?
It made me think about how we can make the feeling of Ramadan last us throughout the year?

I'd like to hear your suggestions!

I m going to apply one thing I have learned inshallah: your body doesn't need as much food as you actually eat. I felt lighter and more energetic while fasting, because my body didn't any surplus food to deal with! So I will cut down portions to smaller sizes and only eat when am hungry, and not just because it's lunch/ dinner time.
I will also try and put together a charity day inshallah where I will bring food and water to those in need in the streets of London. If anyone is interested in joining me get in touch on here by leaving a comment.

Salams to all xx

Fashion tip: staying cool in the heat

Buying clothes as a new muslimah can be quite daunting, we have so many extra things to think about!
One tip a good friend shared with me was to buy tops a size bigger than your actual size. That way you will find yourself in a looser and less fitting top. And you don't have to compromise on style.
Another difficulty, specifically in summer, is how to keep cool.
We must stay covered and modest but how can we do that when the temperatures rise, like they have this weekend?
Well they are many tricks to solve that. One of them is linen trousers. They are light to wear but cover up nicely without drowning you. You can find them in any high street shop- primark and h&m do very good ones in many colours! Teamed with a pretty tunique, you could put together a cool hippy-ish styled outfit. But the great thing about linens is that they are very versatile, so if you are more the smart looking type, team it with a shirt dress and a belt, et voila! I ll try and post some examples soon.

And then they are maxi skirts! I love maxi skirts. I have bought 3 this summer and do the trick! Plus they are still spot on trend wise! Get them floaty to create more impact and let the air flow better. By tucking if your floaty shirts and tops inside the waistline, you will ensure the look doesn't become too 'frumpy' Tk max, primark and h&m again are your winners on this for highstreet retail, otherwise asos do some really nice ones like this red one here!
Pictures coming up shortly inshallah
Xxx

Salams sisters!!

Norbury park masjid

Just wanted to share a picture of our trip to norbury park earlier today, where they set up an outside masjid for brothers and sisters (separate). It was a blessed experience, really recommend it to anyone in south west London!

Eid mubarak!

Dear sisters and brothers! May Allah bless you all and your families! Eid has come! We can all spend the day tomorrow rejoicing with our loved ones!
We will heading to Norbury park for outdoor prayers tomorrow which should be really fantastic! I'm looking forward to it! Then I will spend the day with my fiancé s family!
They are a few mosques in south west London alhamdullah, but I am still looking for a genuine Muslim mosque with a waw factor, a grand mosque with a complete feel of peace and serenity, a mosque with white walls, stained windows high ceilings... The almadiyah community have them ... I think it's time we did too! If anyone knows of any really special mosques let me know! Salam to you all out there! Duas all round! Xx

Shahada story : a sister s journey

"I took my shahada in 2011, after having known for 6 months that I would be becoming a Muslim in 2011.

The start of my spiritual quest started in 2004 when after a long phase of being unsure about faith and God.

As a catholic child, I was fascinated by God and Angels. My aunt remembers me running into shops if I saw an angel in the window sail, or on their logo.

Catholicism didn’t grow well on me, however. The more I had questions, the less I got answers. Until I just stopped asking questions all together.

I stopped thinking about religion until I was 17 and studied Philosophy at school. When it came to the subject of faith, my teacher really got me thinking about creation and the purpose of life. On the way home one evening, my attention got caught on some flowers on the side of the road. They looked absolutely beautiful. Too beautiful to have been the random combination of molecules. They were colorful, gave a home to insects, smelt divine and had the power to make humans smile. Not two of them were the same. Surely they were the work of God. Surely.

That was the moment my faith was sparked back up. I did a lot of self searching and enquiring before I came to Islam. When I moved to London, I looked into Church of England beliefs, I felt I was on the right path, as they emphasized on your relationship with God, but yet the trinity confused me, and they seemed to be so many discrepancies between different bibles that I carried on drifting and searching. By then, I had made a couple of Muslim friends and I had acknowledged that there really was a man called Mohammed(pbuh) who had started this religion. I believed in him. And I believed that he must have been talking to God to be able to write a whole book about Faith and Practices without having ever been taught to write or read.

At the same time 7/7 happened, I was about to start my last year of Film Studies at Uni and needed to come up with an idea for an end of year project. I decided to make a film about terrorism, but with an angle showing how the media makes things worse and can distort the reality about faith.

We auditioned many actors but the lead role for the Muslim part in our script remained free for a long time. Eventually an actor applied. He was brilliant and got the part immediately. A and I became friends straight away, we just clicked… To make a long story short, he inspired and pushed me to research and understand what faith really meant to me. I believed in God 100%, but couldn’t relate to Christianity 100% and never went to church. Eventually, what really pushed me across the line was the day my little sister, she who had never even considered Faith, had been reading about Islam and told me she wanted to convert.

Today, I have been Muslim a year and a bit, so has my sister and A. and I are getting married at the end of 2012" .

Islam and the media

Islam and the media, I think it is safe to say are not the best of friends.
I would even say that Faith and the media are not the best of friends.
But now and then you can be pleasantly surprised. And I am all about positivity and even more keen on good surprises! So let me share this with you.
 On sunday morning, A. and I found this video on line which made us both feel so relieved. Finally a mainstream news-report showed a non judgemental view of reverts in Australia. Australia which suffers a lot from racism, out of all places.
The interview shows 3 reverts in Australia and invites them to talk about their faith and their new lives in a really honest and inspiring way. Enough talking, just watch and enjoy :)

Islamic Relief

So this entry may not the most joyful (but may it still be inspiring) as I will upload a striking video from Islamic Relief.

To those who haven't been able to keep their fast for medical reasons, then this is a charity that is worth looking into. http://www.islamic-relief.org.uk

The add literally covered me with goosebumps. I wish I could go out there and bring food to all these hungry people. But we can't. What we can do is donate to charities who actively work at providing for these children and adults.

And may this be a reminder of one of the reasons that we are to fast... to make ourselves conscious of what our little brothers and sisters out there are going through...

Salam to all!

Comments and feedback.

So it's only been 6 days since my blog went up, so I am really really grateful for the 85 page visits already!
Just so you know, as a friend pointed out, there was a problem with comments so I changed the settings so that anyone can comment now!
I have gone back to fasting today, after another break due to illness ! I am really struggling to stay awake because I actually got up for sehri! Zzzz
What are everyone's tips for a sehri that last through the day? I heard that porridge and bananas was the best? Think my next blog entry will be ideas and recipes for sehri!
Salam and love to all, must go back to work!
Xxx

The fashion edit 12-08-12

This is my first outfit for The Fashion Edit, so I hope you enjoy it.

Last night, my friends and I got together for a girly catch up. One of them is moving out of the country and therefore selling all of her clothes, so she brought along a suitcase full of clothes. 

She let us pick whatever we wanted from it and we gave her the money we thought it was worth. What I really appreciated was that she really listened to me saying I was in the process of changing my wardrobe to fit my Islamic beliefs. She suggested things to wear with all 4 items I had picked.

I was a little apprehensive about talking about this with my friends. If you knew them, you would know why. All more stylish than each other, I was afraid of being judged and criticized. Instead of that I found 10 attentive ears who helped me come up with The Fashion Edit idea.  

Alhamdulillah, I am so grateful to have friends who are proving to be so open and understanding.

So every now and then, you will see some special edits come up, which will be called after my friend, and the modest and islamically correct outfits you will see will have been made exclusively from items in their own non-muslim, funky  wardrobe.

SAFARI LOOK:

This edit includes a skirt that I got from the sale last night. It is originally from H&M, and actually a boob-tube dress.

Here the dress (£10) is worn as a skirt, with the top bit tucked inside to add length to the skirt. It is warn with a long sleeve Tshirt from Primark (£7), in a bright colour to bring out a bit of the colour from the skirt.

Thick black leggings are worn to cover the legs. These are from Primark (£3).

I accessorized the outfit with a golden bangle in the shape of a panther (£10 from a market in France), a waist belt from Primark (£5) and some plain flat ballet pumps (£10).  The hijab is matched to the green of the skirt and held together with a vintage butterfly brooch (£7) brought in a charity shop.

This outfit would fit any petite sister or pear shaped sister. For the sister with a heavier top, wear the top out of the skirt and leave the belt on the hips. 

For some, this outfit may not seem Islamic enough because of the animal print of the skirt or the fact that the skirt isn’t of full length. This really just depends on the person in my opinion and the level of practice of the sister. 

Let me know what you think of this outfit and feel free to submit ideas or comment on how to improve it.

Until the next article, Assalam Walaikum sisters!!

Xx

The Fashion Edits : Weekly inspiration for the fashionista sister who wants to keep her modesty while looking stylish.

A lot of sisters, especially reverts, find it difficult to transit from their previous dress sense to an islamically correct one.

You often feel like you have to adopt a new personality, let alone a new faith and new life style. A lot of Islamic clothing is adapted or inspired from that of Muslim countries but do not seem to reflect our British/European identity.

So, Inshallah, I’m going to use my wardrobe, my fashion sense and industry experience and my fashion expert friends (muslim or not), to upload ideas of outfits and hijabs to fit all tastes and fashions.

I will endeavour to keep the ideas varied to fit all type of styles and all type of sisters Inshallah.

Please feel free to comment, add suggestions and ideas as I go along.

Asalam walaikum sisters, and I hope you enjoy this.

Very excited to go here this evening http://www.newmuslims.org.uk/courses.php#fasting

Iftar for reverts and their partners! That is really exciting to me because I keep going to events which are for sisters only and its really frustrating, because I like to share what I learn with my other half, but its always better to learn together.

Anyway, going there with a friend L. She will be going with her husband too, and there will a lot of my friends from Turning Point there.

Now I haven’t talked about Turning Point yet but that is because they deserve more attention than a –quickly over a tea break – type article.

I have a busy wedding prep weekend ahead of me but will try to keep up the blogging still!

Until then, Salam to all.

x

Olympics and Ramadan

Salams,

What  I wanted to talk about today is actually something that has been a discussion subject that you can’t have missed this year… The Olympics!

After 4 years of gradual build up, we are almost done with the first part, with only to Paralympics to look forward to.

I have to say I have enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Our whole city has transformed… I find it even quieter than usual!

But for our brothers and sisters competing this year, during Ramadan, this must have been a challenge!

Did you know around 3000 of the athletes are practicing Muslims! 3000! Subhanallah! Some of them decided to keep the fast for as long as they could, some will catch up with their lost days later on in the year. Indeed there is a quote in the Qu’ran, and forgive me for not being able to give you the exact quote, which explains that one is not obliged to fast if travelling, as long as they are caught up with later on.

This year has been even more inspiring as Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Qatar had its first female Olympians ever allowed to compete.

Surely you will have heard of the debate around the Saudi Judo athlete who was almost not allowed to compete because of her hijab.

Anyway, I just wanted to reflect upon the achievements reached this Ramadan for these athletes, Alhamdulillah .

And to finish this entry I just wanted to repeat a quote I read on Twitter by a brother last week. (sorry I will get better at giving the correct sources)

“This Ramadan, the Olympics are taking place. They are competing for Gold. We are competing for our place in Jannah”

I wanted to also share this funny image with you, showing the differences of cultures in the Olympics.

And finally look out for some of our sisters and their achievements here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2183262/Olympics-2012-The-Muslim-women-overcame-odds-make-London.html

I am inspired!

Salams!

In my last post I added a link to an article about fasting, but I just found out that there is a documentary made on the subject! It’s not based on religion but on science and health and it is so inspiring!

Here is the link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01lxyzc/

By the way, did you know that the Prophet (PBUH) not only kept fast during the month of Ramadan but also kept fast every Friday and Monday?

When he was asked why that is, he replied; "The deeds of the one are lifted to Allah in these days, and I like mine to be lifted while I am fasting."
He (PBUH) also said about fasting Mondays; "This is a day I was born in."
He (PBUH) said about fasting days in general for the sake of Allah; "Whoever fast a day for the sake of Allah, Allah will distance him from Hellfire for a 70-year-walking distance."

Sport has never been of any interest to me so hearing about the health benefits on this type of fasting is really inspiring. However, you need to be careful when taking up a diet. There is a thin border between eating healthily and falling into bulimia/anorexia.

Hope this documentary inspires us all to eat and live better, Inshallah

Fasting

Assalam Walaikum,

This blog was given birth to during the blessed month of Ramadan, and so it is only fitting that I should spend time exploring this subject.

Having been a muslim for only a year and a bit, this Ramadan is only my 2nd one, and really the first one I entered fully prepared... or so I thought.

I spent the whole month of June and July telling myself that fasting was approaching and that I would have to keep every single day of it without fail. I was motivated, determined and inspired. I can even say I was really excited about it!

The first 3 days of fasting went really smoothly for me, AlHambdullilah. I hardly felt any hunger or thirst, found it easier to stay up and have my last meal just before going to sleep at 3am rather than sleeping for 2 hours then waking up again.
And i felt really good, positive, peaceful, reconnected with my mind and my body, this was something I'd hardly experienced before...
But by the 3rd day, tiredness started to take its toll. I found it hard to stay up late, impossible to wake up for sehri, and eventually started feeling really ill.

Of course in Islam, it is forbidden to fast when you are ill so I stopped fasting till I felt better.

But this made me think of how much more difficult it is for sisters and brothers who are reverts and living in a non-muslim country. You have no one around you to help you, everyone carries on eating and drinking, offering you food or drinks as they just keep forgetting that you are fasting...
What's been keeping me going on days of fast is the thought of breaking the fast with my fiances' family or with a group of other muslim friends.
It is also really hard to keep working during this month as your employer will not see that you are fasting and therefore, you should be excused, but more likely that you are jeopardising their company and just not performing well enough... That is what I have found anyway. I have found it hard to focus, and my employer can tell. They even said to me that I shouldn't be keeping it if it affects my work, and that I should at least be drinking water...

But difficulties are part of the journey. After all, fasting isn't meant to be for pleasure. We fast because God has asked us too.

And they are a lot of benefits to it too!
I personally find myself concentrating on feeding my body essentials, increasing my intake of fruit, nuts and veg, your diet HAS to be varied to keep you going for the next day! And the excitement of actually being able to break the fast at Iftar is amazing!

To finish this first entry, this is an article I found on the BBC most read articles today, not at all related to Islam, but about a study made on the benefits of short term fasting... There must be an Islamic verse for this but in my own words: Doesn't this just prove how much God does know everything...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549

Peace to all of you :)

Salam!

Hi, Salam and welcome to my blog about Islam and my journey to converting into this beautiful faith.
Please remember that this is my diary, expressing my opinions and my journey and so any mistakes and incorrect facts are of my own fault.
I hope to update this blog weekly, Inshallah, with articles about various subjects that relate to Islam and which might help other sisters who are on the same journey as I am with their search.