Taking a stand against israel

Seeing the evident lack of support despite the massacre of over 2000 innocent civilians in Palestine, I feel I must try and put in words the reasons why we must act together and stand against Israel.


For those of you who know me, I'm not usually really into politics, maybe disheartened is the best way to describe my political stands.


But if you know me you will also be aware that I'm not someone to stand by and watch the oppressed suffering at the hand of bullies, and that I hate nothing more than terrorism, injustice, ignorance and intolerance.


Which brings me here.


The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is by no way news. It's been a slowly unfolding cleansing led by Zionists ruling the country. Jews, Christians and Muslims have found themselves caught up in a conflict which has torn apart family after family.


The Zionist have slowly 'cleansed' the area to create a state under the pretext of Judaism. This reminds me of Hitler's 'cleansing' of Europe. They are absolutely no difference between the two. The abused children of one genocide have become the perpetrators of yet another genocide? If you know anything about psychology, this is what abusive people use as an excuse to justify their violent outbursts to allow themselves to carry on doing harm.


To further my point, Jews around the world have made a clear point that they do not support Zionist Israel. So like only the evil filled abusers who refuse to seek help against their violence and use their past as a justification of their crimes, Zionists are using that card to justify their massacres.


Anyway, the result is that Palestine is now a slither of a country, pushed against the sea, with nowhere to go, highly restricted access to business essentials, their universities and hospitals have been bombed, hundreds of children, as innoncent as any child ever is have been shredded to pieces, and I don't mean it as an allegory. Literally, parents have had to pick up bits of limbs and bury those in lieu of any decent funeral.


If any of you are parents out there, I want you to put yourself in the shoes of those parent. Imagine your child ripped into pieces, so much so that when you 've collected their remains, it just seems you're carrying a bag out of the butchers.


The geographical situation of the conflict is of course of religious importance. Jerusalem is at the centre of it all. Our beloved Jerusalem. Jews, Muslims and Christians together are spiritualy attached to the city. By right, all three populations should be allowed to live and worship in their holy land as they please. All of the prophets would have preached the same.

If you and your two sibblings squable over who will live with your beloved mother, do you agree you can all live together, or maybe take turns in spending time with her or do you cut your mum into pieces?


This conflict is using the pretext of religion, while in fact it isn't.


The israehell-I government, as I like to call it, is in a position of power and control, it has manipulated its way into convincing the world that they deserve the attention. It has made ties with the 'superpowers ' America and UK.

Sorry for doing this again, but like an abusive husband will manipulate the world around him to show him as a fun loving generous person, with ties to charities and police forces to mask their hideous crime against their trapped wife who has no way out if this living hell.


But get what isra-hell, your crimes are no longer going unseen. The so called allies you have are going to wake up to your heinous crimes and we are coming together to get you.

The BBC is now also openly seeking support for Palestinian victims.

Christians, Jews and Muslim s around the world are standing together against you.let me rephrase this, people around the world, regardless of their religion are standing together against you.

With God on our side, we'll see see how you try to weasel your way out of court for crimes of war, right behind the likes of Stalin, Hitler and all the other tyrants who have or should have paid for their crimes.

Back

And yes, Inshallah, I hope this is me back in my blogmode - with lots more ideas to share...

Really want to share the incredible experience I have had with the Museum of London. Will do this soon inshallah

x

The things I have learnt as a Muslimah

Salaams my dear readers... I haven't written anything for at least a year and I am so glad to have managed to get myself back here. The past 18 months have been very interesting for me, I''ve managed to push my career to somewhere a lot closer to my goals, with Allah s guidance alhamdulillah.

I have had some incredible things come my way, including being invited to donate an outfit to the Museum of London as it illustrates the change in muslim fashion today. SubhanAllah. I will have to create an entire entry on the matter though as it isn't what brought me here today.

I recently found myself pondering over the changes I have seen in myself since turning to Islam and how , many of these aspects may be surprising and unexpected.

The first noticeable change for me has been with my fashion and clothing. Being a muslimah has made me prouder of being female. It has empowered me emotionally to connect with my feminine side. I hadn't really thought of this until I was actually looking at the outfits I was donating to Museum of London. I noticed a vast array of creams, pinks, pastels, sheer fabrics, lace and pearls. Some very feminine items. The funny part is I used to hate pink with a passion. I didn't hate it on others or in nature but I didn't want it associated to me. Why? I think partly because I am blonde. I didn't want to fall into the stereotype of a Barbie doll. I didn't want to be missjudged as stupid or superficial. So I stayed very clear away from the colour. 

Somehow, now that I am Muslim, I have come to love pink. One reason is that with a headscarf I can never be associated to a barbie again, I have stood up to my beliefs and shown the intellect behind it. The second reason is that under my headscarf, my hair can be whatever colour I want, if people want to judge me, it will be on my Hijab and nothing else. The fact I am now also a wife has helped me channel my feeling of being a woman in the truest sense of the word. Alhamdulillah, I feel really blessed . I have also gained the understanding that my body belongs to Allah, and this has made me respect myself more. I am taking greater care of it. 

An other aspect of me which has changed is my interest in politics and speaking up for women rights and for the missrepresented . I am not an argumentative person and put me in a group of more than 4 people and I go quiet. However, with Islam, I have grown more passionate about certain issues and have found myself wanting to make a stand against injustices. It's also made me want to get into politics and help create a better environment for Britons. We have sat back and watched to government shred the economy to pieces, along with our trust in them and the environment.

I guess the right way to phrase this is that Islam has empowered me and given me the confidence to be myself. 5 years ago I would have been incapable of speaking in public. 2 months ago I spoke to just under a hundred sisters about using the prophet muhammad (peace be upon him) as a role model to help inspire our youth. 

The newest aspect of my development has been to realisation of how green I am willing and trying for my life to be. Mainly inspired by May s issue of Sisters Magazine about the Green lifestyle... I got so excited reading all these articles about looking after the earth, recycling and responsible homing. I have devoured the magazines' articles and this has inspired me for my next talk at Turning Point Inshallah.  

Do I miss anything from my life before or the old me?

No

Do I crave anything I haven't got?

Yes, two things. Motherhood and a better practice of my faith Inshallah things which will come in good time. 

I am looking forward to the other paths this journey will uncover....

Speak soon sisters :) 

Salaam alaikum 

Face mask 'Le Naturel'!

Assalam Walaikum

I wanted to share a fantastic recipe for an all natural face mask/scrub!

Although it isn't really an islamic principle, I think that using natural products fits really well within our faith... and since this recipe uses honey, which is Sunnah... so thought you might like it!!

My skin is sensitive so will react to pretty much EVERY face mask/ scrub in the UK shops. The ones that my skin tends to be better with are those with less chemicals and more natural products in. Unfortunately, those are the high end products, with a price that can cause potential lethal harm to your poor purse...

It got me thinking, why spend a fortune on a product made from natural products when I could just use natural products themselves?

And here is the result of my research!

The secret to hydrated skin is to .... DRINK WATER! Lots of it! Before you layer on moisturiser after moisturiser, make sure you 're hydrating your body well !!

I also came up with this recipe, which I just tried on today, and I would not lie to you, my skin is actually glowing!! I'm calling this face scrub 'Le Naturel'

What you will need, you will probably already have in your cupboards:

2 teaspoons of cinnamon,
2 teaspoons of nutmeg
2 teaspoons of tumeric
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1.5 tables spoons of milk
2 table spoons of honey

At the end, your mixture should look like this:


Apply on your skin after having rinced it with warm water.

It may be quite runny until it starts drying.

Leave on your skin for around 5 minutes, give or take, or when it's completely dry. 

Rince with warm water. You will notice the exfoliating effect of the spices!

Dry and apply your usual moisturiser!

TADAH!!!

Let me know how you get on!! It's meant to be really good for fighting acne as well as just giving your skin some glow!

Salam Walaikum!

My Favourite Ayat from the Qu'ran

Bismillah, I Rahman I Raheem.

Assalam Walaikum & Hello ladies!

When Joanna and Safira  from Turning Point Academy contacted me a few weeks ago about the open day, and asked me to talk about my favourite part of the Qu’ran I knew immediately which one I would be talking about. I prepared this talk which I am sharing with you now.

“My favourite Ayat is a verse or ayat taken from the chapter- or surat- An Nur, meaning the surat of light.

This Chapter is often source of reflection as it contains guidance on many subject matters, such as modesty, punishment of sins and family laws and rulings.

It’s the 24^th Surah in the Qu’ran and it contains 64 ayats.

The general consensus amongst scholars is that this chapter was revealed shortly before the battle of the trenches, in the year 5 AH.

Anyway, my favourite verse from the whole of this chapter and actually from the whole of the Quran is the 35^th of the chapter and called Ayat-An-Nur- the light verse.

Here is a link to a Youtube video of the verse

 

 

Bismillah Irahman Iraheem

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.

The parable of His Light is a niche wherein is a lamp—

the lamp is in a glass, the glass as it were a pearly(white) star—

lit from (the oil of) a blessed olive tree,

neither eastern nor western,

whose oil almost glows,

though fire should not touch it.

Light upon light.

Allah guides to His Light whomever He wishes.

Allah presents examples for mankind,

and Allah has knowledge of all things.

 

There are many reasons why this is my favourite verse.

Firstly, I think it evoked an echo of the idea of divinity I grew up believing in. The content and the style of this Ayat seemed familiar to me. Before converting to Islam, I was a Christian, first Catholic then sort of Protestant. But from a very young age, I had faith. A faith in God, which I always visualised as a light.

To a certain extent, it may be due to the history of art I had been accustomed too, which represented God and the Divine as a bright light. But mostly, this was a feeling that I had deep down in my heart, this notion of God as light. He is light. That was what I believed.

In my late teenage years, I started writing my own prayers and sometimes even worship songs for a friend of mine who had a christian band . All of those prayers and songs reffered to being kept into God’s light, being guided to God light …

It was a notion that I really related too.

So, I can remember the exact moment I read this ayat for the first time. It was shortly after my conversion, and I had decided to sit and read the Qu’ran, letting my fingers ‘randomly’ pick a page to read from. I say randomly in inverted comas, because I think most of you know here, that when you have faith, you realise that nothing ever happens at random.

So anyway, I opened the Qu’ran at Surat An Nur and my eyes fell immediately on those words. Let me tell you, I was in absolute awe! It was a moment of illumination for me. For those who were here last week, and who hear Lauren Booth talking about her conversion, she used the expression ‘ sitting in a beam of light’ at the moment she realised the existence of God… Well that was exactly how I felt, I was almost hearing a choir of Angels in my ears and my eyes were  like – open as wide as you can imagine. I can remember gasping and my husband asking if there was something wrong with me, so I read out the chapter to him and he smiled. Alhamdulillah.

It felt to me like I had struck Gold! It felt like all my life, I had had this prayer in my heart which I was trying to put into words, and that it materialised itself before me, written in the Quran thousands of years before I was even born – a prayer that was dear to my heart.

The other thing which I felt was beautiful about this verse was its poetic and allegorical style. It painted a really visual impression of God’s powers, while still admitting that it was nowhere near what we humans could ever compare it too.

It uses the words, star light, blessed olive tree, an oil which glows without any heat, an illuminated glass. It is announced as a parable, we know that we are nowhere near the truth of what Allah’s power  may look like, but with the use of those words, we know it is something of incomparable beauty.

Now, let’s just think about the concept behind the words. The first concept we grasp here is Light.

What would the world be without light?

 Without Light, there would be nothing. Light is the source of life. Day light brings nutrition to the ground we walk on, to the plants we use to feed ourselves, clothe ourselves and build our homes. So what better way to describe God, than by a Light- but brighter and more powerful than any light we will ever know. God created light, and therefore there was a creation, our creation. God is the reason behind creation. God, is life. Shubannahlah

What else does this Ayat evoke? Stars, and star light. Stars, throughout the years, have reflected light to guide us humans, when the sun was set and there was no way to know which way to go.

Our ancestor would look up to the sky, draw maps from the stars which they could see, and therefore were able to carry on with their journeys in the dark.

When all else was darkness, the stars shone to guide them. What do we humans have, when we feel lost and in darkness?

 Faith. That’s right, having God in our hearts can guide us out of any darkness. And Islam in particular has created a map for us to follow. A guide to a better life. Do you know what I’m talking about? The Qu’ran.  Subhannalah

Guidance is exactly what the Qu’ran is all about, and this is so beautifully represented in Surat- An- Nur, the Surat of Guidance.

Alhamdullilah.

Well I hope I haven’t lost you now- no pun intended, this all made sense to me as I was writing my thoughts down.

I’m getting close to the end of my little bit now.

I just wanted to elaborate on one more phrase.

‘ Allah guides to his light whom he wills’

Alhamdulillah, what a blessing to have been chosen and guided into his light. I can’t begin to express my gratitude. Out of all the places I could be, out of all the things one could be doing, good or bad, with all the ignorance which leads so many people away from God, I am here. Sharing and gaining knowledge and peace with some amazing sisters, with my best friend, with my new friends sharing what I love about my faith, Islam.

I feel truly blessed.

 

Assalam Walaikum”

More from guardian

http://m.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2013/mar/06/lifting-veil-londons-stylish-hijab


This article is also inspiring !!

Xx

Exhibition

Salam sisters!

The guardian just published this article about the hijab and an exhibition about it for international woman's week!

I hope to be able to attend inshallah!

http://gu.com/p/3e8pn/tw

Flame of faith

Salam!

I have been working hard on a talk for turning point next Friday Inshallah. It is open day and a few of us sisters are talking about the beauty of the Qu'ran.

I will be uploading my notes on here soon as they share some good insight on being a revert.

To give you a sample of it now, I wanted to share a poem I wrote and will be reading Friday Inshallah.

I would love to know what you all think.

It is based on my interpretation of the Ayat An Nur in the Qu'ran.

Flame of Faith

By Fiona  Cross Chowdhury

Like a pearl in it’s shell

My faith grows in Allah’s nacre,

His guidance shapes my heart and soul

 

Into a gem which is called Iman.

 

Like a flower in the sun,

My faith is blooming under Allah’s light,

From a small grey seed to a colourful scented rose,

I would be nothing without his nourishment.

 

Like the most precious jewel I have ever seen,

I have been given a priceless gift,

A gift I will forever treasure,

In a chest made of glass, for all to see, for all to share.

 

Like a star shining in the sky,

Islam has guided me into Allah’s light

I am rich because I have been blessed by knowledge,

I am rich because the oil of a blessed olive tree

Lit a flame in my heart and in my soul.

A flame made of pearl, made of light and made of Gold.

The flame of Faith.

 

I'm attaching a picture of something which always makes me cry a little- of awe more than anything... (source: www.technobuffalo.com)

Hijab on!

Hijab on!

Following the international hijab day, I’ve been really thinking about the hijab and how it is interpreted around the world, and I have noticed it a lot more everywhere, but not in the usually expected places.

The first thing to clarify, is that a hijab is nothing else but a scarf worn around the head. It seems people tend to think it has to be specifically one size or one shape. You can wear any sort of scarf.

Well this is funny, just as I was typing the sentence above, my neighbour came in to ask my husband for help with a blown fuse. I am still wearing my scarf from prayer and so he said

‘ oh I like your… what do you call it? ‘

 I replied ‘Headcarf’

‘Headscarf really? It’s not got another name…?’

‘Yeah, headscarf, hijab, however you want to call it’

Talk about good timing, right?

So anyway, headscarves have increasingly been associated with extremism, oppression and intolerance. So I wanted to make a point with a few pictures.

 

What is your first though when seeing this young lady? Terrorist?

And how about this beautiful soul? A women oppressed by her husband?

 

Humm.. And this woman, surely she is one of those who doesn’t how beautiful it is to be a woman, covering herself like that.

And these three, what are they? Covered in bin bags ?

I mean poor poor women, not educated, not allowed to speak or to even work?

How about this one? Stuck at home all day cooking and cleaning right?

And her?

And her?

I think you are can see my point now.

Covering your head is only ever seen as a sign of oppression and extremism when related to Islam, when women from around the world, throughout history and with different fashions have covered their heads and been giving any grief for it.

There needs to be more tolerance towards those choosing modesty as a fashion. The media must take on that now, enough of showing us skimpy pictures only, most women in the UK don’t want to wear skimpy clothes.

Stop trying to incite young ones to wear underwear in the street, seriously, you have to cater for all tastes if you are part of the media.

Well, I have to go and pray now, but I do hope to see a shift in fashion soon, last year maxi dresses were in fashion, which was great, but let’s hope that ladies who don’t like showing off too much skin can still be represented in fashion and media.  

Islam & Humour

Salam sisters!

One of the subjects that has been coming up a lot in the media and in life in general is the non-existence of a sense of humour in the muslim community - a fact with which I tend to disagree.

My sense of humour didn't die the day I took my shahada, nor did I give up laughing.
Being able to laugh at yourself and at funny situations is one of the things that makes this life so enjoyable, and Muslims are not exempt from this feeling.

While the current problem lies in non-muslims making fun of subjects which are sacred to us Muslims, and therefore offending many of us, this has made it look like we Muslims have no sense of humour.

This is when a clarification needs to be made. Yes, we can laugh at ourselves. No, we don't take ourselves so seriously that we cannot take a bit of friendly banter. What does offend us, is anything that attacks, discriminates and ridicules those and that which is sacred to us.

It's the very difference between mocking and joking, between laughing at someone and laughing with someone.

Would a Jew appreciate the holocaust being made a joke out of as if it were something justified?

Would a Christian laugh at a joke about Jesus being promiscuous and violent?

Would Hindus laugh at a joke being made about the sacredness of the cow?

Would a black person laugh at a joke making slavery seen as a good thing?

Would any human being laugh at a joke made about their own mother/father?

We all know the answer to those. Then why is it so difficult for the society not to see why it is offensive  to make a joke out of Islam? My personal opinion is what I believe is the reason behind bullying as a whole. The bully is always someone insecure, and to try and make the victim feel inferior to him/her, the bully mocks its victim, it finds sensitive subjects and digs the knife a bit deeper every time.

For the world to start living in harmony with each other and for peace to spread around the world, we all have to stop feeling threatened by what is different to us. We must learn to appreciate cultural and intellectual differences, Inshallah.

I do not stand behind any of the violent retaliation some of our Muslim brothers and sisters have inflicted on the authors of some of the cruel and inappropriate jokes made about our faith and our Prophet (PBUH). Violence and hatred do not go hand in hand with the teaching of Islam, quite the opposite. However, if some thought had been put into the issue before the joke had been made, we wouldn't have had press offices blown up and people injured as a result. Yes, of course there is a freedom of speech- but by definition, freedom ends where another person's begins.

Anyway, I have gone off on one with this article, which was intended to only be about a specific funny video I found on the web about what not to do during prayer time.

It made me laugh as I recognised many of the faults I have done myself or seen others do while praying, and it made me realise that being able to laugh at your own faults is what makes these kind of jokes so funny.

And finally here is a proof that Allah too has a sense of humour

Subhanallah, there is beauty in every creation Allah has put on earth!

Until next time everyone! Inshallah.

Assalam Walaikum!

Islam Channel

Salam walaikum !!
Alhamdullilah- I'm pleased to say I will be contributing to the Islam channel website for the next few months inshallah!
My first article will be about the perception of Female Muslims in Britain and of course I ll be putting a link up once it's running!
Until then, may Allah bless you all :)

An interesting article from the Beeb

As I have been considering to start selling abayas and Islamic fashion items on this blog, I stumbled upon this really interesting article on BBC NEWS earlier...

Jazzing up the abaya

By Stephanie Hancock  BBC News, Dubai The Beljafla sisters have come under fire for some of their designs Few images shout Middle East quite like the abaya - the long, black overgarment worn by millions of women across the Arab world. The design has remained pretty much unchanged for centuries, but a crop of young new designers in the United Arab Emirates are now giving the traditional dress a modern-day makeover. Nothing is off limits - designers are experimenting with bold colours, materials like lace and leather, and even add sequins, embroidery and daring slits to jazz up the often-uniform black robe. Reem and Hind Beljafla began their abaya-design business, DAS Collection, 18 months ago after realising the market for high-end design for Muslim women in Dubai was woefully underserved. Their abayas are very much haute-couture - everything is custom-made and prices start at $1,000 (£606).  It [abaya] is not a tent that covers us all - we can still look pretty and elegant and sexy  Badr al-Budoor, designer The young sisters say that as long as a woman's form is still covered by the abaya, there is no harm in having a bit of fun with the design. "It never loses its identity - the target is to cover the woman's body so there is no harm in playing with the fabrics," says 24-year-old Reem. "We thought why can't we take our abayas and make something to suit the modern girl, but still keep that conservative style." Big ambitions The Beljafla sisters have come under fire for some of their pieces, especially ones which are made from transparent fabric, or show off the shoulders. Badr al-Budoor is now taking her business online. Photo: Abaya Couture But they insist their more racy designs are only supposed to be worn to ladies-only gatherings such as wedding parties. They also say that an evening-wear abaya is not supposed to be worn for a trip to the mall during the daytime - much as one wouldn't wear a cocktail dress to the office. The sisters have big ambitions. They have already met famous US designers like Vera Wang, and believe the day is not far off that Western models will be seen sashaying down a catwalk in Paris or New York wearing one of their creations. 'Spreading the word' Badr al-Budoor is another Emirati designer who is having fun transforming the age-old abaya by adding frills, polka dot print and giant bows to give her pieces a princess-like feel. Interest in her unusual designs is so high that she is taking her business online to target an international audience. Rabia Z now runs a fashion empire She also hopes that, as she opens up to the overseas market, people might view traditional Islamic dress in a different light. "The whole point of doing this online is to spread the word on the abaya and show people that it is a fashionable piece that we wear," says Ms Budoor, who recently launched her website AbayaCouture.com. "It is not a tent that covers us all. We can still look pretty and elegant and sexy - just as covered and as traditional as we need to be." Ms Budoor does not see a contradiction in creating "sexy" abayas. "The definition of sexy here in Emirati society is very different to the West," she says. "Sexy to us means elegant, modest and feminine. It's possible to look attractive without showing any skin at all." 'Modest yet modern' It is not just Islamic dress that is being transformed. Emirati designers have also started to take Western-style clothes like T-shirts, skirts and trousers and adapt them for Muslim customers.  The potential for further growth is massive - it's still untapped, it's a niche market  Rabia Z, designer Rabia Z began designing when she started wearing the hijab, or a headscarf, a few years ago while living in the US. "I realised there was nothing stylish for women like me to wear - something that is conservative but still stylish and fashionable," says Rabia, who is now one of the region's most successful designers. "It was shocking that no-one seemed to care about us - there was absolutely nothing that catered to the needs of Muslim women." Rabia started her business eight years ago and now runs a veritable fashion empire catering for everything from haute-couture to high street. She plays with both fabric and cut to achieve her design mantra of "modern yet modest", and even stitches hijabs into hooded tracksuit tops so that women can exercise in comfort. But Rabia does not only want to dress Arab women, and is targeting Muslims right across the world, including in the West and further afield. She already has plans to tap Asian markets like China and Korea, as well as countries closer to home like Iran and Afghanistan. "The potential for further growth is massive," she says confidently. "It's still untapped, it's a niche market and the potential is just enormous."