IT'S JUST UPHILL FROM HERE.

Asalamualaykum Warahmatullah, 

I feel like lately I have just been filled with an emotional whirlwind where I want to enjoy myself but I feel like other people are stopping me from doing so. 

I receive advice such as 'just enjoy yourself' or 'do something fun' yet they are the people who contradict their own saying by making me feel bad if I do do something.  

People think they can bring you down purely because they are going through troubles or they are not having a good day and they are fully aware of this, yet they still don't change. 

I hate it with passion when others are not aware of how they make you feel. Own up to yourself. Take charge of your own behaviour. 

I don't care how close people are, they should still look out for others and make sure that your behaviour is not hurting others. LET ME BE FREE. 

Just so much hypocrisy. 

So much selfishness. 

The ease of which people turn my calmness and happy days into bad days with a click of their fingers. 

But that is not going to happen anymore. 

I will enjoy myself. 

I will live everyday.

I will do as I please. 

I will better myself.

I will be happy for myself and for you.

But I wont let others think they can control me. 

All I want is to do what I enjoy. 

Go out with friends and family, enjoy new experiences, new days.

But also enjoy home days, relaxing and having a laugh.

Why is that too much to ask for? 

INSPIRED BY A REVERT?

Asalamualaykum Warahmatullah, 

It is often a phrase thrown about where 'reverts are better muslims than born muslims.'

The only issue with this is that it is so unfairly generalised that it doesn't make sense.

I would definitely agree with reverts being inspiring though.

Masha'Allah, I have a friend who recently reverted to Islam.

When I was talking to her, I was taken aback by how someone can be so sure in something, so certain that they are doing the right thing.

This doesn't mean that I am full of doubts. But I was so surprised that someone who hasn't grown up, nor been surrounded by people who are Muslims is so sure of what she is doing despite the hardship around her.
It makes me so emotional to talk about, only because sometimes we have to remind ourselves why we are here.
I spend time wanting to improve but not focused enough to do so.
I find myself wanting to better myself in certain areas of my life but being lazy to do so.

Seeing someone who hasn't even had any coaching since childhood, drop everything to start a new life and be so happy was so refreshing.
I feel ashamed.

We have the most rewarding, the most beautiful religion in our hands. We are those people. Yet we let this world, this dunya override the hereafter, the akhira.

We are blessed to have this religion in our hands, whilst others out there do not have Islam, yet we toss our religion to the side.

We have been given the easiest religion to follow, the uplifting and powerful religion, the religion that contains everything that others ultimately want, yet we CHOOSE to ignore it and listen to our temptation.

Our hijab is there to protect us.
Our prayer is there to protect us,
The Quran is there to uplift and guide us,
Our smiles are there to give charity,
Our steps are there to lead us.

Yet we still take this ease and turn it into hardship.

We forget that as big as our sins are, Allah's mercy is even bigger.

We forget to repent and ask forgiveness, we choose to ignore our wrongdoings.

Ya Allah guide us, Ya Allah give us strong, Ya Allah purify our souls and intentions.

Ya Allah grant us Janatul Firdous. 

WORRIED FOR FUTURE CHILDREN

Asalamualaykum Warahmatullah,

Today's blog is going to be something that I think about regularly. Not in depth, but regularly. 

As time is moving, things are changing, particularly in recent years. 

Some of the biggest changes in society have occurred which will continue to impact future generations. 

Not only will they grow up in a world where they have not experienced 'how it used to be' but they will grow up in an environment that may potentially contradict any teachings that parents may give their children.

Not only this, but we are becoming materialistic people, and therefore we already experience watching little children knowing how to use and iPad before they reach the age of 5. We have 6 year olds demanding to have the newest phones on the market. We have 7 year olds wearing make-up like they're some kind of adult. We have 8-9 year olds giving attitude. We have 10-11 year olds no longer interested in education.

The list goes on.  

We complain that time is rushing by, yet we allow the children of today and tomorrow to engage in activities that a few years ago, belonged only to the adults. 

What happened to playing in the mud and building mud pies. 

What happened to splashing money on a new swing set. 

What happened to wrapping warm and going outside to play tag or badminton or hide and seek. 

It is only when you think back that you realise those were the times when you are truly happy. 

A friend and I were playing a very small game of tag yesterday and it was then that I realised I was laughing like an excited child that I was like - if it can still have an affect on me now, imagine how ecstatic you would be as a child! 

On the contrary, kids are obsessed with their technology, and I don't blame them, but its the very fact that they're exposed to it and parents no longer have a lot of time for their children that its the quickest route to keeping them quiet. 

Because of this, obesity is on the rise, laziness is on the rise, materialistic gain is on the rise. 

I just pray that as we age, some things move forward, but the right things move back.

At the end of the day only the simple things in life are what fill our souls, not the complex, obsessive, materialistic things. 

Oh how we change ...

MY HIJAB STORY

Asalamualaykum Warahmatullah, 

For todays blog, I thought I would write about my story of how I began wearing the hijab and what I faced as a result of that. 

Hijab is a veil that is worn by muslim women to cover their head and their chest area. Hijab also represents modesty and is linked with loose clothing that does not show the figure of the body, and it also should not draw the attraction of others. 

One speaker mentioned, that some people are using the hijab as a tease, where the way the hijab is now worn in a way that contradicts the meaning of the hijab.

 Rather, we are supposed to aim in order to progress to better the way we wear the hijab - which is to ultimately protect our bodies by covering them, and not give anyone the right to wonder what our bodies would look like. 

One of the most common questions regarding hijab is who gets to see the hair of a hijabi?

The people who are allowed to see the hair of a woman who wears the hijab are those we call "mahram". 

They include: father, brother, uncle, grandfather, son, grandson, father-in-law...

Basically anyone who we cant marry. 

Growing up, I lived in a majority white area where there were no muslims to look up to and no hijab that you would see except my mother unless we were to go to a mosque or an auntys house. 

But for some reason, I always wanted to wear the hijab because my mum wore it. 

My mum used to let me wear it out here and there, before the age of 6. I remember the summer before year 3 my mum asking if I would like to wear it, and I said yes. So the beginning of year 3 I wore it to school. I vaguely remember crying so  much when I reached school, maybe I was developing cold feet. 

The thing is, it didn't make me take it off eventually I got used to it and carried on wearing it. 

I remember at first, there was a boy who asked me if I was bald and I became really upset because I thought that was an insult. Oh the innocence of childhood! 

I don't know if it was because of my hijab that some girls in the year weren't too keen to keep me in the friendship group or because of something else but there was trouble in the girl department of things. 

In year 7 when we had to change schools to go to a secondary school, it was okay initially. There used to be comments such as rag head and so on, but I used to shake those comments off. 

I remember one instance where I had to do a speech in assembly, and then afterwards everyone seemed nice about it, but then this boy in my year was going around with a jumper on his head saying that he was me lool which made me really angry. 

Anyways, as time went on, the beginning of GCSE really, hijab was no longer something that people saw me as. Rather, people just saw me as me and school was enjoyable. There was something satisfying about people literally liking you for you and not just seeing this strange thing on your head and focusing solely on that. 

Hijab became something that I was proud of. Not in a 'i'm cool because i'm wearing the hijab' kind of way, but a 'actually I am stronger than I think' and if I went through certain situations, I am now way past the idea of taking it off, so insha'Allah no-one can influence me to take it off. 

I do believe that wearing the hijab earlier has probably made my life easier, in that I cant remember what its like to leave without the hijab on. Its like a protection in a way that I wouldn't know what to do without. When you are older however, there are more things that come into play, such as wanting to be sure, wanting to be ready, wanting to make sure they are up to date with the latest trends. 

Hijab is something that we should prioritise before anything. If we want to know more about it then thats fine, but if we are avoiding it for the materialistic reasons, then what are we here for?

MY FAVOURITE BOOK SERIES TO DATE

Asalamualaykum Warahmatullah,

Today I thought I would write about something a little bit more light hearted, such as my favourite books! 

I like to think of myself as a bookworm and a passionate reader. 

I would like to, however, dedicate this blog post to the author of my favourite series: Robert Muchamore. 

(I used to love his last name so much I used to sing it). 

The series that I am talking about is CHERUB :D

My Old Collection

I loved the books so much that I still remember how I got into them. 

We were on holiday in Dubai, and my mum had bought the books for my brother - who by the way doesn't ever touch books let alone read them - and he had taken the book "divine madness" with him. 

I just remember being on the bunk bed that we had and seeing the book, and reading the blurb, then decided to start reading. 

I was so nervous that my brother would be annoyed at me that I was literally lying on my front hanging off the bed that if he were to walk into the room I could quickly throw it under the bed and he would have no idea. 

No joke, I was so involved in the book that I finished it that night. 

I casually asked my brother if that was the only book he had as it wasn't the first book, he was like no I have a set. I could not wait to go home! 

When we did I literally went to his room, removed all the books and sat and read them all. 

It was so good! 

The first two books made me literally want to be in the books (imagine this as a 12 year old girl) 

The poor books are so worn lool

The best thing about these books is they start from the very beginning, of the character James life - how he ended up joining cherub and the missions he went on. 

The reason I loved/ love these books is that they are soooo realistic. They are based in London, James is so normal, living in a normal neighbourhood/ council home, took part in rebellious activities, went to a normal school etc. 

This book changed the dynamic of everything

I remember sitting in english class when we got the opportunity to read and I was reading Cherub and the boy sitting next to me also had the same book and I was so happy that I had to start asking questions about how he felt about them and we had to discuss it! 

Its weird though, I read these books recently, and as I have passed the age that the characters are at, it felt weird reading it seeing it from another perspective! For example, when James was 12, I was 12, when he was 14 I was 14. But when the books stopped, the ages went by and now you are still looking at the 14 year old James when you are like 20. But nevertheless, I still adore them.

I feel like they will continue on to be the best books, so relatable, so engaging that I have yet to find a book that I cant put down. 

Ah the good old days.

Anyways, if you have any books that you would like to recommend me that would be awesome! I need some inspiration because I never really know what the best books are to read. 

Thank youu!