Worship

5

Familiar Strangers

Life’s circumstances can make you either bitter or better. Nineteen years into my life, I was finally blessed with the opportunity to meet my maternal grandmother for the first time. To say the least, the winds of life blow every individual in a different direction, each with different circumstances. The whole situation was rather bizarre, come to think of it. One phone call led to another, and suddenly, my grandmother was scheduled to arrive within the following week.  She later told me that I must have some magical way...

18 January 2013 | Dua, Worship | , , | 5 Comments
18

The Finish Line

Tasks and assignments piled high Due dates and deadlines on the rise Not a moment to stop, to think of life I race through my time: The days just pass me by, The weekends are a blur– Weekdays even more. I drown in my time: I am drifting far away. There is no time– I feel To make dua’a and pray. My prayers are like exercise– No longer do I value The meaning of sujood, The meaning of khushu’. I sink through my time: Reciting Quran mindlessly, Chanting istighfar...

25 December 2012 | Evaluation, Prayer, Time, Worship | , , , , , , , | 18 Comments
6

Shaytan’s White Flag

Imagine Shaytan’s campaign dancing across your television screen. “He’ll never give up on you. He’ll keep whispering until he’s sure that you won’t enter Paradise. Are you wavering over whether or not to fall into desire? He’ll be there!” Images of people being blissful in their ignorance fade on and off of the screen. The background music is deceivingly soothing, almost enticing. “I’m Iblis and I approve this message.” Every commercial break, the ad plays over again. Your eyes, ears, and heart begin to go numb to it. It...

11 November 2012 | Dua, Repentance, Worship | , , , , , | 6 Comments
10

At Your Door

As I gazed upon Your sacred House, I could not help it, I broke down. I felt Your presence so near to me, like I had never felt before. My eyes drank from a glass filled to the brim, From the spring of liquid clarity, pure and undefiled. I savored every last drop. I did not know what was happening to me. Suddenly it all made sense, the fragments converged. They formed one beautiful silhouette, but yet… The light was still obstructed by doubt. My surety was still like...

13 July 2012 | Dua, Featured, Travels, Umrah | , , , , , | 10 Comments
19

So You Think I’m Immodest?

The whole day had simply been concocting the ingredients for a famous dish, fiasco. I’d woken up for Fajr dreading getting dressed, because today’s dress code was to wear jeans and a t-shirt. How I could wear that modestly mystified me. I sighed and finally pulled on a long formal dress shirt that went just past my knees first, and then put the giant casual gray T-shirt on top. When they had asked me for a size, I’d gotten the biggest shirt they had. The other girls, debating whether...

28 December 2011 | Hijab, Modesty | , , , , , | 19 Comments
9

Tracing The Prophets’ Footsteps

As we leave the Arafat sunset, And ride to Muzdalifa. The whiteness of our ihrams Gleams in the darkness. “Hajj Mubarak,” a sister whispers, As she embraces me tightly. Her tear stained cheek touches mine, In silent salaam. “What are we doing here?” my ten year old sister asks, As we lie on the sandy stones, In the open of Muzdalifa. “We are tracing the footsteps of our prophets,” my father replies, As he raises his hands to the heavens. Muhammad’s blessed footsteps from Mina to Arafat to Muzdalifa....

15 December 2011 | Hajj | , , , , , | 9 Comments
12

Bee In My Hijab

It was that time of the year when the school decides to reward attendance with two weeks of exams. An optimist would say, “at least they gave us study leave” but not me, since any attempt at being positive typically gets squashed like a fruit fly. We line up outside the hall with our see-through pencil cases and our label-less water bottles. My classmates frantically try to recite equations and facts without their physics revision notes at hand. I gaze out of the window and begin daydreaming. I recall...

21 November 2011 | Hijab | , , , , , , , | 12 Comments
12

Up and Away

There are days when the sun is on a chariot, bursting through the clouds. And I am elevated enough to throw my head back and allow its rays to greet me. Those same days I sweep down from that altitude to give my salaams to the city of grass that chippers in excitement when it sees me. There are days when the clouds are too melancholy to part their wisps for the sun. And I am elevated enough to feel them weeping warm rain. Those same days I sweep...

02 October 2011 | Faith | , , , , , , , | 12 Comments
4

A Hijabi’s Unique Recession

Summer. It’s that time of year when teenagers clamber out of their homes and hunt for that perfect summer job. Especially with the recession taking its toll, many are left looking for work like never before. Interestingly, many teens cite that they work in this odd world of labor not only to have more money in their pockets, but also to instill early life lessons that can really add up to assist them in their later life. It was this that got me thinking: ‘Is it possible that other early life...

18 August 2011 | Hijab | , , , , | 4 Comments
6

Sweeter Than Sleep

She wakes to the galaxy of Styrofoam forming her popcorn-ceiling and wonders why she can discern the intricacies of it before dawn? Groaning, she covers her face in shame; the sun has risen, but He needs not light to see what she has failed to do. The makeshift shelter of her hands is dismantled and gropes for the blanket that once appeared a comfort, making sleep seem sweeter. But throughout the globe, wherever the submitters reside, men from among them called out before dawn, Salah is better than sleep....

05 May 2011 | Prayer | , , , , | 6 Comments
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