Tag: consciousness of God

Categories
New Muslims Society

What Does Hijab Mean to Yasmin Mogahed?

Yasmin Mogahed is an instructor for  AlMaghrib Institute, a writer for the Huffington Post, an international speaker, and author, where she focuses most of her work on spiritual and personal development.

Mogahed wore the hijab when she was between thirteen and fourteen years old.

What did motivate Mogahed to wear the hijab at that age? What change did hijab bring to her life? How did it impact her view of the world, her Islamic identity, and her identity as a Muslim “woman”? How did it impact other acts of worship?

What does hijab mean to her? How has the meaning of hijab evolved for her over time? How did she find her path to God through the hijab?

What challenges has she faced with hijab? What is her advice for women regarding the hijab?

Watch the interview her with Yasmin Mogahed by AlMaghrib Institute…

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Categories
New Muslims Society

On World Hijab Day: Stand for Her Right to Cover

World Hijab Day (WHD) is an annual event in its fifth year. On February 1st of every year, WHD asks global citizens of all faiths to observe Hijab (head-covering) for a day in solidarity with Muslim women worldwide.

Hijab Day

The overall mission of WHD is to create a more peaceful world where global citizens respect each other.

Hijab Day…the Mission

The overall mission of WHD is to create a more peaceful world where global citizens respect each other. Particularly, WHD focuses on fighting bigotry, discrimination, and prejudice against Muslim women. This is most crucial in these times where Hijab is being banned in some countries while in other countries, Muslim women are being targeted and harassed verbally and physically.

Below are some of the shocking but true headlines:

Muslim Women Have Been Attacked at Multiple Colleges Since Trump Won (Vice)
Queens Muslim Woman 19: Pair Yelled Remove Hijab (NY Daily News)
Muslim High School Teacher Told Hang Yourself With Hijab (NY Daily News)
Muslim Girl’s Hijab Ripped Off in Front of Students (Times of India)
UW Bothwell Investigating Possible Hate Crime Against Muslim Women (Seattle Times)
California Woman Robbed Called Hijab-Wearing B* (NY Daily News)

New York State assemblyman David Weprin issued an endorsement of World Hijab Day stating: “With hate crimes against Muslim-Americans tripling in 2016, it is important we take this moment to stand together with our fellow Americans on World Hijab Day. Rooted in the American principles of religious freedom and liberty, the World Hijab Day movement seeks to end the discrimination and judgment that comes with wearing a hijab.”

Nazma Khan

Nazma Khan, a New York native, initiated this global movement with the intent of bringing awareness on a subject that’s very dear to her and millions of Muslim women across the globe. While growing up in NYC, she was harassed both physically and emotionally on numerous occasions.

The presence of such discrimination heightened around 9/11 because of her human right to wear the hijab. Her purpose was to introduce her pain to others in hopes that no one will ever have to go through the emotional trauma simply because of the love they have for their faith. Consequently, on February 1st, 2013, she asked her fellow sisters of all faiths across the globe to don the hijab for one day.

Within eight days, she got responses from women residing in 67 different countries that represented a conglomerate of religious backgrounds, to include Christians, Jewish, Pagans, Wiccans, Rastafarians, Buddhists, Atheists etc. WHD gave an opportunity to citizens worldwide who were not familiar with the Islamic faith to open up dialogues with their Muslim neighbors, co-workers, and friends.

Additionally, WHD presented an opportunity for teachers to understand why their Muslim students wear the hijab. It also provided non-Muslim mothers a chance to better understand their daughter’s faith and the decision to wear hijab.

Conquer the Fear

The negative perception on hijab allowed people to act upon their fears and hurt innocent women without a real and existing threat. WHD simply presented an opportunity for everyone to learn about hijab and its importance in the Islamic faith without perpetuating the negative generalizations in today’s society.

WHD has thousands of volunteers worldwide and 70+ WHD Ambassadors from over 45 countries. WHD Ambassadors come from all walks of life from a high school student to a Congresswoman in the Philippines. Last year alone, 150 countries partook in WHD.

In addition to that, WHD has been endorsed by many world renowned individuals including scholars, politicians, and celebrities worldwide. WHD was covered in mainstream news media including New York Times, BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Huffington Post, etc to name a few. Recently, Time Magazine listed World Hijab Day in their world calendar, The Year Ahead 2017. It is estimated 190 countries will take part in WHD’17.

“I participated in World Hijab Day and it was a good experience that I will repeat. I live in a very small, very Christian town.  There were some strange looks and people were staring at me – and then looking away quickly when they realized I saw them looking. A few people seemed surprised that I spoke English. The fact that I was wearing hijab gave me the opportunity to talk to my step children about respect, difference, and peace.” (Talya Leodari -Jewish, USA)

Stand for Her…How?

We must STAND for Muslim women’s right to cover. There are many ways to show your solidarity.
*Attend the WHD event on Facebook and invite your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/357711751248489
*Observe Hijab on Feb. 1st, 2017
*Use the hashtags: #IStand4Hijab and #WorldHijabDay
*Organize a WHD event in your community.
*Send emails or letters to local Mosques/religious congregations showing your support.
*Write letters to local officials about protecting Muslim women’s right to cover.

For more information or to support our campaign, go to http://worldhijabday.com

In the following video Nazma Khan tells us about the persecution she faced due to her hijab and why she started World Hijab Day..

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Source: worldhijabday.com and Rad Talks youtube channel

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Categories
New Muslims Reflections

What Is Mysterious about the Hijab?

It’s like a golden garden; it’s like the way we like our houses to be.

It’s like a golden garden; it’s like the way we like our houses to be.

Have you ever thought of the Muslim woman’s hijab as just a religious traditional habit?

The words of a new American Muslim speaking about the hijab are a fascinating little exploration of the true meaning behind the Islamic dress code…

When I was a child growing into my teenage years, my mother always talked to me about being attractive. She was very careful about vests, appearance, hair, and etc.

And it was only much later when I came to understand that ‘being attractive’ means you attract like a magnet. And I accordingly began to observe what exactly you attract.

It was a certain key experience that I had that proved to me that wearing a scarf and loose clothing, which is what hijab is, was indeed protection, which is what hijab means.

When I was first coming into Islam I started playing around with the headscarf, because I knew that it was something that Muslim women do, but I didn’t know why or what for.

The only way I could find out was to experiment on myself. At first I didn’t figure out a way to tie it. So I tried different ways; sometimes behind my neck and other times under my chin.

But, finally what convinced me was a particular experience. I was working in publishing, and I had to visit a printer in a big printing house in Acapulco, Mexico. I was waiting for my appointment there while there was another lady sitting with him. I was watching idly when I realized how, to get whatever she wanted, she was thrilling with the guy with many improper movements. It was just much more than business.

Then I thought of myself very proudly: ‘I’m wearing scarf and I don’t have this problem, and of course I’m not going to do this’. Then she left and I went to see the man. I was in the middle of talking to him when I realized I could be going through all the emotions that I’d be going through if my hair had been long and down as it always had been. And thus my whole life had been an unconscious response to talking to a man.

God-Consciousness

At that point I realized that for a Muslim who is striving to be conscious of Allah, unconscious playacting has no place and is useless and irrelevant, and that there are other ways to get what you want other than that.

For a woman to work in that world alongside men and other women it’s much more convenient to work as a human being rather than a sexual object.

It was at that specific point that I started wearing a scarf, and I’ve never took it off since. I’ve found nothing but respect from wearing it. I’ve never had any problem at all, except for a few weird glances which, comparing to the sorts of glances I’d have gotten if weren’t wearing the scarf, it has been nothing.

The hijab has helped me contain myself inside myself, which one of the objects for both men and women in Islam; not to throw away their precious energies, sexual energies, the energies that goes through the eye, the sound, and even through the motion. But rather to conserve those to where they can do their best job which is at home.

And when you move in the world you move simply as a human being, not as a sexual object. I think that the way people dress now in most of the world, particularly in Western world, is really denying their souls, denying the qualities of love, tenderness, humanness, intelligence, and all the things we value.

It’s putting those values away aside and just emphasizing the physical. And if you happen to be having the perfect body, you may enjoy it, but only for a few years. But concentrating on the physical for the great majority of human beings is simply sitting them a goal that is unreachable, number one, and, number two, the goal itself is self-defeating. That’s because concentrating completely on the physical doesn’t allow the inner beauty to show through.

Enticing Hijab

There’s another thing about understanding hijab in Islamic culture in general. If you go to an old Muslim city and walk around, you’ll find for example that the roads are very narrow and the walls around yards are very high you cannot see over them, while the yards themselves may be very spacious. And all you get from walking through these narrow streets- while taking your time bending, turning and going around- you have a feeling that behind all these high walls there’re great industries taking place, great love and a whole great life taking place. But you don’t know what they are.

So there’s a mysterious and enticing quality about it; you may had a smell of jasmine or see some beautiful vine coming down the outside of the wall, or see some lattice windows with a face behind it. This is a stuff of dreams.

And this is the way a Muslim woman is when she is covered.

It’s like a golden garden. It’s like the way we like our houses to be. We don’t favor pictured windows and big front lowlands. Instead, we favor a wall and inside of it all kinds of private delights can take place of every kind of nature, and it is not for every one on the earth to see.

We just are not interested in showing off. We are interested in being praising Allah and loving one another and doing better business as human beings.

Watch the fellow Muslim sister describe her unique experience with the hijab…

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Categories
New Muslims Reflections

My Journey to Islam: A Worthy Struggle with the Hijab

New American Muslim sister, Lisa, shares her struggle with the hijab and how she converted to Islam.

struggle with the hijab

So, you feel like you’re in a battle; I’m trying to be Muslim, but I’m trying also to please my family.

I come from Michigan. I’m 31 years old, married. But I come from a Christian family, like most of us converts. My father’s side is Catholic, and my mother’s is very conservative Christian Baptist. So me converting was a very big deal for my entire family.

However my mother comes from a very large family as she was the one child out of six that may rebound and then she embraced Christianity. So she raised me quite differently. She raised me to be very open-minded, very liberal, politically and religiously. So, I embraced all her values and morals of thinking, but I never really embraced the way she thought about religion.

From a very young age I actually was very attached to Christianity, and on my own; nobody pushed me because my grandparents were already around pushing me into Christianity. But I just willingly entered into that religion. So I started going to young life and Christian camps; really trying to get involved in the religion as much as I could. I believe I was 15 years old when I went to Christian camps.

At Christian camps, you have amazing time but they have you staying up and have you claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and that exactly what I did. I did it but a kind of blindly as I was 15 years old. As such, you aren’t really researching as much as you should be, you are just following what people are telling you to believe. You don’t really question. I went ahead with that, but I had questions about my life.

I always had in my mind just what kind of what my mother would always be putting in my mind …for example, what about all the children who haven’t heard of the Gospel? Aren’t they going to Hell? Is that what they teach you? And so I’d be battling this; arguing within myself like… no I believe in Jesus, but my own mom is telling me something like how can anybody just tell you that a random person that they are going to Hell?!

And so I never really faced that question. Then after going to college and through Freshman year I met somebody who helped me exploring the world. I met some Muslim friends, some of them were from Morocco. A friend of mine was the grandson of the director of the American Language Center of Tangier, Morocco. And it seemed like there was an opportunity for teaching English there, he asked me “Do you want to go? And I said “yes, definitely.”

I went there, and, Alhamdulillah, I was able to live with that Moroccan family. So I did that and I was like, hey! I’d like to dress like you are dressing. Can I try that scarf! So, she gave me the scarf and I wore it. And I asked from where did you buy it? I want to buy one. So, for three months I’d wake up before Fajr. I had no idea what I was doing. I’d put my hijab and I didn’t know why, but I was just excited. It’s a new dress!

By time, I had found Morocco an awesome experience, but I never questioned anything I did. I spoke English, and they spoke Arabic. I started to learn a little Arabic, but we couldn’t communicate. So, it was just an awesome experience.

Back at Home

I came home. Back to my life, I graduated from college.  I worked at a bank. And here the irony comes in. Even though I lived in a Muslim country, I had no idea about Islam. And yes… I worked at a bank, and I was dealing with interest and basis, and something told me to quit.

Something within told me ‘this is not right”, and so I didn’t want to do it. Now I know what this thing was, but at the time I couldn’t explain it. I just knew I was not doing what I supposed to be doing. I was on the wrong path.

So, I’ve always wanted to be a photographer. I needed to be in a creative field. So, I quitted everything. I dropped everything. I moved to Florida. And I went to a photography school.

At the same time, I decided to join a project on town. So, I met tons of Muslim friends- one of them named Nadeen. She is an awesome friend. And at that time they asked me at photography school to do an assignment; a documentary on my choice.

So, I decided to do it on hijab. I lived in Morocco, and I had worn this for three months, and yet I still have no clue why they wear it. So I asked Nadden, “Can I please interview you?’ and she said “Absolutely.”

So we went ahead. I did an interview asking this question- just general questions I asked all the time: ‘why do you wear hijab?’ ‘Do people judge you? Is it hot?

These obviously were just ignorant questions because I had no idea what they were talking about. And so when she started speaking to me, she opened up my eye asking me: ‘you are a Christian, right? I said, ‘yes’.

She continued: ‘You know! It is in the Bible- specifically, in Corinthians chapter: 11, verse: 6, that a woman should wear a hijab. I said: ‘What? ‘Really?’

True Feminism

In that way she opened up my eyes, and it is one of the things I live about Islam; one of the beauties of Islam; such a feminist religion. And I grew up as the biggest feminist, fighting for women’s rights. And what of the things I learned is the rights Islam does give to women.  This is what I really loved about it

And so I started listening to her. Getting that other point of view  that you never thought of, you think that most of these women they don’t really have a career, they are just there for their husbands, and all the stereotypes that are always out there. They really are there. And she opened up my eyes as like: ‘Just look around! Look at the magazine aisles… nothing is sold without a  woman’s body being put next to it”. I remember her saying: “Can you even sell a pack of chips without having a naked woman next to it!” And I thought l “Oh My God! That is not feminism. That is oppression.”

I’ve been living in an oppressed society, and I without even knowing it. I asked myself: “why do we have to feel so self-conscious about our bodies all the time?

And so, I really started thinking about it. I went home. I looked for that verse of the Bible. And Wow! It was really there!

From there I got so interested, and I looked into the Qur’an and see what the Qur’an said about the hijab. And, surprisingly, when I read the Bible’s verse of the hijab it was actually very demeaning for women. I don’t know if many of you may read it. It says:

 “If it is a shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.” (Corinthians chapter 11:6)

That seemed to me very demeaning way. But, on the other hand, the Qur’an talks how beautiful the woman is that she should be covered. And that’s why I just started looking at things differently.

So then I just was so interested I couldn’t get my hands of converting to Islam. So then I read many books. I read the Qur’an. I watched YouTube videos. Yusuf Estes is one of my favorites. I watched all his YouTube videos.

I did this for about three months. And at that time I knew I was going to become Muslim. But I felt I was not ready to take the Shahadah, but ready to put my hijab on. So I actually put the hijab on before I took my Shahadah.  And I didn’t put it full time. I traveled to New York and decided to put it on just because I felt comfortable to do so. And remember flying back . I remember going to class and I remember just being so nervous (crying).

And Alhamdulillah, I cut through it. You have to answer everybody’s question: “why are you wearing that?” “You came in and you were not wearing it.”

I know it’s minuscule now, but at that time it was so hard; I had to explain it to everybody, it took so much strength. But Alhamdulillah I’m so proud to wear my hijab now.

And then three months later, I kept researching and researching. And I found “yes! This is the real religion for me. I’m ready to do this”.

And I remember being alone. It was July 29th, 2011. It was the Friday before Ramadan. And I used to go to the mosque for Jum`ah (Friday) Prayer, but I was not yet a Muslim. But I remember sitting this day next to a lady and she said “I think you should convert before Ramadan starts. There’d be  so many blessings. So I thought more about it. I got my car and thought “yes. I guess this is what I want to do. I’m ready”.

So I went to the first woman I could find, and told her “I want to take my Shahadah”. And it was such a sense of peace that came over me when I took my Shahadah.

Since then it has been a journey, definitely a journey. I believe I-before taking the Shahadah- really was on the wrong path.

I wasn’t really praying. No one is there to guide you. You are trying to do things on your own, i.e. you don’t know how to pray, so you watch YouTube a video and try. You just do the best you can.

I’m supporting myself, living in an apartment alone; I even thought the fast began at sunrise not Fajr. So, you do things wrong but you do the best you can.

Me & My Hijab

My family, and particularly my Mom, took it very hard. And there was a kind or irony about it; she’d told me my whole life to be open-minded and to accept everybody, though it was so hard for her to accept this.

But though I has a very easy convert, comparing to other converts. My mom after a while-Alhamdulillah, accepted it. But she’d always say “why do you have to wear the hijab? Can’t you just take it off?”

So, I went through this struggle. Even if this (hijab) what let me to Islam, I’d take it for my Mom. I went home to Michigan, and I took it off. So, you feel like you’re in a battle; I’m trying to be Muslim, but I’m trying also to please my family. It was truly a struggle.

Now I’m on the right path, praying five times a day- Alhamdulillah. And I’m still learning.

And this is my story.

Watch Sister Liza tells of her touching journey to Islam in this video…

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Categories
Articles of Faith New Muslims

At the Year-End, Review Your Business with God

The year-end marks a serious point for everyone. It is a time for review, self-accountability, identification of the shortcoming and hopes for the coming years. At the end of the year, a businessman recounts his work to make sure whether he wins or suffers a loss. Also, a scientist reviews his studies and research to understand if he is going on the right path or not.

new-beginning

It is a time for review, self-accountability, examination of the shortcoming and hopes for the coming years.

For a believer, the relationship with God is the most significant business. It is the business of life. The winner in this business will enjoy an eternal bliss in the heavens, and the loser is going to endure a distressful torment in the hellfire unless God forgives him. As the Hijri year is going to end, one should ask himself a question, “Do I have a profitable or forfeitable business with God?”

Before you answer  question, let’s pinpoint the components of the business with God as mentioned in noble verses of the Qur’an and the hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

The Belief in Allah and Jihad

In the quoted verse below, Allah inquires of a business that saves from the painful torment of Hell. Then, Allah answers that inquiry and tells that it is to believe in Allah and His Messenger, and undertake Jihad in the cause of Allah. The reward is plentiful and huge; the forgiveness of sins and eternal residence in a lofty place in Paradise. Not only this but also the support of Allah and nearby victory are present. Almighty Allah says:

O You who believe! Shall I guide you to a commerce that will save you from a painful torment. That you believe in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and that you strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, that will be better for you, if you but know! (If you do so) He will forgive you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow, and pleasant dwelling in Gardens of `Adn (Eden Paradise), that is indeed the great success. * And also (He will give you) another (blessing) which you love, help from Allah (against your enemies) and a near victory. And give glad tidings (O Muhammad ) to the believers. (As-Saff 61:10-13)

Qur’an, Prayer and Charity

In Surat Fatir, God, the Almighty, talks about a group of people who opt to turn to a business that never undergo forfeit. It is the business with Allah. The commodities of this trade are obtainable by everyone who seeks the pleasure of His Lord.

The merchandises are three significant deeds, namely reciting the Qur’an, observing the obligatory and optional prayer and giving in charity for the sake of Allah. If a person presents these things, he will receive plentiful reward and extra bounty from Allah the Almighty. Allah (Exalted be He) says:

Verily, those who recite the Book of Allah (this Qur’an), and perform Prayer, and spend (in charity) out of what We have provided for them, secretly and openly, hope for a (sure) trade-gain that will never perish. That He may pay them their rewards in full, and give them (even) more, out of His Grace. Verily! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Ready to appreciate (good deeds and to recompense). (Fatir 35:29-30)

Fighting in the Cause of Allah

At this time, Allah, the Almighty, makes a promise that He will give Paradise to those who fight for His sake. He states that this promise is found in the Torah, the Injeel (Gospel) and the Qur’an. How blessed are the fighters in the cause of Allah!!

The verse also brings good new to those who partake in that kind of business by telling them that it is the great success. Allah (Glory be to Him) says:

Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties; for the price that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah’s Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Taurat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel) and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success. (At-Tawbah 9:111)

Gaining the True Benefit

The question is: What is about our business with God? Do we have one? Is it fruitful or fruitless? Did we win in this passing year? What is about our good deeds; prayer, charity, recitation of the Qur’an, and striving in the cause of Allah? Were our deeds accepted or rejected? What is about the coming year? Do we have plans to increase the good deeds, avoid misdeeds and remedy my shortcomings?

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Categories
FEATURED New Muslims

That’s Why I Wear the Hijab

nature-spirituality

There is no one answer why a woman will choose to wear a hijab, but her reasons are based on spirituality, a sense of control over her philosophical and ideological beliefs.

Montreal- As a young Muslim woman, Nadia Naqvi wears a traditional head scarf every day.

“I made the decision to put this on after the Christmas break when I turned 15,” Naqvi said.

“I’m 32 now and I have been wearing a hijab more than half of my life.”

Despite what politicians and others promoting the proposed charter of secularism, Bill 60, claim, Naqvi said she is not the product of a society that makes women second-class citizens and dictates that they must cover their hair.

“If you get to know me you will see that I am not oppressed and I am not stupid,” said Naqvi, currently on maternity leave from her teaching job at Beaconsfield High School.

World Hijab Day was marked Saturday afternoon in a Concordia building with a seminar, panel discussions and presentations by highly articulate women as a way to spread awareness about religious head covering.

This event was started in New York last year and has spread to more than 50 countries. This marked Montreal’s first participation.

The issue is timely with all the negativity and furor surrounding Bill 60.

Gwenda Wells, an Anglican minister, came to the meeting as an act of solidarity with the Muslim women.

“If Bill 60 — banning allegedly ostentatious religious symbols and clothing for those in the public sector — is passed, jobs in education, health and childcare will be lost to women, and all of these are valuable and life-affirming jobs,” Wells said.

A Choice of Her Own

Farida Mohamed, gave a lively history of the hijab and pointed out that the role of the head scarf is constantly changing.

“There are young Muslim women out there who want to wear tight clothes and yet cover their hair so the hijab is evolving,” Mohamed said.

Naqvi said there is no one answer why a woman will chose to wear a hijab, but her reasons are based on spirituality, a sense of control over her philosophical and ideological beliefs and the role models her parents set.

“I have seen the discrimination that this brings, particularly after Sept. 11,” she said of the rough ride given to Muslims after Islamic terrorists brought down the Twin Towers.

“I was looking for a part-time job then and I did well in a phone interview for a department store but when the manager saw me I was told the job was filled. I was once called ‘les sauvages’ when I was with my family in Walmart.

“I wear my hijab for the strength to rise above racism and misogyny,” Naqvi said.

“When I walk into my classroom my kids see me and not the hijab.”

The mother of three, whose family emigrated to Canada in the 1970s, added her thoughts to a presentation made by the Lester B. Pearson School Board against the adoption of the contentious bill.

“I wrote that children see people and adults see religion.”

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Source: montrealgazette.com

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