Why wear hijab? Why not go hijabless and wear clothes that are not THAT fitting? What is the reason that we can not do this? Don’t say that it is empowering because I feel lots of power without hijab. Power didn’t come to me when I put on hijab. Muslim sisters who may have been born Muslim are not going to fall for the ‘ hijab gives me strength speech. or the ‘ hijab is empowering speech I don’t even buy into it. Though it may be a source of power for one sister, it isn’t for the majority of women struggling with it. Besides, what kind of power can a rag on your head, no matter how beautiful it may look, give to a girl who just reached puberty and all of a sudden her teacher says… put this on your head… it is a hijab, and it will give you power. Power… am I now a super hero? Will I save lives and have super powers? Is the ‘Hijab’ my cape? What power does the 25 year old woman who has been Muslim in her world since she was born bring to her/? Well, she prays, she goes to jummah with hijab, she loves Allah more than any other person… what more can you ask of her? What kind of empowerment does this bring for her?

Kids and adults who are Muslim from birth may have a different perspective of what hijab means. A woman who is lost and knows she is lost and finds Islam and finds the truth and finds the beauty and understands what the hijab is from the inside of her soul has more of an understanding of hijab. But a teen or woman who has been practicing what they are doing for years…. they need more than just power. They need what is beauty from the eyes of Allah. The one who created them, the One who breathed life into them. Oh my dear sister, they need the TRUTH… ‘power’ is a washed up version of the truth. One that has been inside of you and others who found the TRUTH, has went through them, inspired them and captivated them to become Muslim to pick up the Qur’an… and then regurgitated back to those who ask them “why do you wear that thing on you head?” for lack of time and ability to explain to them that whole that lingered there inside you before you knew ALLAH. Oh my sister, they need that LOVE they need that SOUL that was placed into you. They need that INSPIRATION that caught you,,,, oh some woman did not come up to you before you were Muslim and say.. ‘become muslim, you will be liberated. you will have power and be free.’ what would that have done to your soul? bounced off walked away it would have not touched your core… Touch them,,, in the way Islam has touched you.. they NEED Allah.. Not a rag.. Not a pair of clothes a Jilbab that hangs in the closet. They need ALLAH and how do they find Him? How can they find HIM? Oh my dear sister, teach them THIS and by this….. they will find Hijab… Insha’Allah

(Written by me, topic can be found on Muslim Message )

Bismillah

Subhanna’Allah what a day. Today was my short day at school. Just got home not too long ago. I get out of school on Tues, and Thursdays at 12:15PM and no school on Friday’s or the weekend. On Monday and Wensday I get out at 2:15 PM because of my 3 hour Arabic class. Both set of days I go in at 9:30Am. So it’s all really cool.

Anyway, today was my short day like I said, and I was supposed to give a speech in speech class today. My very first speech. We all have speech numbers all 25 of us, well my number is number 3. So of course I’ve been thinking and attempting to memorize my speech since… well… this morning ( Call me a procrastinator lol) and I thought it was pretty good. I drive from my moms house where I dropped my daughter Zahra off this morning and from there to school, IUPUI, and was giving my speech the entire way. I get to school, and couldn’t get a parking spot how funny. Today is the only day since the first day of school on the 24 of August that I couldn’t find a spot at all… Needless to say I got to school today later than usual. 8:30, and for a long while I was driving trying to find an “E” parking spot. Finally I get into the parking garage for students with permits only, thinking that it wont be as crowded as the outside “E” parking lots… Yes it was… Driving all around in there, and finally Alhamdulillah I found a spot on the 3rd floor. I rush out of the garage and walk all the way from Braham street…( I never park there, it’s too far from Cavanough hall) to Vermont st. to University blvd. I finally get to Cavanough at like 9:00AM. That means I only have 30 mints to go and print my speech outline and print out 6 copies of my poem for creative writing class for workshop today and then walk all the way down to the IT building… far from where I need to print out my pages… well of course I get there to the English department to print out the pages and all the computers are used up…. Ever one has someone using it… So I stand there looking a little dumb and lost at the same time… But Alhamdulillah someone got up from a computer just then and I was able to use it. Allah is most Merciful.

I print out all my papers, log out of the computer and hurry down and out the building. My back is aching now of course cause today is Tuesday and that means I have my heavy Speech books in my bag… So I can only go so fast. I get to speech class and sit down…. The entire way I am becoming more and more nervous of my speech and the fact that I might be late. I keep stumbling over words and forgetting parts of it as I’m walking down the busy street. Well finally I get in class and have everything ready and feeling good about my speech. The teacher Mrs. Craig stands up and asks the number one speech giver to come forward. I thought it was to give her speech well…. No this was to work the stop watch and signal the speakers of how much of their three mint. speech is left. Then she asks for the number 2 speech giving to come forward. Not to give her speech though, but to work the video camera… Then she looks around at all the nervous faces and says… “We’re going to start with number 25 today…” “What!” shout people who thought they weren’t going to go today because they were in the 20s and teens… So needless to say.. I didn’t give my speech today. lol

In my next class English Creative Writing, we got our papers back… I was so nervous I thought that I was to get a bad grade, thought I did it wrong or that she didn’t like it. You know the descriptive blurb I was telling you about and have written below. Well yes I got it back at the end of the class…. Like the last person mind you… And look at it, apparently she loved it. Alhamdulillah, I was so relieved. I guess I can calm down and relax a little in class. Maybe even participate. This class is the only one I haven’t really been speaking much in and not really volunteering my work to read to the class. Anyway Alhamdulillah.

We actually didn’t do workshop today, we just got in our groups for workshop and past around our papers to the group. Six copies five for each member of the group including yourself and one for the instructor. Professor Hanna. That was cool I guess but the whole critique another persons creative writing, is strange to me. I mean, not really fiction though, correcting a persons story isn’t weird to me but I mean correcting a persons poetry. Their style and their voice. Seems to me like correcting Pacoso’s paintings. Just cause it is strange to me, doesn’t mean it isn’t good, or that he should change it. Doesn’t mean that it is supposed to mean the same thing to everyone.

I mean I understand when you correct spelling, grammar or even when something simply doesn’t make since. But when you go into the depth of what the person is trying to say, the meaning of their words and feelings, I don’t really think that it’s right to ‘correct’ them. Or say ‘That doesn’t make much since, these don’t go, I can’t feel what she is trying to say’ that isn’t really…. I don’t know. Well we didn’t do it yet, we are to actually read over all the groups writing tonight and answer guideline questions about it and come up with questions to ask the author. Then Thursday we get back in our groups and discuss what we liked and disliked…. Masha’Allah.

Well after class I walk back to my car, or rather the garage my car is in, and guess what I can’t find my car…. Looked every where I thought. I knew that it was on the third floor in the purple section but I couldn’t find the purple section. I couldn’t find the rest of section 3. I kept seeing 2 and 3 then 4. I was like noooo I can’t find my car. So I had to call my mom, her husband answered the phone, and tell them that I am going to be late picking Zahra up because I can’t find my car. See, on these days I take Zahra to my moms, I gotta get back right after I get out of class cause my mom has to be at work. So, I kept pressing the car finder button trying to follow the three hunks of the horn searching for the car and finally I go around the third floor to the other color sections of it, instead of going up or down to the other floors and I find my car… Masha’Allah

Like I said… what a day lol

Bismillah

I know, it’s been awhile. Sorry about that, I have been very busy with school. Yes school, I said it Alhamdulillah. I started August 24 and I’ve been on a roll. The writing intittled ‘In the morning’ was written by me as my first ‘blurb’ assignment in my creative writing class. It’s a descriptive paper, she said it’s not a story or poem, so I call it a blurb just a little diddy to show your ability to discrib I guess. Well I liked what I wrote and decided to publish it here. What do you think? I thought it was cute.

I was sitting there at the counter in my stool under my blanket at 12:07am infront of a blank computer screen wondering what to write for this blurb. It was freezing but I was stuck in my spot. Well, I started writing about what was going on and came up with something nice I thought. I, of course, added some things that I didn’t actually do. But I was doing them in my mind, lol…