A note on Women’s Day

Yesterday I received from different people greetings of congratulation because of the international women’s day – I have to confess that I didn’t even know that this day is now.

And our neighbour’s son just came to tell me, that they don’t have school today, because of “women’s day” – it brought a silent smile to my lips. Alhamdulillah.

You know, I am not a feminist at all and I do not see myself as a “fighter for women’s rights”. These things just do not appeal to my point of view and I really see no need to call out a single day per year “women’s day”.

It rather makes me sad to realize that still the world sees the need to do so.

I chose to become a Muslimah, alhamdulillah, because in Islam every day should be a women’s day.
In Islam women are considered as gifts from Allah and are always cherished.
If Islam would be properly lived by a society, all women would get the rights and status they deserve.
The pure teachings of Islam and the example of prophet Mohammed (sas) call to treat women with dignity, honour and fairness, yes even with equality in all spheres of life: in basic humanity; concerning religious obligations, rewards and punishments, ownership and financial transactions, regarding honour and nobility, education and social responsibilities.
And in Islam women are especially given high ranks and the best rights in terms of being a mother.

But unfortunately these aims are rarely reached and in most societies (Muslim and non-Muslim societies as well) the man-made culture, old traditions, also modern permissiveness and personal interests refuse women their natural and God given honour and rights, mashallah.

Instead of party a single day per year I would love to call out to all of us to strive together for a more friendly and respectful world towards everybody.
Not by organising sex-strikes, violent revolutions and the call of hate against men, but by living every day at our best, both sexes following God’s orders, being the most caring and loving towards each other and ourselves.

Hugs and peace and bless you, inchallah!

on Love and Hate

Salam aleikoum world,
may peace be with you!

Islam is peace

- that’s how I understand my religion despite what’s going on in the world these days.

Our dear prophet Mohammed (sas), who came as the last messenger in a long chain of truthful rightly guided men (such as Adam, Moses, Noah, Abraham, Jesus, etc.), who were all sent by God the Almighty, was an honourable man full of mercy, love and respect for all mankind.

Yes, it deeply hurts to hear about the insulting and slandering on his person, peace be on him. Yes, I hate blasphemous acts such as the new American film everybody is talking about now and which obviously seems to show a very bad and false picture of our religion.

But I cannot accept the counter-reactions of hate and violence in retaliation that are now done by some Muslims all over the world – because this is not Islam!

Do you remember the beautiful story about slandering I once quoted here?

I am sure that’s how the prophet (sas) would have reacted today – quiet, wise, with peacefulness and patience.

I am sure he (sas) would have shown as much love and mercy as possible; he (sas) would have maybe even invite his enemies to talk to them in the most beautiful manner.

That’s how we should react now: strong and wise and patient – to show Islam in the most beautiful light, to make dawah in the most beautiful ways, to trust in God’s destiny and to rely on His justice.

Who else would be able to better this world and to spread the Islamic message of love and peace if not we as Muslims, each one of us, by following our dear prophet’s (sas) example by showing how generous and tolerant he (sas) truly was?

I do not want to give in. I do not want to let the devil take on the power now, audhu billahi. I believe in the good. I believe in the power we all have by making dua’ and acting in kindness.

I pray for this.

Bless you! Incha’allah.

The blessed Nights

We’ve just entered the last ten days of Ramadan – those days which are known to be the most blessed days of the entire year.

It’s the time when the night gets more important than the day, and when worship, prayer and repentance become more intense then ever.

It is the time when most Muslims feel a bit dizzy, tired and fuzzy during day but much more energized and motivated by night. It is now that we feel the deepest need and wish to observe voluntary night-prayers, to do extra-worship, to recite and read the Qur’an, to humiliate ourselves, to ask for forgiveness, guidance and His mercy.
These nights are the time when the gates of the heavens are opened, when the angels come down, and when Allah is more willing than ever to listen and to respond to His servant’s invocations, inchaallah.

In these ten days there is one night, the night of decree and power, Al-Qadr’, the most blessed night, which is better than a thousand months, the night when archangel Gabriel came to prophet Mohammed (sas) with God’s first revelation of the Qur’an, the night when God, Allah, decrees every matter of ordainments for the coming year and wherein is peace and blessing until dawn.

Many Muslims now take vacation and spend the whole ten days in the mosque, in submission, remembrance and prayer. It is comparable to the kind of retreat some Christians take when they go visiting a monastery to gain personal insight, to take time for meditation, to experience silence and a deep connection to their creator.
Those who are not able to spend the whole time in mosque (like me), we spend our nights at home in devotion and prayer, reading Qur’an, pondering and reflecting upon its meanings and trying to put worship over everything else.

I ask Allah to give us sincerity, strength and energy to make the most out of these coming nights. I ask Allah to accept all our worship, to accept all our good intentions, all our repentance and to forgive us all our sins. I ask Him for guidance, for His mercy, for protection from our own ego, from shaytan (Satan) and every evil, and I ask Him for rescue from the torment of hellfire.

I pray that we Muslims might be able to carry the piety, the peace and beauty of these precious nights into our everyday-life long after Ramadan is gone. I hope that we might be able to live and to spread around us the message of love and peace that Islam is. And I hope that the entire humanity will be able to experience the beauty and blessing of the glorious night of Al-Qadr, inchallah.

Allahumma taqqabbil minni oua minkoum. Ameen. Salamou aleikoum and may peace be with the worlds!

Xxx

By the way: Nora wrote about some great advice for Non-Muslims visiting or dealing with Muslims during Ramadan-time.  

Ramadan – some fundamentals of faith

 
 

“Why do Muslims fast?” – you might ask.

“Why do Muslims restrain the whole day from food and drink?”

“Why do Muslims do this for one whole month?”

“And why do they seem to even like this torture??” 

 

Well, you know, we do this because we are Muslims.
And being a Muslim means to submit oneself totally under the will of God, Allah, the Almighty, who says in the noble Qur’an:
“Oh you who belief, observing the fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become pious” (2:183)
So before explaining some things about Ramadan I should maybe explain some essentials of our faith that build the basis of all our actions:

We as Muslims believe in only one God, Allah, the One Who created us, the One Who causes everything and to Who’s will we totally submit.

We absolutely believe in His wisdom, in His preordainment and we want to obey only Him to gain His pleasure.
This submission gives us the maximum of freedom possible, because we are only responsible to Him and nobody else.
We blindly trust in Him, and we also belief in all of His prophets and messengers (beginning with Adam, Abraham, Moses, Noah, Joseph, David, etc…, to Jesus and Mohammed, peace be upon them) who all brought the eternal message of monotheistic faith.
We belief in the day of resurrection and in God’s final judgment.
We belief in the reality of a hereafter with either the beautiful gardens of paradise or the horrible fires of hell, not only as parables but as a fact.
We belief in God’s angels and in His books (the torah, the psalms, the gospel, and the Qur’an).
We belief that the Holy Qur’an was the last book sent by God to humanity as a mercy, as a reminder and for guidance, because all the other scriptures were changed and falsified over time.
We belief that the Qur’an was revealed to prophet Mohammed (sas) by archangel Gabriel, and that everything written in the Qur’an is the true word of God, valid for all human beings at any time.
So, we accept everything in the Qur’an as a fact and we try to follow all the given orders, which are always based on mercy, justice, peace and the universal good for humanity.
We are absolutely sure that God’s commands lead to the best for everybody.

We belief that this present life is only a quick passage full of tests and mere play and that the only way to succeed in this reality here is by following God’s guidance.
We belief that we are only here to be tested and to worship Him.
We know that life after death will be the real and eternal life, so we strive to gain His pleasure now to deserve a place in paradise then, inchaallah.

So, this absolute and total belief makes us fear only God and it leads us to the wish to respond to all of his commands.
In fact, the wish to please only Him becomes so essential and serious to Muslims, that we put worship over everything else – so, everything worldly and even our own desires become negligible.

This total obedience makes us become aware of our collective responsibility and it gives us the strength to discipline and to sometimes even deny our own ego – because we absolutely trust that all sacrifice and abstain for God’s sake leads us to something better in the end.

So this is why we are able to restrain from food and drink even in the heat of summer (by nearly 50°C in Marrakech), alhamdulillah.
This is why we feel light and pure, refreshed and blessed even after 16 hours of fasting:
Because He makes things easy for us, if we really trust in Him, alhamdulillah.
Because there are many worldly benefits in fasting for the human being, even though God tells us that fasting is the only thing we really do just to please Him.

We can feel the benefits of Ramadan and we understand that there is always something good in His commands, even if we are not able to explain it with our limited human nature, subhanallah. And that’s why we love this Holy month of fasting!

“Verily my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the worlds” (6:162) – So please, oh Allah, accept my worship and lead me on Your path.

Allahumma taqqabbil minni oua minkoum. Ameen.

03.48 a.m., right before sunrise; the last meal before 16 hours of fasting.

Approaching Ramadan 1433

 

Today is the longest day of the year, summer solstice, but also the beginning of a precious time for Muslims: the first of the Islamic month of Sha’baan, which comes right before Ramadan (the most blessed months of the year, the month of fasting).

Subhanallah, there it is again, the beginning of this precious time of devotion and extended worship, full of virtues, blessings and benefits, inchaallah.

It is Sunnah (recommended) to fast in the first half of this month, just as the Prophet (sws) did, and it is the perfect time to prepare oneself, the house and the environment for the upcoming Ramadan.

Aisha (raa) said: “I never saw the Messenger of Allah (sws) fast for a complete month except for Ramadan, and I never saw him do more fasting in any month than he did in Sha’baan” Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim
The Prophet (sws) said: “That is a month that people neglect. It comes between Rajab and Ramadan. It is a month in which the deeds are raised to the Lord of the Worlds. I love my deeds to be raised while I am fasting.” Reported by An-Nasaa’i and Abu Daoud

Wishing you a month full of blessings and personal growth! Salam aleikoum.

Thoughts on Music and Dialogue

 

Salam aleikoum, greetings of peace to you all!

Bismillah arhmaan ya raheem, audhu billahi min a shaytaan ir-rajeem,

Thank you so much for all the different reactions and comments to my last post on the topic of music. It is interesting how my very personal description and point of view caused such an emotional debate and provoked some of the readers even to feel attacked and to offer so defensive reactions. Mashallah.

“If Allah had willed, He would have made you one nation, but that He may test you in what He has given you; so compete in good deeds.
The return of you all is to Allah; then He will inform you about that in which you used to differ.” (Qur’an, 5:48) 

Just as God has created all mankind differently, there are also very different opinions on the topic of music, there is no black and white, even amongst Muslims: many who follow the four rightly guided caliphs, like I do inchaallah, and who make it very clear that most kind of music is forbidden; there are others who listen to all kinds of music, others who make music with less or more instruments, others who make a lot of spiritual music, and so on;
even in my Moroccan family and neighbourhood there are very different approaches to the theme – but still we are all Muslims and everyone climbs the ladder of knowledge and faith in different ways.
In the end it is up to God to judge about all mankind and our personal intentions.

Muslims are not against music and melody in general and maybe I should have stated the teachings I follow more eloquently and with the words of Shaykh Yusuf Estes who says: “Music is permissible in Islam – with a lot of limitations.”

In short: music making and listening is limited to the modest playing of a simple hand drum during weddings, new born feasts and other exceptional happenings, it is limited to suitable Islamic lyrics and never exceeding the amount of our reciting of the qur’an.
(More detailed information for example here)

The oldest Islamic folk song and a very beautiful one as well is maybe the one which the people of medina sang when Prophet Mohammed (sas) moved from Mecca to Medina: “Tala al badru alayna” – A song that is a true sign and a meaning of peace and freedom between nations and religions.

—

This is my personal blog about my very personal journey towards Islam.
I write here mostly for the purpose of sharing parts of this journey with family, friends and people interested in it.
Not to do missionary work, but to stay in contact, to inform and to allow them to have a look into my new life, into another world (über den Tellerrand schauen gilt ja für beide Seiten).

Because yes, my very own point of view, my values and my whole life changed so much over the last years, subhanallah, that I often feel a gap, incomprehension and also ignorance between me and people of my past life, between me and family or old friends. I think that’s quiet a normal thing if one changes her life and religion and lives in another culture.

But I believe that we can minimize that gap by staying interested one in the other, by explaining, sharing and informing. And this hasn’t anything to do with rating or assessing, nor with decreasing the other way of life.
(Although faith in general and in its very nature is always something that the believer sees as the ultimate and only truth).

Real respect and a peaceful dialogue do not show themselves in levelling down or trying to make others equal, they show themselves in the acceptance of the differences between us, and in learning one from the other, to widen our horizons – both sides.

True education and a fruitful interreligious dialogue show themselves in such interest, respect and politeness.
And that’s what I stand up for. Inchaallah. Salaam aleikoum.

“O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another.” (49:13) 

“Allah is our Lord and your Lord. For us our deeds and for you your deeds. There is no dispute between us and you.” (42:15) 

“Invite mankind, O Muhammad, to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching and argue with them in the most kindly manner.” (16:125) 

 

I love you…

… for the sake of Allah.
This might be the most noble expression and feeling of love towards another person and can be as such an act of worship itself.

To love someone, not out of worldly or personal interest, not out of hormonal influence or temporary attraction, but simply for the sake of Allah, might be the most respectful kind of love in general.
Love for the sake of Allah can manifest itself in lots of different ways and many scholars have already written about it: such as the believer who loves prophet Mohammed (sas) and all the other prophets before him, or as the mother who loves her child, or as a child who loves her parents, or as a neighbour who loves his neighbours – because it is granted or ordered by Allah to show mercy and respect towards all of them.

There is a lot to say about it but what I want to point out today is the love towards someone we are not familiarly related to, for example a sister or a brother in faith – a kind of love which I didn’t knew until I came to Islam, alhamdulillah.

To love another person because we love her for Allah’s will and because the person shows devoted religious commitment is a love that comes deep from the heart and it is a love that witnesses a persons longings to gain only Allah’s pleasure. This love excuses faults and shortcomings; it neglects worldly differences and focuses only on the essence of our being: on our pure soul and the good intentions behind what we do.

It is a pure, sincere and innocent kind of love. It is a love that makes us wishing the best for the other person, a love that makes us pray for that person and makes us in the same time wanting to better ourselves.

Often this kind of love reaches people we are not close to or do not even know:

How often have I been walking on the street, glancing at a woman who is properly dressed, wearing modest clothing and hijab or acting in a lovely way through which she reminded me of Allah and of Islam, subhanallah, so she attracted my attention and made me send a silent dua’ of love and protection (a little prayer) towards her.

How often do I feel this kind of love for someone, I do not even see, but who recites the qur’an in such a beautiful way that it makes me crying.
How often do I feel this love for someone who makes me strive to better myself in the deen (faith), simply by passing that person, by recognizing a modest gesture, by hearing the saying of a noble word or by other acts that show sincere piety and the obvious striving to follow Allah’s commands and the sunnah of our beloved prophet (peace be upon him).

And how often do I feel this deep and strong kind of love when I meet a dear friend and sister in Islam who shares some knowledge or reminds me of Allah, of our dear prophet (sas) and about sincerity in faith.
How deep is this love when felt towards someone with whom I was lucky to spend meaningful hours in serious conversation, feeling refreshed and religiously motivated afterwards, knowing that Allah was with us, subhanallah.
Then this person is in my heart for a long time, constantly named in my prayers, when I supplicate to Allah that He may be merciful towards her, grant her His pleasure and accept her and my good intentions.

Sometimes I feel this love also for people who are not Muslims themselves, people I know very well, like friends or family.
Then I feel a deep human love and a sincere wish that that person would become a sister or brother in faith, to deepen our relation and to put it onto higher levels, to share the same values also in faith and in this most important aspect of life.

Then I pray and wish that that person would eventually taste the sweetness of real sisterhood, that she would be able to feel the deep confidence and sincerity between friends who are also sisters in faith, and see the beauty of Islam and all the blessings within it…

Ya rabbi, I pray that the Muslim ummah may be united in peace and always taste that sweetness and the blessings of real brotherhood and sincere love for His sake. And I pray that all the people we love and respect would share the same beliefs and the same intentions for His will, so that we all could be united in His name and with the aim to gain only His pleasure.

“If any of you loves his bother then he should inform him” (Tirmidhi)

Ana uhebbuki fi Allah – I love you for the sake of Allah! May He guide us all, accept our good deeds and shower us with His mercy here and in the hereafter. Ameen.

Intentions

stop-sign in Fès-city 

It sometimes is through tests that Allah teaches us lessons.
It sometimes is through uncomfortable incidences that He wants to STOP us.
To hold on.

To correct us, to perfect us, to protect or direct us.

It was an uncomfortable conversation that recently reminded me to correct my own intentions. I shamefully had to realize my own shortcomings and faults.
It was like a waking up call that forced me to think about my sincerity, about my tauba’ (repentance), about my ni’a (intentions), about the weakness of my iman (faith), about the power of my poor ego (nafs), about why I acted as I acted, astaghfirullah,
and it finally forced me to think about our purpose on earth and on how dependent we are from our Creator. Mashaallah.
It was like a call that told me that everything worldly is nothing more than a mere passing, and that nothing here will help or serve me in the hereafter, except Allah’s mercy.

It showed me that I should be more humble, that I should take another direction on how I approach things in this life, that I should purify my own self.
It clearly showed me that I have to strive for more sincerity in all that I do.
It reminded me to focus more on devotion and worship towards Him.
It warned me once again not to worship my own ego, my own needs, nor others or the mainstream. Astaghfirullah (God pardon me!).

It showed me once again that all we do here in this world (dunya) is only worth it, if we do it sincerely for the sake of Allah.
All our efforts should only be made to gain His pleasure and to get His reward on the day of judgement. Ya Rabb!
Those tests hurt.
It hurts to realize that we often are weak, failing and far from perfection.
I then feel humbled and shameful, little and weak.
I see that I have to strive for so many things I sometimes neglect or forget in the hustle and bustle of the everyday life: more concentration in prayer, more sincerity in my work, less interest in human praise, in material wealth and worldy things …
But in the same time, I feel that those tests are a blessed sign from Allah, a sign that He loves us and that He cares for us. Alhamdulillah.
I feel encouraged and hopeful and full of gratitude that He is it who gives us guidance through what He decided is best for us, even if it hurts sometimes. Subhanallah.

Oh Lord, Allah, may YOU guide us all towards what is good,
may YOU give us the wisdom to act in the best manner,
may YOU make us steadfast in the deen (Your religion),
may YOU purify us and make us sincere and honourable human beings, following Your beloved prophet (sas), with the best intentions to gain only Your pleasure in this world and in the hereafter.
Ameen.

“Himmelstreppe” (steps towards the sky) by Hansjörg Voth, Moroccan desert  

Remembering ‘Id el Adha 2011

 
 

It was nine years ago when I spent my first ‘Id in that valley here, the first ‘Id of my life. Subhanallah.
At that time I was Christian, I was a architecture student on professional formation. I was discovering Moroccan life and culture. I was a common western girl, open to everything new, with the ambitions of a seeker. And I was a vegetarian.

And you know, ‘Id el Adha is the feast of the sheep.
It is a celebration of God’s mercy upon mankind. It happens in memory of Prophet Abraham (as), who was called by Allah to sacrifice his dear son Ismail to prove his faith. And because of Allah’s mercy, Who then offered Abraham a sheep to kill instead, Muslims remember this day every year by praying, obeying to God and by slaughtering a sheep as well.
So it is one of the most important feast days for Muslims, it is a day of gathering together in worship and peace, it is celebrated with the slaughter of a sheep and by sharing and eating a lot of its meat – I mean really a LOT.

So in 2002, when I still was a Christian vegetarian with no idea about ‘Id, about peaceful animal killing and no interest in meat eating, all of this was very new and very uncommon to me.
But I was eager to learn. And this day should become a lesson of my life:
The obedience and deep faith of the Muslims who joined together in the early morning sunshine on the top of a hill, to pray and to serve God.
The brotherhood of the village’s men who met in front of the mosque to peacefully deal with problems and to organize the village’s year to come.
And especially the slaughtering of the sheep in the courtyard of the family’s farm was a lesson greater than everything else.
I’ve never thought that killing an animal could become a beautiful, silent act of worship, but indeed it was:  
The peacefulness of the whole atmosphere.
The quiet obedience of the sheep to offer himself in the name of God, the Almighty.
The soft “Allahu akbar” said before the very sharp knife cuts through the windpipe to take immediately every life out of the animal.
The silent running of the red warm blood out of the sheep.

The meditative proficiency of my father in law who knows every slaughtering step by heart, mashaallah, and who cut the whole body with impressive knowledge.
The cleanliness of the meat and how every part of that animal offered itself as if it would like to say: “take me and enjoy me in the name of our God”.
The cat that impatiently waited to leak what was left.
- I was totally taken by the beauty of the whole scene in every detail, subhanallah, and I knew that I have to taste this meat.
This was the day when I slowly left my vegetarian life and more and more understood about faith, devotion and a deeper meaning and connection of all things.
It was the mark of the beginning of my journey to Islam and to this valley. Allahu akbar!

The ‘Id day, with all the praying, with the slaughtering and the being together at the family’s house, became a tradition to me and my little family. Alhamdulillah.
And it is the ‘Id of 2002 which I remember every year from new, with thankfulness, wonder and awe.
Labbaik Allahumma labbaik.

 

‘Id el fitr 1432 – Remembering

  
  

Hope your ‘Id was as peaceful and family-focused as ours, alhamdulillah.

Sending you wishes of love and salaams.
 
  
  
(Here’s a beautiful remembrance of Ramadan from Nora of Marrakesh: http://moroccomama.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/its-not-detox-and-other-ramadan-reflections  )