Our Prophet Muhammad, sallalahu alaiha wa sallam (peace and blessings upon him), taught the followers of Islam that Islam is not just a religion, but a way of life. As Muslims, we are to worship and remember Allah may times during our day. We have all been guilty of letting ourselves get caught up in our busy lives, and we forget how important this is. The respect and remembrance of Allah is what separates those on earth from those who have died. We know that remembrance of Allah includes Hajj, fasting in Ramadan, praying with a congregation at least once a week, reading and reciting the Quran, and praying five times a day. This does not mean, however, that we should forget Allah outside of those prescribed moments.
As Muslims we need incorporate Allah in our lives and in the lives of our children.
• If you need or want something, no matter what it is, pray to Allah first. "Call on Me. I will answer your prayer, but those who are too arrogant to serve me will surely find themselves humiliated in Hell" (40:60). Taking a moment to ask Allah forces you to realize that Allah wants us to remember Him and put our trust in him.
• If you are facing a difficult event or a happy one, turn to Allah. According to Abu Huraira, "The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, reported that, whoever wants Allah to answer his prayers during difficult times, should supplicate to Him more and more in times of ease."
• Always beware of how events should be addressed. Always say “Assalm Alaikum” (Peace and Blessings upon you) when you meet a fellow Muslim. Use words like Alham’dullah (All thanks to Allah) at the appropriate times to remind yourself of Allah’s presence and goodness. Use the words Insha’ Allah (God willing) when you are considering something, Ma Sha Allah, if you are praising something or someone and Bismillah (In the name of Allah) before you start anything. If you think about doing or saying Islamic, say Audhu billahi min al-shaitan ir-rajim (I seek refuge with Allah from Shaytan, the accursed) or Astaghfirullah (I ask Allah forgiveness.).
• Surround yourself with others that remember Allah. The Prophet reportedly told ibn Umar that, "There are some angels of Allah who go about looking for such assemblies or circles of Zikr, and when they find them they surround them."
"When any group of men remember Allah, angels surround them and mercy covers them, tranquility descends upon them, and Allah mentions them to those who are with Him" (Abu Huraira and Abu Said Al Khudri).
• Do not forget the importance of charity. It is reported that the Prophet once said, "Charity is obligatory every day on every joint of a human being. If one helps a person in matters concerning his riding animal by helping him to ride it or by lifting his luggage onto it, all will be regarded as charity. A good word, and every step one takes to offer compulsory congregational prayer, is regarded as charity; and guiding somebody on the road is regarded as charity (Abu Huraira).
• Teach others about Islam. The Quran says, "those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah, for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction" (13:28).
We try to find excuses for the things that we are to busy to do, but the remembrance of Allah should be a part of everything we do, and it does not take much out of our day. Whatever it is we do, we need to keep Allah in our hearts and minds. Insha’ Allah and Alham’dullah.
Source: Patel, Karin “How to incorporate Zikr into our lives.” Retrieved on September 17, 2009 from Sound Vision: http://www.soundvision.com/Info/teens/incorporatezikr.asp
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The Challenges faced by American-Muslim Working Women
I am a Muslim woman and for a long time I choose to ignore my faith. Recently, and most probably because I am getting older, I am starting to find that my life is missing something so I have again embraced Islam. I was raised in a strict Muslim home and to my parents, everything was haraam. Of my siblings, I am the most educated and this was result of choices I made in my life that went against everything my family believed in, including a divorce and being a single mother. When I was younger, my resistance to Islam was based on the fact that my parent didn’t always do a good job of reinstating the presence of Allah in our lives and our hearts and I don’t blame them for that. Religion is a difficult subject for anyone.
As an adult, such resistance came from discrimination about my choices within the Islamic community as well discrimination and ignorance about Islam in corporate America. While those are merely excuses as many would say, but those are my justifications. I am a Muslim working mother in corporate America. My husband, though open to my career choices, is not open to the role that women and men play in marriage and family. Because he was raised in a culture where women are the primary caretakers for their homes and their families, he is yet to understand that I simply cannot manage it all – my home, my family and my career. I am the primary caregiver to my children while my husband focuses his career. Does this seem fair? Where does Islam play in a role in all this? Does it even seem to have a place?
Most importantly, there is the issue of wearing hijab. I have told my mother time and time again why I do not wear hijab – I want to be able to support my family without discrimination. Think about it this way, hijab creates a unique hurdle for women. Women who wear hijab are often taunted at work and on the street. Moreover, sometimes wearing hijab jeopardizes a women’s career because Islamic women are quite often discriminated in their jobs and not given jobs and promotions. Don’t forget that women who wear hijab in America are obvious targets and because the majority of Americans are ignorant about Islam, hijab bears a burden. This puts their safety at a vulnerable level.
I find it quite sad that Islamic women face many hurdles that may or may not be unique to Islam. As a matter of fact, many are cultural. Islam does not promote the devaluation of women, but cultural stereotypes do. Families have preference to their sons over their daughters and lay strong emphasis on the honor of their daughters, and shame of a daughter taking action that goes against family beliefs creates unspeakable burden on family honor. The end result and resolution is to marry daughters at young age and put an end to their educational opportunities. And just because Muslim women live in America does not mean that do not face discriminations and abuses from within their own Islamic communities. Some of the most serious of those issues include domestic abuse, abuse of divorce and custody laws, polygamy and isolation and exclusion from Muslim life.
Let me say that the abuses and issues based have nothing to do with Islam and more based on generations of cultural upbringing. Islam is a great religion and we need to prove with our actions. The treatment of Women is the number one reason that people leave and I fell victim to that as well. As I stated, I am just finding my way back in. Because of that, I feel that Muslims need to start offering solutions and denying that problems exist. As Muslims, we have a duty to fight against repression and we need to do everything in our power to get that understanding across. The first step, however, is acknowledgement.
For me, I learned to focus on my life, my family, and most importantly, my religion. I have learned that I need to be a voice for women who want to step up and not take discrimination and abuse. I have learned that Islam in itself takes abuse and discrimination because of its followers have refused to accept that societies modernize religion. Finding my way back to Islam took me ten years, and the only piece of advice I can offer is to be patient, Allah is listening and watching you and he knows that you will eventually make your way back, Inshallah.
As an adult, such resistance came from discrimination about my choices within the Islamic community as well discrimination and ignorance about Islam in corporate America. While those are merely excuses as many would say, but those are my justifications. I am a Muslim working mother in corporate America. My husband, though open to my career choices, is not open to the role that women and men play in marriage and family. Because he was raised in a culture where women are the primary caretakers for their homes and their families, he is yet to understand that I simply cannot manage it all – my home, my family and my career. I am the primary caregiver to my children while my husband focuses his career. Does this seem fair? Where does Islam play in a role in all this? Does it even seem to have a place?
Most importantly, there is the issue of wearing hijab. I have told my mother time and time again why I do not wear hijab – I want to be able to support my family without discrimination. Think about it this way, hijab creates a unique hurdle for women. Women who wear hijab are often taunted at work and on the street. Moreover, sometimes wearing hijab jeopardizes a women’s career because Islamic women are quite often discriminated in their jobs and not given jobs and promotions. Don’t forget that women who wear hijab in America are obvious targets and because the majority of Americans are ignorant about Islam, hijab bears a burden. This puts their safety at a vulnerable level.
I find it quite sad that Islamic women face many hurdles that may or may not be unique to Islam. As a matter of fact, many are cultural. Islam does not promote the devaluation of women, but cultural stereotypes do. Families have preference to their sons over their daughters and lay strong emphasis on the honor of their daughters, and shame of a daughter taking action that goes against family beliefs creates unspeakable burden on family honor. The end result and resolution is to marry daughters at young age and put an end to their educational opportunities. And just because Muslim women live in America does not mean that do not face discriminations and abuses from within their own Islamic communities. Some of the most serious of those issues include domestic abuse, abuse of divorce and custody laws, polygamy and isolation and exclusion from Muslim life.
Let me say that the abuses and issues based have nothing to do with Islam and more based on generations of cultural upbringing. Islam is a great religion and we need to prove with our actions. The treatment of Women is the number one reason that people leave and I fell victim to that as well. As I stated, I am just finding my way back in. Because of that, I feel that Muslims need to start offering solutions and denying that problems exist. As Muslims, we have a duty to fight against repression and we need to do everything in our power to get that understanding across. The first step, however, is acknowledgement.
For me, I learned to focus on my life, my family, and most importantly, my religion. I have learned that I need to be a voice for women who want to step up and not take discrimination and abuse. I have learned that Islam in itself takes abuse and discrimination because of its followers have refused to accept that societies modernize religion. Finding my way back to Islam took me ten years, and the only piece of advice I can offer is to be patient, Allah is listening and watching you and he knows that you will eventually make your way back, Inshallah.
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