Eid Mubarak!

Assalamu alaykum everyone! I wanted to wish you all a blessed Eid! May Allah (swt) keep your iman (faith) as high as it is now throughout the year.  InshaAllah Ramadan was an incredible experience for all of you.

Please consider fasting the six days of Shawaal for added reward and benefits and don't forget to mention me in your prayers ;)  - Do you like my marketing? It's like a pyramid scheme!

I apologize sincerely for my lack of posting.  I have been extremely busy.  I know it is not an excuse, but I assure you very very soon I will have updated content, stories, and other interesting life tidbits! :)

In fact, I will soon be expanding the blog beyond your wildest dreams inshaAllah within three months :D

Please stay tuned! Thanks for your patience! Please know, you are all always in my prayers and thoughts: converts, born Muslims, and nonMuslims alike <3

With love,

Hannah

If Someone Asks, Give...

When I was little, my mother was far from wealthy.  She had once been kind of a baller because of her husband, but when the marriage ended, she had to start from scratch all by herself.  She worked as a waitress and took a second job as a real estate agent in order to provide for the two of us. Most of the families in my town drove fancy cars and had huge houses. We had a normal car, but we had so much fun blasting the stereo and singing at the top of our lungs on long drives.  We had a little house, but that little house was filled with love and fun that those big houses could never even dream of.

Anyway, I remember one time my mother got a $100 tip from a customer and she was so thrilled to have a little extra spending money.  It was one solitary $100 bill. We went to the mall to spend it on some swag - note: in the 1990s it was not called "swag."

Right before we entered, there was a homeless person begging for money. My mother did not even hesitate - she gave that homeless person the $100 bill she had.

I could NOT believe it.  My mother worked so hard to be blessed with such a tip! Why is she giving it away?!

I asked her, "couldn't you just give him $5? Why the whole $100?!?" She replied,"all I had is that one $100 bill." 

Alhamdulilah, I have been blessed in so many ways.  This lesson was one of the best lessons I could ever learn as a kid.  My mom's ideas really, really influenced me - both when she was alive and far after she died - may Allah be pleased with her beautiful, precious soul.

We did not agree on a lot of things, but we agreed that when someone asks you for something, they are asking you for a reason. JUST GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEED.

1972543_10152305596524459_1409210888_n.jpg

I may have been able to buy a couple of computer games or clothes from Abercrombie with that $100 bill, but right now those items would be long gone.  That lesson she taught me on that day was invaluable.  

I'm not trying to toot my own horn.  I'm not the greatest person alive - I'm far from Mother Theresa and I selfishly buy myself designer bags and shoes and other items that are far from being considered necessities.

But, one thing I try to always do is to give to those who ask of me. Alhamdulilah, I've never needed to beg on the street. But, if I did, I would hope that someone would be as sympathetic to my situation.

If your friend starts a group to send items to refugees as they enter the country, you should give. If a friend says in lieu of birthday gifts, she wants a donation to a foundation, you should give.  If a friend is helping a family in need to bring Christmas gifts to a family, independent of our religious ideas, you should still give.  Perhaps sweatshirts, coats, or other items that the family is in need of and that are not necessarily "Christmasy," but you still give. 

Really, you have the easiest job ever.  They're the ones that are doing the hard part.

I know this might contradict with some of our religious ideals because in Islam and in other religions we are not allowed to give money to be used on drugs or alcohol or anything else considered "haram," but we are also reminded in Quran and hadith that we are judged based onourintentions.  That is such a Mercy in and of itself.

Go out of your way to help other people.  Buy a random person's drink at Starbucks. I don't care if you think Starbucks is a Jewish company and supports Israel.  The good you are doing by making the world better is the only way that we will combat issues between religions anyway.

This morning I was tested by Allah on this principle that my mother instilled in me (and that she deserves all of the credit for).  God gives us beautiful tests and opportunities all the time if we look hard enough for them. 

You never know what tiny thing you do can get you into Jannah (Heaven).  

Allah once forgave a prostitute for her sins because she gave water to a thirsty dog. Imagine what He would forgive you for! [Link to more details on that hadith here]

All that we have is only a blessing from Allah. I could just as easily have been born destitute. I could just as easily have been born a billionaire.  I was, instead, given this beautiful soul for my mother and that is a blessing beyond any amount of money or time or help that I could give to another person. 

May Allah (swt) make us all generous with the blessings that He bestowed upon us and that He put us in charge of. Alhamdulilah a million times.

من ذا الذي يقرض الله قرضا حسنا فيضاعفه له اضعافا كثيرة والله يقبض ويبسط واليه ترجعون

Who is it that would loan Allah a goodly loan so He may multiply it for him many times over? And it is Allah who withholds and grants abundance, and to Him you will be returned. [Quran 2:245]

If Your Name is Mohammad, Don't Act Like a Pig...

My dear Muslim Brothers, While I'm pretty closed off to the world on most social media, I have over 10,000 people on my LinkedIn. I'm, of course, much less personal there than I would be with close friends on Instagram or Facebook.  I hate to say it, but I have to:

Social media is not a dating site. especially LinkedIn - it's a professional networking website to discuss business ideas. While I'm definitely annoyed by the stupid messages I receive (mind you, my picture is me in niqqab and still I have "sexy eyes"), I'm even more disgusted by what Muslim men are willing to say to nonMuslim women there.

Today, a western girl announced she had decided to start a new business venture in a brief post which included a picture of her with an inspirational scene in the background. She is a beautiful girl, mashaAllah.

While the comments from her western male counterparts were congratulatory for the business, the comments from my brothers in Islam all said "beautiful smile," "she's pretty cute," and "she's a beautiful girl." Even three Muslim guys commented on the photo as if she could not read the comments - talking to each other about how "cute" she is.

c18c9be240b9811c5133d9c559361080.jpg

QUESTION: HOW IS THIS RELATED TO A BUSINESS ENDEAVOR? It's NOT. 

Only Allah can judge you and its between you and Him when you make rude comments like this which directly contradict with our religion's teachings to treat women by their character and work and not by their outwardly appearance.

Personally, I am asking you to consider how Western women would then view Muslim men. If i didn't know better, I would feel that they were all pigs.

When your name is Mohammad, or any other name with a Muslim connotation, you represent our religion.  When I wear a hijab, I represent our religion.  Because we both represent our religion, which is perfect, we should avoid making such indecent remarks.  While I might whisper to close friends "check out the guy at 2 o'clock," I would not go up to him and say "wow, you're hot!" And, I'm sure you would expect the same or more from your sisters or mothers or daughters.

You absolutely must learn to have the same respect for others as you expect us to have as Muslim women.  You must also learn to have the same respect for nonMuslims as Muslims.  Just because a woman doesn't cover her hair or her body, does not make her an object.  She's still a woman, just with less cloth.

They're all your sisters.

They're all your mothers.  

They're all your daughters.  

May Allah (swt) teach all of us - including myself, of course - better manners and make us better representations for our religion.

Sincerely,

Your Sister

Hannah

Does Islam Allow Men to Marry Multiple Wives?

Yes. Muslim men can marry four wives. I know, it feels weird.  You maybe have this ideal of American love stories where one man and one woman are together forever and there's no one else.  I was raised with the same idea and in my future family, I hope that happens to be the case.  But it's not always the case.  If you keep reading, you'll get a little bit of insight into it, I promise.

Islam is a religion filled with feminism - equality for women is exceptionally important in our religion! The Prophet Muhammad commanded that baby girls may no longer be killed as they were previously buried alive within their society as the "norm." (That's just a quick of the top of my head example).

arab_wives_mother_in_law_1120685.jpg

So, if our religion is so filled with this idea of equality, how come men can marry four wives and women can't marry multiple husbands? HOW COME A GUY CAN MARRY FOUR WOMEN?!? How does his first wife feel?!

First, let's look at this historically.

At the time that the revelation came that men could marry four wives at one time, men were dying in battle. In huge quantities. 

When a society loses a significant proportion of its men, and the women are not the providers as it is not fitting of the time in 600 A.D.+, who the heck is going to take care of those women? And children? How will they eat?

Mama bear can't just go out and get a job like in today's world. There were very few #bossladies. (Although Prophet Muhammad's wife Khadija was a successful businesswoman when he married her!)

Thus, men married multiple women as a means of taking care of the society as a whole. 

Also, at the time, men were marrying twenty-seven or forty-six women at one time and there was nothing wrong with it.  It was culturally normal.  The decree that men could only marry four was actually a huge change at the time. JUST FOUR?

For example (the best of examples)... Prophet Muhammad (may God's peace be upon him) was married to his first wife (Khadija) for 25 years before she passed away. He was not married to another woman during her life.  Their love story is very beautiful if you ever have time to read it.

When she died, he married multiple other wives (the number varies based on who you ask).  A majority of them were widows or of different tribes.  Their marriages were as a means to provide for those women or as a social means of connecting tribes together.

Still feel yucky? It's okay....

This practice does happen in Muslim countries.  Someday when I decide to get married, I could be a second wife - or a first and he finds someone else to marry.

But, I'm not too worried about that, nor am I too upset.

Why? Because there's multiple conditions upon which he has to fulfill in order to participate in this practice.

He has to treat all of them EXACTLY equally.  That's not easy. I recently adopted two kittens that are sisters. I bought them at the same time, and I still have a favorite (shhh... don't tell them).

He has to provide them each their own living quarters. If he gives one of them something, he has to give it to the other. You gotta be rich to have that kinda swag, people!

And yes, there are people (albeit very few) that I know that are children of second wives or third wives or fourth wives.  Their father is still the strong, loving father to them as he is to his other wives and other children.  Their mothers still feel taken care of and loved by the father from what they tell me.

Look... I can't lie. It's not for everyone.  With my upbringing, I don't think I could sleep a wink knowing my husband is with another woman and that I have to share his heart with her. 

But, because this is a decree from God, I accept it. I respect it.  

If my husband wants to marry another wife, there will be some STRONG words from me against that choice, but it is his right.

And, if he has a valid reason for it (i.e. by the time I'm married I'm 47 years old and I can't have babies...) then I could absolutely understand that situation.

When I look at these two aspects - the practicality and the context historically - I see why it's SO rare among Muslims and SO RARE among my group of friends and their families.

Once I talked to a friend who was divorced and I asked him why didn't you take another wife instead of getting divorced? He said, "HALF of a wife would be too much for me, why would I ever want TWO?"

And, that's the common feeling of Muslim men.

A vast majority want the same lovey dovey fairytale the girls want. Especially the ones from our generation.

May Allah make each woman and each man who come together in marriage fulfilling to the other - emotionally, domestically, physically, and in all other applications. May they care for each other in all contexts. And, may He help us to see His Reasons behind His Wisdom.

"And it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you." (Quran 2:216).

Alhamdulilah for Friends... And Acquaintances

I'm so grateful for my friends. I tell you all privately in awkward situations in my own non-emotional and non-touchy-feely ways that are often devoid of warm fuzzies. For example, when you drastically cut your hair and I need to change the topic to avoid my selfish feelings of "no! don't change! i love the version of you I know!!!" All of you weirdos, I love you all.

While you guys are kinda stuck with me and my craziness and my opinions, my acquaintances aren't. I love you both.

When I converted, a whole bunch of acquaintances (and some friends, too) completely ditched me.  

I wasn't so cool anymore (heck, I was never that cool), and that meant that when I covered my hair and prayed in the middle of Chipotle, they disappeared from my life.

Literally, one day I had like a list of ten potential bridesmaids in mind should I ever get married and was concerned about how I could possibly choose; the next day, I was like, 'who the heck would I even invite to a wedding?!'

It was partially my fault too, I know, because I was busy learning, reading, buying scarves, working, going to college, and all the other fun things I decided to do at once... Yes, I disappeared a bit myself. But I didn't stop caring.

A lot of those people weren't that important, in hindsight, but when I think about those friends and acquaintances who stuck around, I'm blown away with gratitude and I'm inspired by you. I'm incredibly thankful that you respect me, have compassion for me, and care about me even a little bit.

Today, a girl I met maybe a handful of times in college shared a really beautiful message about my blog.  I barely knew her.  She was the previous roommate of my roommate.  We had a similar group of friends, but we didn't have like emotional eat-Ben-&-Jerry's nights where we cried about boys or something dramatic that people do in movies to celebrate friendship.  We just kinda knew each other.

This white chick took Arabic classes, respects Islam, respects African Americans... Heck, she even is saving the whales, people! On top of that, she has a good enough soul to celebrate good in the world. She's not Muslim, not black, not a refugee, but she knows we're all in this thing together.

I don't know her all that well, I just "Facebook know her," but what I do know, I really like.  Nope, take that back - I love.

She celebrates all kinds of people. She speaks out when she sees something that's wrong or unfair.

When I grow up I want to be just like her.

She's like maybe two years older than me.

For example, here's some of her last posts from this past week:

 

I'm so proud that in all of life's craziness that God inspires people not to get sucked into the hate and the crazy. To stand up for what is right, even if no one is standing with you.  

If God graces me with the honor of being in Heaven, I really want neighbors like this chick.  I bet she's totally down to let me borrow a cup of sugar .... and possibly a kidney.

Thank God for people like you.

While writing this, I realized I'm so thankful to call you more than my acquaintance, but my role model and more importantly, my sister in this world and hopefully in the next. 

Is the Life of an American More Important than the Life of a Kenyan? A Filipino? A Syrian?

No. That's the answer.  No. It doesn't need any more explanation.

But, I'll explain.

The media has a huge problem. When something happens to people in first world countries, like America, France, Canada, for example, the world stops.

There are candlelit vigils.

There are moments of silence.

There are tears of strangers.

When a bunch of Palestinian kids are being murdered in their houses no one cars.

That's just another day in the Middle East!

Maybe it is to you, but it's not that way to me.

When something happens to Americans, it breaks my heart.  When something happens to Kenyans, it breaks my heart.

Neither one more or less.

Even, I'm American, and it's not any more or less.

Why? Because we are all brothers under the same God.

And, these stupid land masses that we live on and have a passport from are not at all related to our brotherhood in God's creation. Our country's borders are ALL manmade. Hell, they're all scribbles, people!

I don't think that when we get to Heaven, God is going to line us up by what passport we hold. If He does, I will have some questions.

I don't think that the gates to Heaven for Chinese will be different than the gates for Americans.

In fact, I know that's not how it's going to happen because my religion says we get to enter in the gate that best describes the good deeds we have done on earth.

One is for those who gave in charity, one is for those who have sincere faith in God, one for those who control their anger and forgive others, one for those who constantly remembered God, etc...  You don't level up because of your passport.  You level up because you were faithful during your life.

I love America.  I love Saudi Arabia. I love Pakistan. I love China. I love Nigeria. I love Chile. I love Antarctica. But, I don't love the countries themselves.  I love the people.  I don't love the bad things they do, but in the perfect state that God made them, I love them.

 

So when something bad happens anywhere, I hurt. When something bad happens close to me, I don't hurt more.  It's not location-based.  

6901566

The people who lost their lives in the recent attacks on France, my heart breaks for them.  The people who lost their lives in the recent attacks on Lebanon, my heart breaks for them.  The people who lost their lives in the hurricane in Mexico, my heart breaks for them.  It breaks for Syria. For Kenya. For Palestine. For past and present tragedies. For all of those who suffer. For all of those who have suffered. For all of those who have yet to suffer. Because, someday, when we all get to Heaven, those people are going to be the ones we envy.

Their suffering in this fleeting world is going to lead them to Bliss in Eternity.

They won't be given higher positions, or more pay, or nicer houses, or safer schools, or more Twitter followers based on what country God happened to put them in.  In that Place, there is love without separation, there is no suffering, and you can bet that the color of our passports or which flag is waving outside our doors or what language we speak will have no meaning. Where we checked in on Foursquare won't be relevant.

The media won't care less about one person than another. We will be judged for our character, not our color. We will all be exquisite - from the homeless starving woman to the richest person on earth.

God, please grant me a place there! In the meantime, help us all to realize none of our lives are more important than anyone else's.  And, the loss of any one of these beautiful souls You put here is not any more important than losing another of them.

Is "Hannah" / "Hana" a Muslim Name?

A serious portion of the people that are referred to my site are because of this question - I'm assuming for baby naming purposes. I thought I would answer it... although, I do hope you do still browse around.

And, thank you, because answering this required me to do research and I learned more about my name myself. I am extremely grateful to be given the name of such an honored woman with offspring that were so devoted to God, mashaAllah.

So here we go:

Although she is not mentioned by name in Quran, she is referred to, as Hana (i'll spell it this way for consistency) is Imran's wife.

Hana in Quran is more or less the same as Hannah in the Bible.

Being Imran's wife also makes her the mother of Miryam (Mary), and the maternal grandmother of 'Isa (or Jesus).

And, my fellow Hana gets a cameo appearance in just the THIRD surah of Quran:

“When a woman of ‘Imran said, My Lord! Surely I vow to Thee what is in my womb, to be devoted (to thy service); accept therefore from me, surely Thou art the Hearing, the knowing.” (3:35)

Did you miss it? That's Hana, the "woman of Imran."

“So her Lord accepted her with a good acceptance and made her grow up a good growing.” (3:36)

And Hana's prayers were answered as Maryam is one of the four women that is granted the highest levels in Jannah.

4604802-1

So, if you're here because you're looking for a baby name, I would be honored to share my name with your precious child.  I pray that she is a blessing for all of the world, and that her offspring too go on to change the world, as happened to Hana in Quran.

I love my name.  It's universally wonderful. In English, Arabic, Czech, Japanese, Hawaiian, it has beautiful meanings in every language. It is related to Islam, Christianity and Judaism.  It means "bliss."

Congratulations for this blessing Allah is giving to you. May she be devoted to Him, independent of her name.

What Does Islam Teach In Times of War?

In case you wondered, THIS is what my religion teaches about war. Wish I could give credit to who made this - Sorry there was nothing on the post I got it from!

12246990_10153781580699459_895547654032706192_n

In case the photo ever gets removed, the rules include:

  1. Don't cut a tree.
  2. Don't kill a child.
  3. Don't kill old people.
  4. Don't destroy a temple or a church.
  5. Don't destroy a building
  6. Don't kill those who surrendered.
  7. Don't kill those who ran away.
  8. Don't kill a woman.
  9. Don't kill a sick person.
  10. Don't kill a monk or priest (religious person).
  11. Don't disfigure the dead.
  12. Don't kill an animal except for eating.
  13. Be good to the prisoners and feed them.
  14. Don't enforce Islam.

And you ask me how I can accept this religion? This is how.