As soon as I posted about starting my YouTube - I got a lung infection. I'm SO sorry for the delay on my channel. I promise to have a video up as soon as I'm able to talk for more than 30 seconds without a psychotic coughing fit.
Thanks for understanding. You're the best. Keep my poor little grandma lungs in your du'aa please <3
If and when you choose to contact me, I promise to keep myself humble. I can promise this only because I know how it feels to contact someone you admire and have them be rude back to you. I had it happen to me today and it made me so upset - not for myself, but for the other people who I am sure have a similar experience and it is so discouraging to them that it throws them off track.
So there is a girl on Snapchat - I won't say her name or try to give too much away - but she speaks Arabic very well mashaAllah. She's been learning for years and years and is able to write and read completely in Arabic as well. MashaAllah, this is what I hope to someday be able to do myself. While my speaking is actually not that bad and my reading has drastically improved, I still am FAR from where I ever hope to be - especially when writing.
I have contacted her once mentioning that if she needed anything on her American travels that I would be happy to help. I explained I'm also a blogger and American with fascination in Arab culture and she was polite. We spoke mostly in Arabic at that time.
Today I planned my trip to Dubai for the coming weeks and thought I should reach out to her to invite her to lunch when I go just to be friendly and also to see if she had any experiences to share with me.
So I reached out and invited her typing in English but with Arabic words. She immediately cut me off and said, in Arabic, I should only write to her in Arabic. I reminded her I'm American and still learning. She said "I'm American, too..." I said, "I know, love, but I'm not as good as you are yet." She said, "it's not that hard" (in Arabic) and I said "inshaAllah."
This little conversation made me realize the importance of humility in encouraging people. I try really hard to learn Arabic. I spoke my first word of Arabic five years ago and I did not take it that seriously until the last three years. I'm FAR from fluent, but I shock people quite often with how much I know, especially seeing I've only been living in a Muslim country for a short period of time. I'm not proud of myself, because I know I can do more, but I also do not expect everyone that talks to me to live up to the standards I have achieved for myself.
I am not the best Muslim. I'm not the best American Muslim. I'm not the best at really anything in this world. But I'm pretty compassionate Alhamdulilah. I work incredibly hard to achieve my goals. And I don't expect ANY SINGLE ONE OF YOU to meet these impossible standards I have set on myself and I promise I never will.
If you need anything, please contact me. And I promise not to treat you like I am any better than you at ANYTHING. I'm honored people ask me for advice and I take it seriously.
If you feel like I would ever think you're not good enough, you're wrong. You're probably better than I am, in fact. I'm happy to give you anything I can in terms of encouragement. If your English isn't perfect, we'll figure it out. If you aren't praying, we can encourage each other. If you get high and drunk every day but you love Islam, you can still talk to me. I'm not judging you and I'm NO ONE to judge.
Prophet Muhammad (saws) did not expect those who came to Islam to be perfect, but he expected them to try. And that's all I expect.
And to think of a contemporary example, I'm reminded of how encouraging, warm and kind Nicole Hunter Mostafa was when I reached out to her. I actually had no idea how big her following was until I saw her followers on Facebook recently and mashaAllah she should have never responded to someone as insignificant as me. She's such an amazing example of humility in a person. May Allah be pleased with her ya Rb.
When I responded to the message today, I said the following, and I hope any other bloggers who perhaps think that they are too busy or perhaps "too famous" to be bothered with other people would consider the same: "Remember how you felt when you were just learning. Remember those who encouraged you. And be humble enough to encourage others instead of demanding they meet the standards you impose on yourself."
<3 Love you all. You're all celebrities in my mind.
May Allah keep us all humble and kind. After all, there is no power except for Him.
First and foremost, praying that this year of 2017 is a blessed year for you and those you love. And, during this new year I have decided to do something that is somewhat out of character for me....
I'm starting a YouTube channel as a supplement to this blog.
I plan to discuss some of the tough topics in Islam, in America, and in Saudia and Dubai where I spend a large portion of my time. In addition, I will be doing story time videos about funny things that have happened to me, collaborating with other famous Muslim YouTubers, giveaways, talking about my favorite "Muslimy" things, and providing you with the means to laugh at my terrible Arabic accent. Plus much more.
WOO HOO. You read that right. Hannah on YouTube. Shocking but true.
I don't like to have my photo taken let alone be on camera, so this is quite different for me, but I am hoping Allah will give me the power to extend my dawah outreach to those who hate reading (like me!).
I hope you will stay tuned and next week you will have my first video inshaAllah :)
Can't wait to see you there <3 Sorry to be annoying, but please do like, comment, subscribe and share so that I know what I'm doing is (or is not) worthwhile.
Thank you for all of your support from the first day I started this blog to today. You're the best <3
Additionally, I'm so thankful to say that as of today I've reached 2000 followers on Facebook. May Allah reward you all. I love you guys.
See you soon inshaAllah <3
While I do not celebrate Hanukkah or Christmas, I do believe that it is important to acknowledge that I pray that all of those celebrating their holidays bring them closer to the Creator. We do not have to agree on the details of how we worship Him, but we should agree that in worshipping Him, we are all brothers and sisters. There is a quote I have always loved, and I think it is exceptionally important during the holiday season: "I love you when you pray in your temple, kneel in your church, and make sujood in your masjid, because we are all brothers and sisters under the same God" <3
And, I truly mean it. While some of my family celebrates Christmas, I wish them all the joy that this time of the year brings. It's such a special, beautiful time of year in America. And, I'm sure anyone celebrating Hanukkah has the same feeling.
I pray that this year, our religions find peace between them. You are all loved by me, regardless of how you praise Him. May He continue to answer your prayers.
<3
"May Peace be upon Jesus, the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he will be resurrected once again" (Quran 19:33).
Just a quick life update for everyone: The last few months of my traveling have been absolutely crazy... but, that kind of crazy that I love so it's all good.
Between visiting my family in Cleveland,
Visiting friends in Los Angeles (where I now have a permanent residence Alhamdulilah),
Visiting friends and business opportunities in Dubai,
Traveling to Riyadh for business,
and traveling to Khobar to visit friends and weddings....
I'm tired.
But, Alhamdulilah, I'm back where my heart feels most content until February: in Riyadh.
Plus, I have a major announcement (no, I'm not getting married... keep wishing...) coming at the end of the month that I'm praying will -inshaAllah - help to increase my dawah efforts many times over if Allah so wills.
Thanks for all your continuing support always. I'm honored to share my life, travels, and craziness with each and every one of you <3
As you probably know, I'm far from political and I'm also far from knowledgable on the topics of politics, history, etc... I really try to keep up to date with current events, but because I have a soft heart, it's really difficult for me. In fact, it becomes difficult for me to concentrate on anything else. That's my exact feelings about Syria right now.
We're absolutely 100% witnessing a genocide right NOW.
And the worst part? I have no idea what to do about it.
I don't know what to do about the babies being killed.
I don't know what to do about the women committing suicide to avoid rape and torture.
I don't know what to do about the broken relationships, broken families, broken hearts...
I just know I had to say something.
The only thing I can do is pray. I ask you all to do the same. If you have something more intelligent to do or to say, please do that instead. In the meantime, I ask you, no matter your race or religion or understanding or political affiliation.
May Allah protect you, Syrian people <3 I'm sorry we failed you- both as Muslims and as brothers and sisters in humanity.
I was so confident going into the election that Hillary would win that I barely kept up with the election during the entire day on the 8th. I personally choose not to vote for weird reasons that I don't think deserve explaining because they're really not that intelligent, but I knew no one would go out to vote for a candidate that makes rape jokes and that has literally NO idea what he's doing... I mean, I know my fellow Americans aren't all geniuses but no one is that stupid. Then, I went to a Lakers game and checked the results and felt like I was going to pass out.
Are you kidding me, America?
A man that is literally a modern Hitler is now the leader of our country... let that sink in.
If you have another opinion, I'm not sorry that I offended you. I'm sorry that you've never experienced what it's like to be "other."
I used to be just like you... I used to never know what it was like to be discriminated against. I was never threatened by police or by other people. No one told me to "go back where I come from."
That is, until I decided to convert and wore hijab. All of a sudden, I became "other." And let me tell you, "other" is scary. It's hard to live in a world where people tell you you deserve to be killed for your beliefs, or that you're going to hell, or that you don't deserve to live in America... it literally sucks.
And now, someone who thinks I should be put into a Muslim camp until "things are sorted out" is the leader of this country.
Since his presidency, there have been Muslim girls who have had so many problems: having their scarves tugged at, being told its illegal to wear it, and even being threatened to be lit on fire if the hijab wasn't removed.
And even worse, this is not a Muslim issue. This is an everyone issue: young Latino students were told by classmates they would be deported, black people have seen increased hatred, and the suicide rate for LGQBT? community has greatly increased.
I love you, America. I believe in you. You need to stand up for what is right in this world. I don't think my beliefs are the only "right" beliefs, but they are humane. They are filled with compassion. And they understand what being an "other" is.
I don't hate you if you voted for Trump, but I hate you if you're perpetuating the stereotypes that create a huge divide in this country and that have done so since the day white people landed in America.
May God protect us all - from the littlest Mexican kindergartener to the oldest hijabi Muslima and everyone in between.
I can't write about the madness of the election just yet because I will have an aneurysm... but in an effort to have a positive moment in my day, I responded to all of the dozens of emails I missed on my travels to Dubai. First, so sorry that I don't respond as immediately as I would like to. I read them literally within seconds of you sending them, but I want to make sure I am being authentic in my responses on an individual basis.
Second, thank you. I literally pray for each of you... you have no idea how thankful I am. Like, really, really, really, sincerely, thank you. Thank you for just reading this. Thank you for caring about me... I'm really undeserving. Last month I lost someone (Nicole) who I cared about very much - more than she would ever know - and when I read what you wrote me in the emails, I was overwhelmed with appreciation. It made me feel so much better. I know how I felt the first time I read her blog and how special she made me feel when I read it... so I hope I can impart a tiny percentage of that feeling back to you. SubhanAllah, I miss her.
Third, you guys are seriously the best. I am so impressed and honored by all of the amazing amazing amazing women who email me on a daily basis. I'm so sorry for all of your struggles, but, as I said to one particularly special girl today, I pray you find all the beauty in the struggles.
I listen to hardcore rap because... well... I like to be as strange of a combination as possible... and J.Cole says, "there's beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success... we grew up in the city and though sometimes we had less, compared to some of my n[eighbo]rs down the block, man, we were blessed. life is not a fairy tale no once upon a time, but I'll be G-d damned if [I] don't be trying..." It's really a wise lyric more than it gets credit for.
Anyways, moral of the story: thank you and I love you. I'm honored to know you, whoever you are. Or, I'm honored that you know me at least :) I don't care if you're a Puerto Rican Jew or a Tibetan Christian or an Australian Muslim. I love you all and you're all special to me more than you can imagine.
Thanks for letting me take up a moment of your time. <3 Hope we are all neighbors someday in Heaven so I can return the favor.