fromadreamer asked: Salam sisters :) I have a problem with the hijab...I live in a non-Islamic country and also I have never shown my peers myself with the hijab on so I am quite scared. Also, my parents are basically forcing it on me which makes me hate it, but I really want to start wearing it. Plus, I don't feel pretty enough for the hijab. I don't consider my face very attractive and I feel like I would have had more confidence to wear it if my face didn't look so awful in it. Help? :( Shukran jazeelan.
Salam wa Rahmatullah,
Glad you pointed out a few things about this; hijab isn’t supposed to be worn so you can look pretty or cute or nice. It’s just hijab. I wear hijab because I like to identify myself as a Muslim woman; also, even if I wanted to take it off, my parents would be highly against it. So you can say that to some extent, my parents have had a huge role in defining why I’ve kept it on. Sure, that’s based off of fear, and it’s how I felt for a while (and of course, it’s not the right reason for wearing it). But now, I’m learning to realize that a hijab is a part of me and I always want it to be. So I’ve been through several transitions myself from having it on because I couldn’t take it off to wearing it because I want to.
Also, hijab is a big commitment; a huge sacrifice. It’s not only the covering of the hair, but the entire body. Its a means to humble ourselves from being drawn to flaunt what we find so beautiful about ourselves; or at least, that’s how I perceive it. I know so many Muslim women who are drop, dead gorgeous without hijab, but they find strength to wear it every day because they love it so much.
It’s not easy; that’s the point, it’s not supposed to be easy. It’s for strong women. And when I say that, I mean both physical and mental hijab. I mean both piety and modesty from the inside and the outside; I mean hijab of the heart and hijab of the mind. So it’s not to suggest that women who don’t wear the hijab that covers the hair are weak women; oh, not at all.
It means that every single Muslim woman who strives to perfect her hijab is a strong woman. Every single woman that tries is a strong woman.
InshaAllah this helped; Dee.
yoursourire asked: Asalam Alaykoum :] Sometimes I feel very lost and misguided even though I pray and do what I need to do to stay on the right path. I'm going through this right now, where I have to decide what education/job I'd like to take and all the other future plans. But I feel misguided when I start thinking if these educations/jobs are halal, if they're going to benefit me in the hereafter. Do you have any advice on how I can decide or maybe any hadith about subjects like work? :] beautiful blog btw <3
Peace and many blessings,
what seems to be the root cause of your problem is not whether your future might hold something that might affect your level of faith in Allah (because sure, that might be true), but it seems to be your struggle between balancing the demands of this dunya and your demands to worship, love, discover, and acknowledge Allah.
When it comes down to deciding a very important decision in our life, the tradition teaches us to pray salat al istkhara. We have a link to how one prays that on our site here.
In terms of your level of eeman, I suggest you consider reflecting upon that which you spend most of your time doing. In fact, that’s the problem we have as Muslims. We expect that in order for us to completely depend on Allah and submit to Him (especially the way in which He intends us to), we need to completely transform 180 degrees. No, I don’t think that’s how it works.
We start by observing how we spend much of our time; do that tomorrow. Wake up and mentally jot down all that you do. Think about how you spend your free time and how you can alter that for the better. Ask yourself if there is a part of your day that you would like to change in terms of how you spend (or waste) it. I remember when I officially finished my last semester of last year, I spent the rest of my days studying and memorizing Quran. Find what works for you, and most importantly, make sure that you always renew your good intention(s).
InshaAllah this helped in some form; jazakAllah.
allthislonging asked: Assalamualaikum :-) Hello, thank you for making this blog, I really love what you're doing here. I was wondering, an atheist confronted me, saying how Islam was teaching muslims to kill other non-muslims (we were talking about muslim extremists) and he gave me this: Slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush.--9:5. Can you please explain what it's supposed to mean? I'm so confused :-( Thank you
Wa alykum as-salaam,
Thank you for your support, we would not be anywhere without the amazing support of our followers and fellow brothers and sisters in Islam, as well as the non-Muslims who follow us who show us incredible respect and support. May God bless you all and bring you to what is best for you, and keep you away from what is harmful, insha Allah.
As far as the issue of “Muslim extremists,” that is an issue that has nothing to do with religion, and more to do with politics. The idea that terrorism is rooted in religion, whether that is Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or whoever, has been thoroughly put to rest by the foremost academics on the subject. I’d suggest reading Robert Pape’s books Dying to Win and Cutting the Fuse, which both argue, rather convincingly, that terrorism is rooted in political issues and that religion has nothing to do with terrorist’s motivations.
Instead, Pape argues that there is “little connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, or any one of the world’s religions… . Rather, what nearly all suicide terrorist attacks have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland.”
So, this mythology that links terrorism to religion, is clearly wrong, and is well-known to academics who focus their work on this very subject.
With this in mind, we are able to dismiss the verse that this person presented to you, which is found in Surah At-Tawbah, which means “Repentance.” It is the only Surah of The Qur’an which does not begin with the familiar “Bismillah…” phrase, which is a matter of tremendous debate as to why. When this person quotes this verse, he does this out of context, which is particularly terrible to do with anything whether you are doing this in a positive way, or in a negative way; it means that your argument is weak.
Thus, we must first understand that The Qur’an does not tell the Muslim to simply stay quiet and to allow their enemies to hurt them. I would like to be extremely clear here: The Qur’an only allows the use of violence by the Muslim in self defense, and just because The Qur’an tells the Believer to protect themselves and their families, does not mean that The Qur’an encourages violence in any way shape or form.
Let us look at the preceding ayahs (verses) of this particular Surah:
“Disavowal by God and His Apostle [is herewith announced] unto those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God, [and] with whom you [O believers] have made a covenant.” [9:1] Muhammad Asad
When The Qur’an describes the people who “you [O believers] have made a covenant,” it is referring to the peace treaty that was “deliberately broken,” which is found in the previous Surah (Al-Anfal) where in ayahs 56-58, The Qur’an is very clear that the Muslims are only to fight because they “break their covenant on every occasion,” [8:56] and that Muslims can only fight “if thou find them at war [with you]” [8:57] while adding that “But if they incline to peace, incline thou to it as well, and place thy trust in God” [8:61]
It becomes clear that self-defense is the only justification for someone fighting, but let us continue going through the ninth Surah, Surah At-Tawbah.
“[Announce unto them:] “Go, then, [freely] about the earth for four months — but know that you can never elude God, and that, verily, God shall bring disgrace upon all who refuse to acknowledge the truth!”” [9:2] Muhammad Asad
The second ayah illustrates that, even though the enemies of the Muslims, who at one point were supposed to honor a peace treaty, after they decided to violate the terms of the peace treaty, Muslims are not permitted to fight them despite having a peace treaty broken.
The Qur’an continues:
“And a proclamation from God and His Apostle [is herewith made] unto all mankind on this day of the Greatest Pilgrimage: “God disavows all who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, and [so does] His Apostle. Hence, if you repent, it shall be for your own good; and if you turn away, then know that you can never elude God!”
And unto those who are bent on denying the truth give thou [O Prophet] the tiding of grevious chastisement.” [9:3] Muhammad Asad
Pretty simple, and straight forward, and finally the fourth ayah.
“But excepted shall be — from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God — [people] with whom you [O believers] have made a covenant and who thereafter have in no wise failed to fulfill their obligations towards you, and neither have aided anyone against you: observe, then, your covenant with them until the end of the term agreed with them. Verily, God loves those who are conscious of Him.” [9:4] Muhammad Asad
It is in this fourth ayah, that we see something that underlines how incorrect this person (who is debating you) is when they link this verse to extremism. Not only does the verse right before the one he quoted command the Muslim to honor their treaties, and thus keep peace, but also, and very interestingly, it links two concepts together:
That when a Muslim, or anyone for that matter, honors their agreements, and seeks out the peaceful solution over the violent one, they are are being conscious of God. Look at the final sentence of this fourth ayah: “Verily, God loves those who are conscious of Him.” It becomes clear, that in order to express one’s belief in God, whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, etc you do that by doing what is right, what is peaceful and what is agreed upon between everyone. It is those actions that define one’s belief in God. It becomes clear, then, that this isn’t about religious beliefs, this is about doing what is right, and that if someone claims to be a Muslim, and to believe in God, then they will do the correct thing.
Finally, let us look over the fifth (and sixth) ayahs in their entirety:
” (5) And so, when the sacred months are over, slay those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God wherever you may come upon them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every conceivable place. Yet if they repent, and take to prayer, and render the purify dues, let them go their way: for, behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
(6) And if any of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God seeks thy protection, grant him protection, so that he might [be able to] hear the word of God [from thee]; and thereupon convey him to a place where he can feel secure: this, because they [may be] people who [sin only because they] do not know [the truth].” [9:5-6] Muhammad Asad
When one reads The Qur’an, you must read it keeping mind all of it, realizing that you must think about it (The Qur’an) in its entirety. Therefore, when you read these verses, which are directed towards Muslims in a state of war, we must also (and so did they) consider other verses of The Qur’an, such as: “There shall be no coercion in the matters of faith,” [2:256] which forcibly prohibits the practice of forced conversions, which means that a Muslim cannot use their enemies’ acceptance of Islam as the “penalty” for defeat.
Furthermore, The Qur’an commands that “Fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you; but do not commit aggression, for, verily, God does not love aggressors,” [2:190] which clearly illustrates again, that one can only fight in self-defense, while adding that “if they do not let you be, and do not offer you peace, and do not stay their hands, seize them and slay them whenever you come upon them and it is against these that We have clearly empowered you [to make war]” [4:91].
It becomes clear, that the Muslim is allowed to defend themselves, and they should do so with conviction and without fear. However, even if a Muslim is allowed to fight, again, only in self-defense, then they are also to keep in mind the following: “if they desist — behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace” [2:192] and “if they desist, then all hostility shall cease” [2:193].
It must also be said that, even though the ayahs in question say “if they repent, and take to prayer and render the purifying dues (zakah)” is simply one way, but certainly not the only way that a war can end. This clear truth is underlined by looking at the various ayahs presented here [specifically 9:6], as well as the clear context of the particular Surah in question.
I’d also like to explain that, the phrase that the person who debated you is using, is incorrectly translated, but also the point of that quoted phrase is that Muslims are only supposed to fight in self-defense, but that does not mean that they must sit in their homes and wait for people who want to kill them to show up. If you are going to fight, you can only fight when your enemies attack you, and from there, you must do whatever is the most necessary and advisable actions in warfare, within the clear limits prescribed by The Qur’an: to do what is correct and just, no matter who you are dealing with.
I realize that this was a particularly long answer, but it had to be, because this was a massive question, and one that deals with something that we do not deal with in our daily lives as much: war. We do not think about war in the same way today, as the rest of the world has for the majority of human history, and so we fail to make these connections, and that is problematic, because we then judge and misunderstand those who are oppressed, and those who actually are in states of war. We should be aware of this fact, and be more aware of what war means and how war should be conducted, because no matter what we wish, human beings will unfortunately always find reasons to fight each other, so we should learn and be mindful of what is the just thing to do, which is to seek peace, and only fight in self-defense.
Insha Allah, I hope this answered your question, and if you or anyone else, has a question on this, or any other subject, please do not hesitate to ask me. I’d also like to underline, that I (Osama), and I alone write these opinions, and I ask that if you have any questions, comments, or concerns that you please direct them to me, rather than the other amazing members (masha Allah) of this tumblr.
Osama
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