I think it was in 2018. I was at an event held in An-Nur, and I remember the speaker started the session with a question. How many people here have children? And most hands went up. I felt a tinge of something. I had just gone through a loss of some sort, and I needed to get out of the house. The whole reason I was there. Or was it?
His ways are so different. SubhanAllah! But I digress..
And that was followed by another question from the speaker…
“If your children were to talk about their role models, would they mention you?” And if it was not all the hands that went down, it was most. Very most.
And now I ask myself one more…
“Do I want my children to be exactly like me?”
I marvel at nature vs. nurture. When one agent does something exactly like they see us do it. Or another asking for “hot tea” just like grandma. Or they talk my ear off just like daddy.
These children, they see us in a way no-one else sees us. They truly love us. It is all important to them, our mood, our reactions, our validation, our time. We might think there is time for us to do better, but the truth is, there isn’t. Or is there?
We would be starting with another group for the Nurtured mama Program. This is your invitation to join us.
It has been exactly 12 months since I announced my idea for women of tadabbur to the world. I don’t even know where the idea came from, oh actually I do know. Alhamdulillah. I also remember thinking it was a bad time to start cos I was also starting Arabic full time and then I had my day job and the agents and my family…and…and… I put it out anyway and then one person signed up and then the second and then… and then it morphed into a beautiful community of amazing and supportive women. And even more communities have been born of that. The doubts come in sometimes but I have learnt so much. SubhanAllah! To mention a few,
Taking a leap of faith means doesn’t mean you trust yourself, it means you trust Allah ﷻ
Take the first step even if you do not see the whole staircase.
The power of one. Allah ﷻ has always sent me that one sign, maybe a person that will just say something that I didn’t even know that I needed to hear. “Aisha! it is one at a time, one sign, one person, one feeling, one idea, one theme, one moment of gratitude, one community, one foot in front of the other and that is how we change the world.” Please say a du’a for all of these special ladies – all of them – new and old, present and those who had to take their leave. I pray that Allah ﷻ fixes all our hearts. He is indeed Al-Jabbar.
When man is visited by a trouble, he prays to Us, but when, after that, We favor him with some blessing from Us, he says, “This is given to me because of (my) knowledge.” No, but this is a trial, yet most of them do not know.
One of my teachers once gave us an advice, he said, don’t forget to engage with the Qur’an in a language that you are comfortable with every once in a while.
As students of Arabic you can get so stuck with the grammar you forget to connect.
I was reading this ayah this morning and as I attempted to translate it on my own, I remembered an ayah which a sister refers to regularly….
And when you face a hardship at sea, vanished are those whom you used to invoke, except Him (Allah). Then, once He brings you safe to the land, you turn away (from Him); man is so ungrateful.
So many times we want something, that one that completes us, the job of our dreams, the school we want to get into or a cure for our disease or we are in deep trouble and we turn to Allah ﷻ but what happens when the ease comes? Or our duas get answered?
What happens then?
I need to look closely into my day to see what happens.
I woke up this morning and my day felt slightly different.
For the past 10 weeks, three times a week, I got to stay up after Fajr to reflect on the Qur’an with a blessed community of sisters.
And it is true!
The promise of a blessing in the morning.
Sakhr ibn al-Ghamidi reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “O Allah, bless my nation in their early morning.”
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 1212
We all do this while most are prepping for work some are prepping their kids for school, some are prepping for school, some are in the hospital, some are struggling with sleep and it is so amazing how the Qur’an touches everyone. It meets us where we are at. There is something for everyone in the Qur’an. There is something for YOU.
SubhanAllah! It can only be from Allah ﷻ.
This morning was different, without the quick du’as of no interruptions due to network issues or the authenticity of sisters sharing their struggles or even the banter of the team at Yaqeen institute’s Qur’an 30 for 30.
So many times, Ramadan comes and we seek to reconnect with the Qur’an but what if we can find a way to stay connected with the Qur’an all year round. Then the added blessing of a group of like minded sisters.
Sign me up!
You know what gets me the most is sometimes a sister is sharing and it feels totally random and she even says, “does that even make sense?” And to another sister, it is exactly what she needed to hear.
I am praying that Allah ﷻ grants us ease and keeps our intentions pure and continues to use us all in a way that is pleasing to Him and benefits the Ummah.
We are starting a new series focused on Juz Amma. And you can join here In Sha’a Allah.
