Thursday, September 1, 2011

A Word, of Hope.

A word of hope


From the depths of a tortured life, I desperately have swam through the ocean of tears, born from heart. And like a phoenix rising from the ashes I will prevail.


Many of you may have noticed my lack of blogging for the past two years. Life(and ofc Allah) sometimes has other plans for us and we have nothing to do but move with the current and make the best of it. As a victim of abuse, I have cried many tears, I have hurt myself and others, I have delayed my needs and sabotaged healthy relationships to try and cope with my heartache. I have mourned for the little girl I used to be, and all the rights that were stolen from her at such a young age. I mourn for the adolescence that was shadowed with confusion. I have wept for the remainder that still bleeds into my adulthood.


And yet, I smile. I laugh, I strive. I am strong. What is shrouded in darkness will always come to light, and the truth, cannot be hidden, justice is served, and love can be found.


Grief is an amazing thing because it is intense, and involved, but once you do it, its over, and you can move on. I have now been left for years, without any semblance of closure for the abuse I experienced as a child, and as time went by only more abuse was piled on. I have been carrying around a deep hate and fear of “love” from a seriously tender young age. It had not occurred to me ever to grieve. I was taught emotion was a bad, terrible thing that should never happen. And often times I refrained from even showing emotion at home because it would be later used against me. Anything I enjoyed was taken and anything I disliked was increased. Eventually, emotions stopped being an option, so I would internalize everything, and feel nothing. Numb on the surface, and suffocating deep inside. I felt encased in life, in time, in breath. So here I am, 21 years old, going to counseling 3 times a week, when I realize, crying actually makes me feel better. Letting go, in a safe, appropriate environment, helps. It was never safe before and so it never happened.


The crying is always intense these days, and I often need to call someone for support to stabilize myself, and my negative thinking, but there is a joyful feeling when the grieving is over. As though I carried mountains of selfishness, and hate, and compensation, and apology and oppression within me for at least a decade, and finally a severe volcanic eruption purged my soul of the deepest fires of hell. The hellish reality that was my existence. Soon after the clouds of ash dissipate and I am left to feel the shine of the gracious Sun on my face. My soul grows, and I understand the purpose of Allah's plan, and why I must bare this burden.


Some people say, be careful what you wish for, and others don't understand God's purpose. When you ask Allah for strength, he gives you something hard to make you strong. When you ask to be more patient, he gives you an impossible situation to battle. In other words, if you wanna run a marathon, you better get your energy drink and your sneakers. This, is life.


My passion in life is to help. To help others with the impossibility life can be. I have been told, I excel in this area, and can truly help those I see suffering. I do not owe this ability to anything or anyone but Allah. He has blessed me with the knowledge of this world, and how to overcome it, and -that- is why I can do what I do. So I no longer ask, why? Why? Why? Why? Had I not been brutally whipped as a child, or beaten, or tormented mentally on several levels, or treated like a sexual object, I would not be who I am. I would not be able to hold the weight of my brothers and sisters in humanity, and I would be completely unable to relate to the strife of being so degraded on a consistent basis. I would not, be me. And through the great leaps of life I have learned to love me. And I have learned when it is safe to let others “love” me. As a wise woman once said said so articulately; I will remove the scarlet letters from my chest, and take the hand of the little girl I used to be, and I will wait for a man to come along, who can give me the -truth- of how much, he can really love me. -Miss Mayda De Valle.


Healing is not, never feeling the pain anymore. Not feeling the pain is repressing and bottling the hurt inside of you, letting it harbor into a polluted mess. These days, I cry daily, and I have never been happier in my life. I have been more scared than ever because I've stopped avoiding my fears, and yet I rest easier. You want strength? Step up to the plate, and **ask for help**.


The very hardest thing for me was realizing I -could not- do it alone. It was not possible. Trusting someone else with my feelings, my love, my reality, was by far more trying than anything else. There is a satisfaction gained when you learn to trust yourself though, and stop second guessing.


For those of you who understand. You are strong, you have held your pain inside your souls for so long. Be brave enough to let it out now. Have faith in The Creator, and Controller of All. Have faith in the one dealing the cards of your life, and make the best of the Hand he deals you. Even if getting out of bed in the morning is your biggest problem, you are a CHAMP for doing it. Doesn't matter how hard the challenge seems, if it's a challenge, and you are trying (even if you aren't necessarily succeeding) you are a hero. Bold, and BRAVE. Give yourself the credit you deserve.


This is my word of hope to you, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Just take off the blindfold.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Leaving Abuse and It's Stigmas


http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/jozh6/could_you_stay_in_a_relationship_where_the/

SubhanAllah. I'm really disgusted by people who can blame her for not leaving sooner! They were probably the same people who would have blamed her if she left. As someone who has run from an abusive home, I understand fully the many barriers that lay upon a woman, and anyone with children has it much worse. I honestly am saddened, because although the barriers reach the sky, its possible to leave, she could be alive now but she didnt have a group like us, and I'm so heart broken about that.

Please check out the Facebook Online Muslimah Abuse Support Group for other women with like ideas to help you out!

I was asked if I had any advice for women battling the stigmas of others.


I put it in my mind that I was right about my decision to leave, and just didnt let anyone sway me. No matter the crazy inventive things people have said, excuses, stories, I hold fast to the fact that I was being abused and needed a safe place, cause I -deserve- that.


I had people ask me why I left, and I refused to divulge because people are ignorant about what abuse is, and wouldnt understand to begin with what its like to be literally tortured with the games people play. The response to that was often, 'Well I dont believe it was that bad.' And to that I say, 'Good for you' and move on with my day, unphased by their ignorance, because at the end of the day -I- and only -I- has a true knowledge of whats best for -me-, and no one else has the right to make that decision for me, or tell me to make another decision.


My mom will always say 'What will the people say about what your doing?' and my reply is 'Well screw the people!' and I can hold fast to that too. Sorry for the language but thats how I feel. For the little group of Arabs gossiping at Jummah, is that who imma live my life for? Is it? I stand with the believers of compassion, justice, respect, the true submitters of Allahs will, and no one else.


And even then, unfortunately I feel like I have to educate my community, my Imam is so disgustingly ignorant, God help him, its not his fault, but its hurtful to go to his office and have him give 'advice' that basically puts me in the line of danger. I maintain that anyone who tries to control you is dangerous, its not natural, and its a serious mental diffiencey to wanna control something outside you. Anyone who going to beat fear and submission into my can go fly the highest kite.


In short. Just never second guess yourself. Take a look at the 'Power Control Wheel', google it. See what abuse you fit into, most of us dont even realize it is abuse. Decide for yourself that you deserve better, and never look back.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Another reason why I don't get Christianity




As salam alekum wa ruhmutAllahi wa barakatu


I'm going to write about this against my better judgment, simply cause I cannot understand this

whatsoever, here is a picture, one of many, that confuses and angers me a fair bit. I intially came across this cause I was wondering how Moses peace be upon him felt upon meeting his Lord for the first time, and sought out a visual aid. I come across one picture similar to this, and then another, and another, and another, and another. I am confused and then suddenly angered.


As you can see this picture displays Moses bowing to his Lord as the story goes, but what interests me is how his Lord is depicted. I know Christian theology states that Jesus and God are one and the same, and that has always confused me, but now I'm struck with another question.


How the hell did Jesus come down and speak to Moses when he wasn't even conceived yet?!


You'd think that would be the first thing someone would think of when drawing something like this but apparently not! Jesus isn't even alive at this point in history, and has no human form. But as always Christians change what the Bible actually said to serve their own purposes. And while we are on the subject of Christians making things up; SINCE WHEN DID JESUS OR MOSES BECOME WHITE? These are SEMETIC people they are almost BLACK. I can't help but find this just stupid that somehow God is white -_-. And in addition to this Moses had a beard! He was -not- a clean shaven man! What the hell.


I think the most disappointing illustration was the one where God/Jesus looks like an angel. I just had to facepalm at that one. I have no remedy for that level of stupidity, and I honestly wonder why God hasn't smote us all by now.


The last picture I have here is the only accurate one that can be found, which is so disappointing. So utterly sad, for once, Google has failed me.


Monday, May 2, 2011

Such Is Life

Salam alekum wa ruhmutAllahi wa barakatu

I remember when I was about 16, a friend confessed to me she'd been depressed cause a close friend of hers had died a while back. At the time I felt so insanely sad for her. It was the worst possible thing I could have imagined that could happen and we were both taken aback by such a sad scenario.


Now I stand back and look at us both, five years later, filled with such fitna and distress. And yet we handle each new disappointment remarkably well. I'm curious as to when pain and destruction had become so common place, so routine. I wonder when it actually was when the world completely crushed our longing youthful souls, and made us into adults. I wonder if that's healthy. I wonder if we will ever dream as we did before. Not that our expectations of the world were so great either. Just wanting some love, a little respect once and a while from the ones we loved, only to return empty handed, burdened once more with someone else's problems.


The past few months my heart has broken more times than I can imagine, and yet I felt worse about the death of her friend, and our boy troubles. When did my heart grow so much callas? And do I dare attempt to bare it once again to a vicious world?


Is this what 'adulthood' breeds?


So many questions racing, so little answers, so many more problems to fix. Does it end? Or will death be the final peace? Quiet. Stillness. Love.


All I know is God gave me limbs and a brain, so I will keep walking this path as long as it takes to answer these questions, knowing life is like a good episode of LOST; it answers what you've been dieing to know, but leaves you to wonder about everything else. With each step I find myself more, and yet, I feel more lost than ever before. Such is love I guess. Such is life.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Why protests don't work


As salam alekum wa ruhmutAllahi wa barakatu


America outside of Libya, ready to invade and divide yet another Muslim country.


I think in light of recent events we can all see that this is true. If anyone has followed the protests in Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria etc, you will release it hasn't really worked to the benefit of anyone. Tunis' leader my have run away like a chicken from the coop but his government is still in place and the people are still protesting for their basic human rights. Egypt's new government has IRONICALLY made protesting illegal even though that is the system that has put them in place. Why? Because people are still protesting. Why would they do that? No justice has been delivered. Liyba is now headed for a full on scale war, possibly another WW3 with half the world ready to blow it up. And sadly the rest of the countries are just having people massacred by the hundreds, which is especially concentrated in the much ignored Bahrain.

So you ask why does this not work? Well the fact is nothing really gets done unless theirs a resource to be exploited (like the oil in Libya) or unless people start getting hurt in violent protests (as in Egypt) and even then the results are superficial. The more important reason why this system is flawed is because people don't know what they want (or frankly what they need) and are just complaining without direction. The Egyptian revolution was fueled with so much anger and could have achieved anything. As the world watched for a daunting and exhausting month it was released they had no idea what to do. They had no leader, no system, nothing to support, and not they have been GIVEN exactly the opposite of what they wanted.


Case in point, don't complain unless you know what you want and how to get it because forces like America will be inclined to shove something down your throat that you did not expect. Movements with no direction are easy influenced and redirected and therefore are unfruitful.


One of the many mistakes of the Egyptians is that they just exclaimed 'WE WANTED DEMOCRACY' which clearly showed they had no sense of what they want, or frankly what you need(Shariah). If you want democracy then find a leader, set up a party, spread the word, and then march in support of this group. Show that your insane numbers are behind something for the love of God. The mistake here is that they gave Mubarak the chance to turn them down. Alternatively if you find his replacement and support him, then the man has no choice but to step down!


Comparatively think of is this way; if your brother is taking your fist and making you hit yourself over and over, and is not listening when you request you stop, in the event that you are too weak to fight back, so you keep asking him to stop? No. You go call your mom to -make- him stop. There is no sense in asking the dictator for his opinion and giving him the power to turn you down.


In conclusion, protests have no place in the world unless they are going to be done right and do something EFFECTIVELY. I really can't see why the Middle East is up in arms and hasn't learned this lesson yet. InshaAllah maybe we will. Right now we need to fight back! And with a purpose.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

! Fake Muslim Sites Beware ! COULD YOU FORWARD AN EMAIL TO SAVE YOUR RELIGION?



As salam alekum wa ruhmutAllahi wa barakatu brothers and sisters,
LifeAsAMuslimah was a darling to put together these sites so they can be emailed and islamic hater sites could be identified. JazakaAllah khair sister and inshaAllah now these attempts will be thwarted. Her post reads:



COULD YOU FORWARD AN EMAIL TO SAVE YOUR RELIGION?

Please send this message to every Muslim you know...

ASAP!

If you don't...

A Muslim somewhere in the world could be receiving false information about Islam. So prevent that from happening.

!PLEASE!

Beware of the following websites:
www.answering-islam.org
www.aboutislam.com
www.thequran.com
www.allahassurance.com

These sites have been developed by Islamaphobes!

Who Intentionally are spreading
wrong information about the QURAN , the HADITH and ISLAM itself.

Please spread this information
To all the Muslim brothers and sisters around the world. The list of traced

anti- Islamic websites, about Islam are:
1. http://www.islamreview.com/
This site has posted fake stories of how Muslims converted to Christianity. How do I know? Read the following excerpt from one of the stories:
First the 'convert' says: (emphasis added)
In the end, I managed to convince my mother, as it was for Allah and I joined the Islamic College. Having graduated as an ustaz, I was soon posted to my neighbourhood
And then:
My trip to Mecca for the Haj (pilgrimage) was tiring but eventful. I did not have the rare opportunity to see inside the holy Kabah and the holy idols inside, which Prophet Muhammud had helped to place, as explained in Bukhari's Hadith
An Ustaz (scholar) in Islaamic Studies is saying that there are idols inside the Kabah and that too placed by Muhammad (saw) himself!?!?!

This clearly shows that the author is deliberately trying to spread misinformation about Islaam and wants to convey to possible reverts to Islaam that it is religion of idol worship.
In fact most of the Christian sites use this tactic of false convert stories but it's not always possible to prove it


2.
http://www.faithfreedom.org/

AlhamduliLlaah I was able to catch another site posting fake stories of Muslims leaving Islaam. See the false information imparted here. That the attempt is deliberate is known through the claim that the 'convert' has done detailed study about the topic.

For Islamic Education, I had to study about marriage in detail to do well. So, I learnt all the stuff and got the highest grade anyone can get for Islamic Education. And guess what? Because I know it so well, I know that there is a lot of discrimination against women in Islam. Things like a father and grandfather can marry a girl/woman to whomever they want even if the girl/woman doesn't want to marry that person In addition, I learned things like women couldn't be witnesses in Syariah Courts and things like that


. The first point here is a total lie whereas the second is a distorted version of the truth.........
3.
http://www.answering-islam.org/Testimonies/younathan..html

Here's yet another extract from a false convert story aimed at spreading misinformation about Islaam.

As I started thinking about my life and the Quran, I realized all Muslims, even the prophet Muhammad, would go to Hell for certain sins they committed in their lifetime.

This is a common ploy of the Christian Missionaries. They first inform gullible victims that Jesus (God) is Love and just by believing in the Crucifixion, you will be assured of Paradise . Whereas the concept of God in Islaam is so harsh that no one will be spared from Hell and that even Prophet Muhammad (saw) was not sure of where he would end up.. For this purpose they quote an ayat of the Qur'aan out of context. Here there have gone a step further by saying that even our beloved Prophet (saw) would have to go through hell. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Anti Islaamic Sites under misleading names





4.
http://www.muslimhope.com/

5.
http://www..islameyat.com/

6.
http://www.islamreview.com/

7.
http://www.muhammadanism.com/

8.
http://thespiritofislam........com/index.html

9.
http://www.abrahamic-faith.com/

10.
http://www.gnfcw.com/

11.
http://www.knowislam.info/drupal/mno

12.
http://www.homa..org/

13.
http://www.thequran.com/

14.
http://www.Allahassurance.com/

15.
http://www.mosque.com/

16.
http://thespiritofislam........com/index.html

17.
http://www.newislam.org/

Anti Islaamic Sites apparent even by name

18. http://www.islam-exposed.org/

19. http://answering-islam.org.uk/

20. http://www.answeringinfidels.com/

21. http://www.islamundressed.com/

22. http://www.studytoanswer.net/myths_ch1.html

23. http://www.challenging-islam.org/submissions/shariah.htm

24. www.answering-islam.org

25. http://www.islamundressed.com/

26. http://www.exmuslim.com/

27. http://www.answeringinfidels.com/

28. http://www.gnfcw.com/

29. http://www.dhimmi..com/

30. http://www.chick.com/information/religions/islam/

31. http://www.acage.org/

32. http://www..apostatesofislam.com/

33. http://www.secularislam.org/

34. http://www..muslim-refusenik.com/

35. http://www.icapi.org/

36. http://www.hesetsfree.org/

37. http://www.letusreason.org/Islamdir.htm

38. http://www.kafirnation.com/

39. http://www.jihadwatch.org/

40. http://www.anti-cair-net.org/

41. http://apostatesofislam.com/

42. http://challenging-islam.org/

Always check the source of any Islamic web site even if it is very convincing

A
FAKE AMERICAN QUR'AN

(The FURQAN QUR'AN)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1579211755/qid%3D1096805827/102-4933271-2395342

PLEASE DO NOT ignore this.

FORWARD this to as many Muslims as you can.

The new AMERICAN Qur'an:

a dangerous trick.

A new Quran

is being distributed in Kuwait , titled 'The True

Furqan'. It is being described as the verses of the

Shaytan and
Al-Furqan weekly magazine has found out

that the two American printing companies;

'Omega 2001'

and
'Wine Press' are involved in the publishing of

'
The True Furqan ', a book which has also been titled

'
The 21st Century Qur'an '!

It is over 366 pages and is

in both the Arabic and English languages...it is being

distributed to our children in Kuwait in the private

English schools!

The book contains 77 Surats, which include Al-Fatiha, Al-Jana and Al-Injil. Instead of

Bismillah, each Surat begins with a longer version of

this incorporating the Christian belief of the three

spirits.

And this so called Qur'an opposes many Islamic

beliefs. In one of its verses it describes having more

than one wife as fornication, divorce being

non-permissible and it uses a new system for the

sharing out of the will, opposing the current one. It

states that Jihad is HARAM.

This book even goes as far as attacking God Almighty Allah!

All this is poisoning our children at approx. $3.

Brothers and Sisters please make sure you forward this

email to as many people as possible so that we can

stop this dangerous trick..

May Allah reward you. Ameen

Answering Islam, A Christian-Muslim Dialog and Apologetic
www.answering-islam.org
Christians and Muslims have many things in common. They believe in one God, worship in holy sanctuaries, have similar annual religious calendars, and set aside one day a week for a major community worship service. Outwardly both religions can look very similar. ... Formal monotheism – Is this really..

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Who Really Loves You?


As salam alekum wa ruhmutAllahi wa barakatu


“Yilly be7abak babkeek, willy beda7kuk, bedu7hik 3lake.”


My mom said this phrase to me today, and it just clicked in my head so profoundly. Granted it sounds better in Arabic, but I think we can all appreciate the translation. “The one who loves you makes you cry, and the one who laughs with you laughs at you (or at your expense)". Now ain't that the truth.

What use is the person who makes you laugh all the time and in turn really only ends up feeding your nafs (center of desires). That is not where true love lies. Those who love you will push the truth into your face whether you like it or not, because its important, and that's the only thing that will benefit you in the end. A true friend doesn't just make you feel good about your situation, a true friend calls you a lazy whiner, if that's what you are. "It is not my job to make you feel good, its my job to make you live up to your potential", said my brother.

Granted friends shouldn't put you down either, or make accusations and assumptions. They should comfort you and make you feel good about yourself when you are down, give you a few inspiring talks. That being said, when this fails, its time to bust out reality.

And there are some people on this planet that I just cannot stand! They make me so angry sometimes that I can't even form sentences. But deep down I love them, because they mean well, and because they want to see me be better, think better, aspire to be better. I can appreciate that sometimes they aren't the most articulate people, and can often be rude or short tempered; I can be a frustrating person. But I know that they mean well, and once I have calmed down I can collect my thoughts and try to sort out what I need to do.

The one thing about advice that we don't like is that sometimes it just doesn't click. I've been faced with that a lot lately. I have been given so much “advice” lately that I thought my head was going to implode. With so many people telling me about what is wrong with me, you can imagine I was pissed right off for weeks. But lately I've come to the realization that I really do need to get things together, and that these problems do exist. I can be lazy, I'm stubborn as a camel, hot tempered once you get me going, and sometimes inappropriately harsh.

That is something I can appreciate. Despite how these messages were conveyed (trust me it wasn't sugar coated or kind at all) I learned something about myself, and now I can be a better person because of it. We all need to shove our pride deep into the ground and be a little more patient when receiving advice, because after all most people don't actually like flipping out, or hurting your feelings. Therefore, if someone cares about they will stress themselves out, and you to get the message across.


Take care everyone <3