BETRAYAL……..

Islamophobia is methodically being indoctrinated in the uninitiated, simple, and uneducated folks of the USA.

Hijab is the flag of Islam and women who wear it are in the first line of fire. It has become the red cape of the bullfighter to a rabidly angry bull. A new concept of an old argument says: The Quran does not command you to cover your head, just your chest…… The muslim women have been hung out to dry by our own.

For the uninitiated, unread, weak in emaan or those like me whose nafs if left untended grows by the minute, it is a death knell to the submission to Allah.

Modulation, moderation, dumbing down, manipulating, using out of context, chipping, separating sentences, tearing parts of pages, misrepresenting, and downright changing the words, meaning and essence of the Quran is nothing new. It has been going on for the past 1400 and more years. Allah’s promise: He will protect his word!

However when it happens in my time, in my friends, in my colleagues, in my city, state and country it disturbs me immensely, and I turn to the scholars to see what they have to offer as a solution.

In this time of strife where muslim women are the first in the firing line, our advisors are weak and have betrayed us. So here is an illustration of what some of the weak, misguided and cultish advise on how to protect you as a woman living in the west in these trying times. (Taken from online sources)

1. MASQUERADE: In these times of strife, maybe wear a hat or beanie so you don’t look like a Muslim
2. HOMEBOUND: In these times of strife, stay home and don’t go out i.e. shiver in your boots with fear if you have to go to the grocery store or better yet don’t go.
3. MENTAL PRISON: Give up your daily routine (walk, riding the subway to work, rubbing elbows at the supermarket with non Muslims etc.).
4. STAY INFORMED: Watch the news channels 24/7 to stay informed and be careful (Doing this will strike terror in your hearts and make you suspicious of even your innocent neighbors and co-workers)
5. RENEGE: Give up your hijab (for some time) i.e. renege the commandment of Allah. You can always take it back later………(later when?)
6. DENIAL: HIJAB IS NOT A COMMANDMENT: Allah doesn’t want you to wear hijab; the Quran only recommends you to cover your chest (does that mean I can run naked with only a bandana over the breast area?)

My evaluation of the above is as follows:

1. MASQUERADE: Allah says in the Quran “declare yourself as a Muslim” isn’t that the SHAHADA we recite in our Salah and when we embrace Islam? So how can we hide that we are Muslim women and still remain Muslims?

Isn’t that what was offered to Spanish Muslims by the Christian conquerors (Isabella and Ferdinand)? Either convert, leave the country or be killed. Many Muslims pretended to no longer be Muslims in their exterior but would carefully secretly pray. Well guess what? The crusading Spanish government was not stupid, they checked Muslims on Jumma if they had washed their faces and arms and if they wore fresh clothes they were executed or sent to inquisition prior to execution.

Some of the Spanish Muslims succeeded by giving up their Salah and buried their Qurans, but then the Spanish government of Isabella and Ferdinand offered 50,000 in their currency to whomsoever identified a Muslim or Jew.

So guess what? The Christian neighbors started taking their friends to cafes to eat, and these are present till today in Andalucía. They are called “Jamon cafes” Jamon being pork. If the Muslim or Jew would not eat pork which was in every item on the menu then they were turned over to the inquisition to be tortured till they repented and then they were dismembered. Their Christian neighbor received their 50,000 in gold currencies.

So would you masquerade?

Allah says in Surah Al Imran: 3:160 If Allah should aid you, no one can overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who is there that can aid you after Him? And upon Allah let the believers rely.

2. HOMEBOUND: There is no harm in being at home and especially if you have designed it as a sanctuary from all distress outside. However being forced to be homebound from fear has a very negative effect on your soul. Allah says in the Quran “Fear me, do not fear them” If you were hanging around Malls with no purpose yes it is a good idea to cut that out. If you were frequenting bars or restaurants with bars where people get unruly after a little while, yes give that up, but not out of fear of people but out of fear of Allah. He says “Fear me, don’t fear them”

So would you make your self homebound from fear?

3. MENTAL PRISON: If you give up your daily routine of exercise, play or prayer and avoid interacting as a Muslim with non-Muslims, this will develop and feed your paranoia about people and places. Aren’t you deliberately putting yourself in a paranoid state? If you do: your straight path will be to the psyche ward.

To boost yourself remember what Allah says in Surah Tariq 15-17:

“Indeed, they are planning a plan, but I am planning a plan. So allow time for the disbelievers. Leave them awhile”

Allah is the best of planners.

4.  STAY INFORMED: In an experiment that I did on a three-hour drive to Charleston, I heard the news continuously on one channel. I noted that it cycled the news unchanged in content but randomly shuffled the order it was presented, every 20 minutes. That kind of repetition hammers a focus in the brain that after the third time you believe it as fact, instead of “news” which may or may not be correct. Thus perhaps read a reliable honest website for news once a day and then give it up, don’t obsess about what is happening.

Remember to check the news bearer for its authenticity, honesty and integrity.

Allah gives us a guideline in surah Hujaraat: 49:6 O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful.

5. RENEGE: Take of your hijab. This for a Muslim woman is like stripping for a rapist. Yes there is fear, there is terror of being killed, maimed and or perhaps raped if you are identified as a Muslim woman. The question that comes to mind is: Does Allah not know what is happening, and as the time of death is fixed would you rather die a muslimah obeying Allah or disobeying him out of fear of His creation? This is easier said than done.

There is a dua to strengthen your inner self:

Dua: surah Yusuf 12: 101

………………….Creator of the heavens and earth, You are my protector in this world and in the Hereafter. Cause me to die a Muslim and join me with the righteous.”

This of course takes a lot of strengthening of the emaan, as there are two interfering forces that may convince you that in taking your hijab off you are actually obeying Allah. One force is the Nafs and the other is Hawa. Both are mentioned in the Quran. The Nafs are more of the base, bestial instincts that want immediate satiation and if left uncontrolled can wreak havoc on your body mind and soul. The second is Hawa, which is even more dangerous to the soul and heart because it is intellectual rationalization of an act that convinces you that the disobedient act is actually obedience, which is illustrated at a “scholarly “ level in the next item.

Allah says in the Quran and I paraphrase: “ Do you think that when you say I am a Muslim that you will not be tested………..”

6. RATIONALIZATION AND DENIAL: The most pernicious and most poisonous for the intellectual woman is the rationalization by some advisors and” intelligentsia” that are reinventing the meaning of the “ Ayahs of hijab”. These are being touted without context and without referring to the Sunnah, ignoring the research done on these ayahs by men and women of Deen who have outstanding credentials of honesty, integrity and scholarship in the subject of their specialization.

Why is it so appealing to the modern woman? Partly because in her heart she knows that it is wrong to parade her beauty even though it gives her an edge over American men and definitely over women, and yet the desire to supersede the long legged blonde who not only shows her hair but a lot of skin is strong within her.

New and evolving “experts in islam”  with websites are attracting young women almost like medals on their lapels, encouraging the “groupie’ phenomenon bordering on being “cultish”. The key identification of these “scholars” is if looked at dispassionately and objectively is that they encourage the groupie phenomenon and if another “scholar” begins to get popularity they shoot him or her down in snide ways. All this is happening in the cyber world. Women in the evenings log on to their sites and cruise for the strokes these “experts”give them by approval, encouragement and pandering to their desire to remain outside the confines of a hijab that hides their beauty and makes them ineffectual in a highly sexual society where things, people and loyalties are bought and sold by wielding the sexual wand.

EMAAN BOOSTERS:

These are for Muslim women to remember in times of distress and times of ease:

سـمِ اللهِ الذي لا يَضُـرُّ مَعَ اسمِـهِ شَيءٌ في الأرْضِ وَلا في السّمـاءِ وَهـوَ السّمـيعُ العَلـيم.

“Bismillaahil-ladhi laa yaduru ma‘asmihi shay’un fil ardi wa laa fissamaa’, wa huwasamee‘ul-‘aleem”

“In the name of Allaah, with whose name nothing on earth nor in the heavens harms, and He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.”

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لا إلهَ إلاّ الله، وحدَهُ لا شريكَ لهُ، لهُ المُـلْكُ ولهُ الحَمْد، وهوَ على كلّ شَيءٍ قَدير.

“Laa ilaaha illa Allaahu wahdahu laa sharika lah, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamd, wa huwa ‘alaa kulli shay’in qadeer. ”

“None is worthy of worship except Allaah, alone, without partner. To Him belongs all sovereignty and praise, and He has power over all things.”

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If you are feeling weak or inclined to disobey Allah or just want to boost your spirit make this masnoon dua:

اللّهُـمَّ اقسِمْ لي مِنْ خَشيَتِكَ ما تَحُولُ بهِ بَيني و بينَ مَعصِيَتَك، و مِنْ طَاعَتِكَ ما تُبَلِغُني بهِ جَنَتَك، و مِن اليَقِينِ ما تُهَوِنُ بهِ عليَّ مَصَا ئِبَ الدُنيا.

 

“Allaahumma aqsim lee min khashyatika maa tahoolu bihi baynee wa bayna ma‘siyatak, wa min taa‘atika maa tubalighunee bihi jannatak, wa minal-yaqeeni maa tuhawinu bihi ‘alayya masaa’ibad-dunyaa.”

“Ô Allaah, bestow upon me a share of fear from You which will prevent me from disobeying You, and bestow upon me a share of obedience with which You will take me to Your jannah, and bestow upon me a share of certainty with which You lighten the effects of the hardships and tribulations of this dunyaa on my heart.”

My dua for my Muslim sisters: Stay strong! Be in solidarity with your Deen and your sisters in Deen. May Allah strengthen you and protect you from all evil.

Ameen!