Gossip

“THOSE WHO GOSSIP TO YOU, WILL GOSSIP ABOUT YOU.”

I don’t know who said this quote, but I have definitely found it to be true in life. Sometimes in conversation with sisters, you hear a little something like this…. “I don’t want to backbite, BUT…..”. First of all, if you’re saying this, you clearly know you’re about to backbite somebody and bring the sin of it upon yourself. So when you have to start your sentence off with, “I don’t want to/ I’m not trying to backbite, but…” STOP RIGHT THERE. I’m pretty sure if someone brought you a bowl of hot steaming flesh from your brother or sister when you were beginning this statement, you wouldn’t finish what you were going to say. Or remind yourself that when you backbite another muslim, you’re giving them your good deeds. I don’t know about anyone else, but I can’t afford to lose anyyyyyyy good deeds.
Coming back to the quote, when a sister backbites someone else to me, this quote repeats over and over in my mind and I feel I can no longer trust this sister. If she’s so willing to disobey Allah to tell someone else’s secrets and personal business to me, then I highly doubt she would have a problem telling mine. I find myself in a situation like this now. I’m friends with a sister, who almost every conversation is gossiping or backbiting someone. I change the subject and am trying to be nice about it, but it’s quickly changing the way I see her. Of course, no one is perfect and I’m sure I have short comings that she dislikes about me, but I feel her trying to backbite others to me is 1) bringing a sin upon herself, 2) bringing a sin upon me if I don’t advise her against it, and 3) making me question how much of what I’ve told her has been repeated to others.
“Those who gossip to you, will gossip bout you.”
Food for thought.

EXTREME!!!

Many disbelievers and, unfortunately, many muslims think wearing the niqab is extreme. I feel what’s extreme to a person depends on what their morals and lifestyle are. My covering is extreme to someone who ‘flaunts what they got’ and ‘let’s it all hang out’. My abstaining from drinking alcohol is extreme to someone who drinks until they can’t remember what happened last night. My praying five times a day is extreme to someone who only prays when they need something. My abstaining from sex outside of marriage is extreme to someone who feels they need to know what someone is ‘working with’ before they get married.
What really confuses is when Christians say they can’t be muslim because of all the extreme restrictions. Did I miss the book in the bible that says a woman can go out with her head uncovered (yes, it says a woman has to cover her head in the bible), or where it says it’s ok to fornicate, or where it says to sin and live life to the fullest when your young and worry about the punishment later? I don’t think so.
Then we come to the muslims who say the niqab is extreme… Are you calling the wives of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa salaam) extreme? Are you saying the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa salaam) let his wives and the female companions around him practice something extreme? I hear muslims say a niqabis appearance repels people from islam and trying to understand our religion. My duty, as a muslim, first and foremost is to my Lord. Not pleasing the people and making myself uncomfortable so that others will feel comfortable approaching me. If someone looks at me and, in their ignorance, thinks I’m dangerous, extreme, or to weak to form an opinion to speak with them, then that’s on them. I am practicing a part of Islam by wearing my niqab and I won’t abandon something pleasing to my Lord to make others comfortable.
It’s extreme to me to hear muslims say that don’t cover at all because they’re blending in with the community so they can call people to Islam. So basically, you’re abandoning something Allah has made obligatory on you, to call to Allah’s religion? Hmm…. let me think about that for a minute….. No go. This sounds the same to me as someone saying, “I went out drinking with him to talk about Islam” Muslims would hear this person and say, “That makes no sense. You’re calling to Islam while committing a sin.” Um, HELLO!
My niqab isn’t extreme for me because it fits with the way I live my life. Trying to be obedient to my Lord and trying to be a modest woman. If you think that’s extreme, then maybe you need to look at your standards!

Jesus Saves

So I’m leaving the shoprite, where most of the people in the store felt they should get a good eye-full of my niqab, and this guy yells out, ” JESUS SAVES!”. I turned around but whoever said it didn’t even have the guts to let it be known it was him. I thought about screaming, “HE SURE DOES.”, but I didn’t want to sound ghetto.
It’s amazing and ignorant to me how so many people think muslims don’t believe in Jesus. Newsflash!!! We do. And by that, of course I mean that muslims believe Jesus was a very important prophet and messenger of Allah. Like one time my husband bought this lady some food and she said, “Thank Jesus. Oh yeah, you guys don’t believe in Jesus.” What? Since when? Even in having a convo with my mom, I was saying how Jesus will come back before the Day of Judgment and she was basically shocked we valued Jesus at all. And when I went on to explain that we believe Jesus was a messenger and performed miracles, by the Will of Allah, she was confused and later my grandmother and her asked, “If you believe in Jesus, then why don’t you follow his message?” Since Jesus’ message was to worship One God, I truly follow his message. The question is why don’t yall? Jesus clearly said in the bible, another messenger was to come after him, yet Christians totally disregard that. Jesus clearly says in the bible to worship God, not himself, not his mother, nor the Holy Spirit, but God Alone. Jesus’ message wasn’t worship him alongside God, it was to worship his Lord and your Lord Alone. And muslims do this.
So, I agree with you, extremely ignorant shoprite guy… Jesus does save, when you follow his true message and the message of all the prophets from Adam to Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa salaam)… to worship the One, True God Alone.