#then I’ll read and go to be inshallah

[deathshallbenomore]

rereading wuthering heights after something like thirteen (13) years sounds like a good and appropriate plan for my easter holidays, lol

#then! I’ll finally go back to reading life and fate inshallah #(of course I’ll have to start over but thanks audiobook for existing so I can alternate between text and audio because goddddd my synapses #are struggling)

[travelingprincess]

Ruqyah Rundown

What follows is a brief rundown of what I know can constitute protection from afflictions of the unseen. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but I'll provide resources for additional learning at the end, inshallah.

Rectifying Your Deen

This is the most important one, and the one that people are most quick to dismiss, unfortunately. It doesn't matter how much recitation you're doing, how much extra prayers you're praying, etc. if you don't even understand what Tawheed is (all 3 categories). If your aqeedah isn't correct, you're leaving yourself wide open. What we know and believe about Allah is essential.

Here's a great place to start, bithnillah.

Tied in with this is the critical component of praying all your fardh prayers. This cannot be stressed enough. If you are someone who is not praying all your five daily prayers, on time, in the appropriate way, fulfilling all the necessary conditions—then you need to stop reading immediately and make that the focus of your life. Nothing you ever do will be more important than that.

Ruqyah

Contrary to popular belief, ruqyah (loosely translated to Qur'anic healing) is not just for afflictions of the unseen, such as evil eye, magic and jinns. However, for these issues, we have literally no other alternatives.

Importantly, there is no ruqyah superior to what came to us from the Qur'an and authentic Sunnah. This is a point that Shaykh Muhammad Tim Humble stresses a lot, as well. So let your ruqyah start with, at the very least:

al-Fatiha

al-Falaq

al-Nas

al-Baqara (for magic)

NOTE: Differentiating between and diagnosing which of the unseen ailments you're suffering from is largely irrelevant, especially early on. The treatment will remain the same basically across the board.

Who Should Perform Ruqyah?

The BEST ruqyah is the one you perform upon yourself. You DO NOT need an "expert" or an "imam" or a "white magician" (pro tip: there's no such thing; all magic is haram). There are more hucksters and charlatans in this field than maybe any other, and they're only interested in separating you from your money.

Adhkar

These are the armor of the Muslim against the Shaiyateen.

I've linked you to images for the du'as and dhikrs because this is how I learned them. I saved these to my phone in an album called "Memorization." Then, whenever I had to recite them, I'd pull out my phone and go through them. It may look daunting but it really isn't because many of these you may know already, such as Surahs Ikhlas, Falaq and Nas. These and Ayat-ul-Kursi— make every effort to incorporate daily.

Here is what I do:

Morning

Pray for Jannah and protection from the Hellfire x3

Sayyid ul-Istighfar

Glorify Allah x3

Recite Ayat ul-Kursi

Recite Surah al-Ikhlas x3

Recite Surah al-Falaq x3

Recite Surah an-Nas x3

Evening

after sunset, before or after Maghrib

Sayyid ul-Istighfar

Recite Ayat ul-Kursi

Recite Surah al-Ikhlas x3

Recite Surah al-Falaq x3

Recite Surah an-Nas x3

After Salah

immediately after every Fardh prayer only

Say "Astaghfirullah" x3

Praise Allah

Recite Ayat ul-Kursi

Recite Surah al-Ikhlas, Surah al-Falaq, and Surah an-Nas

Recite "Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu akbar" 33x (you can also do each just 10 times)

Situational

Learn the du'as for specific situations, in particular the du'a before entering the bathroom, as bathrooms and other such filthy places are where the Shaiyateen can often be found, and a person is vulnerable therein because you cannot make dhikr and your awrah is exposed.

Try to avoid being out at sunset, if you can, as that's when the Shaiyateen are typically out. It's not haram to be out and about, but it's preferred not to be, especially for small children who may be more vulnerable.

When you close a door (to a room, house, etc.), say, "Bismillah" as the shaiyateen cannot open a door that has been shut with "Bismillah." Even better if it has a lock, but if it doesn't, khair inshallah.

You should also say "Bismillah" upon entering your house, as well as give salaams, even if no one else is home.

Precautions

There are many things we do, which we may not realize is basically unraveling all the work we did with the above. These are serious issues. Does any one of us put on fresh, clean clothes and then go out to roll around in mud and filth? Of course not! But that is essentially what we're doing when we pray, do dhikr, recite and do ruqyah but then turn around and engage in the following:

Music

The scholars have called music the adhan of Shaiytaan!. Listening to music is essentially inviting the shaiyateen into your home and heart. Ibn al-Qayyim wrote a whole book on The Evils of Music.

Another warning from our illustrious scholars: music and the Qur'an cannot reside within the same heart; one must necessarily push the other out. Which one do we prefer to die with?

Social Media

Delete delete delete. What benefit has there ever been from this cancer? For women, especially, either you'll take an axe to your own self esteem from seeing beautiful women (all filtered and make-upped), or you'll be enticed to do the same and post yourself up. Not only is this tabarruj (wanton and impermissible display of one's beauty), but you are inviting the envy, jealousy and rancor of strangers you don't even know.

If it's not your own visage, then it's the things you own, the car you drive, the house you live in, the great marriage you've been blessed with, etc. Not even remotely worth getting evil eye over.

Do your psychological and spiritual health a favor and get off of social media, especially visually-based ones like Instagram, TikTok, etc.

Related to this is that you should be extremely careful of who you share details of your life with, especially the good things that you're blessed with. Unfortunately, even family members can give the evil eye, so just be very, very cautious in this respect.

Resources for Additional Learning

These are the resources I've used in my journey to learning more about Ruqyah. Basically all of what's listed above has it's roots and citations in some of the works below.

Diaries of an Exorcist

Ruqyah Course - EXTREMELY beneficial, can't recommend enough

Simple Guide to Self-Ruqyah

10-Lecture Ruqyah Course

Marriage & Ruqyah

Ruqyah Workshop Level 1, 2, 3

#0018 #ruqyah #jinn #magic #evil eye

[softlifetojannah]

Thought of the week~! #1 Tadaaa~

I thought since I’m horrible at journaling I might as well just do random thoughts of the week that stick to me.

This week it has been Dr. Haifa Yunus questioning why we didn’t treat our spiritual nourishment like we do with our physical one.

And even though I am not one to get up at 5am to head to the gym I have been known to occasionally do so. I’ve also time and time again written plans and methods on how to get fitter, get better cardio and stamina or just to lose weight.

So why haven’t i given the same amount if time to the deen?

Like I have written plans in place just to do quick 20 min workouts. Or have planned 3x an hour workouts for the week and carried it through but how often has that been the case for reading the Quran or Tafsir.

Again I’m not sure why but it felt like a paradigm shift. Now it doesn’t feel so daunting to just pick up the quran and read.

Its like I’ll think of exercising but feel to lazy to do that so why not just read the quran? They are both forms of Ibadah.

(I thought of exercise being a form of ibadah as a wrote this and now I feel like my lazy ass shiuld probably do more of it as well - on the by way this is why I like writing down my thoughts, its like they get sorted out and clearer when I do and thats why it feels like I’ve been going through brain fig since I stopped writing.)

Anyways, back to the main point. Inshallah I’ll set up a regimen of reading the quran on the regular like I would do with exercise because this week that I’ve been implementing it has been a different kind of serenity.

#islam #muslimah #spilled thoughts #quran #serenity

[to-whom-itmay-concern]

09/05/22 -H.S.

I cannot process that you’re gone. My mind won’t accept it. My heart won’t accept it. how is this possible?!

Thats it?! you’re gone. They buried you deep down in the ground and this time I can’t be there to pick you up. I can’t make you laugh or throw a sarcastic joke at you to bring you back to life again.

Why? Why did you leave? Why didn’t you reach out so I can be there for you. you always knew how to get out of it and come back stronger. I looked up to your strength and resilience and used it to keep going too..

i wish I could tell you how sorry I am. To tell you how loved you were. To tell you how much I loved you and cared for you. That you meant so much to me. I wish I could’ve traveled to see you one last time. To call you one last time and listen to you ramble on and on about a topic you were passionate about. I wish I would’ve stayed consistent and asked about you more. I didn’t know how badly you were hurting, how badly you needed someone to be there and I am so sorry that i wasn’t there. I’m so sorry that I may have added to it.

I can’t stop looking at your pictures and reading our conversations and hearing your voice-notes. I MISS YOU and it pains me that I won’t be able to reach out to you anymore. I can’t believe you’re gone and I don’t know how i am ever going to fully process this. I’m writing a bunch of words on here because I don’t know what to do. I feel so lost so guilty so confused why’d you leave and do this. It’s not like you.

I hope you’re at ease. God’s Mercy is better than any love or mercy you could’ve gotten here in this life. I have to remember that. I hope we meet again jannah inshallah when my time comes.

I’ll never stop praying for you.

[growthpeacelove]

Heard back

Incredible updates include hearing back from him and realizing that everything is fine and we will soon see each other. Mothers treatment has been rescheduled which means we can move with ease which means my older sister can start working with ease and hopefully everything goes well. I hope to get back to my health and focus on myself more. I am exhausted. My PMS symptoms came this time around at full force and I am exhausted from that pain alone. I feel swollen. I am barely dragging myself through these days. I am just hoping to make it easier on myself and get the tests done that I need. I want to ultimately feel better. I may have overdone it yesterday w the new habit honestly but let’s just say this week has been where I am crawling to the finish line. I want to continue doing what makes sense for me and saying no to my parents as necessary. Perhaps I will go and see someone new for therapy. Everything again is up in the air. Cannot wait to get a break and go to the island. InshAllah I will be at peace. InshAllah everything will work out. It always does. Tomorrow I have - well actually today since it’s 5:31 AM right now. I will have a packaging meeting? I’m intrigued for the gift card. Maybe I will resume my biking abilities. I have FSA monies I need to spend and I am ready! Maybe I’ll get daily contacts? I just don’t want to spend it on my “last” day. In a rush that is. Good lord do I need to vibe and get waxed and just feel better overall. God bless new ways to do your period. I want to give myself all the best that I can and that includes being more active. Being a caregiver is a lot. It has been a lot for years and it will continue until there is some way out. Some improvements. It at least made me closer to my mom in some sense and taught me once more how I should not be! I feel like a balloon sometimes. Overall I am going to get better. Also reading about celeb drama has been my passion lately. I love it! It also again makes me think that I can be an actor as well. That I just need to try. Once again that is something I can attempt later in May. Once I realize where I am and what I am doing. Fun employment sounds like a blast in some ways. I bet my family would make it not as fun. I just want to take a break and consult for a bit. That would be insane. I need to cash a check soon. I also want to claim even more money. I also want to stay to prove a point but also what point is that??? To who? Any company would love to have me! I also deserve a break! Burn out is real. I want to make hella money and I most certainly can now that there are no income limits. How do I do that? I just have to get creative and I sure know how to do that! I have connections from all over and I can build more as I go! Girly remember- you are 23 going on 24! Like for some people they just started living! The same can be said to you in terms of boundaries you are enforcing and establishing. I hope as the year continues it will just get better and you will love what you are doing. That you find joy in everything that is happening. I pray that inner peace is around the corner. It will be InshAllah InshAllah InshAllah! Ultimate hustle queen. Side gig queen. Master entertainer. Compassionate human being. InshAllah everything will work out. I want to get waxed soon but only if it makes sense. If I get my period next week. That would not work out. Either way I’m going to tackle it all one by one.

[banglatown]

.

#ik cathartic cries are necessary but i swear every time i do one it leaves me absolutely drained like … shattered emotionally physically #mentally which is why i don’t like doing them bc like ik it has to come out but DUDE #it creates like a chain for the rest of my day until i snap out of it #bc like i cried for a WHILE at like fajr and then went to sleep @ like 6am bc … i take a while to process my emotions and it’s a sunday so #it’s not like i have work to do but i did some nonetheless but like i felt soO drained throughout #i’m just not in the best head space rn and fasting isn’t helping it’s kinda getting to the decision making part of my brain lol #like not to say i’m making a lot of bad decisions but like i’m kinda spiralling a little and where well rested and well hydrated & fed beebs #would understand tht it’s okay and would make plans to combat and take care of those decisions #these beebs is just in a massive old funk #i’m going to try and get some sleep after iftar and maybe tht will make me feel better #like i didn’t even have the energy to talk to my partners :((((( my boyf is so cute tho he was like being so sweet and understanding 🥺💕 and #telling me to get sleep and even tho i didn’t and chose to work on my essay instead lmao .. it’s still sweet tht he did #i also bought myself the nars radiant creamy concealer as i 🫠 hav 🫠 no 🫠 impulse 🫠 control 🫠 #having read all of this it sounds like i’m going into burn out lol but i’ll be inshallah 🤍 #and i’ll be having my lashes infilled on tuesday so hopefully tht will make me feel better as it aA always does 🥰 anyway: hope everyone is #well and is taking care of themselves! love you forever 🦋🦋🦋 #beebs.txt #***ugh i meant this

[everyday-is-brighter-with-you]

are you warm this winter?

[ GIF ID: A younger Kamal Bora and Dr. Habit sit on a pink snow covered bench, with some icicles on it. 

Kamal wears a baggy blue hoodie and grey pants with red sneakers. A purple sweater is tied around his waist and he has on a black cap with a pompom and two hanging extensions at the sides with pompoms. It shadows his face. His hair is short. He has a silver ring with inscriptions on one finger, An open tiffin of masor tenga sits on his lap with the tiffin box beside him. Habit wears a black school sweater with white sleeves and a red skirt, the logo of the school is of a faceless angel with a cross. He has black gloves and socks with bandages on his legs. A red striped scarf from his neck intertwines them both.

Kamal and Habit hold one of their hands together, smiling in content. Kamal’s smile is somewhat awkward. Habit has some of Kamal’s food unwiped near his lips.

On the bench, two dark-eyed juncos nestle in the snow. To the bottom left of the bench a patch of snowdrops grows. A Carla snow-figure is seen with a carrot for a nose, wax lips, one swirly eye dug in and the other a button with a green leaf as an eyebrow, red wax lips, a branch for a hand.

A great big tree grows out from behind, branches twisting and spreading out into fuzzy white leaves and many bunches of red berries. The bark is a pale brown with jagged swirl patterns.

Behind the tree, far away is a icy lake with skating shoes near it. There are two snow angels nearby, one big and one small. Below the far end of the tree, to the bottom and right, is a glowing lamp post which a red jay flies away from. Below it three sparrows are flying down and below them, near the bench are four dark-eyed juncos flying away.

The bench disintegrates into pale swirls. Near the lamppost, in cursive dark blue is written the lyrics to Once Upon A December -

‘Dancing bears, painted wings

Things I almost remember

And a song, someone sings

Once Upon A December

someone holds me safe and warm..’

A grown up Dr.Habit is behind the bench, holding the lamppost, bending the bottom. He is ghost- like in inverted blue and black, a stark contrast to the color around him. His face is covered by his hair, expression anguished. Some of his glow reflects on the two kids below.

The image overall has a bright, pale white overlay to evoke winter. The GIF shows snow particles falling. end GIF ID]

[ IMAGE ID: The same picture but without any GIF effect. This version has a slight noise and glitch effect on the colors. The overlay is a slight dark vignette and subdued grey-blue. It looks softer and less bright. end ID]

TALK UNDER THE CUT

This isn’t how its supposed to go...

(Text reads : ‘This isn’t how its supposed to go...’ This text links to a version of Once Upon A December that is slowed and reverbed. )

so can anyone guess what this is about BHFHJHDBKDGBJN. Maybe I’ll tell you if you ask nicely ;-)

---

ANGST ON MAIN ANGST ON MAIN

---

Another drawing done in time for December, yahoo!!

So like. The end of the year huh. Honestly? I’m not feeling it. Time just went by in a flash. Another year, another life, another candle held. My exams are starting so...super stress.

I got a routine! So things are better.

It doesn’t really snow here, but all the flies and cockroaches come in LOL

I don’t celebrate any holidays now hmm..

I like winter though. Its my birthday month, and its so delightful to be cozy and have hot food! Plus it has a beautiful sunrise.

I hope you are warm this winter, and the next year brings you joy and blessings inshallah.

#smile for me #s4m #dr habit #kamal bora #fanart #PPL THE POWER I FEEL RN ID ABSOLUTELY MAKE A MV IF COULD #gif #winter

[imanes]

never thought I'd ever have an actual interaction with an actual author but Massoud Hayoun, author of 'when we were Arabs', sent me a very kind message on IG after I spoke about his book and wanting to read it. i am still waiting for my copy to be delivered but i highly suggest you read the synopsis of this memoir which essentially speaks about how being Jewish and Arab are not mutually exclusive categories through the history of his family and his own. I hope you'll join me in reading it too. was going 2 talk about it as soon as I finished it but now I need everybody to read it with me!

and another book that was recommended by @terefah is ella shohat's 'on the Arab jew, Palestine and displacement' which I'll be reading soon too inshAllah ✨ key texts to understand how language has been use to pit Jewish ppl vs Arab as if there was no overlap in order to justify occupation and ethnic cleansing

#an actual whole author whose book I can't wait to read.... maybe staying up until 3am was a good decision

[micamicster]

✂️

for the we are lady parts fic (specifically from the first two chapters if there are any as i havent read the others yet)

Hi bestie thank you so much for answering my pleas for attention! There is actually a pretty long deleted scene from chapter 2 where Saira and Amina talk about Amina giving a speech at Noor's wedding. They do talk about the speech in chapter 3 but I ended up going in a different direction with the conversation. I'll put some of what got deleted under the cut <3

Fic ask game!

Saira's babysitting Imani (euphemistically referred to as hanging out with Imani) so that Bisma can get some time alone in the studio, when Amina shows up at Bisma's door looking stressed.

Amina doesn’t seem ready to talk, so Saira leaves her to fidget in the doorway and goes back to digging through the fridge for something Imani will eat. Imani, who is laying on the rug working contentedly on her puzzles, has requested something blue. This is presenting Saira with a bit of a challenge.

“Any chance you carry food coloring in your purse?” she says. Amina blinks at her, then shakes her head. “Unfortunate.”

Inshallah Imani will accept the blue-purple of blueberries in yogurt. Saira moves back to the table to begin mashing the blueberries into the yogurt with the back of a spoon, to make the color a little more convincing. Bisma has a blender somewhere, but fuck if she knows where to find it.

“What’s up your arse?” She directs this question to Amina, who jumps. “Out with it, you’ve been pacing around since you got here.”

“It’s the speech.”

Saira frowns at her. “The speech? But you’ve been doing fine. You didn’t even cry the last time you went up at Wasim’s poetry night…”

“That’s not the problem. Not the problem anymore,” Amina corrects. “You’ve helped me so much, Saira, I really can’t thank—”

Saira doesn’t want to hear Amina’s sincere, starry-eyed gratitude, and she definitely doesn’t want to look her in the face when she expresses it. Instead, she leans over the couch to hand Imani the yogurt.

Imani pulls her headphones off to eye the bowl suspiciously. “This isn’t blue,” she says.

“Course it is. It’s blueberries, innit?”

Saira glances back at Amina, who is hovering behind her watching the yogurt exchange with consternation. “So what is the problem.”

“I just don’t know what to say!” Amina bursts out.

Imani does not appear convinced, but she eats a spoonful with the air of a queen deigning to accept a favor from a subject, and turns back to her puzzle.

Saira and Amina cross back into the kitchen to sit at the counter. “Why don’t you know what to say?”

“It’s not like I’ve ever been married…”

Saira snorts. “So talk to Bisma.”

“Obviously, I’m here to talk to Bisma? “That’s why I came to her house? Not yours?”

“Ooh,” Saira’s eyebrows go up. “I’ll fuck off, then.”

Amina jumps to apologize, but that only makes Saira laugh more.

“Look, everybody knows you’ve never been married? Nobody’s expecting couples counseling from you. Save that for the aunties.”

“No, but it’s worse than that.” Amina drops her eyes. “I’ve never… I don’t think I’ve ever even been in love. Not for real.”

That the conversation has gone here is probably nothing more than what Saira deserves, but she still takes an indulgent beat to consider the pros and cons of her fight or flight response. Settling on flight, she claps her hands down on the table and starts to rise. “Well, I can’t help you there either.”

“Saira…” Amina catches at her wrist. “Wait. You canhelp—you’re such a good writer…”

Saira’s so fucking easy, because she sits back down again without even hesitating. To compensate, she decides to be an asshole about it. “What does it matter what you say? Just steal some of your romance novel masala movie rubbish and throw that together. Most people there will be thinking about their food anyway.”

“How can you say that! Of course it matters!”

Saira shrugs. Amina’s pissed now, which is intriguing in its novelty. It’s a testament to how much more comfortable she’s grown with all of them that she’s actually biting back.

“Would you say that about your writing? Just throw it together? Most people won’t be listening? Steal from romance novels?”

“That’s different. Music is—”

“It’s not different! It has to be good. It has to be better than good—it has to be perfect.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Now Amina draws herself up, offended. “Because it’s for Noor!”

“Because she’s a mean girl grown up into a judgmental perfectionist?”

“Because she’s my best mate!” (Saira sighs.)

“I want to do something nice for her—it’s her wedding day, I want… I want to make her happy. Because I love her.”

Amina has the worst taste. “So say that. Don’t try to talk about marriage or romance or anything you don’t know dick about, you’re just gonna sound stupid.”

“Thank you,” says Amina, a little stiffly.

“I mean it. It’s still love, right?”

#airbender-aangst #This is like... a really long scene haha #someone else asked for deleted scenes and I don't think I have anything else this long! #I think i ended up deciding it wasn't necessary? #i wanted to use aminas speech as an opportunity to talk about writing as a craft rather than talk about love I think #anyway thank you so much for asking <3 #american pie

[thenatashamaximoff]

In the name of the father, and the son, and the holy spi-

DAMN. How many times have we revised thissssss????? Here. Since you clearly don’t know how to do it, I’ll show you.

Hi. I’m m.s. Or, you may know me as the funniest person to exist. No, no. Hell no. Not even. My name is funny. You say funny, who is the first person that comes to thought? M.S.! Fun- m.s. Wai- M.S. Bu- M. FREAKING S. I’m the definition of funny. Not even. I am funny. I’m funny. M.s.= funny. Not m.s. is funny. M.s.= funny.

You get it now?? 😤 Inshallah.

~mysterious stranger.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and his construction worker friends... Nothing pleases you, does it? Alright, alright. Fine. Fine! such a pita i stg

AHEM

Hi. I'm thenatashamaximoff, otherwise known as t.n.m. or turtle. I write some stories with Wanda and Natasha and sometimes Yelena. That's it, really. I'm hella boring. I do like puzzles, I guess that can be a thing. I play video games. I dabble in painting, not very well. How long does this have to be? Because nobody's going to read this. Hold on, wait. If you're still reading this, just one question for you. Why? There's nothing special about this paragraph. I mean, if you're sticking around, I can offer you some chicken nuggies if m.s. didn't eat them all. We're out of honey, unfortunately. Speaking of m.s., I took it upon myself to search up "funny" in the dictionary and it's quite funny how the definition of funny doesn't include m.s. anywhere in the definition. It's funny. Anyway, go away. Go. Read something else. There's a million fics out there in the world to be read other than this. Why are you still here? This is the end. There's no more. I'm not saying anything else. Leave. Go. Get. I don't have anything else to offer you.

This was dumb...

#anon ask #mysterious stranger

[chickenisamazing]

I haven't actually made Ramadan plans so here r some thoughts:

As per usual I need to try to read at least ten pages of Quran after Fajr (try for a whole juz though which is 20 pages), and try to read a juz between Maghrib and Isha. I skim the translation and tbh I don't intend to do more than that, I just need the gist. I should keep a notebook around to take quick note of things I want to look into, I tried doing that before but never kept it up past the first couple juz so I need to be consistent with that.

I ought to try to read tafseer, but I also need to take the pressure off myself to keep up with my Quran reading because that will just be overwhelming. Go for daily sustainable habit and not volume. Try to do this after I wake up from my morning nap.

I will make it a goal to read at least one Hadith a day. No more necessary unless I feel like it, but try to memorize maybe and definitely look into it and do reading about it.

Reading with my friends. I think we're trying to read Hayat Muhammad by Muhammad Hussain Haykal, need to confirm with them. A slow pace so that it's sustainable but enough that we have something to discuss. Try to do this after I get home from work/after Asr, when I would normally be eating. I can sit on the swing :)

I'm a bad Muslim n don't pray my sunnah salat (except I usually do for Maghrib and Isha since last Ramadan so like at least I got that out of last year) so my goal will be to build the habit of also praying Fajr and Dhuhr sunnah salat.

This is kind of ambitious for me, the Hadith thing is the least of my priorities so I don't mind if that doesn't happen, but I ought to at least re-memorize the surahs I used to know. Actually this is more important than Hadith but idk I'll see what I feel like doing each day.

I should also try to sleep as soon as Isha/taraweeh is over instead of staying up late. Time is precious, the social media apps I would be browsing are not. Maybe I'll try to catch up with group chats but I should try to reign in my own commentary as much as possible.

Anyway I'll probably be a potato and not be super productive buuuuuut I hope inshallah that I can still accomplish my Quran reading goals and that I can form some good habits.

#T #Overambitious bc I know myself and never fulfill goals I set for myself #I went into Ramadan last year blind and just focused on khatam and was able to do it for the first time bc I did nothing else #But I'm hoping since I did it once I can do it again and add onto it

[reina-morada]

why do you wear a niqab (i hope i’m using the right word for it.) if you practice folk catholicism? isn’t it an exclusively muslim practice or am i wrong? sorry if you’ve been asked this question before. i haven’t looked through your blog enough to find the answer.

Hi there,

I actually haven’t been asked because my wearing niqab is fairly recent. I honestly don’t know how to describe my religious life... As a theologian with an emphasis in interfaith dialogue and comparative theology, I have love and appreciation for all religions. This blog originally started as one in the Neopagan umbrella, for example. But now it has all kinds of religious posts. Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Kemeticism, and so on. 

I usually tell people I’m a mix of being Folk Catholic and being Muslim. They seem contradictory initially, but it’s more like the difference between raised and picked faith. In a way, I’m both and I’m neither. 

I was raised Catholic, my entire family is Catholic and I live with them (some 6+ people, all extremely religious), and our days are constantly centered around religion. I actually left Catholicism at 13, and only made my peace with it after it became an avenue to respect and honor my ancestors. When I say “Folk Catholic”, it’s more the Latinx Catholic culture I was raised with to which I am referring. I go back and forth on Jesus’ divinity, and I rejected the trinity until my graduate professor explained it to me a little differently (I talk about it here). Plus, my graduate thesis is currently on the Black Christ of Daule, which is the patron Christ of the region my family has lived in for centuries in Ecuador. I go to a Jesuit university. So basically... I just can’t escape.

I took my shahadah some three years ago, and I do what I can. I pray salah, I fast for Ramadan, I read and recite the Quran (or try my best, seeing as Arabic is not my native language). I’m still learning every day. For some people, I’m Muslim. For others, I’m Catholic. In the same way, for some Catholics I’m too heretical. For some Muslims, I’m kafir. Sometimes for the same reasons in both! Either way, I’m just living my life. Basically: I have no idea what I’m doing. Maybe someday I’ll figure it out, maybe someday I won’t. I really can’t tell you.

As for veiling being Islam-only, it isn’t an exclusively Muslim practice. Modest dressing can be part of anyones life, whether they are religious or not. While clothing like abayas, jilbabs, and even wearing a headscarf are heavily associated with Islam, veiling has roots in a number of traditions including Catholicism. As far as I understand it, the consensus is anyone can wear these items of clothing searching for modesty, despite not being Muslim. I have known a good number of traditional Catholics who wear head coverings for the same intentions Muslim women do. In regards to myself, I’ve only just begun to familiarize myself with wearing niqab. For me, niqab is my ultimate form of decolonization. 

I’m a woman of color and in even a diverse city (Los Angeles), I get cat called walking to the grocery store a block away from my house. I have felt the gazes of men like daggers when I put gas in my car. It doesn’t matter if I’m covered head to toe, in a big sweater or in shorts, covered in make up or barefaced. There are some people out there who just really don’t care about women, or respect them, and I’ve had interactions with plenty of those people. They have made me feel uncomfortable, unsafe, fetishized, and fearful. To veil myself completely is an idea I love so dearly, because this is me saying: You don’t get to see me. She who sees without being seen frustrates the colonizer. You can see me in the comfort of my own home, if I so choose. The agency is mine. It’s just so liberating. This is me taking away their power over me. If they’re going to stare, let them stare at my devotion to Allah. 

Anyway. That’s some of the reasons I love it. I’m still transitioning of course, and right now I’m not in an area to be veiling completely full time because I’m fearful of my safety (I’m not in Los Angeles right now). But, someday, inshallah.

I hope this helps.

Blessings

#anon #answers #niqab #islam #catolica