I recently took a DNA test, the kind that traces your origin. For some time I had been struggling with a sense of belonging, a sense of identity, and I had been seeking a sense of self. To find myself and the people that I call my own. If you know exactly who your people are, this is a blessing you haven't thanked Allah enough for. For the rest of us who, when asked, "So what exactly are you?" the answer begins with a history lesson: "In the early 1600s, my ancestors boarded a ship..." So you understand why I struggled, because it was never just an easy "I'm African" or "I'm Arab," it was always a heavy sigh followed by an unconvincing "I'm just mixed," as if to say, "Please leave me alone, not knowing is hard enough."
Looking at my results and seeing that not only do I belong to every corner of Africa, from east to west and north to south, but that I also trace my origins to the Arabian Peninsula and a bit of Asia, reminded me of this ayah. In particular, it impressed me how my ancestors applied this ayah practically. They lived it, and I am proof that they did. 
What started as a journey of a lack of identity and a sense of belonging ended up with an appreciation of the fact that I belong to more than I could have possibly imagined. That every one of these people that I trace my origin to belongs to me, and I belong to them. We are a part of a grander yet subtle plan. 
إِنَّ رَبِّى لَطِيفٌۭ لِّمَا يَشَآءُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
#identity ​#humanity ​

Mashallah, this gave me goosebumps, and I kinda feel you. There is this sense of satisfaction when you finally find where you come from. Although I never did any ancestry test before or didn't even care about it, it was a huge satisfaction when my mother casually told me my family belongs to a family of sheikhs. 

I am from Kerala, India. And upon connecting the dots of what my mother told me and getting into the internet rabbit hole, I found my great ancestors were originally from Yemen. These people were a family of scholars who boarded a ship to the Malabar Kerala back close to 4-5 generations ago. These people had a part in spreading Islamic education in Kerala.  Many of my international friends would tell me I look different - that my family looks more like a typical Arab rather than a Keralite.  I was feeling low-key proud, then I reminded myself about not falling for "tribalism" or "family name". Because in the sight of Allah, only one thing matters - piety and taqwa. So I started working on that.

But yes, we all are connected. And we all have one source - Our great-grandfather Adam (Peace be upon him)

She doesn’t talk much.
Not because she is arrogant, but she thinks she’s better.
But because inside her, there is a quiet voice that keeps whispering:
“Why doesn’t anyone like me?”
“Why does everyone criticize me?”
“What is wrong with me?”
She prays, fasts and beleives.
She isn’t far from Allah…
but she isn’t as close as she wants to be either.
And everyday, the same ache returns.
She keeps searching for certification from people.
Approval, validation, acceptance.
She wants to feel chosen and enough.
But one night, sitting alone after prayer, something shifts.
She realizes:
“Why am I searching for validation from people who don’t even know my battles…
when my Lord knows every tear I hide?”
She understands something painful but freeing:
The problem wasn’t that people didn’t love her.
The problem was that she measured her worth through their reactions,
silence, criticism and approval .
That night she makes a different dua:
“O Allah, free me from the need to be approved by everyone.
If You are pleased with me, let that be enough.
Make me beloved to You first…
and if it is good for me, place love for me in the hearts of people.”
Days pass.
People don’t change overnight.
Some still criticize, misunderstand.
But she changes, stops shrinking, over-explaining and begging for emotional permission to exist and she finally understands:
Love placed by people fades.
Love placed by Allah stays.
Ramadan didn’t make her popular.
It made her peaceful.
And sometimes, peace is the greatest form of being lovable. 🌙✨

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful,

As we watch events not only in Gaza unfold but throughout the world we are seeing the rise of racism, Islamophobia, nationalism and far right rhetoric. Hatred and arrogance that will only lead to inevitable chaos and disorder. If people are unjust how can they expect peace and goodness to occur?

Some, claim themselves as the ‘chosen people’ but have these people really chosen Allah in order to claim to be the ‘chosen people?’ 

Islam does not look at the person’s skin colour, one does not have to prove oneself other than to Allah?  Have they observed that it was a black slave who held the honour to call the blessed companions to the prayer? Have they not observed that it was Usama Ibn Zayd who rode with the prophet peace be upon him went he conquered Makkah? 

Have they not observed that each and all are welcome despite their past and their past is wiped away? Have they not observed the millions of dishes in existence, the thousands of languages in existence? Each of them a mercy from their Lord?

The ‘Salam’ a spreading of peace that everyone is equal and important and everyone no matter who they are deserves respect and kind treatment? When two are speaking a third should not be excluded?

Have they not observed the Friday congregation? That  mosques are not left empty but people come to listen to the sermon that encourages them for the week ahead? The reminders that this life is short and fleeting? 

Old men with one foot in the grave, but they wish to conquer the world that inevitably houses even kings that had once more power than them?  

Circulating the Kabah are people from nearby and afar lands, some business men, some street cleaners, some mothers, some fathers, some old, some young, some black, some white, some with curly hair and some with straight. 

Discussion, dialogue, learning and respecting each other even the differences we might have, builds a strength and peace like no other. The Book of God, tells us that piety and God consciousness is what makes us loved by Him and close to Him. 

The power this ummah has is those who follow the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, who put their Lord before anything and this temporary life, who follow the Qur’an and sunnah attaining a strength that Allah gives them in return for following what He has told us. To enter this way you don’t need to be a particular race, gender or class. Islam welcomes you with open arms and everyone is important to their Lord. 

Indeed He is the Most Just.

Such a beautiful peace of writing. Wish the world could see it. May Allah help up choose peace over power be among the nobel ones in the sight of Allah. Jazak Allahu khair for beauifully articulating what Islam offers. 

'Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you.' 

This single Quranic statement has such depth of meaning, more than any human-derived charter, policy or law and if truly applied is sufficient to get rid of hate, prejudice and racism.. 

The verse before this statement 'O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another', makes it clear that it was Allah's will and intent that He created. humanity diverse, not to work against each other, but to serve as a catalyst to get to know each other through mutual effort and exchanges. This diversity was never designed to enslave us or confine us, rather to liberate us from confines of our ethnic backgrounds, gender, identities,  similar constructs . The verse presents the manifestation of this diversity:

[1] 'a male and female': gender 
[2] 'from races' : ethnicities 
[3] 'from tribes': lineage


None of the above factors are a reason for anyone to claim any form of superiority over others, neither gender, ethnicity not lineage. 

Despite the Quranic clear guidance on the issue of diversity, some still misconceive the issue of diversity, using it as a taxonomy for preferential treatment. Placing national identity, ancestral pride and any other form of identity above the identity of faith is clearly an affront to the very Godly- purpose it serves. 

The Prophet (peace be upon him) clarifies the true meaning of nobility in the following Hadith:

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سَلاَمٍ، قَالَ‏: ‏ أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدَةُ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللهِ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ‏: ‏ سُئِلَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏: ‏ أَيُّ النَّاسِ أَكْرَمُ‏؟‏ قَالَ‏: ‏ أَكْرَمُهُمْ عِنْدَ اللهِ أَتْقَاهُمْ، قَالُوا‏: ‏ لَيْسَ عَنْ هَذَا نَسْأَلُكَ، قَالَ‏: ‏ فَأَكْرَمُ النَّاسِ يُوسُفُ نَبِيُّ اللهِ ابْنُ نَبِيِّ اللهِ ابْنِ خَلِيلِ اللهِ، قَالُوا‏: ‏ لَيْسَ عَنْ هَذَا نَسْأَلُكَ، قَالَ‏: ‏ فَعَنْ مَعَادِنِ الْعَرَبِ تَسْأَلُونِي‏؟‏ قَالُوا‏: ‏ نَعَمْ، قَالَ‏: ‏ فَخِيَارُكُمْ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ خِيَارُكُمْ فِي الإِسْلاَمِ إِذَا فَقِهُوا‏.‏

Abu Hurayra said, 'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked, 'Which people are the most noble?'' He replied, 'The most noble  of them in the sight of Allah are those with the most taqwa.' They said, 'That is not what we are asking about.' He said, 'The most noble of people was Yusuf, the Prophet of Allah, son of the Prophet of Allah, who was the son of the Intimate Friend of Allah (Ibrahim).' They said, 'That is not what we are asking about.' He said, 'Are you asking about those of Arab origin?' 'Yes,' they replied. He said, 'The best of you in the Jahiliyya is the best of you in Islam when you have understanding from Allah).'


Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 129
https://sunnah.com/adab:129

In each of these responses the Prophet (peace be upon him) makes it unequivocal that, it is taqwa, submission to Allah (in the case of Ibrahim AS and his son and grandson) and Islam that determines nobility --all other classifications are futile. 



Remember to reflect, reflect to remember.

#beyondBorders

Jazakallah khair shaykh for sharing this great and a beautiful reminder. 

What can you say about the horrors that you have never seen before,
The horrors that stand on your phone’s door.
These people no less than you and I?
Their babies, their old, their pregnant,
Their men, their women,
All of them cry.
But the people in power,
Find music through their cries,
They do not care if they die.
Nor how many are killed.
They laugh at their helplessness.
They even laugh at ours too. 
So many people in the world who condemn,
But are still unable to deliver food and aid.
To stop this injustice, not a war but a genocide. 
To restore peace and order, 
No brother wants to interfere across the border. 

Stripped of everything,
Every human right,
What a world we have become.
A supremacy of power, race and being largely white. 
Leaders who marvel at a black leader speaking ‘English?
Leaders who are both arrogant and childish. 
These are the people who seem to run the show. 
We were meant to live together,
To get to know each other. 
And look beyond the shades of our skin,
Not turn away and load our plates up to the brim. 
O Muslim nation is there not amongst us one, who will stand up against them and do what the prophet peace and blessings would have done?

#ReflectingInCrisis

One of the many great achievements of our Beloved Prophet (may Allah send His peace and blessings upon him) is that he established a true fraternity, one anchored in faith and justice, and not based on colour or class. Throughout the sīrah, and on numerous occasions, he denounced any type of behaviour that was discriminatory, racist, or supremacist.

When Abū Dharr called a companion 'son of a black woman' during an argument, the Prophet (may Allah send His peace and blessings upon him) responded: 'Are you taunting him about his mother? You still have some characteristics of ignorance.' (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6050)

Ibn Ḥajar, in explaining this ḥadīth, comments: 'The phrase 'In you, O Abū Dharr, there is a trait of jāhiliyyah (pre-Islamic ignorance)' means: a characteristic of jāhiliyyah, even though Abū Dharr’s rank in faith was of the highest level. The Prophet (may Allah send His peace and blessings upon him) reprimanded him, despite his great status with him as a warning against repeating such behaviour. For although Abū Dharr may have had some excuse or mitigating factor, the occurrence of such an act from someone of his stature is regarded as more serious than if it came from someone of lesser standing.' (See Fatḥu al-Bārī: Book of Iman)


This incident teaches us about racial equality in Islam and led to Abū Dharr's immediate repentance. It also teaches us about the Prophet’s (may Allah send His peace and blessings upon him) fairness and impartiality in dealing with any form of discrimination, that he was quick to point out a wrong, even when it occurred at the hands of one of the noblest of companions.

This incident with Abū Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) established an important precedent for the ummah: the prohibition of mocking others for their shortcomings and of boasting about lineage, ancestry, or race, and that such attitudes stem from ignorance, not faith.

It is upon us to interrogate our hearts when we look toward anyone of Allah’s creation with disdain because of their skin colour. Do we feel in our hearts disdain or bias toward them because of their origin? If so, then perhaps we need to take a good look in the mirror and remind ourselves that the One who created me is the One who created them. And perhaps we need to root out the jāhiliyyah that may still linger in our hearts, for Islam has established that the only standard by which we are distinguished before Allah is the fear of Allah, and nothing else.


Remember to reflect, reflect to remember!

Borders and Belonging: Rethinking the Ummah

InshaAllah, our theme for July will be on 'Navigating nationalism, race, and sectarianism in the context of our Qur’anic identity as a single, moral global community.' Islam came to eradicate superficial barriers, be it race, ethnicity, classism, or language. Our collective identity is rooted in recognising the One Creator who created humanity, and He placed us into different nations and tribes as an incentive and a powerful agent and motivation for us to get to know each other. Sometimes these diversifying factors are given so much significance that instead of serving as a tool for introduction to the other, they become a barrier, thus preventing the integration of people to embrace the global community, the Ummah. However, Islam does not negate celebrating our cultural heritage and ties to our land. How do we overcome these barriers and move on from deeming diversity as a deadlock to seeing it as a divine blessing designed to encourage us to embrace each other?




How do we find a balance between nationalistic pride and a shared cultural identity? What are the common challenges and struggles in relation to the above? What can we learn from the Qur’an in addressing this theme?




I look forward to your reflections!

#BeyondBorders

MashaAllah - 'This verse teaches that while humans naturally differ (centrifugal), they must strive for unity through righteousness (centripetal). True nobility is not in race or tribe but in consciousness of Allah (Taqwa), which harmonizes both forces for a just society.' May Allah reward you for this compelling reflection, and explaining it through the well illustrated analogies from the laws of physics and motion. May Allah reward you 

I am here today to address the subject of Islamophobia, a topic that has become increasingly prevalent in today’s society. In our world, blanket stereotypes and prejudice have regrettably become commonplace. However, one thing that stands out is how these stereotypes are often not applied to the majority groups, yet they are readily imposed on minorities. For example, in America, when a Christian or a white person commits a crime, the portrayal is typically one-dimensional: the individual is regarded as someone who did a wrong thing, but the act is not used to define an entire group of people. The person is simply seen as an individual who committed a crime. Yet, when a Muslim, a Hispanic, or an African American person commits a crime, suddenly, the entire community to which they belong is labeled as problematic or even dangerous. This sweeping generalization unfairly tarnishes the reputation of millions of individuals who have no connection to the crime other than their ethnic or religious identity.

This stark difference in how people are judged is rooted in deep-seated prejudices, including racism, but it extends beyond mere bias. Islamophobia, in particular, reflects a broader societal failure to understand and appreciate the diversity of individuals within any given group. It is a failure to see the humanity in every person and to acknowledge that, just as with any religion or ethnic background, the actions of one individual should not define an entire community.

From an early age, many of us are taught about justice, fairness, and the importance of treating others with kindness. Yet, when it comes to Muslims, and other minority groups, these principles seem to be overlooked. Rather than being seen as individuals, people from these communities are too often reduced to stereotypes, painted with a broad brush that ignores the rich diversity of their lives and experiences. For instance, the image of the 'violent Muslim' is perpetuated by the media, creating an unfair association between Islam and extremism, despite the fact that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding citizens.

Moreover, we cannot ignore the role of history in shaping these perceptions. For centuries, Islam and its followers have been misrepresented and demonized, leading to the development of a narrative that casts Muslims as foreign, untrustworthy, or even inherently violent. This narrative is bolstered by political agendas, media portrayals, and even misconceptions rooted in ignorance or fear. Unfortunately, it has become so deeply ingrained in society that it is often unconscious, leading people to judge others based on assumptions rather than on their actions or character.

The effect of Islamophobia is far-reaching, causing harm not only to those who are directly targeted but to society as a whole. When a group is constantly painted in a negative light, it becomes more difficult for individuals within that group to integrate into society without fear of discrimination. The resulting alienation and mistrust only serve to deepen divides between communities and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. It’s crucial to remember that Islam, like any other religion, is practiced by millions of peaceful individuals who seek to live good, moral lives, just as followers of other faiths do. The teachings of Islam call for peace, compassion, and respect for all human beings. It is through such virtues that societies can find common ground and work toward a future where all people, regardless of their ethnicity or religion, are judged by the content of their character, not by the stereotypes that others may place upon them.

In addition to recognizing the harm caused by Islamophobia, it is important for us, as individuals, to take a stand against such prejudice. We must foster understanding through education, open dialogue, and active efforts to challenge stereotypes whenever we encounter them. It is essential that we confront these misconceptions not only for the well-being of our fellow Muslims but for the integrity and unity of our society as a whole. True progress lies in embracing the diversity of humanity and celebrating the rich array of cultures, traditions, and beliefs that make up our world. By rejecting Islamophobia and working toward a more inclusive and compassionate society, we can build a future where everyone is able to live free from fear, judgment, or prejudice, and where the contributions of each individual are valued regardless of their background.

 Wa Iyyak. Thank you for reading my reflection.  

The world is woven with beautiful cultural diversities, ethnicities and traditions. When we travel we learn so much about how people live, their belief systems and how different we all are. I have met such interesting people from an array of backgrounds and cultures. Who tell me what their religions are and the intricacies of it. I am always fascinated by these conversations, however, the one thought which always comes to mind after speaking to them is 'Wow, Islam is perfect'. Almighty has perfected Islam in every aspect. Our faith protects us, guides us and nourishes us. Dear Almighty, if I haven't told you today, I just want to say Alhamdulillah, for this religion and allowing me to practice it.

MashaAllah, your reflection beautifully captures the appreciation for the diversity in creation while recognizing the perfection of Islam. Traveling and learning about different cultures can truly deepen our gratitude for the guidance Allah has given us. Your heartfelt du'a is a wonderful reminder for all of us to express our gratitude for this blessing. May Allah continue to increase you in understanding and love for His deen. JazakAllah khair for sharing!



After today’s Isha jamaat the Imam read a Hadith to us in regard to the reward of reading SubhanAllah, Alhumdulillah, and Allahuakbar 33 times each after every prayer. 

This got me thinking about how there are other ahadith that mention different numbers, such as reading Allahuakbar 34 times instead of 33 after each prayer, and ahadith that mention similar adhkar before sleeping.  

I went up to the Imam after praying to mention this and I spoke to him about how I find it amazing that Allah SWT gives us so many opportunities to gain rewards. 

There is such a beauty and diversity in Islam, all leading to rewards, all of which are methods provided to us from our Lord who blessed us with so many opportunities to please him. From different adhkar in the ahadith, to the different Qira’at (recitations), and to the differences in the madhahib of Fiqh . 

This thought process reminded me of this verse where Allah SWT mentioned how we are divided into peoples and tribes. The beauty in which is for us to get to know each other, learn from each other, and embrace our differences with the common goal to please our Lord. Our differences in the way we pray, the way we recite Quran, the abundant opportunities of gaining rewards in different ways are all part of our faith, and should be appreciated as differences between people all around the world who are all trying their best to reach Jannah. 

Many look at these differences as contradictory, but they should be looked as complimentary! May Allah unite the Ummah once again and increase our brotherhood.