Muslima Success

You know how sometimes you really want something to happen or there’s already something really important happening in your life, yet you feel like there are so many challenges and obstacles to overcome? Whether it’s a personal or community project, a new relationship like starting a marriage or expecting a child, or acquiring a new job, you will notice more often than not, that anytime we as human beings want to do something great or important and start creating more fulfillment in our lives and in the lives of others, that there will be all sorts of tests and tribulations along the way. We have so many examples of this from our Islamic history.  Think about the Prophet peace be upon him.  He was the one man on earth at the time who had revelation coming down to him, peace be upon him, from the seventh heaven.  He was the most beloved human being to Allah (Swt) and had an ever so important message to deliver, yet he faced trials and tribulations, one after the other. After his first in...

Story from Native American Tradition: An elder Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life.  He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me.  It is a terrible fight between two wolves.  One wolf represents anger, greed, hatred, envy, fear, arrogance, resentment, self-pity, guilt, lies and ego.  The other stands for peace, love, patience, joy, compassion, generosity, humility, kindness, friendship, truth, and faith.  This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, as well.” The children thought about this for a while and then one child asked, “Which wolf will win?” The wise elder replied simply, “The one you feed.” Taken from “Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living”

The Power of Your Decisions -By Raghad Ebied Have you decided where you want to be in the next 5 to 10 years of your life? Anthony Robbins makes such a simple, yet thoughtful statement.  He says “You see, ten years from now, you will surely arrive.  The question is: Where? Who will you have become? How will you live? What will you contribute? Now is the time to design the next ten years of your life – not once they’re over”. Many times, we are in the “I wish I had done that” mode – we always seem to realize what we could have done a lot later than when we could have actually done it.  This statement also comes up several times in the Quran when people wished if they had believed or they wished if they had done good. The reason for this is that we are not able to make firm decisions and commit to them.  Or we let the circumstances or the people around us make our decisions for us. What does it take to make a decision? Making a decision takes an honest and courageous stance from you to...

-By Raghad Ebied Think it Feel it Believe it But don’t you dare speak it For fear of offending For fear of seeming condescending For fear that you may be transcending What our community perceives as ‘limits’ Why is there such marginalization And a deep lack of realization That outspoken members of our community Means they’re thinking and they really do care about our unity That they want to see positive change and creativity That they want to support in the cause of liberty Liberty that leads to justice and equity Liberty that is supported by our Quran and Prophet’s history Liberty that leads to a deep sense of humility For Allah’s Grace of giving us the capacity To think, feel, believe and speak meaningfully And to not fear judgment and criticism To not give in to the surrounding cynicism And to continue to pray for a day Where we embrace the outspoken members of our community.    

How many of us dream of having the most righteous and successful family? How many of us envision ourselves making a profound difference in the world? How many of us ultimately dream of the highest level in Jannah, Al-Firdaws? Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was indeed one of the forerunners in teaching us about great ambition and doing all we can with ihsan (excellence). He (peace be upon him) was the first to encourage us to dream bigger as he says: “If you ask for jannah, then ask for al-firdaws, the highest” ( Muslim & Bukhari) .  He, peace be upon him also encouraged us to work hard to achieve these great ambitions by stating: “If one of you shall do a task, then he shall do it with ihsan (excellence)”. Yet, many of us may hold back from great ambitions and may not achieve or experience the true fulfillment we are capable of.   One of the main reasons for this phenomenon is what we may label as a lack of resources: time, money, knowledge, etc.  And yes, we may indeed lack ...

How many of us dream of having the most righteous and successful family? How many of us envision ourselves making a profound difference in the world? How many of us ultimately dream of the highest level in Jannah, Al-Firdaws? Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was indeed one of the forerunners in teaching us about great ambition and doing all we can with ihsan (excellence). He (peace be upon him) was the first to encourage us to dream bigger as he says: “If you ask for jannah, then ask for al-firdaws, the highest” ( Muslim & Bukhari) .  He, peace be upon him also encouraged us to work hard to achieve these great ambitions by stating: “If one of you shall do a task, then he shall do it with ihsan (excellence)”. Yet, many of us may hold back from great ambitions and may not achieve or experience the true fulfillment we are capable of.   One of the main reasons for this phenomenon is what we may label as a lack of resources: time, money, knowledge, etc.  And yes, we may indeed lack ...

Many have a deep desire to be successful and happy, yet do any of the following apply to you? *Do you feel like you’ve heard lectures, read books, sought advice from friends and family but still can’t seem to achieve the success you truly feel you are capable of? *Do you set goals for yourself, year after year, but cannot seem to maintain the motivation needed to achieve them? *Do you know the secret to achieving success both in this world and in the next given that to ‘succeed’ in this world there seems to be such an emphasis on materialism and to succeed in the next there is an emphasis on faith.  Do you know how you can reconcile the two so you can be happy and fulfilled now and later? *Do you have a way of planning for and tracking your success that is practical and keeps you motivated? If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, then you have certainly been thinking about and quite possibly expereinced some success. And in my upcoming co...