Tag Archives: Muslim lifestyle

Islam, Life, Love and Marriage

The Importance Of Taking It Slow

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Salaams my lovelies! I hope you are having a great weekend inshallah. Some of you may have even had a long weekend thanks to Good Friday.

It’s been a crazy hectic few weeks in terms of traveling for work for not only myself, but my Hubster too.

So we thought we would take a day to explore some place that wasn’t too far but was just far enough that we could feel like we got a little mini vacation in.

We went to Monterey and Pacific Grove in California. Not only did we feel refreshed, we felt rejuvenated on the inside as well. We spend so much time on screens (laptops, iPads, iPhones, etc), that we forget the beauty of Allah (swt)’s creation. In Surah 13, Ayah 3, Allah (swt) says:

And it is He who spread out the earth, and set thereon mountains standing firm and (flowing) rivers: and fruit of every kind He made in pairs, two and two: He draweth the night as a veil o’er the Day. Behold, verily in these things there are signs for those who consider!

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Here I was witnessing the beauty of sea cliffs carpeting with wildflowers before me today and wondering how we are have become numb in our daily lives. I am very guilty of not looking at the beauty of nature more and making dhikr or dua as I do so.

We need to take it slow sometimes. It will make us better spouses, parents and Muslims. We can’t do everything! No one expects us to either. Sometimes we are our own worst multitasking enemy. So remember to take it slow and realize that you may think you are doing nothing, but strolling and taking in nature’s beauty and doing dhikr cleanses our hearts and rejuvenates the soul.

So if you are like me, I ask you to do yourself a favor. Unplug even for an hour and take your little ones on a nature adventure. It will be fun for the kids and you will notice how relaxing it is for you too. It is in our nature to admire things of beauty and worship our Lord. So this will help you do both.

Try it and let me know what you think inshallah. 🙂

Islam, Life, Parenting

Raising Muslim Kids In A Hyper Sexualized World

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Muslim Children in Hyderabad

Muslim Children in Hyderabad

With more children suffering at the hands of this sexually driven world, I am starting to feel scared as a Muslim parent. Recently, The Telegraph did a whole article about the prevalence of pornography in all facets of our lives and how they are starting to affect children. Reading the article struck fear in my heart. As a parent of a toddler who is barely 2, I am starting to realize that she is absorbing everything around her; good and bad.

I am lucky because at this age, I can be her media gatekeeper. I refuse to watch anything remotely adult around her. It has been a blessing for me too. I recently shared an article on my Facebook about how desensitized that our society has become that Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance did not cause anyone to bat an eyelash. I was blessed because I didn’t subject my eyes and my soul to what was described as a purely objectifying performance that did a disservice to the singer and women in general. However, I can’t shield my child from glancing over magazine covers while in line to buy groceries and other inevitable instances of sexualized exposure.

That being said, I am not going to despair. In the time of the Prophet, there were all sorts of ignorance (jahiliyya) around. People used to go around the Kaaba naked! So in order to combat these influences that may take away my child’s innocence, I plan to do the following:

  • Spend as much time as I can: I plan to spend every moment I can ENGAGED with my child. I lock my phone in an unknown place unless we are FaceTiming grandparents and I spend as much time as I can talking to my child face to face. we play games, we play pretend, we do yoga, we watch child appropriate TV. We even pray together. I want my time with her to dominate her memories.
  • Teach boundaries: I want my daughter to know what is right and wrong. When she does something wrong, I simply say stop and walk away so she knows that there are consequences to her wrong actions. I hope this instills a sense of responsibility in her inshallah. I am still a new parent, so if anyone has any pointers, please let me know! She knows that she can’t touch any electronic device without a grown up supervising.
  • Show your love: I show my daughter I love her all the time to the point she rubs my kisses away. But I want her to know that she is loved for who she is, not for what she looks like or what she can give anyone. I want her to grow up feeling valued as a human being so that when the time comes, she will know that she is not an object and that she has more to contribute to society. It is so sad, but even The Onion did a parody piece about the awkward moment that a girl transitions into a sexual being. So when that moment comes, I hope that my daughter knows she is more than that to me and can hold tight to the values I raise her with inshallah.
Life, Love and Marriage

A Key To A Happy Muslim Marriage

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Muslim couple, sunset

A happy Muslim couple

Jumah mubarak my lovelies! I hope that you are all doing well on this Friday inshallah. I have been doing a lot of fashion/style/beauty posts so I decided to do a Muslim lifestyle blog post today on marriage. I wanted to do it on a topic that I think is super important because I feel like young Muslim couples are being pushed more than ever to part over things that may not be worth fighting over. Just as a background, I will be celebrating my own 4 year anniversary with the Hubster next week inshallah. Over those years, I had to learn a few things the HARD way. I wanted to share one of the key elements that I found my own marriage much happier.

One of the things that I noticed that really affected my marriage was nagging. Yes, ladies, while nagging works in the short term, one of the awful long term effects is that your husband starts to resent it (and maybe even you) and then he will start to ignore you and tune you out. It is tempting to resort to nagging, but let me tell you, it is not worth it if it will poison your marriage over time. If there are any brothers reading this, let me also tell you that while your wife may be driving you crazy with her nagging, you need to critically think about why she is nagging too. Does she have a valid point? Then just do yourself a favor and listen to what your wife is trying to say.

At this point, I try not to nag, but if something is bothering me or is important, I let the Hubster know. Since I am not a chronic nagger, he actually takes what I say seriously and listens (for the most part….I still have not won my war against socks on the floor…if there is a wife who has please let me know your secret!). One of the most important things I learned from my older married couples is that you need to stop nagging because it makes your husband feel like a child. When he feels like a child, he will act like one which is not what either of you want.

How do you stop nagging? Here are some tips:

  • Notice what your husband is doing right. Does he call you to tell you he loves you? Does he make the bed for you? Does he change the oil in your car? My Hubster always surprises me with flowers, helps with the baby, and does other little things. When I feel tempted to nag, I remind myself of ALL of these good things.
  • Is the thing you want to nag him about a recurring issue? If it is a recurring issue that is important to you, you should talk it over with your husband. However, if this is a bad habit that is not going to break, assess if this is something you can live with. For me, rather than nag about socks on the floor, I just pick them up and put them away.
  • Tell your husband you love him. I sometimes forget how express how much I care for my husband. I have started to remind myself that just because he is a man, doesn’t mean he needs any less love than I do.

I hope these tips help you in some way, and that we can all be blessed with happy marriages. Are there are any tips you have? Let me know in the comments box!

Life

Hijabi Life

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Welcome to Hijabi Life! As a Muslim American in social media, I felt like we have a void of Muslim lifestyle blogs. Where do I know how to accessorize my hijabs and where the good halal eats are?

On a more serious level, we need a forum to discuss things like Muslim marital issues, raising kids and most importantly, how to be a dignified Muslim in America.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog because it’s a love story about you: Muslims living in the U.S.