Friday, January 14, 2011

It's Not an Identity Crisis

currently reading:

"Religious experience is, by and large, ineffable. This indescribability is, in fact, one of the defining characteristics of mysticism and other forms of spiritual awareness. As listening to a piece of music that moves us to tears may defy our ability to explain those tears, spiritual encounters often resist our desire to describe them." - LA Times

"A gorgeously written memoir about what it means to be a human in a fractured world, told with warmth and wit to spare. It will stay with you for years." - Reza Aslan

Okay, not gonna lie, the reason I picked up this book as I was browsing was because of the praise from Reza Aslan! So I'm only about ten pages in, but so far so good.

LOVE: "To me Muslim and American are inseparable. I am a Muslim and an American. Politically this is incredibly irritating, but it's not an identity crisis." - excerpt from the book

2 comments:

LeighAnn Manning said...

As Salaamu Alaykum,

Hijab is one of the most difficult decisions for a sister to make, for a convert or even a Muslimah raised as a Muslim.

Kudos to that one step further in your Islam, considering the hijab. It's tough to come to the decision, seeing how difficult it can be to get a job or to not let people in on your 'secret'. Once you don the hijab, everyone knows you're Muslim and it may make you a target. It may not. But in my experience, I have only had one foul look and it caused me to rip it off my head moments later in discrace.

It took a long time to get over what other people thought and for me to rest assured I was doing as I was commanded. It took years for me to return to hijab, now I finally feel at ease with my decision.

I just wasn't ready for the commitment. Rushing into things before you have a full understanding of it is like going to war without a plan: it turns to disaster quickly and you fall back in defeat.

But the decision is yours and between you and Allah. It comes at your own understanding of Islam at your own pace. I pray Allah (SWT) will make things easy for you.

Vanessa Fatima said...

Walaikum Asalaam LeighAnn,

That was beautiful. Thank you, jazakullahkhairun for sharing this with everyone. We need more dialogue about the hijab coming from our very own sisters. Honestly, i've noticed this trend: the ones who know they're living for a higher purpose are the ones with the best personalities. It all comes from the insides. when it emanates from the heart it manifests in the limbs.

May Allah (swt) make it easier for you and all of my sisters out there. Thank you for your prayers :)