Fatima Barkatulla – Gifts of Islam for Women – Ep.03

			We'll breeze you around the mod to the sunset in the evening
		

			when I'm drowning in onto horde in the deepest, darkest ocean.
		

			And the fifth
		

			gift that I would like to mention is a global family. Islam has given me a global family, a
sisterhood, and brotherhood, like
		

			I've never experienced.
		

			And that is, and that's not an exaggeration. I mean, when I was 16 years old, I took a backpack, and
I went to Jerusalem. Okay, I went to Egypt first, then I went to Jerusalem. And in both of those
places, and in many, many countries that I've visited, since I can turn up with a backpack. And
		

			if I meet a Muslim family there, I've got accommodation, I've got a family who will embrace me. And
I've got people who will instantly connect with me, and consider me their sister. That sounds
amazing. But it's actually true. And I've experienced it firsthand.
		

			I know confidently, I can turn up to any country in the world. And if I meet my fellow Muslims
there, because of the fact that Islam has put into place, a brotherhood, and a sisterhood and a
sense of rights and responsibilities towards each other. I have that kind of
		

			global family there.
		

			Even though we might be strangers, we instantly Connect.
		

			And it's healthy to have healthy relationships with women. And I'll just give you one example, one
of my friends who I name is Lauren, we were sitting in a wedding together one day. And
		

			you know, we were not dressed like this, you know, we address it was a women's only section. So we
were all dressed up we had made out we had our hair done, you know, everyone very, very glamorous.
And
		

			we looked around the room. And she said to me, and she was a new Muslim. She said, you know, I've
never experienced sisterhood, the way I experienced it, when I became a Muslim, I never had that
relationship with women that I have now. Because she said, The gatherings that she used to be in,
		

			were usually mixed. And there was a lot of alcohol, you know, flowing. And she said I would I
consider it to have been a toxic environment. Because she said my husband would be over there
talking to a lady and I would be over here. And even though people don't say it, they were secretly
attention in the room. You know, I was constantly keeping an eye on my husband, you know, who's he
flirting with. And he was constantly keeping an eye on me. And that environment of competition. She
said it prevented me from having a really honest, close love
		

			towards other women.
		

			And it was her perspective that now that she was a Muslim, for the first time because that sort of
sense of competition was removed.
		

			She for the first time felt she could connect with other women in a unique way. So those are just
some of the gifts I could mention so many more, I just highlighted five gifts that Islam gives to
women. And so I would like to encourage you today and I'm sure you're going to hear lots of other
talks that elaborate on maybe some of the things I said,
		

			I would encourage you to look into this way of life that so many women are choosing so many of us
who some of us are many of us who grew up in families that were not religious, but we discovered
Islam later we looked into it, we chose it, of our freewill, our choosing, you know, I would
encourage you to
		

			look into Islam properly, not through websites and not through, you know, people who are spreading
misinformation about Islam but by connecting with real Muslims around you, and look into the life of
the Prophet Muhammad
		

			and his message and how his message actually explains to us who Jesus really was, who Moses really
was, and who these great people of our past really were and what their true message walls
		

			because if you do so I think you will find that through Islam you could live a life that satisfies
		

			That yearning that's in your heart, that yearning to connect with God, that desire to live a life
that matters, that desire to live a life beyond your own life that has significance beyond yourself.
		

			And with that, I will leave you like a loving man behind the couch.
		

			Thank you very much.