Hesham Al-Awadi – Women Inspired By The Beloved 06
AI: Summary ©
The speakers emphasize the importance of achieving success in life, not just achievement. They touch on the unique elements of women who faced challenges and faced failure to achieve goals, including the use of deadly powder during prayer and struggles with women in the age of digitalization. The success of these women in their early careers and their impact on society is discussed, along with the characteristics of successful women, including their personality, leadership, and willingness to work hard.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim salatu salam ala Shafi mousseline Sydney Mohammed Valeri Asahi aumentar, via who began in Isla de la Mola and Milena, Mr. Linton in a canter, alleman hockey,
sisters and brothers. Yesterday, we spoke about various themes that I thought
was were important to understand the role of women in our Islamic history.
We spoke about energy, U turn, connect, and women who made men. Today, I'm going to introduce five new themes.
Some of them are controversial. Some of them are problematic. But I have to be controversial, and I have to be problematic. And this is the process of changing people's ideas. I'm not here
coming to tell you things and eager to see your heads nodding, I don't like doing that. In fact, you know, I would like to see people in amazement in rejection if you want, but at least let's have a thought about some of the ideas that we have already thought about things and consider thinking about them from a new dimension. So today's themes
to do with success, impact, Excel, aspiration, and finally, love.
Yesterday, I spoke about young women, energetic women, and then about women who lived a lifestyle that was unacceptable, or acceptable, but wanted to live a better lifestyle, and wanted to change basically, hence you turn. And then we spoke about women who connected to Allah subhanho wa Taala through a bother but not at the expense of society.
And then I spoke about women who made men, not just mothers who had an impact on sons, but even sisters who had an impact on the younger brothers.
But life is not that easy. Despite you turn despite the connecting despite being young. Life is full of problems. Life is full of challenges. Life is full of obstacles, even for those who are religious, even those who are happy in their life. But we all have problems. You might be smiling, you might be laughing, but deep inside, you're crying, you're in pain, you're in agony. We all have problems of one sort or another and this is the center of life. Yeah, you are in San innaka, Canada, a lot of bigger cotton get get his piece of eating, struggling encountering life. Sometimes it's a disease, sometimes it's a mental problem. Sometimes it's a physical problem. Sometimes it's a daily
challenge or a daily problem. So this theme today, does not want to draw a rosy picture, that life is easy, etc.
But nonetheless, it aims to put hope, and instill hope in your minds, that was ever the obstacle.
Whatever the problem, you have the capacity and here when I say you, I'm thinking about women, I'm thinking about sisters, I'm thinking about girls, I'm thinking about mothers, grandmothers, girls at university girls who are doing a levels, girls who are teenagers, girls who are struggling with their identity with their future. You are in my mind whenever I'm thinking about success.
You are in my mind when I think about some sisters who sometimes you feel they are frustrated. What sort of hope that we can give to those sisters, one of the things that we can give is to narrate to them stories of people, of women of girls who went more or less through, I don't want to say similar problems, you are unique. Your problems are unique. You are in Britain, I understand that. But at that time, as far as they were concerned, their problems was unique as well. I mean, they never fault. And no one thinks when he or she isn't a problem that this problem is shared by another one. Everyone thinks that his or her problem is unique. So their problems were also unique. So I am not
here engaged about or care about the nature of the problem. I don't care about the nature of who you want to marry, and how agreeable Your father is. I don't engage in the nature of the problem. I engage in how in principle to deal with problems. So please, please listen to the stories of these women don't say she had a problem that is less difficult than mine. No, she had a problem. She was challenged.
she succeeded in solving that problem. She is able to succeed. Therefore I am able to succeed this
is the sort of approach otherwise, I can tell you stories and you say Allah Subhana Allah Mashallah. And she is there, and you are here. And there is no connection between you. And we end up with this course with no practical lesson or practical application. So to benefit from the stories, you have to always
learn from the attitude and the approach that these women had whenever they dealt with a problem. In your outline, I mentioned these words, under the word success. I wrote, The unique elements of these women that you will hear the stories today are the difficult circumstances that they encountered in their lives, which made their success and an uneasy achievement. So I'm not here narrating your stories of women who succeeded, who got an A in their GCSE or a level? No, I am after stories of women who succeeded in a context of difficulty.
In a context of difficulty, I'm not interested in a rich woman that became richer, I'm interested in a rich woman that was able to use her mind to accumulate wealth while she was unemployed, you understand? I'm looking for radical changes, radical shifts.
Their stories are an inspiration for those who want to succeed in life, but are frustrated with what they consider to be formidable barriers and constraints to success. And that's you.
So the theme is success. And this is the paradigm. And this is where I'm coming from. And this is how I'm going to introduce this topic to you. Okay, what are then the lenses? What are my conditions for selecting my heroes that service this theme,
for tools for channels for lenses. Number one, the true essence of success is not just about achievement, but to achieve in context of challenge and difficulty, number one. Number two, challenging difficulties include all sorts of social, family and personal constraints. Yet, despite the constraints and occasions of frustration, women illustrated a tremendous ability to overcome the difficulties and persevere in the process. Number three, all human beings so that our brothers, they don't feel left out or alienated all human beings. Incidentally, by the way, I haven't said this. I look at women, I know that maybe this is not a radical statement. If you dissect my brain, that's
how I think I look at women and men are human beings, I say to myself, Allah created human being, and from that human soul he made into a women and men.
So there is a human being, and then a list of all the characteristics of human rationality, reason, Apple culture, etc, etc. And then down the list, they branch women, and men and hear whether disagreements come, women feel offended when you say, or just emotional, and men reason. I'm not interested in these characteristics here and there. I'm interested in the human characteristics. So all human beings are subject to some degree of social forces that limit freedom. But within those limits, people are able to exercise greater or lesser degrees of control over their own lives. And this is maybe relating to the question now, yes, you are free to choose your spouse, yes, this is
the ultimate principle. But you are not living in the desert. You have a father, you have a mother, they might not understand you very well, but you should respect them. Because one day, you might not admit it. But one day, when you do too gross, you might have reservations about her choice, your values today, you think you are extremely liberal, extremely modern, she might bring you a tea in the future and say, This is my future husband, I want to marry him. He's an alien. He comes from another planet, but I love him. You might say you are mad. Well, that's what your father thinks now. So try to understand other people's views and respect them. I'm not saying I agree with them, but
understand them and respect them, because this is what you will beg your daughters and your sons to do in the future. fourth and final point, this insight of being able to control your own life, this insight applies equally to women, even in oppressive societies, even after 11th of September, even after seven seven even whatever, not just oppressive societies, oppressive households, oppressive husbands, oppressive, someone who's on the top of your head day and night, even within that oppression. You have the freedom and you know, the one who understood these two ideas was Bella Bella.
They were torturing everything in him. But his tongue was moving with a head and this is exactly what I'm getting at, that you can burn me You can torture me. But you cannot stop this tongue from making this bold statement. Allah is one and that was inferior ated someone like Abu Jamal, you know, how come I'm torturing you? And you're saying, I do not have no allies. One, this element this ability is this freedom, it might not be big, but it's significant. And this is what I'm trying to get at when I choose my heroes to service this theme. Let me begin then, after I hope I have explained this point, let me begin with
a girl and a young one that was able to escape the oppression
of a non Muslim society.
And you might not know this girl, but she is famous.
Her name is unconfirmed. And she is different of course than the daughter of the Prophet sallallahu. So
this woman or this girl comes from a very, very, very bad background. Her father is like hint of yesterday, if you remember, her father was one of the brutal mushriks in Mecca. You know, when we say kofod? Yes, when we say munaf Hakeem, yes, when we say Muslims, are all Muslims, good Muslims. Okay, are all munaf Hakeem munaf again, Yes, I understand they are all hypocrites. But sometime, you see, one who is an art in hypocrisy, a muster in hypocrisy.
Similarly, the kuffaar there were the kuffar that were passive towards aerosol Salah. But there were the kuffar that wanted to see the end of Islam, like like in this society, British society, Americans, there are people who are willing to negotiate and have dialogue good Muslim, and integrate and, and there are people who are racist skinheads, PNP, whatever, whatever, whatever wants to see the end of any aliens in this society. Okay.
Obama
was a PNP. So Obama was a right wing, racist
mushrik,
who died, a Catholic and who died in a battle, wanting to kill the prophet SAW Selim.
His daughter, his uncle,
okay. I'm not talking about October, but I have to talk about him for you to appreciate. Now don't tell me that my father is, is he doesn't pray. Don't tell me that my father is Muslim, but he doesn't fast. I am telling you. I'm sure that your father doesn't want to kill the Prophet, but does. Okay. So there is a radical radical difference between what you think are bad people and the real bad people.
occupy an fMRI is a brutal mushrik Kaffir that attempted to kill the Prophet sallallahu wasallam. So much so that Allah so sallallahu Sallam made dua, and also Salam hardly makes a DA against any mushrik or Kaffir. But he has happened to make dua against two people that may Allah curse them.
One of them was Abu Javed that you know, don't you? brutal, classic Catholic. And the second one was Aqua. Again, I'm trying to dramatize Okay, why why did he hate by that much? Well, you don't know what he used to do this Aqua. Aqua. Eben abbiamo. Right was the one that was also selling used to pray in Mecca during the prosecution years, he used to bring all the dust all the dirt all the time from the animals and throw it on him.
And I would like you to visualize that whenever I say eating the liver of visualize it, it might be the sky but visualize it because visualizing things gives you a taste of appreciating what we are talking about. So imagine you are praying sometimes, you know the stop and check. I read it in the newspaper. Someone was very offended because while I was praying in the Hyde Park, I stopped and searched police came to me and said Excuse me, can I and the brother was offended you know, why are you you know discriminating against I was only praying and the police didn't do anything he just said show me you know any sort of identification
but didn't do this for so Sella merch by literally took all the garbage and put it on the back of a saucer and little Fatima his daughter or a boba crew. What can they do other than
To go at the back of also and just clean it up. And then Fatima was extremely young at that age with child and insult on Aqua. But he's only a little girl and you cannot, you know, slap a little girls 778 years old, and they will all laugh at
once tried to kill ourselves. I don't want to fantasize and extrapolate. But imagine, imagine also sell them dead, like other nations kill their profits. Imagine
would you be a Muslim? Would we have Islam spreading? Well, that was his vision to actually end Islam while it was in Mecca. And also Selim is praying there. At that time, nobody guards no security forces nothing, then I can go and strangle him and kill him. And that's exactly what he went and did. He took a piece of cloth I consider this cloth to be a belt, a gun, a machine gun, rocket, but at that time, it was a cloth. And he strangled. The prophet SAW Selim so much so that his tongue went out of his mouth, and his eyes were swollen and red. And you can see that there is a dying person here
until Abu Bakr comes and tries to push out Cuba and say get away from him. What has he done to you except to say that allies what why this animosity and hatred
are also Selim began to cough, and then he recovered. So this is October. I haven't spoken about his daughter yet. She's an angel. But this angel has come out from this devil, which is to me a success story.
In another occasion, I also sell them spraying you see always in a context of prayer because they knew that when you pray, you have to contemplate you have to think you're you know, you cannot resist basically. So while he was praying about comes and presses with his feet, on the neck of our saw Selim another attempt to kill another attempt to strangle
and this was also the incident, the historian said, the eyes of aerosol also began to come out of his face. And by the way, suffered a lot, a lot. We tend to think about alimonies horse coming from Medina to Makkah and Mashallah victory. You have to bear in mind that there were over 10 years of hardship and humiliation, you would not bear you would not tolerate, let lets anyone just touch you on your shoulder. And you see how many f words you will say to him.
They suffered those people.
So Aruba,
had a daughter, who was called uncle Fu. And somehow she was able to go beyond. This is a success now. But this is not the ultimate success. This is not the story.
She was able to go beyond the constraints of the household to see a different TV channel, a different satellite channel, a different internet page, a different stereotype of the Sun and the mirror and society and to appreciate the dour of aerosol sauce lm and to become a Muslim.
And she became a Muslim and aka her father became mad at her This is not about oh my father, I have a boyfriend or my father. I'm going to Maddie I don't know who know if it was that Akbar has no problem with that.
But my father, I became a Muslim, the very person that you wanted to kill I am one of his followers.
So they imprisoned on Kung Fu.
in Mecca, and where uncle film was literally put under house arrest, no University, no underground, nothing. You are at home 24 hours under house arrest by way of a punishment, all the companions all the Sahaba migrated. They left Mecca so McKenna is predominantly non Muslim, and those who are Muslim are either in disguise or are being tortured day and night or are under house arrest. Mostly now have left either to be senior and Mr. Bin Khalid is born at that moment or have left to Medina. So Uncle Phil was under house arrest for how many years since and also sell them left mecca for seven years
under house arrest to me, she is the Joseph she is used if Allah is Salam. She is the female Yusuf. She is the female version of Yusuf Alayhi Salam who is put under house arrest, despite her will for seven years. She was allowed an hour or so of getting outside the house. Just to
Go with a companion with a bodyguard and Macerich, of course, to go to the desert and stay there for a couple of days. But within houses close by, so she cannot literally escape. And the companion will take her from Mecca escolta. And we'd leave her for a couple of days, just to have some air to relax. But she is under the eyes of the spies. And after that, the companion would go back to Mecca, and would pick her up after a couple of days after she had relaxed, whatever, changed her prison. And then he would bring her back to Mecca, under the supervision and the protection of her father.
And for seven years, she remained like that. But suddenly, she thought, I'm not going to bear that anymore. But before before telling you what she did. Imagine brothers and sisters, just imagine sisters and brothers. I'm thinking about this woman for seven years. What was she doing?
She cannot pray in JAMA. She cannot attend an Islamic conference in the summer. She has no access to pamphlets, leaflets, tape, recorders, CDs, DVDs, she has access to nothing. She is living at the time of the Prophet, she has no access, she cannot see him. She is in a worse position than Mr. Bin Khalid who is living with another 100 people in abyssea. So uncle film is a radical case of someone who was living in an island alone in the midst of non believers, he he priests revered, yet she resisted. And what is amazing is that during these seven years, and this is what is relevant to you that she was able to retain her Muslim identity.
Sometimes we tend to think, Oh, it's the environment, oh, it's the conditions, or it's the friends, or it's the companions, or it's the father, or it's the TV. I'm not undermining that. I do believe wholeheartedly. That environment does play an impact and effect on you. But sometimes, it can produce radical wonders. It can make you even more religious, it can make you even more proud of being a Muslim, not in a fanatical, mad way, by way of a reaction no in a subtle, complicated, sophisticated way. Because you feel that you are unique. I tend to think that Uncle Phil had the same sentiment that I am unique. And I am proud to be unique. Even if I'm in a minority, so you
wouldn't see on good film like you walking with another sister's and traveling to a conference. Whenever you see him confirm she's alone.
And maybe she's crying, and maybe she's in tears, and maybe she is suffering. Maybe she's having problems praying in front of her father, she has to wait until he goes to bed for her to pray. Maybe she has problems. In fact, I would tend to think certainly she would have problems with everything that you do, and take for granted.
But she thought that it was the time to escape. So she said I planned and incidentally, she said because when she went to Medina and she succeeded, she began to narrate her story to everyone and I sometimes Imagine all the girls in Medina or the answer, Auntie Auntie, tell us your story of success of escape. You escaped from Alcatraz or your escape from this imprisonment. Tell us your story. And she would be sitting there proud and telling her story unconsumed died perhaps at the age of 70 or 80. So she was there at the time of the tapping and even the tambourine. unconfirmed, please tell us your story. She was an inspiration to everyone that was around her.
Not about escaping from Mecca, but about resisting oppression. That was the example of that principle.
So she decided to escape, according to her narrative. So she said, I went with this companion, or this escort or this God who took me to Albania or the desert. And then when he left me, I stayed there for a couple of days. And I was planning during that time to escape, but the word clan is misleading because she didn't know where she was heading. Meaning what she knew that she wanted to go to Medina, but literally she doesn't know how to go to Medina. You come from Manchester, you take the train to Manchester Oh, you're coming via a car, but certainly you have A to Zed or certainly you have a navigating system. Oh certainly at least you can stop at a motorway and ask about
directions.
She didn't have a clue. What is Medina? I'm talking about a young girl, not a woman and she never been to Medina.
Imagine you see a woman walking in London and you say sister salaam aleikum. She said
Closer, and you say to her, where are you heading to? She says I'm heading to Canada. All right, how are you heading to Canada? I don't know. I don't have money. I, I'm not intending to take a plane or any say, how are you going to go to Canada? I don't know. But I'm going to Canada. Look at this persistence. Look at this insistence. Sister, you're mad Canada is overseas, I don't care. I'm going to Canada.
Uncle who had the same persistence? I don't know. Don't ask me.
So she decided to escape and she succeeded in their escape, and she left the desert and started. Now historians here disagree on whether she was able to travel from Mecca to Medina walking, some historians say walking.
I don't know, I tend to doubt this narrative. But the more powerful narrative is that she found a man on the street.
And the element of a man and a woman in private is fascinating to me. And I'll tell you why. And you might have guessed it, because actually, it shows how genuine your identity is. We can all sit here and theorize about being good Muslims. But this is not the real challenge. The real challenge is that when you are working in an office with a male, how do you conduct yourself? When a brother is working with a girl in an art? How does he conduct himself? This is the real challenge. I'm not saying that you become Yes. Give me this. Take this. Yes, do this. No, I'm not saying that. But you don't have to do the other extreme. Oh, Hi. How are you doing? Why are you doing what are you doing
Saturday night? I'm not saying that as well. I'm saying this is your identity. And it has to radiate. It has to be clear that he Sham Hamad Ali Salim Alia Samia among Muslims, not in the fanatic sense, not in that spoiled sense. In the middle. I don't confirm again, illustrated that. You know why? Because this man actually came to her and approached her like a man would do, usually when he sees a woman alone, for all sorts of reasons.
So he approached her, and she said to him, What do you want? What do you want? This is a girl for seven years in a Muslim society, in a society that drinks day and night in a society that commits adultery and fornication day and night in a spoiled society. So the man the moment she saw the man, she didn't say, Oh, he might be a potential boyfriend. No. She said to him, What do you want? He said, The octan Arab. He appeared to be a missionary, not a Muslim, but emotionally, who is an ally with our Susa seller, because during the holiday via treaty, or so solemn, Allied or at peace with some tribes, all of them are called who's our tribe? So Subhana Allah Alhamdulillah, Allah subhanaw
taala and this is when Allah subhanaw taala sees that you are persevering, sees that you are persisting, sees that you are making effort, he will make it easy for you. He said to her.
I am from kusa. She's aware who is Casa and she's aware that they are an ally of Rosa. She immediately revealed a secret to him, and she said, Oh, dee doo Mohamed,
I want to go to Medina.
So, I said to her, I will escort you to Medina.
And she, in her narrative, she talks about him. She says one lie during our travel from Mecca to Medina, he would never speak to me, he would leave and then I would jump on the camel. And he would put his face the other way around so that he doesn't see me while I'm taking the camel or while I'm getting down from the camera, when I want to go to the toilet or whatever he would go away. What I want to say is that she was complimenting his attitude, he was not a Muslim, but look at this genuine Arab, which if anything tells you that you could be a non Muslim and you can be good
as far as dounia is concerned, as far as dunia is concerned, and because you are good Allah will give you in this dunya as far as dunya is concerned.
So he escorted her.
And what is fascinating as well. Is not this man not talking to her, because he is emotionally whether he wants to talk or not. What is fascinating to me is that she did not
chat him up or speak to him or laugh with him or smile to him. Or what's your name, brother? Where do you live? You have a mobile number, you have an email address. Do you think we can see each other sometime? Of course a system might not say this, but she will say it in a different way. And sisters are experts in that meaning that there are messages being sent in US
mile in a desert and adapt. And you know that maybe you don't. But unconsumed did not engage in all that. You know why? Because she knew exactly that she had a plan. She has a vision, she has a goal. And she's not going to be distracted by another love story.
And you have to have a vision. You have to have a goal. Yes, get married. Yes. have children. Yes, yes, engage and get in, you know, be in love. And but what is your goal?
Yes, to go to jenelle wanted to go to you. But you have to have a more specific role. Go in order to take you for gender? Yes, I want to establish this institution. I want to write this book. Yes, I want to have an impact on my sisters. Yes, I want to change my father and mother. Yes, I want to create a ripple in society. You know, brothers and sisters, there is an idea that I hate thinking about.
And the answer to this idea is what's keeping me going. And this is a personal confession. But I'm saying it to you to inspire you to think along these lines, if you would.
And I say this to my relatives. But of course they say Oh, don't do Don't say this, no, like think like this, because they are my mother, etc. But really, I say to myself, if I died now, if I died now 200 years from now,
will people remember me? Or what sort of impact would I have had on the society that I lived in? Nothing.
Nothing. You cannot say this about someone like me.
You cannot say this about someone like Malcolm X. But you can say that about a lot of us.
I'm not saying that you have to work so that people remember you. But that will be the end result, the natural outcome of you working in society. And of course, there are workers who work in secret and no one knows about them. But the point I'm trying to make is that you have to have an impact. You have to have a goal
that when you say to yourself, I lived 60 years of my life in the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom was different during this 60 years. People come and go people grow and die, people are born
and they come and go and they have no impact whatsoever. All what they had done is that they have consumed a little bit of oxygen and produced a little bit of co2 and a little bit of tension and occupied the house and pay the tax and got a PhD and got to know the system and got married to her and that's it.
And that's it.
On Khufu wanted to be different. Her story is unique and our story is different.
So she escaped and she went to Medina and Rosa I said that is Medina. This is Maddie This is Canada.
After four months of travel, I have reached Medina yes this is Medina Salam O Allah ecosystem and he leaves and she goes in Medina no one knows her.
And she
says to someone I want to meet the Prophet that person takes up Who are you? I am unconsumed I am from Mecca. Of course he doesn't know who's on consume. But he takes he takes it you know to who? to own selama the wife of Rosa Salaam she knocks the door on cinema opens. Yes sister. Can I help you? I am I'm Khufu. Where did you come from Mecca. I ran away. I just arrived and on selama loves and smiles and hugs and takes hindsight. And also Selim comes and says Yara Sula, this is unconfirmed, she escaped from Mecca. She is the daughter of Aqua Aqua by that time was dead.
And Uncle foom sat down and narrated her story to also sell them in the same way
that I have narrated this story to you now.
And when also sell em listens to that story, what did he think? He says, Look, these are my students. These are my followers, men or women. They are all powerful. They are all strong.
So when Uncle Sam came and this is ties in very well to with what I said to you that when she came, she didn't just want to live in Medina. Yes, I'm a Muslim sister. Yes, I'll go and pray and retain my identity. No, she felt that she had a responsibility. She has a role to play. So one of the things that she did, as soon as she left to Medina, she began to learn how to write and read.
She was an intellectual, and educated person at a time where in Medina, there wasn't a lot of men who could read or write.
And sometimes I say to myself, what was the incentive? There are other men
Reading and writing, there are other scribes who are writing qutab and ye who are writing the Quran, we don't need you. We don't need a woman. We don't need someone who writes, it doesn't matter what the society needs it or not. What matters is that you feel you think you are sure that society one day will need it.
And I will convince that society that it should need it. And I will be the person that provides that society with it.
This society needs Islam, even if they think that this is the last thing that they need.
But how are you going to conveyed? How are you going to articulate it? How are you going to explain it? This is the challenge.
You need skills, communication skills, you need to understand the mentality. You need to know how to approach these people.
And this is exactly what she was doing. She was learning how to write and how to read.
Knowledge why she was able to contribute to society. She narrated 10 Hadith from Arosa Salim she heard it personally from arasu, Salah Salah, and this is one Hadith that someone like Buhari is privileged to have an include in his book narrated by uncle film narrated unconfirmed and talked about that she heard a large messenger sell him say, He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information and saying good things is not a liar. Hiding that is famous, isn't it? She was the woman that narrated this hadith. And whenever you hear this Hadith, you have an emotional personal attachment to the one who narrated this hadith. on console.
She was also able to produce to the Muslim societies and to generate scholars to the Muslim society. She got married to a decent, well known famous companion, and she was able to have from him two sons, one was called Ibrahim, and the other was homemade. And when they grew up, they grew up as scholars, graduates of Oxford, if you want to Cambridge, they were scholars. The point I'm trying to tell you is that she lived seven years in exile in a mystic society, yet she was able to retain her identity. She was a qualified mother, she was a qualified teacher, she was a qualified reader and writer what a fascinating story of a successful girl or a successful woman. This is Uncle Fu. I just
want to make them by way of statements. These concluding remarks on the story of Uncle Sam before I go into the other story, I say I say in my notes that uncle fu represents a classic example and is a source of inspiration to girls living in the West, in the sense of breaking away from the authority of society, and I'm saying breaking away not escaping or leaving or migrating, breaking away from the authority of society, imposing on you customs, cultural practices that are not compatible to your deen or your religion. This is a statement. Now, whatever examples that you have in mind, I'm not going to think on your behalf.
The second concluding statement is that Uncle foom shows us that you don't have to be imprisoned to lose your freedom. There are a lot of people who think they are free, but in reality they are imprisoned within cultural constraints and cultural practices. They are under a cultural house arrest.
Yet they feel that they are free or people think that they are free. Okay, this is another concluding statement.
I've already mentioned the third concluding statement and that is look at how balanced and stable that woman was in her attitude to strangers, and particularly men, despite the fact that she was not born and brought up in a Muslim society. Her father is mushrik her brother is mushrik all the people in authority are mushriks. Despite all that, despite how young age she was confident enough to retain her identity and to preserve her morals and her good attitude.
A fourth concluding statement on concern would have been able to please Allah. If she retained her Akita and her image inside her heart and continued to live in Mecca, and grow in Mecca, and die in Mecca. Allah will accept as a Muslim, but she would not have had any impact on society and as far as history and as far as the future is concerned. So you can choose to be like, unconfirmed if she chose to live in Mecca. You could choose to live
In Britain, and to wear the hijab and go to work and live Islam, very private, mystical, spiritual, if you can do that, and Allah will be happy with you, but you will not have any impact on society.
And 200 years, rather 150 20, even 10 years from now, people will not remember you, because you didn't do anything to the people. But Uncle Tom decided to escape, and not only to escape and to be a burden on the new Islamic Society, like a lot of converts.
It's hardly that you find converts that contribute to the society with their talents, with the voices, with the legacies, with the skills that they have accumulated.
Because mistakenly, they think that to be a Muslim, is to be
a spiritual pacifist and to retain your Eman, and this society is corrupt, and this government is corrupt, and they live and live and live and live and die.
Uncle Phil did not do that on consume was an activist on consume, learned how to write and to read on consume, narrated Hadith, on consume, got married and had a successful life and breed children that were ultimately Rama. This is the model that I'm promoting. I'm not promoting a good Muslim sister.
This is between you and Allah, I am promoting a good Muslim sister that as a result of her being good society felt it.
A fifth concluding statement on console never thought about the consequences of the escape. Do I have an A to Zed? What am I going to do in the night? What if a lion came and appeared to me in the night? What if a ghost came? I have phobia against craps or against spiders. I cannot sleep in the middle of the desert in the middle of the heat or in the middle of the winter. I can't do that. So what's the result? What's the solution? The solution is that I'm going to remain in Mecca until a superman comes carries me to Medina No. I'm going to escape. I'm not asking now that you become an adventurer in a bad way. And say to me, I'm going to jump from Everest mountain and Alon shala will
carry me and my bones are not going to break. No. But what I'm saying is that the goal sometimes appears far fetched. But this far fetched goal should not frustrate you, as should not break your spirit that you say to yourself, no, this is a dream, I will not be able to do it.
To Martin Luther he had a dream. And that dream became a reality. Malcolm X had a dream. Gandhi had a dream. Muslims or non Muslims most revolutionary people, makers or breakers of history had a dream. And at that time people laughed at them. hertzel when he talked about a promised land in Palestine at that time, people laughed at him Jewish people laughed at him. They said to have a homeland in organda, or in Argentina is far more easier than to have it in Palestine. Under the Ottoman Empire, how come the Ottoman Empire will give us a piece of land. And within 40 years after hertzel died, the State of Israel was established and the dream became true.
On consumes this escape was a dream. How on earth on Cal film would you escape from Mecca to Medina, a system might have been telling her but she did not think about all these things. The point I'm trying to make is that when you decide for yourself a goal First of all, the goal should be high, high, high, realistic, but high high. And don't think about the difficulties. But think about the opportunities within these difficulties and say I will seize these opportunities to evade and to overcome the difficulties and establish and fulfill my goal.
Sixth final comment concluding statement.
And that is when Allah sees that you are serious about attaining your goal, he will make these difficulties easy. beyond human
imagination and beyond human effort, there will be an element of kurama an element of push. Yesterday I had a terrible headache that was going to blow my head. You might not have noticed it. But with a little bit of dark with a little bit of a bat.
And I'm sure you have stories like this. I'm not trying to show that I'm unique. You all have stories, how many times assists that took the underground middle of the night, and a drunk person came and a * or whatever. And she was rescued not by a muscular brother but by Allah subhanaw taala how many times you went to the exam, but you are not prepared? Well not because you are watching I don't know what but because you were servicing your mother when she was ill doing something good and Allah helped you. I'm not saying that he made you from a D to an A grade but at least helped you
Allah subhanaw taala help but all what Allah wants to see is commitment, discipline and effort from your behalf. The moment he sees that he will help, and He will bless. So these were the final concluding statements I want you to do, based on unconfirmed story.
My guest for today, my hero of today, complementing the theme of success is an Egyptian woman that lived in the 19th century Egypt. And to appreciate 19th century not just Egypt, but the world.
You have to be aware of the history of the world 19th century. But of course, this is not history class. But at that time, Muslims were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. So people who lived in Egypt paid allegiance to the Khalifa in Turkey, or in Istanbul.
During 19th century, Britain was an enormous Empire, not just a small little island, and there was the Germanic Empire, the Austrian Habsburg Empire, the French Empire, it was the age of imperialism.
19th century was the age of exploitation, not just exploiting the other, the Muslim or the Jew, or the African, but exploiting all sorts of people, including women, women were exploited. Because of the Industrial Revolution, children were at the age of five and six and seven working in factories for days and nights. It was a dark century, to my mind, the 19th century in some aspects, it was bright and other aspects. But I'm trying to dramatize the 19th century for us again, to appreciate how within this darkness a glowing woman
outstands and become significant.
Most women in the world, including British were stereotyped, according to their gender, and they were confined to certain feminine roles. And one of the role was that a woman is to engage solely in making clothes and in sewing, or in nurturing children.
That was it. Women whenever thought fit of occupying disciplines that men would usually occupy.
I got this from an internet site that talks about suing in the 19th century in Britain.
For us to appreciate our issue that a Maria that I will introduce suing was the ultimate sign of femininity.
It was sedentary and passive. And it was traditionally done by women only for the care and maintenance of the family and home.
In the literature of the period, the 19th century, the needle itself often stood for women's natural place in the home, and carried powerful associations of domestic bliss and maternal devotion. Look at the needle, the needle symbolize that needle means maternal devotion, household making clothes, that was the needle. And all of this was associated with women. The number of women involved in dressmaking alone in the early 1840s, Britain was estimated to be 15,000.
And those that were calculated, those that went to the register and said, I'm assuming they were I'm sure that there were more than that.
Egypt was not an exception.
When a father was blessed with a daughter straightaway, the first thing he does is go to buy and buy a sewing machine. At that time, there were no sewing machines, but a needle and a thread. And this was this expected role of a girl. She was not expected to attain a PhD, she was not expected to be a doctor, she was expected to make clothes.
And millions of women, including in the Muslim world, accepted that role.
Because it was imposed on them by men, but even women, senior women could not think of anything else. So you would have a woman above that could even being a mother being a woman could not think of any other role other than that.
And therefore, the mother of our hero,
the hero being I should say Maria was blessed with a mother
that unfortunately did not see any other role for Ayesha then to be cloth and dress make.
But Arusha from a young age said to her mother, no, I won't be able to do that.
And I shadow him Allah in the 19th century, troops in her diaries about the sort of effort, that pain that
pressure that she went through the struggle, the fight
you're talking about? One of you asked the question about if I wanted to marry or whatever, but had problems with my father, she had the same problem, but not with a man but with a needle. She didn't want to associate herself with a needle. She says in her diary, my mother would beat me when I was young, my mother would bring me sweets, my mother would buy me gold, Julie, Nicholas, everything to tempt me to be dressmaker and I would say no, no, no, no. And she would say you are mad, what do you want to do? She says, I want to be a scholar in literature and poetry, and write poetry and novels.
novels, it's like someone today saying to me, so I want to be a filmmaker. Or I want to write a book from Islamic terms as famous as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and make this film in so professional way. In acting, and in special effects and in music and and and that non Muslims will see this film 60 times 50 times. Why should the Muslim see Titanic 40 times and all the girls coming out of the cinema in tears because of the death of I don't know this man, Titanic? Why can't I do the opposite.
So I wanted that I wanted to be able to play with people's emotion, not play or manipulate, but to engage in people's emotion, and the mother could not see beyond the needle.
But who is able to rescue Ayesha?
Her father, Ayesha had two sisters. They were three girls, no men, no brothers handler, otherwise, the brother would have been beating her up or something. But three sisters only.
It's amazing that we don't know anything about these couple of sisters history have buried them.
You know why? Because they agree to get married to the needle. You see. It was the No. I mean, how are you going to be unique using a needle? Millions of people are using needles, but only one are writing Harry Potter. So
her father saw the agony saw the pain but not only pain and agony and argumentation. You see she genuinely loved writing and reading. Sometimes I see sisters and brothers fighting with their parents. I want to study Arabic I want to study Arabic And I'm not saying all but deep inside. I tend to think it's a moot. It's not genuine because a lot of them come after a year. Oh brother Yemen was too hot. Brother Mauritania. I couldn't bear living in the desert, or brother Arabic If I learned French, Arabic is so difficult. What do you What did you expect you expected cookies in Yemen? Or are you expected to wake up the following night speaking as eloquent as I showed Ilana,
you have to struggle, but only lovers struggles. Only those who love are in love with what they do struggle and bear the struggle. So only when Ayesha showed her father, that she is in passion with books and with literature and hated the guts. It had the guts Anyway, she hated the guts of the needle, that the Father stepped in interfered and said to the mother, leave her alone.
And he strikes a deal with the mother. Look at how powerful mothers were, by the way. And you know, this mothers in law and mothers, they are extremely powerful. They decide when you live and when you die and who you marry and who and what to eat and what you your husband wife should cook for you. Very powerful.
and nice. So
he said to her look, you take you take care of the two sisters, and I will take care of her.
And she said fine. Okay, so, and Subhanallah, he said to me is something that was fascinating.
He said to her Look, I don't want you to embarrass me in front of your mother. I have struck a deal with your mother, that one day you will be unique. One day, you will prove you to your mother, that you did not leave dressmaking because you were lazy. And you went into something and you failed in it. And you said my mother, I would like to retake my a levels, or I came back from Yemen. I know I've wasted enough money. No, you will come back. And you will say to her mother, I'm a great novelist. I'm a great woman of literature. And that is indeed what has happened. And that's why I should tell you Maria is one of the fascinating literature writers and her days and she has over
five or six books that are still written right until today and I think also translated. So she said fine.
And he because women at that time 19th century could not go to school, there were no schools. Unfortunately, schools were for men only, and only wealthy families could employ private
teachers to come inside the house to teach women. So he brought her to teachers want to teach her Turkish and what to teach her person. So she was an Arab.
Actually, she was of a Kurdish origin, but she living in Egypt was an Arab, or she learned Arabic. So now we are talking about someone who goes to Yemen to study Arabic. We have a genius who knows Arabic, but who is also learning Persian, and is also learning Turkish, not as our School of Oriental Africa, no at home, unfortunately, private tuition to teachers only.
So she continued to learn. When she reached the age of 15. She got married to someone who was working in Istanbul, who was the center of the khilafah data. So he took her and she left Egypt, and she became based in stumble.
However, she returned back to Egypt, because her husband died when she reached the age of 33.
She never remarried.
And at the age of 36, her father, her greatest supporter, also passed away. So in a couple of years, she witnessed two calamities in her, the death of her husband, and the death of her great supporter, her father.
She went to Egypt. And she never gave up.
Her learning her love her passion for literature. So she employed two private teachers who now will teach her Arabic, classical Arabic, classical poetry, classical grammar, because it's not just about Arabic Now, but she wants to master the language in order to be writing books. And during that period, she was able to write three books, one in Arabic, one in Turkish, one in Persian. This is the product of a woman that otherwise would have been making clothes.
What is also this is a success story. Yes, it is. But there is another agony that she went through. Ayesha
from her husband had a daughter, a baby girl, that she called to Hayden.
And she loved this girl so much, that was her only daughter. And she said to herself, I shall I will not impose onto Haider, like what my mother used to impose on me, I will give her the free choice to do what she wanted. And so pilotto Haider was a genius that she was able to muster need to work, but also to be like a mother, a woman of literature.
So we have a progression in the quality of generations. And this is what I believe will happen to future generations, your daughters and your sons will, I think, be better than you. You are in the transition period, you are struggling with your parents. And I'm sure that you've learned a lot from this struggle, and you will not leave your daughters and sons replicate your agonies. They might create agony for you. So that is the progression in the generation. How Hader was so helpful to her mother, she used to tidy the house. And whenever the mother would do something in the house, she said, Oh, my mother don't do anything. You just continue to write your novels. Focus on your work. I
will do you the cup of tea. I will do you the cup of coffee, I will clean up I'll do everything for you. You just focus on what you're doing.
She loved us so much. At the age of 18.
Someone proposed to her daughter to hate her. But they realized that the heda had cancer.
And
she was dying, basically. And the moment the mother learned of that she became mad.
And in one moment she writes in her diary she that she goes into the room of tau Haider.
And with the moment that Tao Haider sees her coming, she smiles, but the mother can see that there are tears in the eyes of to Haider. So I she knows that she's in agony.
And Sister tawheed Are you in pain? She says no, no, my mother, I'm okay. I'm okay.
And then she looks at some papers under the neath of the pillow or underneath of the bed. And she says no, she does this. She says Mother, Mother, don't, don't read don't look. It's just my diaries. But I'm happy, I'm happy. And she looks and she reads and it's poetry in Arabic. And the poetry says
I'm trying to hide my pain. I'm trying to hide my agony because I care about my mother.
I don't want my mother to be upset. I want to write lots of poetry. I want to write lots of literature. I want to write lots of novels. But I am sure that I will not live to do so.
What is the impact of Arusha? To read these papers? Of course, she cries until he says, My mother, I told you not to look at this diary. I've written it long time ago, while in reality, she just wrote it a couple of minutes ago, a teenager, about to get married, has cancer, in tremendous healthy relationship with her mother.
And she dies at the age of 18. So I she now
witnesses the death of her husband. I shall witnesses the death of her father. And now she witnesses the death of her most beloved person on earth. And that is the reader. And she wrote Incidentally, lots of poetry on Takeda and verito. Haider dies.
Out of crying and crying and crying, she becomes blind.
And she seizes. This is a difficulty now, and she seizes to write. For seven years, she quits writing for seven years, out of agony and pain.
until
some of her friends came to her persuaded her that look, you're a genius. This is the sooner of life. Allah gives and takes life. And after persuasion, her eyes recovered.
She took some medication and she was able to see again, and she resumed after seven years. This is Uncle film now, after seven years of absence, she continued to write and her writing, after the seven years was more prolific, was more mature, was more deep. her writings was about destiny was about death was about love was about daughters. What about tarbiyah was about Dean, they say that her writings after the death of Takeda was highly, highly sophisticated and intellectual than before. This is a story of a woman that so difficulties that so death
since the time that she was born, she was struggling with her mother for the needles. Yet, I should tell you, Maria is now one of the famous women writers in our Islamic history.
unconsumed I was talking about an oppressive non Muslim society, Ayesha and oppressive Muslim society. So Muslim societies could be oppressive through a mother, brother, society, culture, whatever. Now we have an oppressive husband, an oppressive non Muslim husband, a companion woman that was called on slain
she became a Muslim in Medina before she saw her sufa salah and before also Salah migrated to Medina, she just heard about the message, and she believed straightaway in that message.
Her husband was a non Muslim. She was blessed with Ennis and sab Malik, the servant of Allah Susa Salam. So his father, Malik was another Muslim.
And I just want to focus on this situation where, while she is breastfeeding, and as
she is saying to this baby, c'est la ilaha illa Allah, say, a shadow, Mohammed and Rasulullah Come on, he's a baby, but she's just rather than singing into into salt. Oh, my baby, go to bed. No, c'est la ilaha illa Allah say, Mohammed Rasulullah.
And Malik, the husband is watching. And he is so upset. And he says to her, don't corrupt my baby. She says to him, I'm not corrupting him. I'm making him a Muslim.
And he becomes fed up with her. He travels he leaves and he becomes killed in his journey. He met an enemy of his has nothing to do with Dino religions, a Muslim enemy that he had problems with and he killed him.
So she was again with this boy Anissa Malik became an orphan. And look at this classic situation of classic quotation. She said well, ah he
I will not impose on us to leave my breast until he decides that he had enough. And voila, he I never get married until Anis is a grown up man. And he will be the man who will be my Willie. And until he agrees that I get married. This is again, a woman that is not just
Go to sleep my baby or say a shadow law. This is a serious woman that wants to live for her son and is willing to sacrifice her personal joy for the sake of her son. And Alison Malik remembered this situation of his mother that when he grew up and he became a man, a great companion, NSF, Maliki said, just allow me I need Hydra la sala to laity. May Allah bless and reward my mother, because when law he she have been a good mother to me.
And when he became a man, a very handsome, good looking mushrik came to her who was called palha. And he proposed to her, apparently he is good looking. And apparently she is good looking. And she's still young, and in a manageable age. And he proposed, and she said to him, and incidentally tell her anyone wanted to marry tell her
among the mushriks, of course, he was a man of character, and also power and a warrior, etc. So he proposed to her. And she said, Well, I tell her, I have no problem with you. And I would accept, and someone like you should never get rejected, but you have a problem. He said, what he said, You are an unbeliever.
But if you believe that will be my diary, and I will accept, of course, he lefthand for a couple of days, he began to inquire and he began to, and he became persuaded with Islam. And you know what is fascinating in this story. What is fascinating in this story, that on both occasions, on both occasions, the woman on solane
did not compromise her aqidah when she was married to someone who did not share the same belief. And on the other occasion, she was so powerful, that she was able to change the IP that of someone who did not share her arcade. So in both cases, she was powerful. And this power is what constitutes a success story.
My final story is of a woman that is still alive until today.
She wrote her story, I did not write her name. And she became famous because of her story.
She represents a success story of a woman that had an oppressive Muslim husband.
So she is different than mine, somehow. She is from Saudi Arabia. She is a graduate of Sharia. And the moment that she graduated from university, like any sister, in most cases, she wants to benefit society, and she wants to also benefit from what she studied. But her husband, for all sorts of reasons, did not want her to leave the house. So she said to him, I want to become data, I have shared knowledge, I can benefit society, I can even speak to sisters, know men, etc, etc. And he said to her, look, the idea of leaving the household is not acceptable to me. I know that there are a lot of sisters in her situation.
And I know that a lot of sisters have surrendered to that situation.
She was from this group. But when she got married to this brother, he's from another group. He said to her, these are the books cross on these books cross on those speakers. These are my books, those are my speakers, you and she surrendered to that. And I don't blame many sisters, because sisters at the end of the day want to retain life. And what I want to say is that a lot of sisters, and I'm not here to create revolutions, by the way or rebellious movements. I'm telling you something that you know, but she was different. She did not repel. But somehow she utilized opportunities within the household to prosper. And that's why I'm saying again, it's a success story. In the household. She
was a good wife. She cooked she claimed sorry, this is a very male male, she has a good life. She began anyone else. Okay, so delete this if you don't like it, but she was a good wife. She was nice. She spoke a lot and talked a lot and you might like this. She was supportive. She was a good mother, all the things that you think constitutes a good wife. And even in the household, she was taking care of her mother in law. She was cleaning her she was doing everything. She was an old lady. So she was a good wife. But she was really in pain that I am accountable for my certificate I'm accountable for Allah will ask me about this knowledge.
So she started to make lots of all I want to services Islam. Oh Allah, please help me. And an idea came to her. Have you heard of these ads that you see sometimes in traffic lights work from home? So she's decided that okay, I can work from home. I can benefit society from home. All what I need, she thought is a printer
A fax machine and a computer. She didn't have this. I'm sure that a lot of sisters have that.
But she doesn't have the money.
So what did she do, she sold her gold, her jewelry, to be able to pay for the computer, for the fax, and for the printer.
And she spoke to her husband and Alhamdulillah her husband and this is so that the men are not upset and I'm not upset as well. And the husband helped her in that. He gave her a little bit of money to help in buying the printer and provided that she was not to leave the household. And then she started to listen to Islamic programs in the radio for an Karim channels that is in the Middle East. channels that just primarily play on so Islamic radio channels, 24 hours. So that is called anchoring in Egypt or on Kadeem in Kuwait or on Kadeem in Saudi Arabia. So she would listen to the programs, a program on sick on Amarna, on being honest, and she would transcribe the lecture.
And she would write it on her computer, and she would make a copy of it into a newsletter. And she would ask someone to distribute these newsletters into the hospitals into the schools, primarily non Muslim nurses who are working in Saudi Arabian hospitals.
And she gives her email she registered with hotmail and created Look, look at this creativity. And she said the amount of emails that I received from Filipinos and from Indonesia, non Muslims etc, asking for a copy of the Quran asking for this newsletter again, some copies they wanted some copies. And she said that I've turned my house into a center to teach people Islam, and this to me was working from home.
Her story gives me hope, and her story should give you hope that nothing is impossible. You could create an impact whatever the constraints, whatever the constraints, will call the other stuff or allele will come first through and know the following