Lauren Booth – Transformed Through Generosity
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the transformation of Lauren Booth to become a mindful person, including her journey to embracing Islam and her journey to become a Muslim. They stress the importance of finding one's true self and finding one's own potential in the face of scarcity and opportunities. The speakers also emphasize the need for mindfulness, letting go of one's behavior, and finding oneself in a delusion to live in a present-day crisis. They stress the importance of expanding one's heart to avoid feeling sad and the need to be mindful of one's emotions.
AI: Summary ©
Assalamu alaykum, brother Wadud. How are you today?
Alhamdulillah.
Thank
you so much for this opportunity to be
with you on this interview that we're gonna
be doing today.
It's a pleasure and honor to have you
on. I always look forward to your insights
and you go deep in your reflections.
This interview I'm really excited about. It's a
very dear friend of mine, and she's been
on a mindful Ramadan since since we started.
So sister Lauren Booth, and I've known her
now for maybe about 7, 8 years, Alhamdulillah.
So it's exciting to have her on.
Yeah. And her story of how she found
that opening and truth and light in Palestine.
The reporter is a journalist that traveled there
and no idea.
Yes.
It's unbelievable. And then eventually, you know, just
finding that transformation
for her to accept Islam and what she
has done to be the voice of the
people of Palestine. Yeah.
It's so inspiring, the stories that she has
shared in the past and how she was
impacted
by their example.
She went from being very judgmental
and thinking she is superior to the people
while she was there and just being completely
transformed by the light. That's all we can
say, and I can't wait to hear those
touching, touching stories. I'm sure everyone will be
inspired by them. How to claim that sense
of presence and hope and convenience
that she shares in our own story and
also the voice of the Palestinians. It's incredible.
Yes. Because
she transformed
there,
it is her mission and her work, and
there's so much we can learn from her.
And it's gonna be such a pleasure to
have her on. And
we'll get started.
And welcome to a mindful Ramadan
transformed
by the light, inspiring stories of converts.
I'm blessed to have brother Wadhud Hasan on
as a cohost, Mashallah,
specialist in mindfulness. We're so happy to have
you on.
Alhamdulillah. Such an honor to be on this
journey together, learning and transforming together with these
stories.
And welcome to a mindful Ramadan.
So happy to have you, sister Lauren Booth.
It's a pleasure to be here. I love
online mixing Ramadan together.
Absolutely. We've had several years together. It's so
good to have you back,
And I'd like to introduce you to my
cohost, brother Wadud.
Such an honor to be here with sister
Hallie Yu and this beautiful tradition of Mayim
for Ramadan and meeting sister Lauren, and really
excited to hear her stories, Insha'Allah, of transformation
and takeaways for a beautiful Ramadan.
Absolutely. We're so honored to have you, brother
Wadhud. You've done incredible work,
and mindfulness.
And sister Lauren, we have gone back.
First time I saw you was in Ottawa,
Canada doing a conference together,
then it was in South Africa.
And then in Turkey,
we met and met with your husband, and
you took us out, and we had a
seafood feast,
which I loved so much. It's such a
pleasure and honor to have you. Have you,
dear. I'm a little bit. Do you know
what? I keep forgetting about South Africa because
there was do you remember there was that
sports guy who was so kind of like,
and we were giggling all the time because
he was so he was very full on
and very dynamic and very amazing, but he
did make us kinda giggle with his MDD.
And brother, I do just came back from
South Africa.
Overcoming the jet lag from coming back from
Cape Town.
Which which cities are you guys in? This
South African people are just such beautiful people,
They really are. We were in Johannesburg.
Remember? And we went on a I think
it was a safari, didn't we? Did we
do the safari together?
Yeah. We did. Yeah. The whole thing is
beautifully organized, and it was a great,
budget to be a part of it and
meet the speakers. I'm actually going back Oh,
you are so much, Charles. Durban. Yeah. Yeah.
Very soon. Days. We're gonna
we miss him already.
That Oh, wow. Did you see him?
Yes. Did you see us? Absolutely.
I I met him. He he flew down
to Cape Town just to be with us
for the days. And every night, he was
the center of our dinner. You know?
Masha'allah. He brings
wisdom. Yes. He brings so much life. Masha'allah.
It's been beautiful
having these connections, and it's such an opportunity
when we connect with other speakers and get
to hear their stories
and get inspired because I always get fully
inspired. Whenever I do these mindful Ramadan, I'm
the first to be inspired by them
because of our beautiful, beautiful guest.
And today's guest, sister Lauren Booth
is a writer
and a presenter and public speaker.
You've written 2 books. 1 is in search
of the holy land
and finding peace in the holy land and
the play
Accidentally Muslim.
And you have a program called Find Your
Voice. And we're so excited to have you
here today.
So your books in search of the holy
land and finding peace in the holy land
beautifully captured your experience in Palestine
and the profound impact it had on your
journey towards
embracing Islam. Could you
share a pivotal moment in that interaction
from your time in Palestine that
deeply resonated with you, leading your way to
eventually embracing Islam?
One of the moments that really I talk
about a lot when I give my talks
because I love to be in that moment
and to recognize
the Islamic tenets that I was being taught
in that moment, was way back in 2006.
This is almost 20 years, by the grace
of Allah, that I've had a relationship with
Palestine,
and it was in Jenin.
And there was I'd been traveling around as
a journalist and I was having my worldview
shaken.
How was it shaken? Because I realized that
although I was a Christian,
I didn't know the people of the Holy
Land. I realized that although I was supposed
to be writing fairly
on Palestine,
I didn't know anything about Palestinian people. And
in fact, I had suspicions and prejudices,
and these were being very gently and very
organically
stripped away
by the meeting of the people. So
I had Eid in Janine with the family.
And in the evening, I was surrounded by
a group of women from several families who
just wanted to hear me talk. How are
you finding Palestine? How are your journey? What
do you think of the people? And at
one point, I said, look. I can't do
anything physical for you,
but I give you my pen. And what
I meant by that was I'll write the
truths that I see here,
and I will be honest about it. And
I will do my best
because what's going on here is not being
written about. And a little boy, aged about
9,
got up and quietly left the room while
I was speaking to the hijab women. I
wasn't Muslim. And he came back and he
was holding a shield. And if he wanted
later on, I could get it because it
is hanging on a wall
just in the next room. That's how important
it is and I've moved
10 times since then. Ten times and the
shield is with me. And he handed it
to me. Now it was, it's homemade
in,
red felt.
And on the front
of it, it has
elixir,
actually the dome of the rock in gold
pen and some Arabic lighting.
So it looks homemade. It looks maybe
a child or someone had done it with
a child at home.
Now, normally, I I already knew from being
in Palestine for a week or so.
But when the Palestinians give you a gift,
they go
Really? They didn't know that. Yeah. They did.
They're all excited to
celebration.
You know? And this time, when the little
boy gave me this homemade shield,
the reaction was this.
And I looked around at at the women
and they were all sort of, like, aghast.
And so I knew it was something special.
I said to the mother, did he make
this? And it was the grandmother who took
me by the hand and she said,
that was made by my son, Salim,
who has been in an Israeli prison
since before his son was born.
His son has never met him.
He had this smuggled out
of an Israeli prison to keep us strong.
And I said to his son, he'd never
met his father. This was the only saying,
I can't take this.
And he pushed it back and said, let
you must have it. And I said, but
why would you give me this? And then
he said something and it's it just and
lives with me to this day. He said,
I'm giving this because my holy book, the
Quran, our holy book tells us
that we must give the best we have
to the guest and to the visitor
and the traveler
and what you're holding in your hands is
the best thing that we have. Oh,
What a what a beautiful story about, you
know, depicting that,
the the idea of generosity
and following the verses and implementing it. And
she he gave what was most precious to
you, and you still have it after all
these years
and all these moves.
I really feel that in that moment,
Allah to Allah tied me to my oath.
It was a tying of an oath. What
that little boy's selflessness
made me recognize that when I said I
will write your truth and I will promise
to tell you stories,
I'm bound now by that shield. That shield
symbol of you can never turn away from
this. No matter
what happens,
this is so important just to that just
that one child
Majin.
We have no idea how our words and
our actions leave an impact. And here you
are,
sharing your experiences to millions of people. Brother
Wadhud,
any reflections on this?
Yeah. It's just unbelievable. As we were talking,
I'm just like this is just unfolding for
me. Like, like, Ramadan is Quran.
This is the this Quran is is revealed
for so many beautiful things for us, but
this was revealed in the month of Ramadan.
And the Quran, the first, you know, the
first few verses has these two beautiful things
that sometimes I talk about in our mindfulness
work is that, first, that
that reading is such a beautiful way to
learn and get to know people and your
contribution,
you know, that we're able to read your
story. We're able to learn
your story. And reading of the Quran
and reading in general that this command came,
and now you have to read
and read by a command of your Lord,
you know?
And then just a few verses down,
that Allah has now, you know, given
power of this pen.
And you you just show that pen and
I realize, oh my god, like, you're talking
about 2 different things. A lot of times
people say, how do I learn to be
mindful? How do I learn to meditate? And
I say, you know, reading is a form
of meditation.
Writing is a form of meditation. When was
the last time you
wrote about where you are in life and
where you wanna be? And
starting with just these two things can really
transform
who we are. And you were talking about
both of this, like, when you picked up
the pen and it's just like, I just
had the shiver and I remember the verse.
You're you're talking about the love. Right? This
this Ramadan is not about
how much we do. Like, fasting is actually
I I had a session, you know, in
South African Cape Town on mind for Ramadan.
Half the day was on mindful, and so
we were talking about I I asked the
audience, like, what is mindful what is what
are you actually doing when you're fasting? Are
you doing anything when you're fasting all day?
And it's not about what you're doing, but
it's about not what you're not doing, but
in what state you are you are doing.
Even if we don't do and we just
be and just be in that state in
the way that we're supposed to be,
transforms who we are.
You know? And you were talking about
the the the complete personification
of that as they're giving you that most
beautiful thing.
Mhmm. You cannot reach piety unless you give
what you love, and this is the state
of being.
You know, this is heart
that really touched another heart. I mean, so
much to take away from this beautiful beautiful
Can I can I share another another another
moment with you? There are many, but I
don't don't have to talk about this one,
but it but it had an impact on
me as well. There is a a driver.
He's a taxi driver from Jerusalem called, Jamel,
and, he had picked me up on my
first ever trip to the West Bank at
Tel Aviv airport and driven me to Ramallah,
the,
his side that he was allowed on with
his particular pass. And that was it. That
was all our interaction. And then a year
later, I come back and I find myself
at Gaza at the Erez checkpoint.
And I realized I need a taxi when
I get through the checkpoint. Now, it might
take 4 hours, it might take 6 hours.
So I call him in the morning
and I say, can you come around 1
o'clock in the afternoon? He says, no problem.
And he's the way he greets me, is
that long and brisk?
Oh, Allah's joy has descended again upon the
holy land. My wife will stop crying and
my children will celebrate because you have returned
to this blessed place. The flowers are in
bloom and, you know, this beautiful,
meaningful Arabic. And I was like, wow, one
taxi taxi rider, he's nicer to me than
my family. Wow, that's amazing.
And,
So, eventually, I do get through this awful
cruel checkpoint
where people where the Palestinians
suffer, but it was 6 o'clock in the
evening. And, my phone was dead, and remember
I booked Jimmy Jamal,
at 2 PM.
But when I got into the car park
on the other side with my big pink
suitcase and I thought, am I gonna have
to look to Jerusalem now? I don't know
where I am. I could get shot at
by the soldiers.
A car reversed towards me very quickly, threw
its door open and there was Janelle.
And I looked in and I said, what
are you doing here? He said, you you
called a taxi. Right? I said, yes.
4 hours ago.
He said, I waited.
I said, I'm sorry. I didn't understand.
You waited 4 hours
for a journalist you didn't know was gonna
come through a checkpoint
who could have just changed her mind or
gone in another taxi.
Why did you do that? Check the answer.
Because I'm a Muslim and a Muslim would
never leave a woman alone at risk. And
I started to cry.
I was crying. It wasn't one of those
nice Turkish drama cries with one tear. It
was a big, snotty Oh, so
hot. Breathing into a bag kind of Christ.
Wow. Because I think these people are from
another planet. How do they just give and
give and give
and give
Allah.
Masha'Allah.
I think it is the embodiment
of just understanding accountability
and and knowing that Allah is watching.
That it's not about the other people. It's
not about what they're going through,
difficulties. They realize that everything that they are
doing
is a testimony
and that it is all going to count
back. And
that these Allah has put these experiences
in your life
and in your travel in Palestine
to really resonate with you and you transform
your you were a daughter of Subhanallah, a
Jewish model and and an actor and you
live such a different life And yet you
came to Palestine. You have these very beautiful
and
transformative
experiences,
and it changed you. How did those things
change you, transform you, and made you embrace
Islam?
Well, you know, there was a very practical
lesson I had to have as well because
being a western feminist
leftist at the time, I had optimists to
my name
in 2006.
You know, I I came with a certain
amount of sue supremacist baggage to the holy
land, which I didn't think I had. I
was a quite a nice person and I'm
honest and open, but I was a bit
kind of like women in hijab all then.
And I remember going to an apartment in
Gaza City with a friend of mine, Mohammed,
a journalist.
And he said, I want you to meet
my wife and my children.
And I remember being a bit, oh, okay.
You know, we're fine. How long is this
gonna take? That was in my mind. And
I go in
and they the the mother has cooked
10 dishes. Oh, wow. And she's got 10
children
and it's an absolute feast.
Now, how do I
qualify that
with me being away from home for my
own children and my husband for such a
long time and and my career things and
it was all about me. I qualified it
by going, yeah, but she doesn't have a
real job. You know, this is all she
does. He's really good at it. Congratulations.
But I have to earn a living and
I'm clever and smart. Right? That's the the
arrogance.
Anyway, I remember sitting down
after the sumptuous meal
and saying to her, you know what? That
must have taken ages.
You must work so hard at Furlong having
all these children. And she said this this
which really
annoyed me so much. She said, well, of
course
of course, I am very busy with the
children. What what makes it harder is doing
a PH in higher maths.
SubhanAllah.
What?
And you cook like that and you care
for your children and your husband
and you can have guests.
And what is that?
And what what that was a lesson in,
1st and foremost, is different ways that people
live. There is no, you know, the western
superiority
idea of this this is the way it
should be.
And
also, Banneker of Time.
Banneker of Time.
I saw in these incredible
people
the possibility that the more you give to
others,
it doesn't decrease your time.
In the in the same way that the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam teaches
that giving more in sadaqah
doesn't decrease your wealth. And I think, you
know, that's we can they call it a
poverty mindset. Don't come at Islam. Don't come
at these practices with a poverty mindset.
If you sit and wait for 4 hours
and the person never turns up,
you've done a good deed by Allah.
Give that time. If you have something small
but precious,
I don't think most of us can let
go of that. I think that's a it's
a gift from the Palestinians.
But give from what you had. Give from
what matters,
not from what doesn't matter. So many lessons.
As far as what you said with the
barakat and time and
how by her demonstrating the generosity
and inviting you, and then you find that
she is actually working on her PhD
and that Allah does put that when we
do things sincerely
and when we
embrace giving to others. It's like it is
amazing how,
the more you do, the more Allah will
bless you and how incredible
of an experience that must have been for
you.
It was a beautiful
learning experience because it was humbling as well.
Because suddenly, you take off your west you
you stop your western strut for a minute
and you go, do people live differently,
but are they somehow living better?
Are they are they doing
better things?
And then you start looking at yourself and
thinking,
what do I lack? What if I'm not
the center of the universe?
What if I am not the star in
this drama of the of life?
Right? What if I'm a bit part in
the universal story? Am I actually a a
bad character in this story? Am I a
weak character who thinks they're strong?
So much can be assessed
when,
you go to beautiful Gaza
and you meet those beautiful people.
May Allah bless the man for technology.
Amen. Amen. Beautiful. Any reflections, brother?
And how to overcome our scarcity and get
to abundance, and a lot of times,
you know, it's these excuses that the whispers
of Shaitan and Nafs that you at one
of your interviews talked about, that shaytan and
nafs sometimes tell you that you're not good
enough to become a Muslim. I wanna ask
you about that. And
before I do, just wanted to connect
this what you're just saying that in Ramadan,
how do we find that
that you have the sense of becoming mindful
of God, and just just a couple of
ayahs down, Allah is talking about
so that you can become grateful.
And Allah says in the Quran that very
few of my servants are actually truly grateful.
So
as we are thinking about this scarcity to
abundance that you can find abundance like that
taxi driver, they could find
abundance
in their time and their commitment by
giving up what they might possess to this
God centered way of living. Right?
But because we think that we don't have
enough to be able to show up for
my best self, or who am I to
be able to do this? I know I
don't have enough knowledge. I'm not enough. I
don't have enough. You know? And there's so
many scarcity that we have that I I
can't almost show up for my best life
or my best potential, my best purpose. And
to understand that it's not about me at
all anyways,
that it isn't the God centered abundance where
I find the resources and I find the
help and that God suffices
me when I step up,
and I can do this in his abundance,
not mine. I know that one of the
areas you're interested in talking about
is about transformation
through Islam.
And I think a huge moment for me
and a huge refresher for us all well,
it happened in a mosque in Ramadan.
And I wasn't Muslim, but I was traveling
with a friend.
And I had
a huge experience where just at peace.
I sat down. I wasn't planning anything. I
wasn't like, oh, I want to be Muslim.
I was like, I'm gonna have a look
around and then I'm gonna go and eat
and then we'll go to a hotel. And
I was quite, you know, duh duh duh
duh duh duh. And when but when I
sat down, by the grace of Allah, in
this mosque,
everything stopped. But, you know, we all have
that inner voice. Right? And in the modern
age, that inner voice is often limited to
what you're gonna do next or what you're
not doing. And some people have a negative
voice, a satanic, wuss, wuss. There's all this
stuff going on. Right? And as a single
mom, I've been having a hard time. I
was a constant mister.
After this, you're gonna go here and then
you do that and you make 5 pain
calls and then there. And you're planning
every moment except the moment you're in. I
sat down in this mosque
and it went and my voice went, the
inner voice went, and you're gonna do this
radio silence.
A complete,
beautiful,
blissful
void.
It could have been minutes. It could have
been hours.
This confected
self,
this confection
of experiences,
Lauren Boothe, ceased to exist.
And that was the most
beautiful
moment
I had experienced in my life, not
being, not
existing.
And I knew
with absolute certainty in my heart at that
moment
that that is the state
of the universe,
the reset,
the go to space in the universe, like,
what that Allah has created is peace.
And I realize
we make the issues.
I am the problem.
Am I rushing around?
And if I switch off and out of
that,
you get you're you're in peace because God
is is arrahman or Rahim. I didn't have
the the emotional language. But by the grace
of Allah, he allowed me to touch on
that mat and that Ramadan
in that mosque.
Nothingness
and that's what you're aiming for.
SubhanAllah.
I think you just described so beautifully the
mindfulness.
What that means is being in the present
because so many people are
either regretting the past or anxious about the
future.
And you being in that moment right then
and there
and really embracing it is what was very
transformative.
And majority of people don't know how to
do this. And I feel
that, brother Wudud, I'm sure that you would,
you know, reflect on this as well is
that it really requires that mindfulness to transform.
It really requires
when you are in prayer, when you are
in sujood, that you're really in that moment,
when you're connecting with your family members, that
you are present because most people are physically
there, but emotionally they are not available.
And But you know what, Parnes? Sorry. I'm
gonna jump in here. Sure. What about going
beyond that? Because
isn't there a a risk at the moment
where even if we're practicing muraklava,
this mindfulness
and, we talk about it in a self
centered way.
I want this time to refresh myself.
I am in the moment because I need
this.
Is still not being in the moment. It
is being in the drama of your life.
How and what we're talking about is really
letting go. You know how I see the
transformation of before Islam and after Islam and
the moment of not of going, I'm gonna
do it. This is the right thing. Do
you remember it was a film with Harrison
Ford and it is one of the Raiders
of the Lost Ark? Mhmm. And I think
it is Raiders of the Lost Ark and
the Last Crusade. Horrible thing. Right? But at
the end of it, at one point, he
comes to the edge of of a rock
and there's all he can see is a
huge
a huge cavern and he's gonna fall into
it if he takes a step.
But the clue on the card is something
like take the first step and all will
be unveiled.
And you have to step into nothingness.
You have to go step into
not being.
Step into not being. Mhmm. Brother Waco, I
would feel like you have yeah. About this
this whole thing, and I'm thinking, okay. This
Rumi thing, I think, one of the poems
I was looking up, and as you're talking,
Rumi says, like, when you let go of
who you are, you become
who you might be. You know?
So just kinda like when you get when
you rid yourself of yourself,
then you get
you get to really find who God is,
and this, like because we wear our nuffs
in our sleeves all over ourselves, all about
us and truly letting go, that moment of
transcendence that people sometimes find, the truly kind
of letting go. And, you know, like touch
and that ultimate journey that used to be
the essence of truly letting go in the
in the state of Iran. You're truly let
go of your nafs, and this the white
the white cloth fabric that signified that journey
to Allah that you're now mindful and you're
traveling to God, you're letting go of everything
else. And salah is supposed to be that
experience that when we say Allahu Akbar, they
let go and only what you've got is
Allah and you let go. But we don't
understand how to really let go, and we
don't know how to let go. And and
that experience, I think what you're saying, sister
Lauren, is what I've heard from my teacher
that when you find these experiences,
just stay there. Like,
really, in Ramadan, when you have those flow
moments, you know, in your tarabi and in
your Quran, just stay in that moment because
God has given given that to you as
a gift.
Mhmm. I stayed I stayed overnight in that
mosque, by the way. I sat on the
floor of the mosque overnight because I was
like, I am never leaving. Whatever magic is
happening on this particular space
I don't want to leave it. I would
have swapped everything
in my life to have had that feeling
forever.
But, you know, you become a pilgrim. You
know, as a convert, you may get a
gift. And Allahu Ta'ala, the gift is the
shahada anyway,
which is huge,
and you get these beautiful moments, but you
don't then you have to earn it. There's
no,
you know, nobody gets a free ride. We
all become on this path together with the
bumps and then we have to overcome them
and the overcoming them is taking us to
the next step. And I know all this
sounds
perhaps this sounds a bit a way out
there for some of our
our for for some people listening. But
the basic point is just stop and listen
for a bit.
Put the phone down. And also, I do
have some I have a concern about new
Muslims who come to Islam
with
a following
or off the back of an amazing
moment and they're on YouTube and suddenly they've
got a 1000000 followers.
How do you reflect and get away with
that if you're sharing it all?
That's very difficult. That's very concerning. We'll help
them and help us all to get the
quiet time we need. I mean, I mean,
it's just
such a distraction because some of that, you
know, that self centeredness sometimes comes through unintentionally
when we are always thinking about what can
I do and sometimes letting go of that
and what does God want me to do?
You know, like, you know, like, mentioned
that we wake up in the morning, the
the the god fill wakes up in the
morning and thinks, what what am I gonna
do today? You know? This is he said
this is the Goffin, and to me, it's
like, oh, he's supposed to be a wise
guy, like, he's planning out his day. Right?
Now tell us that, Garfield is the one
who wakes up and think, what am I
gonna do today? Because he's he's ego centered.
Right? And he says the,
the real intelligent person is the one wakes
up and says, what does God want?
Where is God gonna put me today? You
know? So it's always kinda like that God
centeredness in the way that we show up
in the world. And I I love that.
I love that, and I love what sister
Lauren you were saying as far as earning
it. And I think that's a tofic. The
tofic is like that blessing
and the invitation.
We have to constantly work on ourself
and get rid of all the impurities that
we have, the diseases of our hearts. And
when we do that and we're really longing
for it, is that before
anyone takes their shahada, there's always a story
of them asking Allah for guidance,
that they ask their creators, like, if you
exist, guide me. And it's in those moments
when we are asking for it and we're
seeking it and we're working on ourselves is
where Allah truly guides us. I love the
concept of the that
is like this amazing invitation that you have.
And hopefully, throughout Ramadan, we have the every
time we stand for prayer, every time we
have maybe
this
witnessing that you're talking about when we want
to really, there, maybe this witnessing that you're
talking about
when we want to really get to this
sense of be present with God in everything
we do, you know, become this deeply God
centered person. Transform who we are through this
Ramadan.
In one of the interviews I I listened,
it was something really beautiful, and somebody asked
you I think it was Paul from Blogging
Theology. I think, he was asking you that
in terms of people that are searching for
truth, they're they're about to find and they
kind of feel this inspiration from Islam, and
and then they're they're kind of hesitating. What
advice would you give them? And you said
something that a lot of times there is
this whispers of shaitan and nuffs of the
ego and the lower self, and they said
that it's not time yet or you're not
good enough. And how do you kind of
let go of that thought and that distraction,
whether it's for new Muslims or for for
Muslims that are trying to transform themselves like
all of us in this Ramadan?
How do we really find our our true
self? Muslim alarheem,
I talk to myself first and foremost
to remember
that
Islam and Tawfiq and closeness to Allah Ta'ala
is not
an exam
that we can learn thing the page.
Because you can read about
incredible actions of the prophet and
and then not take one of them away.
Allah forgive us. We can read the Quran
and then be a less generous person at
the end of it because we haven't seen
it referring to ourselves.
So the real telling is in the eating,
isn't it? It's in the doing.
It's in the making those changes. Even if
it's just one,
even if it's just saying this does apply
to me. I I, alhamdulillah, was fasting today
and then I kind of remembered that I
was fasting. And I went, have I said
something bad today? Have I and then at
the very last minute,
Shaytan came to me, right, in the last
5 minutes of the past. And there's someone
who I really really have a problem with
about, you know, Shaitan, but say say something
about that person or turn it into and
so I said to my husband, oh, I
spoke to that person. And they were really
nice.
And they were lovely. Yourself. And
and I left it like that and I
just left it. Because it's in those last
moments. It's that last pedaling up the hill.
That's where the endorphins are on the run
and that's where the the spiritual endorphins and
the change happens. It takes forever.
I love that spiritual endorphins. I'm gonna use
that, sister Lauren. Yes. And, you know, imam
Al Ghazali,
emphasized the importance of knowledge in his quote,
knowledge without action is waste
fullness and action without knowledge is foolishness. And,
you have integrated this concept in your life,
your activism,
your advocacy work, and particularly
in raising awareness about the plight of the
Palestinians
have been commendable
and impactful.
Can you elaborate on
what you're doing,
strategies, the initiative that you're currently undertaking
to spread the light of Islam to others,
especially
in light of your experiences in Palestine?
Well, the first thing I want to say
is that I'm hoping to reach a time
where I don't need to speak about Palestine
anymore because we're reaching a time when the
Palestinian
voices are so strong
for themselves and so dynamic and being picked
up upon now by the mainstream,
that people like me can can be the
2nd tier as we always should have been.
So that's number 1 is,
I start all my talks now with a
poem. A lot of my talks by Rasif
Ziaadeh
called Hadil
about a little girl who was murdered in
a way that's become mundane.
And I because I want to give that
voice
back to the Palestinians who should be allowed
to tell their own story and have those
spaces. So that's number 1. You know, may
we be able to back up and let
that come forward and just be in that
supportive role.
But as I do get asked, to speak,
because
Allah Ta'ala has allowed me to spend time
in Gaza and spend time with the people
and know about this cause, I like to
connect people
to
the sense of positivity
and the sense of hope and determination
and especially to Alexa. You
know,
when we say this is a struggle for
land,
we're taking a very circular
viewpoint on this. One that is not true
to the Palestinian
majority
cause.
Their cause, if you ask them,
Allah for a lack so we do this.
Allah, Allah, we're standing steadfast and they won't
get rid of us. They
know that some of them, if they move,
they could have
this better life, but they'd be letting go
of that rope. Mhmm. You know? And I
really want to say to brothers and sisters
everywhere that Al Aqsa is not the 3rd
holiest mosque in Islam.
That is a BBC,
a CNBC,
a Western journalist lie that we have got
used to repeating.
Al Aqsa
was the 1st Qibla.
Al Aqsa is the 2nd mosque ever to
have visited existed in their world, Allahu
Akbar. It was built
only 40 years after the Kaaba.
That's Al Aqsa. Don't let me tell you
it's the third.
And I was speaking to a very, very
interesting
scholar
called, doctor Khaled Alavesi,
who specializes
in fatal maktus from an Islamic point of
view. And he said, look, if people are
planning on going on Umrah for a second
or third time, don't do it. Come to
Al Aqsa
because people are dying
for your right to pray there.
And then, I asked ourselves,
what would be stopping us from going? And
this is something very deep. Are we cowardly?
Are we scared?
Are we afraid? And this I've heard expressed
by some sisters.
But if I go
and they block me from getting into
will I have wasted my money?
It depends on your intention
because if your intention was I wanna feel
good and have a selfie in front of
the Dame of the Rock, yeah, you might
be disappointed.
But, well, if you make the intention Allah,
I am going to be one of the
protectors and guardians
Mhmm. Of the first qibla,
and to stand with my brothers and sisters.
You can pray in the street
and your prayer will be worth as well
as, and may Allah accept it. And you
have done so much for the steadfastness of
your brothers and sisters.
So that really is the message. Doctor
Khalid described it as, you know, if you
have 3 children
and one of them is in intensive care,
do you go and you sit with your
other children?
Or do you spend night and day with
the one in intensive care? He said, well,
Laiya Laksa is sick and needs our attention.
Wow.
Well, unbelievable. This is just
mind blowing,
really letting us think about it in a
in a very different way. And a lot
or so this beautiful
people that Allah has chosen
who carry on the tradition of all his
beloved messengers,
the place where from Adam to Abraham to
Moses to Jesus to Muhammad prayed, and in
the night of Miraj, they all prayed together.
And this rope that's holding this beauty and
this light of that mosque and the tradition
of all the messengers together
through their sacrifice
to
keep this place sacred for people
to live that tradition, and they are living
the tradition to protect the tradition. Right? So
they are the living embodiment
of those beautiful traditions. What a beautiful reflection.
I love that. Thank you so much for
sharing that. Amazing.
That he will surely test you with something
of fear and hunger and loss of wealth
and lives and fruits,
but give good tidings
to the patient.
As you reflect on your time spent in
Palestine and the lessons learned from the people
there, how do you
believe that their resilience,
their acceptance of the trust in Allah
can serve as a guiding light for the
Muslims seeking to navigate the challenges on the
modern world while
remaining grounded in faith and perseverance.
I'm gonna let Rosanne
speak at this point. Rosanne,
I've known her since she was 5 years
old and, she's now 23.
She just graduated
from the
Islamic University, but a pharmacy faculty of pharmacy,
Moshala, in August.
And on day 5 of this genocide,
I called and I said, Rosanne, I'm really
sorry I can't do this. He said, what
do you mean, auntie? I said, I can't
make you feel better about this. I need
you to make me feel better. I called
Gaza and said, can you make me feel
better about you being killed? And I could
hear the bombs in the
And also, auntie, I know that you're worried
about me personally.
So let me tell you this, and this
really is a message, a message to the
world.
She said, I've been speaking to my Allah
for 2 years now on a specific question.
And this is something I've noticed that the
people in Gaza do. They say, my Allah.
You know? Allahuwima
is
is oh Allah.
But imagine saying, my Allahuw will always be
there for me.
He's my
love, my special.
Yes? So she she said, my Allah,
please don't take me until I have learnt
your book by heart.
SubhanAllah.
And she said, as you know, auntie,
6 weeks ago I became a half adult
to Quran.
So, wallahi, don't worry about me. I'm ready
to meet my lord because I want to
be on the Sirat, and I wanna see
that white light that Allah has promised
lighting the way for me and my family.
There is
a whole
other reality
running
alongside
this
deadly,
dull,
test worthy,
unpleasant,
quite ugly, visceral physical experience that we're having.
And we just
need to get to that with the Quran,
with our real love for it. How much
time? Just ask I want us to ask
ourselves,
when we're with our youngsters,
are we just playing foolish games with them?
Or are we teaching them the dua to
make against the Dajjal?
Are we teaching them love of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam?
How is it that you see a 4
year old, a 5 year old, a 6
year old in Gaza going, wallahi.
Allah, I'm telling a lie about you.
Allah sees all of this. And we will
get what would children
be like in a catastrophe?
And what have we equipped them and ourselves
with?
That's the question.
That is so profound, sister Lauren, that you
reached out to this sister
wanting comfort, and her answer was just so
incredible that she is prioritizing.
And this is it's
a quest that we need to all be
on, that we prioritize the.
We can be so drawn into the dunya
and all the distractions
and and find ourself running after this world.
But what she has done is prioritize the.
She made her focus memorizing the Quran. And
once she achieved it, she felt like her
mission is accomplished.
And what a way to transcend this
and what an example.
And I remember having a phone conversation with
you, and you shared a very powerful story
that I that day, every time I thought
about it, I was in tears. And I
would love for you to share
the sister that came. I think she was
about 18, and she came to visit you.
Right. And she came
please share that story. She came to
church. She I I know what you're talking
about.
So for this young sister, so we're talking
about the separation now
and hardship, and how does
Islam actually have Allah has given us this
great gift.
Alright? And it is like it like it's
like an antivenom
for for dunya.
Alright? We have the antivenom here, but we're
going, no. Thanks. I'm just gonna take the
drink with poison. Alright? You've got you've got
powerful
dunya. So this young girl, she, she came
up to me after I was giving a
talk to a university about Palestine, and she
came up and said, auntie, I just wanna
tell you I'm from Gaza, and she burst
into tears.
Mhmm. And it was the first 10 days
of the genocide, and I stopped everything. And
I took her to one side,
and I said, who have you got here?
She said, I haven't got anybody.
And her story is this,
she's 18 years old. She's only little.
And she left Gaza 10 days
before because she got a special scholarship. She's
super bright to a university
here in Istanbul,
and then the bombing campaign started.
And I said to her,
you're here. And she looked at me like,
what a strange thing to say.
She said, no. No. No, auntie.
I'm asking myself day and night,
what have I done that Allah doesn't love
me enough?
Or he's angry with me
that I am not being honored
by being in Gaza right now?
That paradigm
shift in thinking.
Gods are the honorable, the dignified,
the honored and the dignified and there.
And she,
coming from there, knows this.
Knows them. You know that stuff you've got
here? It's very
minor. It's glitter. You know, what they've got
there, that's I want to be there, and
if I'm going to go, I want to
go there.
I want to be close to Allah.
And it reminded me of that moment that
I had on the mat
in this far off mosque
in Ramadan as a non Muslim,
that feeling,
you'd never leave it. You'd never swap it
for dunya. And that's, oh, Allah, give us
those moments this Ramadan. Give us give us
a freedom from ourselves that we may eliminate
this feeling that that dunya matters and we
are the center of a story
when when you are the center of every
single, and we are dependent upon you.
And I'll,
bless us with your light, and bless the
Palestinians, and accept Bashar al Dinh, and raise
the immigrants,
and end this test which is so strong,
but only you know that they are able
to please you through
it. Amen.
Amen. What a beautiful reflection,
and it's a total paradigm shift.
We are living in a delusion
and they have it right. And I feel
like Allah is using them as examples for
us
to recognize
our shortcomings,
to recognize
how we need to realign
with that God centric focus.
And the things that we are seeing right
now are what we have read about in
history from our prophets, from the Sahaba.
And we couldn't imagine
someone
in our present day experiencing that, like the
young boy who would recite Quran because there
is nothing to numb the pain and he's
just reciting Quran as they're doing the stitches.
So
they have really shown us that our life
is a delusion, and we are delusional in
many ways running after it. And, to
just put it into perspective. Brother Waddud.
That's just I just this is amazing. I
don't know what to say after you hear
these stories, you know, and I think this
is such a beautiful thing
to have these stories and these voices guide
us through this Ramadan because we're losing hope,
and they're not losing hope. They're actually
hopeful and optimistic
to
get closer to God. So
rest of the rest of the people around
the world that are seeing this and and
losing that hope and losing that strength in
their
heart to come back and say, you know,
in God, we can find that resilience. In
that in that reality, we can find our
resilience, our hope, and don't give up hope.
Make this Ramadan about resilience,
about hope, about being mindful of God and
letting go of these expectations we have about
these attachment
and expectations we have from this world that
dictate, you know, our
understanding of what success and failures are and
what true, you know, triumphs in the sight
of God. Is. Shay, can I can I
ask you something? You know, on this point,
there is a theme. This I don't wanna
let us off the hook here
because, you know, sometimes
there can be, you know, a was wasp
that says do the spiritual thing and and
and don't post about Gaza. Just move away
from it. Just leave it. Mhmm. And look,
it's so fundamental
to be sad.
Allah Ta'ala has told us he will test
us not once in a lifetime, but twice,
2 or 3, and once or twice a
year if only they knew. Every single year
we're going to get tested. If we're in
a place of comfort right now, when our
brothers and sisters and they are going through
this appalling, unbelievable,
terrible pain and hardship,
It's okay to cry. In fact, it's it's
recommended to cry. I remember the story of
Umar Radiallahu and who one day saw the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam with Abu Bakr
as Siddiq, and they were sitting down,
and they were crying over some matter of
the Ummah. And Ummah, peace be may Allah
be pleased with him, came across and said,
tell me what you're crying about that I
may join you. And this is Umrah who's
supposed to be this hard man. No.
They
the soft heart is exactly what we want.
Cry every day
and then get up and appreciate that Allah,
what what he's given
you. You know? If if if they if
they read and we're upset about a child
who has no water,
next time we do, will they just hand
the needle? Thank you for this moment.
May I use this moment?
You know, keep it all in perspective, but
but don't swap one for the other. You
don't have to switch out.
Definitely.
Well, thank you so much for doing that.
You just really, really tried to balance this
out there. It's so important that the same
prophet who cried his heart out
all night and to the point that the
Sahaba said that the crying of the prophet
was like the boiling kettle, and the same
person who cried his heart out all night
and to the point that the
had so much empathy and, you know, and
wait, and then he was the same person
during the day that
was also the one that was smiling the
most and was giving you the hug and
giving you the healing presence because
he was,
you know, he was not afraid to show
his emotion, express his emotions with God, but
also fill his cup with that God centered
presence. You know? You're in the middle of
oceans of people, and you are just tired
and exhausted and overwhelmed. And at night, stand
before me so that you can feel yourself,
and
then releasing that all of that and and
and feeling those emotions, but at the same
time,
it never gave up hope. It never gave
up optimism, never stopped smiling while
carrying that pain as well. Masha'Allah.
Masha'Allah. What a beautiful description, brother Wadud, of
how in solitude we weep and then
showing that compassion to others like the prophet
And may we be able to do that
inshallah more. May we reflect and may we
be able
to transform ourself. Many people will say it's
too much to see.
I can't take it.
And what we need to recognize, just like
what you said, sister Lauren, is that
this has been a powerful
point of reference. I think in the past,
whenever
people watched or looked at videos on Instagram,
it would lead to a lot of depression
and anxiety because they felt like they didn't
have enough, and they were striving more and
more for the dunya.
And now our feeds are filled with,
really, people
starving,
starving, losing their loved ones, body bags. And
all of this has
become a point of reference,
which I feel if we use it in
the right way
and recognize
the gratitude,
increase our gratitude,
increase our
blessings, make more Dua and be more connected
as an Ummah because, you know, the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said that we are
one body. And when one part is aching
or sick, then the whole body, when it's
in fever, the whole body feels it. And
I feel that it has actually created a
connectedness
with the whole ummah if we allow it
if we allow it to be a point
of reference,
which increases our gratitude
and also
shedding those tears, it's necessary.
And if we're not shedding tears, then what
is wrong with our heart?
If we are not moved by this, if
we are not heartbroken,
if we are not
impacted
and more grateful and we recognize that our
problems are so insignificant
in comparison,
If that has not profoundly changed,
then we are not doing the muraqabah. We
are not being mindful. We are not being
reflective. We are not taking
these examples, and Allah is giving us lesson
after lesson after lesson to wake us up.
It's like when you are about to miss
a flight and it's like last call
or you're about to miss your exam and
your mother's telling you wake up, you're going
to miss it. And this is what is
happening. And yet
some people are still in deep slumber.
So if we are not being reflective and
if it hasn't changed our life
significantly,
then we're not allowing it. And inshallah this
Ramadan,
we can reflect and see
how can we allow this to really
don't protect yourself from it. Allow your heart
to feel, to see,
and to be transformed.
I love that. And that's a beautiful point.
Thank you so much, Habibati. Of course. I
want to pick up on something you said
that was so interesting and so pertinent,
which is that before October 7th,
we were seeing a spike
in social media users, which is all of
us,
feeling and reporting
instances of anxiety,
calling it depression whether or not it was
that serious. But feeling sad
because
of pretty things.
Because of things other people had.
Mhmm. So on the one hand,
what is the the state of our mind
when we look at things that other people
have?
When we want what they have? When we
feel we haven't got
enough of that stuff? That man, that life,
all that confection
of fakery?
How are we going to really assess ourselves
in the light of this flip flop? Alright?
On the one hand,
I never got okay. So my thing on
Instagram is I love I I like looking
at these hookery
shorts.
And whenever I make them, they're pretty much
a failure. It's like those fold I'm obsessed
with the folding ones as well, you know.
If you just fold them like this and
I'm like, oh, and then I end up
turning over here. Okay? Lack of patience on
my part. But and if that was our
problem then, and now we have a problem,
I I don't want to be sad. I
wanna be sad. I'm allowing myself to be
sad because I can't fold the clothes and
I don't have that beautiful imaginary life, but
I don't wanna allow myself to feel sad
because of this.
How how do we navigate that?
Yeah. Yeah. It's very beautiful, and I would
just add a little tip here for everybody
that asking for expansion of our heart while
we're
having expand my heart,
and as we are sitting with that anxiety
or that sadness or that pain of our
brothers and sisters, you know, just asking Allah
to expand our heart and
be there in that moment and say, it's
okay for me to feel this pain. It's
okay for me to be with this emotion,
to shed my
tears, and my Allah has given me a
heart. If Allah has given them that capacity,
Allah so give me the capacity.
Allah can expand my heart, and my heart
can be as vast as the sky, and
these difficult emotions are like the clouds passing
through,
and I will make space for these emotions.
And I will not let them take me
over to the point where I don't wanna
see it anymore, but rather I'll make space
and I'll feel it and observe it and
I'll stay with it for a little bit
of time so that I'm able to feel
that human and that sometimes that spiritual side
of me that comes out when I'm able
to sit with it. You know? So it's
a a tip to be able to handle
those things in a way that's you're able
to sustain. I just I want to add
to that. Expansive
heart. An expansive
heart. A heart for other people
not filled with myself.
And I'm gonna give you an example now
of what an expansive heart looks like.
So, Razan's father is an old friend of
my family. We do so much charity work
together by the grace of Allah. Him, I'm
not talking about me. He's the one who
does the work on the ground,
When I speak to him, they have been
displaced 5 times. They've been burned out 5
places.
His mother is very sick with diabetes. She's
got blood poisoning.
They're now in a tent by the side
of a road. And I call them as
often as I can,
everyday if I can.
And I get through, and this is how
Yasser answers
Lauren, how are you? I am so happy
to hear your voice. How is your husband?
How are your children?
What is your life like? What's going on?
How is your how is everything with you?
Not it's like
a normal day.
It's like a normal day, wallahi,
you will not hear a complaint come from
them. So that's the expansive part. And I
told him some good news about a family
member. Oh, this has made me feel so
good. So positive. Not I wished, why aren't
I having that? Why is it hard for
us in God?
Oh, Allah. Thank you for giving my dear
sister.
Oh, that's good news. Each other for the
sake of Allah and wanting for your brother
or sister what you want for yourself
and embodying that
and
not having the rat race and comparing yourself
to others, but having that
complete contentment. And this is something that can
only happen when you do the internal work,
when you overcome those diseases of the heart,
and when you are really God centric because
you're seeing this as as your
and being
accepting of it. So that's that's such a
beautiful
demonstration
of really believing
and accepting
because someone could go through something so minor
and they can miss a vacation.
And they can go into a deep depression
because they didn't get to have their vacation.
And so You know what? I just so
sorry, Helen. That's a very good point. I
just wanted to come in here because when
I first came to Islam,
I did a lot of complaining.
And because it it takes time to to
get it.
Sure. Of course.
And so I was in some quite serious
situations
and I remember Palestinian brother going, you 1,
you need not to be telling everybody about
this situation.
2, you're not a Vegas, so stop asking.
I'm like, but if I don't and this
doesn't happen and then, and the kids
said, stop.
Breathe. It will come.
Right? You have 1 or 2 peep
Family, we do so much charity work together
by the grace of Allah. Him, I'm not
talking about me. He's the one who does
the work on the ground,
When I speak to him, they have been
displaced 5 times. They've been bombed out of
5 places.
His mother is very sick with diabetes, she's
got blood poisoning. They're now in a tent
by the side of a road.
And I call them as often as I
can,
everyday if I can.
And I get through and this is how
Yasser answers both.
Lauren, how are you? I am so happy
to hear your voice. How is your husband?
How are your children?
What is your life like? What's going on?
How is your how is everything with you?
Not it's like
a normal day.
It's like a normal day, you
will not hear a complaint come from them.
So that's the expansive part. And I told
him some good news about a family member.
Oh, this has made me feel so good.
So powerful.
Not I wished, why aren't I having that?
Why is it hard for us in God?
Oh, Allah. Thank you for giving my dear
sister.
Oh, that's good news. Each other for the
sake of Allah and wanting for your brother
or sister what you want for yourself and
embodying that
and
not having the rat race and comparing yourself
to others, but having that
complete
contentment. And this is something that can only
happen when you do the internal work, when
you overcome those diseases of the heart, and
when you are really god centric
because you're seeing this as as your other
and being
accepting of it. So that's that's such a
beautiful
demonstration
of really believing
and accepting
because someone could go through something so minor
and they can miss a vacation
and they can go into a deep depression
because they didn't get to have their vacation.