Maryam Amir – Veiled In Strength – World Hijab Day with Huda Biltagi

Maryam Amir
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses their experiences as a woman in their generation, including struggles with men and women, lack of respect for women, and struggles with men and women. They also discuss the importance of mentorship and the use of words to describe women, as well as the use of "has" in the Bible and the importance of understanding cultural context. They also discuss the use of "cover" in the culture and the importance of understanding the definition of "ma'am" in the Bible. The speaker emphasizes the importance of building confidence in Islam, not just the focus on the relationship with Allah. They also discuss the importance of being a woman who is the only one who is going to receive a baby, and the importance of not wanting to explain to other people.
AI: Transcript ©
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When I would go to the masjid and

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hear different and

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attend conferences and listen to lectures

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about Islam,

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very often, the examples that were given in

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all of those lectures were about the amazing

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men companions, radiya allahu anhu.

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I wanted to be like Khaled ibn Wadeed,

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radiya allahu anhu, as he was the head

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of the military.

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I wanted to be like Bilal

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as he would give the adhan. I wanted

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to be like these incredible men that I

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kept hearing. All of these men who changed

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the world and were revolutionaries

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and did all these things to help with

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this ummah. And then I would also hear

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in very specific scenarios about the woman companions.

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I would hear hear about Aisha

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and how she was extremely modest,

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and I would hear about Khadija

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and how she was the most amazing wife

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and I would hear about Fatima

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and how she was the most amazing mother.

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And may Allah

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have mercy on all of them and enter

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them into the highest paradise and honor us

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with being with them.

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Absolutely.

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These were incredibly important roles and examples that

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they set for us, all of which are

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critical and important.

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But at 16,

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I didn't know how to explain to people

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modesty and hijab,

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and I didn't know how to take Khadija

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and Fatima as role models in motherhood and

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in marriage when I was not thinking about

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those things at 16 in high school. I

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needed to know how to navigate being asked

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to a dance or someone making fun of

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me wearing hijab or being too embarrassed to

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pray on campus when other people could see

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me.

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I didn't know how to navigate when someone

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would tell me you can't be like Khaled

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because

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as a woman, you need to be more

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quiet. As a woman, you are too outgoing.

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As a woman,

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that is not modest.

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It wasn't modest that I was a secondary

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blackball. It wasn't modest that I love to

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be on skateboards. It wasn't modest that I

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love to play basketball.

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My entire personality was immodest according to the

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messages that I was receiving,

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and that really affected the way not only

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did I see hijab,

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but also myself in my relationship with Allah

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subhanahu wa ta'ala. And I'd like to ask

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all of you

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to name for me

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in just a few seconds

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companions who are men.

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I want us to honor our men who

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have taught us, and

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let's see how many names we can come

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up with in a few seconds. Yes.

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Mohammed?

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Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Yes. The prophet sallallahu

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alaihi wa sallam, but there was actually a

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companion who was named after the prophet sallallahu

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alaihi wa sallam, so I'm gonna count count

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that as a companion who was named Mohammed.

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Give me another one.

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We mentioned.

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Okay. So maybe that was 20 seconds, and

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we got to 12 names. Let's do the

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same thing for a woman. You can't repeat

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the same one twice. Yes. Khadija. Khadija.

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What did you say?

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Malala. Malala.

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Thank you. False team.

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Asma. Asma. There were so many asmas, so

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let's count that as, like, 5.

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Okay. Yeah.

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Who did you say? Aisha.

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Aisha?

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Aisha?

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Musaiba? Musaiba?

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Salama?

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But maybe there was someone named Mariam amongst

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the companions that I don't know of.

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There were multiple.

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What I want you to understand

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is that so many of you grew up

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in my generation where we didn't really hear

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about women, and you chose

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to learn about who they are so you

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can teach your daughters and your sons.

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So many of you realized

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where the problem was for you and your

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faith, and instead of saying,

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I'm not gonna stay connected to this, you

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said, I need to teach my children something

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different.

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And in teaching your sons and your daughters,

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your daughters who are here and shouting out

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the names with such pride and such honor,

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you have shifted a narrative generationally for us,

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where I pray that none of these young

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girls who are here will ever have my

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story or maybe some of your stories where

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you would go to the masjid and you

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wouldn't see yourself in the companions of the

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prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Now, of course, all

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of your experiences are different. Some of you

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grew up in different countries and different cities,

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and so maybe this is all you heard.

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Maybe woman scholars was all you interacted with.

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Maybe woman were in every aspect of Islamic

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history for you, and for all of you,

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What a privilege and a gift to have

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had that experience.

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And that experience,

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learning that this exists, is something that shifted

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my entire focus when I started really focusing

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on studying Islam

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and women's issues within Islamic law.

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But this idea of not knowing who the

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woman companions really were made it very hard

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for me to connect to hijab specifically

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because I knew we wore it for modesty,

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but what did that actually mean? What does

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what does that mean, modesty?

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And because I couldn't see who the woman

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companions were in their personalities,

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I just thought I wasn't a very good

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Muslim.

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I mean, I I had a very outgoing

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personality. I was a very assertive person. Does

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that mean that I can't be pious too?

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Does that mean that I also cannot follow

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the true piety of a Muslim woman?

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Because all I was being told is that

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true piety is someone who is very calm,

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who is very quiet, and who only speaks

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when necessary. That was the message that I

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was given in certain religious spaces that I

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attended.

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But as I learned about who the woman

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actually are, I realized that that is a

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very culturally influenced concept

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of what it means to be a Muslim

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woman. Because when you look at the names

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that you mentioned, TabatakAllahu,

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we had over 30 women companions who participated

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physically in battles with the prophet sallallahu alaihi

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wasallam.

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There were also women who went and cared

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for those who were in battle, who were

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nurses and who were helping the wounded and

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who served food and who gave water.

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Those were other women too, but over 30

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who participated physically in battles.

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That means they were visible. That means they

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were they were there. They were very strong.

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And then a specific example like Nusayba,

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who's probably the most famous warrior. Many of

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you have heard the name Nusayba,

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did you know that she's one of the

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narrators

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of a hadith

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related to wearing hijab?

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When we talk about the woman companions and

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how they interacted with hijab,

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their understanding of hijab

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developed over time

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because hijab was not revealed

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until between 12th

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14th year

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after the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam received the

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revelation,

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which means for the first part of revelation

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for over 10 years, 12 years up to

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14 years in Mecca in the beginning of

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Medina,

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hijab was not a requirement.

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What were they focusing on instead?

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Aisha radiAllahu anha said

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that had the Quran

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come down with the just obligations from the

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beginning, do this, don't do this, do this,

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don't do this, no one would have done

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it.

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In the beginning, all the focus was was

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mentoring

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the men and the women around the prophet

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sallallahu alaihi wasallam to develop

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a depth of connection with Allah

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and to have a yearning and understanding of

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accountability and for the hereafter.

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So when we're talking about Rufaida

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and how she was the most skilled surgeon

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amongst the companions, and that's why the prophet

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chose her to be the one to take

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care

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of, Saad

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when he was,

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injured in the battle of Aghaab.

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We're doing this with an understanding of a

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mentorship that she's not just doing this for

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the moment. She's doing this for everything that

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represents taking care of her brother

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as a surgeon.

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When we look at Khansa and

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how the prophet

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praised her poetry,

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She's not just doing poetry for fun. She's

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doing poetry for the sake of Allah,

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and she's talking about loss. She's talking about

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the loss in the mourning of those that

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she loved who had died.

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When we look at Umihiram,

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the prophet salaisedalam would visit her, and he

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would take naps at her home. And there's

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different discussions amongst the scholars on how she

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was related to the prophet salaisedalam.

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But one time he woke up, and he

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was very, very happy. And maybe you know

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this narration. What happened when she when he

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woke up so happy, salaam,

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and he had a dream. And in this

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dream,

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he dreamt that his companions were gonna be

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sailing on a boat and wearing crowns like

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kings.

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What did she say in response?

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Yes.

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She asked him, salai alaihi salam, to pray

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for her to be a part of them.

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This expedition

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is one which is going to include fighting,

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and she didn't say to the prophet salaihi

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salam,

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wow, that's amazing,

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which it is.

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She said, how can I be there?

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What can I do to be there?

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And this is one of the miracles of

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the prophet, it's a prophecy of the prophet,

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because he not only made dua for her

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in one narration, in another narration, he told

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her sali alaihi wa sallam that you will

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be amongst them.

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Do you know how old she was when

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she joined?

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She was 75 years old.

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Decades after

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this moment,

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the prophet

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had already passed away.

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She and her husband, Ubaid ibn Samit,

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were with the army.

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They were part of opening Jerusalem.

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They were part of Muslims going in with

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peace, with the keys handed to them from

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the head of the Christians

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who was in

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the old city of Jerusalem looking up over

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the wall.

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He's whole he's the one holding the key

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saying that this key belongs

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in their books

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to someone who was described exactly as Umar

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radiAllahu anhu.

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So he gave the key to Umar radiAllahu

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anhu, and they entered Masjid Al Aqsa. Haram

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radiAllahu anha.

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After this,

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in a prophecy that came true, this dream

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that came true, this dream that came true

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of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,

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she wanted to join, and she did. And

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no one said, you know, you're 75 now.

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That was like a while ago that you

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wanted this. Maybe reconsider.

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Because no age,

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either young or older,

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is one which shouldn't serve Allah Subhanahu Wa

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Ta'ala in every capacity possible.

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So Umihiram

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had a sister named Umsoleym,

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and Sulaim was standing one time at a

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battle, and she had a dagger. The prophet

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shalaihi wa sallam is like, why do you

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have a dagger?

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And she's like, so I can be here.

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She wanted to be there to defend. She

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wanted to be there to be a part

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of supporting the Muslim community and supporting the

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most vulnerable because it's not just about Muslims.

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It's about anyone who needs justice.

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And when I learned their stories, I started

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realizing

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that these women also were women that I

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could see myself in.

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Some of them were quiet, and some of

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them were loud. Some of them were shy.

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Some of them were outgoing.

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Some of them worked.

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Some of them worked at home only. Some

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of them were full time mothers. Everyone is

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a full time mother, but some of them

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were working mothers. There were all different circumstances,

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and I finally started to see that I

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am actually one of those types of women,

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a woman who is nuanced, a woman who

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sometimes wants to be out there and other

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times needs time alone with my lord,

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A woman who gets scared sometimes like they

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sometimes did, but they were steadfast.

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We see their examples tangibly in the woman

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of Gaza today.

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That those women are wearing what many of

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us wear at home, our prayer garments when

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we don't wanna put our whole hijab on

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that we go outside with. We throw on

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our prayer garments.

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I saw a woman in Gaza, and I

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wonder always is she still alive, that she

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was sitting in a room with her young

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child. And this is in the beginning before

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every building was just completely decimated.

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And she's sitting, and she says, we wear

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our salah clothes, ready at any moment to

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go back to Allah.

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That type of dedication to wear it 247

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in your house, of course, it's an honor

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to wear hijab, obviously, but don't you get

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hot in it sometimes?

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Aren't there times you go home and you

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literally rip it off? I do.

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I'm tired of wearing it. I just need

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some space. I need a moment to breathe.

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They're wearing it 247

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knowing that it might be their last breath.

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That level of dedication

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is something

00:13:00 --> 00:13:02

that we see embodied

00:13:03 --> 00:13:05

today from the example of the woman companions

00:13:07 --> 00:13:07

When

00:13:08 --> 00:13:09

they, in their culture,

00:13:10 --> 00:13:11

used to dress,

00:13:11 --> 00:13:13

it was common for men and women to

00:13:13 --> 00:13:16

cover their hair culturally, on a cultural level.

00:13:17 --> 00:13:19

And one of the questions I'm often asked

00:13:20 --> 00:13:22

is why doesn't the Quran say cover your

00:13:22 --> 00:13:23

hair?

00:13:24 --> 00:13:26

Why isn't the word hair in the verse?

00:13:28 --> 00:13:30

But look at the reality culturally.

00:13:31 --> 00:13:34

Men and women actively covered their hair. You

00:13:34 --> 00:13:37

can imagine. It's super hot. Haven't you ever

00:13:37 --> 00:13:38

been or maybe some of you have been

00:13:38 --> 00:13:41

to Saudi or to a country where men

00:13:41 --> 00:13:42

wear long sobs

00:13:42 --> 00:13:44

and then they wear something on their head?

00:13:44 --> 00:13:45

And from the back, have you thought that

00:13:45 --> 00:13:46

they were a woman?

00:13:47 --> 00:13:48

It's happened to me so many times. I'm

00:13:48 --> 00:13:50

like, oh, that's a woman. I'm like, that's

00:13:50 --> 00:13:51

actually not a woman.

00:13:52 --> 00:13:53

That culture

00:13:54 --> 00:13:56

where men and women dressed in very modest,

00:13:56 --> 00:13:59

baggy, loose clothing was also something that was

00:13:59 --> 00:14:01

part of the culture pre prior to the

00:14:01 --> 00:14:02

revelation.

00:14:03 --> 00:14:05

But what would the woman used to do?

00:14:05 --> 00:14:07

They used to cover their hair a bit

00:14:07 --> 00:14:08

here, not fully,

00:14:08 --> 00:14:10

and then they would throw back their garment

00:14:10 --> 00:14:13

so this whole area was exposed. Their neck,

00:14:13 --> 00:14:14

their chest, all of this was exposed, their

00:14:14 --> 00:14:15

ears.

00:14:15 --> 00:14:17

So what does the Quran say? There's 2

00:14:17 --> 00:14:20

different verses talking about hijab, and neither one

00:14:20 --> 00:14:21

says the word hijab.

00:14:21 --> 00:14:22

Hijab today

00:14:23 --> 00:14:24

is a cultural understanding

00:14:25 --> 00:14:26

of how we call what we wear over

00:14:26 --> 00:14:28

our heads, but the Quran

00:14:28 --> 00:14:29

uses the word

00:14:29 --> 00:14:30

and

00:14:30 --> 00:14:32

is basically a synonym

00:14:33 --> 00:14:35

for hijab as we use it today.

00:14:36 --> 00:14:39

But the in the verse that's being described

00:14:40 --> 00:14:42

is telling these women companions

00:14:42 --> 00:14:44

to take what they already have over their

00:14:44 --> 00:14:45

head

00:14:45 --> 00:14:47

and to bring it forward to cover this

00:14:47 --> 00:14:50

area, to cover this area, and it's mentioned

00:14:50 --> 00:14:52

in the description of the verse what to

00:14:52 --> 00:14:52

cover.

00:14:53 --> 00:14:55

Now if I'm going to ask you right

00:14:55 --> 00:14:55

there

00:14:56 --> 00:14:57

to put on your hat,

00:14:58 --> 00:14:59

can you stand up for me for a

00:14:59 --> 00:14:59

second?

00:15:00 --> 00:15:01

You.

00:15:02 --> 00:15:02

You.

00:15:03 --> 00:15:04

No. You.

00:15:04 --> 00:15:06

But also you. Both of you. Yes.

00:15:06 --> 00:15:08

Both of you. Yes.

00:15:08 --> 00:15:09

Take a stand.

00:15:09 --> 00:15:11

Oh, all 3. Everyone. Every

00:15:12 --> 00:15:14

anyone who wants to take a stand.

00:15:14 --> 00:15:17

So I'm gonna ask our dear sister right

00:15:17 --> 00:15:19

here. Okay. Sister who's wearing a blue hijab,

00:15:19 --> 00:15:21

what's your name? Ma'am. Ma'am.

00:15:21 --> 00:15:24

May Allah bless you, her mother, for choosing

00:15:24 --> 00:15:25

literally the best name in the world for

00:15:25 --> 00:15:27

women. No offense to everyone else.

00:15:28 --> 00:15:29

May Allah bless you and your your family

00:15:29 --> 00:15:31

and everyone, Amin. And the one next to

00:15:31 --> 00:15:34

you? Sadia. Sadia is your name? Beautiful name

00:15:34 --> 00:15:34

too.

00:15:35 --> 00:15:36

And? Sarah.

00:15:36 --> 00:15:37

Sarah? Also beautiful.

00:15:38 --> 00:15:40

Okay. I want you to watch,

00:15:41 --> 00:15:42

you're gonna pretend to have a hat. Pretend

00:15:42 --> 00:15:44

you have a hat in your hands. Hold

00:15:44 --> 00:15:46

your hold your hat. Can you put your

00:15:46 --> 00:15:47

hat on?

00:15:48 --> 00:15:48

Perfect.

00:15:49 --> 00:15:51

Can you put your hat on?

00:15:52 --> 00:15:54

Okay. Sarah, can you put your hat on?

00:15:55 --> 00:15:56

Okay. Why did all of you put it

00:15:56 --> 00:15:58

on your heads? I didn't specify put it

00:15:58 --> 00:15:59

on your head.

00:16:00 --> 00:16:01

Why did you do that?

00:16:03 --> 00:16:05

That's what you use it for. You put

00:16:05 --> 00:16:06

a hat on your head.

00:16:07 --> 00:16:09

Okay. Thank you. May Allah bless you all

00:16:09 --> 00:16:12

so much. Thank you. 3 different people. Therefore,

00:16:12 --> 00:16:14

it's proven in the whole entire world

00:16:15 --> 00:16:17

that I wouldn't need to tell you to

00:16:17 --> 00:16:18

put your hat on your head because you're

00:16:18 --> 00:16:20

not gonna put it on your elbow.

00:16:21 --> 00:16:22

You are not going to put it on

00:16:22 --> 00:16:24

your knee. When you're holding a hat, you

00:16:24 --> 00:16:26

will put it on your head.

00:16:26 --> 00:16:28

And the people who are learning the Quran

00:16:28 --> 00:16:30

in that moment are being told to take

00:16:30 --> 00:16:33

what's already on their head and cover the

00:16:33 --> 00:16:36

parts that are not covered. They understand what

00:16:36 --> 00:16:36

that means.

00:16:37 --> 00:16:39

Now if we're going to say, okay, but

00:16:39 --> 00:16:41

that's not clear enough, we can talk about

00:16:41 --> 00:16:43

a hadith that address it too. But the

00:16:43 --> 00:16:45

point is when they heard this verse,

00:16:46 --> 00:16:47

their response

00:16:48 --> 00:16:49

as described by Aisha and

00:16:52 --> 00:16:54

which is very important.

00:16:55 --> 00:16:57

The people who are explaining to us what

00:16:57 --> 00:16:59

happened when hijab was worn

00:17:00 --> 00:17:00

are women.

00:17:01 --> 00:17:02

Every narration

00:17:02 --> 00:17:05

many narrations that we have that describe

00:17:05 --> 00:17:08

what people did when the verse was revealed

00:17:09 --> 00:17:11

were narrated by women themselves.

00:17:12 --> 00:17:14

So we have to understand how did women

00:17:14 --> 00:17:15

understand hijab.

00:17:16 --> 00:17:17

When that verse was revealed,

00:17:18 --> 00:17:19

the woman narrated

00:17:20 --> 00:17:21

that the woman responded

00:17:22 --> 00:17:25

by taking clothing, including the curtains on their

00:17:25 --> 00:17:25

windows,

00:17:26 --> 00:17:28

and just grabbing it and covering their hair.

00:17:29 --> 00:17:31

Now you're going to see in some translations

00:17:31 --> 00:17:33

of the Quran that it says

00:17:34 --> 00:17:37

everything except for one eye. Maybe you've come

00:17:37 --> 00:17:39

across a translation like that before.

00:17:40 --> 00:17:42

That is a translator putting their interpretation of

00:17:42 --> 00:17:44

what hijab is into the verse in parenthesis,

00:17:45 --> 00:17:47

which is very confusing if you don't know

00:17:47 --> 00:17:49

that and you're reading a translation, which is

00:17:49 --> 00:17:50

what happened to me as I was reading

00:17:50 --> 00:17:52

a translation, especially because

00:17:53 --> 00:17:54

the narration that this particular

00:17:55 --> 00:17:57

translation is based on is not an authentic

00:17:57 --> 00:17:58

narration in the first place.

00:17:59 --> 00:18:01

But the point is that sometimes when we

00:18:01 --> 00:18:04

are talking about hijab, we are going to

00:18:04 --> 00:18:07

see people share their personal understanding of what

00:18:07 --> 00:18:09

hijab is. For example, there are other verses

00:18:09 --> 00:18:11

in the Quran talks about.

00:18:12 --> 00:18:13

I grew up thinking

00:18:13 --> 00:18:14

that a,

00:18:15 --> 00:18:17

which is, you know, a dress that's kind

00:18:17 --> 00:18:19

of just worn in one overflow

00:18:19 --> 00:18:19

dress,

00:18:20 --> 00:18:23

is the form of dress that I need

00:18:23 --> 00:18:24

to dress in as a Muslim woman because

00:18:24 --> 00:18:26

the Quran says jilbaab.

00:18:27 --> 00:18:29

But the jilbaab we see today is not

00:18:29 --> 00:18:31

the jilbaab that women would wear in the

00:18:31 --> 00:18:33

time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. That's

00:18:33 --> 00:18:35

not what they would dress like. Our concept

00:18:35 --> 00:18:36

of jilbab has evolved.

00:18:37 --> 00:18:40

And now jilbab is a very cultural dress

00:18:40 --> 00:18:41

with a particular culture.

00:18:42 --> 00:18:44

So when we see someone from Malaysia or

00:18:44 --> 00:18:46

from Pakistan or from other parts of the

00:18:46 --> 00:18:48

world not wearing that in their cultural dress,

00:18:48 --> 00:18:50

does that mean all of these millions of

00:18:50 --> 00:18:51

people are wrong in the way they wear

00:18:51 --> 00:18:54

hijab? No. It means we have not understood

00:18:55 --> 00:18:58

that jibab does not mean an Arabic

00:18:58 --> 00:18:59

cultural dress.

00:19:00 --> 00:19:02

It just is talking about what needs to

00:19:02 --> 00:19:05

be covered in general in these areas of

00:19:05 --> 00:19:07

the body in a loose way that is

00:19:07 --> 00:19:08

not transparent.

00:19:09 --> 00:19:12

Part of, again, the concept of bringing in

00:19:12 --> 00:19:12

interpretation

00:19:13 --> 00:19:15

that's based in culture in Islam

00:19:15 --> 00:19:17

is that many times, we have been taught

00:19:17 --> 00:19:21

that very muted colors are more pious

00:19:21 --> 00:19:22

or for example,

00:19:22 --> 00:19:23

black specifically

00:19:24 --> 00:19:25

is more righteous

00:19:25 --> 00:19:28

because it is a dark color that doesn't

00:19:28 --> 00:19:29

attract attention.

00:19:30 --> 00:19:32

Have you ever heard something similar to that

00:19:32 --> 00:19:32

before?

00:19:33 --> 00:19:36

What color did Aisha radhiallahu anha wear when

00:19:36 --> 00:19:38

she was in Ihram? Tell me.

00:19:39 --> 00:19:40

Sorry?

00:19:41 --> 00:19:42

It wasn't white.

00:19:43 --> 00:19:44

It was red.

00:19:44 --> 00:19:46

Very similar to our dear sister and what

00:19:46 --> 00:19:47

she is wearing.

00:19:48 --> 00:19:50

Yes. Our both of these dear sisters, and

00:19:50 --> 00:19:52

a number of other women, including me,

00:19:53 --> 00:19:55

I showed, radiAllahu anha, in Ihram, she wore

00:19:55 --> 00:19:58

saffron. She wore the color of saffron.

00:19:58 --> 00:20:00

There's another narration of wearing

00:20:01 --> 00:20:02

the color of saffron.

00:20:03 --> 00:20:06

So when we're talking about hijab and what

00:20:06 --> 00:20:08

it looks like in the ideal Muslim woman,

00:20:09 --> 00:20:11

and a particular image comes into our mind,

00:20:12 --> 00:20:14

I want us to have a conversation with

00:20:14 --> 00:20:16

ourselves internally and recognize that that image

00:20:17 --> 00:20:19

may have been one that someone else has

00:20:19 --> 00:20:20

painted for us.

00:20:20 --> 00:20:22

But that's not necessarily the image that the

00:20:22 --> 00:20:23

Quran

00:20:23 --> 00:20:25

and the sunnah have left for us and

00:20:25 --> 00:20:26

the women who were.

00:20:27 --> 00:20:29

Because color, for example, is very is defined

00:20:29 --> 00:20:32

by culture, is defined by in Islamic law.

00:20:32 --> 00:20:34

If you go to a country where every

00:20:34 --> 00:20:36

single person is wearing black

00:20:36 --> 00:20:39

and you choose to wear red, it may

00:20:39 --> 00:20:40

not be haram to wear red, but it's

00:20:40 --> 00:20:43

not advisable to wear red because you may

00:20:43 --> 00:20:44

send a signal

00:20:45 --> 00:20:47

that other people understand in a different way

00:20:48 --> 00:20:50

than everyone wearing black. Does that make sense?

00:20:51 --> 00:20:53

So cultural context is very important.

00:20:54 --> 00:20:56

Islam always takes into account the culture of

00:20:56 --> 00:20:57

a region

00:20:57 --> 00:20:59

as long as it doesn't interfere

00:21:00 --> 00:21:03

with specifics in Islamic law or especially, of

00:21:03 --> 00:21:05

course, no doubt in

00:21:06 --> 00:21:07

that cannot be changed.

00:21:08 --> 00:21:10

So when looking at these general rules when

00:21:10 --> 00:21:13

it comes to Islam and it comes to

00:21:13 --> 00:21:13

hijab,

00:21:14 --> 00:21:16

we see that one time,

00:21:17 --> 00:21:20

there was a narration of Esma radiAllahu anha,

00:21:20 --> 00:21:21

and she came to the prophet sallallahu alaihi

00:21:21 --> 00:21:23

wasallam. And he told her, basically, that she

00:21:23 --> 00:21:25

should cover it in clothing that's not translucent,

00:21:25 --> 00:21:27

and she can show her face in her

00:21:27 --> 00:21:29

hands. Have you ever come across this narration?

00:21:29 --> 00:21:31

It's like the narration that was taught for

00:21:31 --> 00:21:34

hijab. What's the problem with the narration?

00:21:36 --> 00:21:37

What?

00:21:38 --> 00:21:39

Say it so loud for me.

00:21:42 --> 00:21:44

Okay. Sorry. Apparently, we did not have the

00:21:44 --> 00:21:45

same childhood.

00:21:46 --> 00:21:48

What happened in my childhood, in my teenagehood,

00:21:48 --> 00:21:49

is that this narration,

00:21:50 --> 00:21:50

suddenly,

00:21:51 --> 00:21:53

everyone knew that it was not

00:21:53 --> 00:21:54

fully authentic.

00:21:55 --> 00:21:56

And we had learned it to be the

00:21:56 --> 00:21:57

only narration

00:21:58 --> 00:21:59

in which hijab was established.

00:22:00 --> 00:22:01

And so all of a sudden, everyone was

00:22:01 --> 00:22:03

confused. Well, the Quran doesn't say the word

00:22:03 --> 00:22:03

hair.

00:22:04 --> 00:22:06

And all of us who are not native

00:22:06 --> 00:22:08

Arabic speakers and we're not Arab and didn't

00:22:08 --> 00:22:10

know how to use other thing anything other

00:22:10 --> 00:22:12

than translation would come across this one narration

00:22:12 --> 00:22:14

that's no longer authentic, and we would say,

00:22:14 --> 00:22:17

okay. Does that mean hijab is actually not

00:22:17 --> 00:22:18

what the woman companions did?

00:22:19 --> 00:22:22

But we have other narrations like Nusayba, the

00:22:22 --> 00:22:24

warrior, and she's talking to another woman named

00:22:24 --> 00:22:27

Hafsa. And she is saying that she witnessed

00:22:27 --> 00:22:29

that a woman came to the prophet sallallahu

00:22:29 --> 00:22:30

alaihi wasallam,

00:22:31 --> 00:22:32

and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam

00:22:33 --> 00:22:36

she asked him saying that she would go

00:22:36 --> 00:22:38

to battle, and she accompanied her husband also

00:22:38 --> 00:22:40

in battle. I think something happened in the

00:22:40 --> 00:22:43

mic. And when they would go, she didn't

00:22:43 --> 00:22:45

have a hijab to wear, like, a whole

00:22:45 --> 00:22:47

thing to wear. So she didn't know what

00:22:47 --> 00:22:50

to do. Now what's so interesting about this

00:22:50 --> 00:22:51

narration

00:22:51 --> 00:22:52

is that Hafsa

00:22:54 --> 00:22:56

when no sayba is telling this to her

00:22:56 --> 00:22:57

when no sayba is telling this to her

00:22:58 --> 00:22:59

thank you. I'm just gonna try. When no

00:22:59 --> 00:23:01

sayba is telling this to her, the way

00:23:01 --> 00:23:04

that she reacts, the way that she responds

00:23:19 --> 00:23:21

She should still come out and participate the

00:23:21 --> 00:23:22

good. She should still be involved.

00:23:23 --> 00:23:26

Over and over, the prophet, tawai sallam, focused

00:23:26 --> 00:23:28

on how women are going to be involved

00:23:28 --> 00:23:29

in different spaces,

00:23:29 --> 00:23:32

different ways that works for you, your circumstance,

00:23:32 --> 00:23:34

and how you can contribute to the community.

00:23:36 --> 00:23:38

And one of the ways that the women

00:23:38 --> 00:23:38

companions

00:23:39 --> 00:23:42

navigated this relationship with Allah, how they felt

00:23:42 --> 00:23:43

this ability

00:23:43 --> 00:23:45

to do what the women in Gaza are

00:23:45 --> 00:23:45

doing,

00:23:46 --> 00:23:48

is their interaction with the Quran.

00:23:50 --> 00:23:51

Many times here,

00:23:51 --> 00:23:54

we focus on hijab as the most important

00:23:54 --> 00:23:56

act of worship that's ever existed.

00:23:56 --> 00:23:58

I was in a masjid where a woman

00:23:58 --> 00:23:59

came and wanted to convert,

00:24:00 --> 00:24:02

and she said that she wants to take

00:24:02 --> 00:24:02

her shahada.

00:24:03 --> 00:24:06

We all made a circle around her, and

00:24:06 --> 00:24:07

she wasn't wearing hijab. She had just walked

00:24:07 --> 00:24:08

in to give her shahada,

00:24:09 --> 00:24:11

and a woman went and she had gotten

00:24:12 --> 00:24:13

a hijab there from the masjid.

00:24:14 --> 00:24:15

She came and just put it on her

00:24:15 --> 00:24:16

head.

00:24:17 --> 00:24:20

I thought this was so rude. Number 1,

00:24:20 --> 00:24:22

she's about to give her shahada. Let her

00:24:22 --> 00:24:23

focus on her moment of shahada.

00:24:24 --> 00:24:26

But 2, what message does this give to

00:24:26 --> 00:24:27

this dear sister?

00:24:28 --> 00:24:31

Before even witnessing that Allah is your Lord

00:24:32 --> 00:24:33

and that the prophet, peace be upon him,

00:24:33 --> 00:24:35

is the final messenger of the revelation?

00:24:36 --> 00:24:36

Hijab.

00:24:38 --> 00:24:40

More important than you even coming to Allah?

00:24:41 --> 00:24:41

Hijab.

00:24:42 --> 00:24:44

Before you even come to Allah? Hijab.

00:24:46 --> 00:24:48

Do we have 12 to 14 years of

00:24:48 --> 00:24:49

mentorship for our sisters?

00:24:50 --> 00:24:53

Do our sisters feel like they can walk

00:24:53 --> 00:24:54

into a masjid space and be who they

00:24:54 --> 00:24:55

are,

00:24:55 --> 00:24:57

navigate who they are,

00:24:57 --> 00:24:59

bring our concerns and our worries and our

00:24:59 --> 00:25:01

fears and our trauma and all of it,

00:25:01 --> 00:25:03

and say, this is who I am?

00:25:04 --> 00:25:06

Or do we hide parts of ourselves because

00:25:06 --> 00:25:08

we know we may not be accepted?

00:25:08 --> 00:25:10

Do we hide parts of ourselves because we

00:25:10 --> 00:25:12

don't know how people are gonna react to

00:25:12 --> 00:25:13

who we really are?

00:25:13 --> 00:25:15

And sometimes that's natural. Sometimes you don't know

00:25:15 --> 00:25:17

everyone. You're not gonna share everything.

00:25:17 --> 00:25:19

But do our children have a space that

00:25:19 --> 00:25:22

they know that they can fully explore the

00:25:22 --> 00:25:24

questions of their identity and still be welcome?

00:25:26 --> 00:25:28

MCC is an excellent example of a masjid

00:25:28 --> 00:25:29

that does do all of those things,

00:25:31 --> 00:25:33

But the fact is that the prophet, sallai

00:25:33 --> 00:25:34

al salam,

00:25:35 --> 00:25:37

his companions would learn the Quran,

00:25:38 --> 00:25:39

and they would live the Quran,

00:25:40 --> 00:25:42

and they would think and interact with the

00:25:42 --> 00:25:42

Quran

00:25:43 --> 00:25:45

outside of the space of hijab.

00:25:46 --> 00:25:49

But they had their struggles too, the companions

00:25:49 --> 00:25:50

of the prophet.

00:25:51 --> 00:25:53

They struggle with things like drinking. They struggled

00:25:53 --> 00:25:56

with things that were major major sins,

00:25:57 --> 00:25:59

and what we see in their time period

00:25:59 --> 00:26:00

is something interesting.

00:26:01 --> 00:26:03

There's a statement of Aisha radiAllahu anha where

00:26:03 --> 00:26:05

she says that if the prophet sallaihi sallam

00:26:05 --> 00:26:06

were here today,

00:26:07 --> 00:26:08

we're seeing women today,

00:26:09 --> 00:26:11

that he would not have said

00:26:12 --> 00:26:14

that women should not be prevented from going

00:26:14 --> 00:26:14

to the masjid.

00:26:15 --> 00:26:17

She would have said he would have said

00:26:17 --> 00:26:19

that women should be prevented

00:26:19 --> 00:26:20

from going to the masjid.

00:26:21 --> 00:26:22

Have you heard that statement before?

00:26:23 --> 00:26:24

Some of you have.

00:26:25 --> 00:26:27

So this is Aisha, a scholar

00:26:28 --> 00:26:29

a scholar

00:26:30 --> 00:26:30

as a woman,

00:26:31 --> 00:26:33

saying what women are doing today

00:26:34 --> 00:26:35

is so bad

00:26:37 --> 00:26:40

that the prophet would have said prevent women

00:26:40 --> 00:26:41

from going to the masjid.

00:26:42 --> 00:26:43

Here is my question.

00:26:44 --> 00:26:46

Are we worse as a society now than

00:26:46 --> 00:26:48

we would they would have been at the

00:26:48 --> 00:26:49

time of Aisha radiAllahu anha?

00:26:50 --> 00:26:51

Would you say yes or no?

00:26:53 --> 00:26:53

Yes.

00:26:54 --> 00:26:57

Generally, yes, because we say the proximity to

00:26:57 --> 00:26:59

the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, would have changed

00:26:59 --> 00:26:59

things.

00:27:00 --> 00:27:01

But

00:27:02 --> 00:27:03

were people in Medina

00:27:04 --> 00:27:06

engaging in every type of relationship

00:27:07 --> 00:27:09

that was not Islamically acceptable on the time

00:27:09 --> 00:27:10

of the prophet, sallai, sallai, sallai, sallai, sallai,

00:27:10 --> 00:27:10

sallai, sallai,

00:27:14 --> 00:27:15

sallai, sallai, sallai, sallai, sallai? Yes.

00:27:16 --> 00:27:18

Did women dress in particular ways or act

00:27:18 --> 00:27:21

in particular ways that women do today every

00:27:21 --> 00:27:22

day culturally?

00:27:22 --> 00:27:23

Yes.

00:27:24 --> 00:27:27

So what was it that the woman in

00:27:27 --> 00:27:28

the time of Aisha did

00:27:29 --> 00:27:30

that was so different

00:27:31 --> 00:27:33

from the time of the prophet, sallai alaihi

00:27:33 --> 00:27:35

salam, that she would make this statement?

00:27:35 --> 00:27:37

We don't know. We don't know what it

00:27:37 --> 00:27:38

is. It was something specific.

00:27:39 --> 00:27:41

But why that's important is because when talking

00:27:41 --> 00:27:44

about hijab and woman and modesty,

00:27:44 --> 00:27:45

oftentimes,

00:27:45 --> 00:27:48

a statement of a woman companion will be

00:27:48 --> 00:27:48

used

00:27:49 --> 00:27:51

and will will be used as the example

00:27:51 --> 00:27:51

for,

00:27:52 --> 00:27:54

this is what Aisha, your mother, said about

00:27:54 --> 00:27:55

women.

00:27:55 --> 00:27:57

But our question needs to be, would she

00:27:57 --> 00:27:59

actually say that today?

00:28:00 --> 00:28:02

Because maybe whatever they were doing then is

00:28:02 --> 00:28:04

not being doing being done now. Because what

00:28:04 --> 00:28:06

we see today was during the time of

00:28:06 --> 00:28:06

the prophet,

00:28:07 --> 00:28:08

all those things existed.

00:28:09 --> 00:28:10

So maybe instead,

00:28:11 --> 00:28:12

what she would have said,

00:28:13 --> 00:28:14

which is what,

00:28:14 --> 00:28:18

Abdul Kalim Abu Shaka said, Maybe instead, she

00:28:18 --> 00:28:18

would have said

00:28:20 --> 00:28:24

that considering the time now, considering all we

00:28:24 --> 00:28:27

are exposed to, we are expected to do,

00:28:27 --> 00:28:29

we are judged for, all we have to

00:28:29 --> 00:28:30

carry on our shoulders,

00:28:30 --> 00:28:32

all we have to go through,

00:28:33 --> 00:28:35

Maybe instead of being prohibited from the masjid

00:28:35 --> 00:28:37

in her statement, it would have been it's

00:28:37 --> 00:28:39

an obligation for women to go to the

00:28:39 --> 00:28:39

masjid

00:28:40 --> 00:28:42

because we need a space where we can

00:28:42 --> 00:28:43

fall apart.

00:28:44 --> 00:28:45

We need a space where we can seek

00:28:45 --> 00:28:47

refuge with Allah no matter how we walk

00:28:47 --> 00:28:48

in.

00:28:48 --> 00:28:50

That this is a space for Allah

00:28:51 --> 00:28:53

and that Allah knows all of our journeys

00:28:53 --> 00:28:56

with hijab and every other aspect of Islam.

00:28:57 --> 00:28:58

Hijab is very physical

00:28:59 --> 00:29:00

and that's why it's so difficult.

00:29:15 --> 00:29:18

Because it's just one of many aspects

00:29:19 --> 00:29:20

many aspects

00:29:20 --> 00:29:22

of their relationship with Allah.

00:29:22 --> 00:29:23

The focus wasn't hijab.

00:29:24 --> 00:29:26

The focus was you and your relationship with

00:29:26 --> 00:29:28

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.

00:29:28 --> 00:29:30

What we see from the companions is the

00:29:30 --> 00:29:32

way they interacted with the Quran was very

00:29:32 --> 00:29:33

actively.

00:29:34 --> 00:29:36

Many times, especially with Ramadan coming up, may

00:29:36 --> 00:29:38

Allah bless us with seeing it. May Allah

00:29:38 --> 00:29:40

protect the people of in Sudan and all

00:29:40 --> 00:29:42

over the world and bless them with complete

00:29:42 --> 00:29:43

justice before,

00:29:45 --> 00:29:47

what we see often in Ramadan is reading

00:29:47 --> 00:29:49

the Quran as quickly as possible.

00:29:50 --> 00:29:52

But what we have from Asma, for example,

00:29:53 --> 00:29:54

she's the daughter of Abu Bakr,

00:29:55 --> 00:29:58

she would recite 1 ayah over and over

00:29:58 --> 00:29:58

again.

00:29:59 --> 00:30:00

She would say,

00:30:09 --> 00:30:09

One time,

00:30:10 --> 00:30:12

Be very aware of the day that you

00:30:12 --> 00:30:14

are going to be returned to Allah,

00:30:15 --> 00:30:16

and then she would say it again.

00:30:24 --> 00:30:27

Over and over and over every time

00:30:27 --> 00:30:29

it has a different meaning.

00:30:29 --> 00:30:31

You apply it in a different way.

00:30:32 --> 00:30:34

There's a companion of the prophet who

00:30:34 --> 00:30:36

prayed behind the prophet.

00:30:37 --> 00:30:39

Have you ever been going through all of

00:30:39 --> 00:30:41

Ramadan and you haven't shed a single sweet

00:30:41 --> 00:30:43

Ramadan tear and you're like, what's wrong with

00:30:43 --> 00:30:45

me? Has that happened to you? Have you

00:30:45 --> 00:30:47

been to Mecca or Medina and not been

00:30:47 --> 00:30:49

emotional and thought maybe you don't have strong

00:30:49 --> 00:30:50

iman?

00:30:50 --> 00:30:52

Have you been in Arafah and not really

00:30:52 --> 00:30:54

focused in your dua and then thought maybe

00:30:54 --> 00:30:55

I'm not actually a believer?

00:30:56 --> 00:30:58

Many of us as human beings have had

00:30:58 --> 00:30:59

those experiences,

00:30:59 --> 00:31:01

and we often think it means that we're

00:31:01 --> 00:31:03

not good enough in our relationship with Allah.

00:31:05 --> 00:31:06

But there's a companion of the prophet,

00:31:07 --> 00:31:08

his name was Jubaer,

00:31:09 --> 00:31:11

and he was standing in salah behind the

00:31:11 --> 00:31:13

prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.

00:31:14 --> 00:31:16

And he said he heard the verses

00:31:17 --> 00:31:20

that the prophet sallai sallam recited, and they

00:31:20 --> 00:31:20

were

00:31:30 --> 00:31:32

Were they created from nothing,

00:31:32 --> 00:31:33

or did they create themselves?

00:31:36 --> 00:31:37

Subhanallah.

00:31:38 --> 00:31:39

This aya,

00:31:40 --> 00:31:43

he said for the first time, he felt

00:31:43 --> 00:31:45

iman in his heart. He felt like he

00:31:45 --> 00:31:46

was gonna fly in the sky.

00:31:47 --> 00:31:50

A companion who's already converted, a companion who's

00:31:50 --> 00:31:51

praying with the prophet,

00:31:51 --> 00:31:53

who said it wasn't until this moment

00:31:54 --> 00:31:56

that he truly tasted faith.

00:31:56 --> 00:31:57

It is okay

00:31:58 --> 00:32:00

for you not to feel

00:32:00 --> 00:32:03

like you are in love with Islam sometimes.

00:32:03 --> 00:32:06

It is okay for you to struggle.

00:32:06 --> 00:32:08

It is okay when you make a mistake

00:32:08 --> 00:32:10

and you hate the fact that you do

00:32:10 --> 00:32:12

it, but you keep doing it. And it

00:32:12 --> 00:32:13

is okay if you wish that you used

00:32:13 --> 00:32:15

to be who you used to be. You

00:32:15 --> 00:32:17

wish that you were who you used to

00:32:17 --> 00:32:17

be.

00:32:18 --> 00:32:20

But the fact is that Allah

00:32:20 --> 00:32:23

isn't seeing you only in the moment where

00:32:23 --> 00:32:24

you're telling yourself, I wish I was better.

00:32:24 --> 00:32:26

I'm not good enough. I wish I was

00:32:26 --> 00:32:27

better. I'm not good enough.

00:32:27 --> 00:32:29

Allah sees the moment from the time you

00:32:29 --> 00:32:32

were in your mother's womb and even before

00:32:32 --> 00:32:32

that.

00:32:33 --> 00:32:35

He knows every single struggle you have had

00:32:35 --> 00:32:36

in every capacity,

00:32:37 --> 00:32:40

and all of that journey has been one

00:32:41 --> 00:32:43

in which you have still chosen to be

00:32:43 --> 00:32:43

here.

00:32:44 --> 00:32:46

The fact that you still chosen to be

00:32:46 --> 00:32:49

here is a testament to your love for

00:32:49 --> 00:32:49

him,

00:32:50 --> 00:32:52

but even more so, it's a testament for

00:32:52 --> 00:32:53

his love for you.

00:32:55 --> 00:32:56

It is a testament of his love for

00:32:56 --> 00:32:57

you.

00:32:57 --> 00:32:59

The way that you feel about yourself

00:33:00 --> 00:33:02

is not the way that Allah sees

00:33:03 --> 00:33:05

you. You don't have a right to tell

00:33:05 --> 00:33:07

yourself Allah doesn't love me, or Allah will

00:33:07 --> 00:33:09

not forgive me, or Allah doesn't think I'm

00:33:09 --> 00:33:11

good enough. You don't have a right to

00:33:11 --> 00:33:12

tell yourself that.

00:33:12 --> 00:33:13

You know what Islam

00:33:14 --> 00:33:16

part of Islam and act of worship is?

00:33:16 --> 00:33:18

Having hope in Allah.

00:33:19 --> 00:33:21

Having good thoughts about Allah.

00:33:22 --> 00:33:23

It's an act of worship

00:33:24 --> 00:33:26

for you to believe that Allah loves you

00:33:26 --> 00:33:27

and that he is with you.

00:33:28 --> 00:33:31

And that perspective is one that we see,

00:33:31 --> 00:33:34

that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam deeply embedded

00:33:34 --> 00:33:35

in his companions.

00:33:36 --> 00:33:37

Because when we look

00:33:38 --> 00:33:39

at interactions

00:33:39 --> 00:33:40

between the companions,

00:33:43 --> 00:33:44

sometimes they would make mistakes.

00:33:45 --> 00:33:47

And the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, could have

00:33:47 --> 00:33:49

easily blamed a woman.

00:33:50 --> 00:33:52

Because one time, a woman who was known

00:33:52 --> 00:33:54

as a very beautiful woman

00:33:55 --> 00:33:57

came and spoke to the prophet shawai sallam.

00:33:57 --> 00:33:58

She had a question.

00:33:59 --> 00:34:01

She came it was after Hajj.

00:34:02 --> 00:34:03

It It was during Hajj, but after the

00:34:03 --> 00:34:05

days of Ihram. So she's no longer in

00:34:05 --> 00:34:05

Ihram.

00:34:06 --> 00:34:08

And this is a very important point to

00:34:08 --> 00:34:08

know

00:34:09 --> 00:34:10

because otherwise,

00:34:10 --> 00:34:12

many say she was in Ihram, and that's

00:34:12 --> 00:34:15

why she didn't cover her face. No. Her

00:34:15 --> 00:34:17

ihram was already out. She just didn't cover

00:34:17 --> 00:34:18

her face. She wore a hijab without covering

00:34:18 --> 00:34:21

her face, and she was very beautiful, masha'Allah.

00:34:22 --> 00:34:23

Islam

00:34:23 --> 00:34:25

does not con condemn

00:34:25 --> 00:34:27

Allah creating woman beautifully.

00:34:28 --> 00:34:31

We should be beautiful in our hijab, whatever

00:34:31 --> 00:34:32

that beauty means to you.

00:34:34 --> 00:34:35

She comes and she asks the prophet a

00:34:35 --> 00:34:38

question, and behind her is his cousin, Al

00:34:38 --> 00:34:40

Fadl, who was a young man. There's 2

00:34:40 --> 00:34:42

different there's a few different narrations on this,

00:34:42 --> 00:34:44

but there happens in 2 different ways.

00:34:44 --> 00:34:45

In 1,

00:34:45 --> 00:34:48

he sees her, and he's like, Tabadlakulla. Masha'Allah

00:34:48 --> 00:34:49

Tabadlakulla.

00:34:49 --> 00:34:51

Until the prophet, sallai alaihi wa sallam, sees

00:34:51 --> 00:34:54

him looking at her, and he gently turns

00:34:54 --> 00:34:57

Al Fadl's face away from staring at her.

00:34:58 --> 00:34:59

There's another narration

00:35:01 --> 00:35:02

there's another narration

00:35:02 --> 00:35:05

when he keeps looking and she's looking at

00:35:05 --> 00:35:06

him and he's looking at her and she's

00:35:06 --> 00:35:08

looking at him. The prophet, salaised alaise, is

00:35:08 --> 00:35:09

turning his face away.

00:35:11 --> 00:35:11

Now

00:35:12 --> 00:35:13

I want you to understand

00:35:13 --> 00:35:15

that when the prophet sallai alaihi sallam talks

00:35:15 --> 00:35:16

about hijab,

00:35:16 --> 00:35:19

talks about women's roles, teaches all of these

00:35:20 --> 00:35:24

realities for us, it was never done in

00:35:24 --> 00:35:26

the space of shaming or blaming woman for

00:35:26 --> 00:35:27

existing.

00:35:28 --> 00:35:30

Her beauty was not asked to be covered.

00:35:31 --> 00:35:33

She was not asked to leave and have

00:35:33 --> 00:35:35

someone else ask the question.

00:35:35 --> 00:35:37

The prophet didn't

00:35:37 --> 00:35:39

tell her

00:35:39 --> 00:35:39

that

00:35:40 --> 00:35:41

she should have

00:35:42 --> 00:35:44

someone else be in this space.

00:35:44 --> 00:35:47

The prophet shawaihi wasalam addressed him

00:35:48 --> 00:35:51

and taught him how to respect a woman

00:35:51 --> 00:35:54

in front of him, mentored him, shawaihi wasalam,

00:35:54 --> 00:35:55

on how to be respectful,

00:35:56 --> 00:35:57

and allow for her to ask a question

00:35:57 --> 00:36:00

when she's not being stared at, sallallahu alaihi

00:36:00 --> 00:36:01

wasallam.

00:36:02 --> 00:36:03

In another narration

00:36:03 --> 00:36:06

in the masjid, this is a narration in

00:36:06 --> 00:36:06

Imam Ahmed.

00:36:07 --> 00:36:10

There was another woman who's described as a

00:36:10 --> 00:36:12

beautiful woman, and she would come to the

00:36:12 --> 00:36:13

masjid to pray, and she would stand in

00:36:13 --> 00:36:15

the front lines of the masjid.

00:36:16 --> 00:36:18

And there were a group of young men

00:36:18 --> 00:36:19

who would come

00:36:19 --> 00:36:21

later to stand in the back lines of

00:36:21 --> 00:36:22

the masjid

00:36:23 --> 00:36:25

so that in salah, when they go down

00:36:25 --> 00:36:27

in Ruqut, they could stare at her.

00:36:28 --> 00:36:31

These are men who are going into salah

00:36:31 --> 00:36:33

in the masjid of the prophet of the

00:36:33 --> 00:36:35

prophet of the prophet to look at a

00:36:35 --> 00:36:36

woman who's praying in the back row.

00:36:38 --> 00:36:39

And do you know how the prophet, shalaihi

00:36:39 --> 00:36:42

wa sallam, addressed it? Quran was revealed for

00:36:42 --> 00:36:42

it.

00:36:42 --> 00:36:44

And the Quran simply says, we know those

00:36:44 --> 00:36:46

of you who go to the back, and

00:36:46 --> 00:36:47

we know those of you who go to

00:36:47 --> 00:36:47

the front.

00:36:48 --> 00:36:51

It didn't address the woman being told that

00:36:51 --> 00:36:52

she shouldn't come to the masjid.

00:36:53 --> 00:36:55

The prophet, salallahu alaihi wasalam, didn't build a

00:36:55 --> 00:36:57

barrier between men and women so that her

00:36:57 --> 00:36:58

beauty was not

00:36:59 --> 00:36:59

distracting

00:36:59 --> 00:37:00

the men.

00:37:01 --> 00:37:02

It was self accountability.

00:37:05 --> 00:37:08

When we talk about hijab, teaching that perspective,

00:37:08 --> 00:37:10

that hijab is not for men. Hijab is

00:37:10 --> 00:37:11

for Allah.

00:37:12 --> 00:37:14

That we wear hijab for Allah. That we

00:37:14 --> 00:37:16

wear hijab even when we pray in the

00:37:16 --> 00:37:18

middle of the night in our own room.

00:37:19 --> 00:37:21

That it is for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

00:37:22 --> 00:37:25

It allows for hijab not to be weaponized.

00:37:26 --> 00:37:27

I taught a haluka

00:37:28 --> 00:37:30

of young girls, middle schoolers. There was like

00:37:30 --> 00:37:31

maybe 10 of them.

00:37:32 --> 00:37:34

I asked they all wore hijab,

00:37:34 --> 00:37:36

and I asked them why they wear hijab.

00:37:37 --> 00:37:40

Every single answer was 1 of 2.

00:37:40 --> 00:37:42

I wear it so that I can save

00:37:42 --> 00:37:43

myself from my husband,

00:37:45 --> 00:37:46

and I wear it to protect myself from

00:37:46 --> 00:37:47

men.

00:37:49 --> 00:37:51

This was maybe 15 years ago,

00:37:52 --> 00:37:54

and I saw one of those women

00:37:56 --> 00:37:57

years later.

00:37:57 --> 00:37:58

And now she's out of college.

00:38:01 --> 00:38:02

And in her experience,

00:38:04 --> 00:38:06

I'm not gonna go into details, but you

00:38:06 --> 00:38:07

can imagine things.

00:38:08 --> 00:38:10

And because we have different age ranges here,

00:38:10 --> 00:38:12

so I just wanna be a little careful.

00:38:13 --> 00:38:13

But

00:38:14 --> 00:38:16

she was questioning hijab. She was questioning Islam,

00:38:17 --> 00:38:18

because all she was told is going to

00:38:18 --> 00:38:19

protect her.

00:38:22 --> 00:38:23

It didn't happen.

00:38:23 --> 00:38:25

All that she saved herself for

00:38:26 --> 00:38:27

was destroyed,

00:38:27 --> 00:38:29

and I've heard that message over and over

00:38:29 --> 00:38:30

and over again.

00:38:32 --> 00:38:34

When we teach ourselves

00:38:34 --> 00:38:36

and our girls and boys

00:38:37 --> 00:38:39

that hijab is not for our boys,

00:38:39 --> 00:38:41

of course, boys have to wear hijab in

00:38:41 --> 00:38:42

their own way,

00:38:43 --> 00:38:45

and we teach our girls that hijab is

00:38:45 --> 00:38:45

not for boys.

00:38:46 --> 00:38:48

We teach our young girls that we're wearing

00:38:48 --> 00:38:49

hijab for Allah,

00:38:50 --> 00:38:52

that Allah is our refuge no matter what

00:38:52 --> 00:38:53

we are going through,

00:38:54 --> 00:38:57

then that connection, keeping that connection, maintaining that

00:38:57 --> 00:38:59

connection, no matter what we go through,

00:39:00 --> 00:39:02

is one where we don't start resenting hijab

00:39:02 --> 00:39:04

because we were taught that it is the

00:39:04 --> 00:39:06

ticket to everything that will never happen in

00:39:06 --> 00:39:08

a bad way to us or

00:39:08 --> 00:39:10

that we will be protected in some way.

00:39:10 --> 00:39:12

The Quran does say that hijab is a

00:39:12 --> 00:39:14

protection, but it doesn't specify

00:39:15 --> 00:39:15

how.

00:39:16 --> 00:39:19

Hijab is a protection in the many different

00:39:19 --> 00:39:20

wisdoms

00:39:20 --> 00:39:22

of hijab for every single person's experience.

00:39:23 --> 00:39:25

Hijab can be a protection

00:39:25 --> 00:39:28

from someone being extra focused with their outside

00:39:28 --> 00:39:30

to the point that they can't focus on

00:39:30 --> 00:39:32

other aspects of their life or maybe spend

00:39:32 --> 00:39:34

that time or that money in a different

00:39:34 --> 00:39:36

way. Hijab can be a protection in the

00:39:36 --> 00:39:38

ways that maybe some of us have conventionally

00:39:38 --> 00:39:40

thought of. It can be. Hijab can be

00:39:40 --> 00:39:42

a protection in lots of things, but I'll

00:39:42 --> 00:39:44

tell you how I thought of hijab being

00:39:44 --> 00:39:45

a protection this week.

00:39:45 --> 00:39:47

Kamala Harris came

00:39:47 --> 00:39:48

here

00:39:48 --> 00:39:49

to the bank,

00:39:49 --> 00:39:51

and I was at a protest outside of

00:39:51 --> 00:39:52

the building.

00:39:53 --> 00:39:53

Her

00:39:54 --> 00:39:55

program

00:39:55 --> 00:39:56

was for reproductive

00:39:57 --> 00:39:59

rights for women, and she's going around trying

00:39:59 --> 00:40:00

to recampaign.

00:40:01 --> 00:40:03

It's so ironic because we know that women

00:40:03 --> 00:40:04

in Gaza are giving birth

00:40:05 --> 00:40:07

on the floor with no clean water, and

00:40:07 --> 00:40:09

they're having c sections without anesthesia.

00:40:09 --> 00:40:11

And we know that we are funding it

00:40:11 --> 00:40:13

with our tax dollars, with her support.

00:40:13 --> 00:40:15

So we're standing outside protesting.

00:40:15 --> 00:40:17

And inside the building, a number of women

00:40:17 --> 00:40:20

who received the invitations to go in,

00:40:20 --> 00:40:22

some of them were hijabs, some of them

00:40:22 --> 00:40:24

didn't. Throughout the event, they would stand up,

00:40:24 --> 00:40:25

and they would scream, ceasefire

00:40:26 --> 00:40:26

now.

00:40:26 --> 00:40:28

And her event was interrupted

00:40:28 --> 00:40:29

so many times.

00:40:29 --> 00:40:31

The next day, she had an event in

00:40:31 --> 00:40:32

another state.

00:40:32 --> 00:40:34

And did you see what happened when 2

00:40:34 --> 00:40:35

women with hijab tried to enter?

00:40:36 --> 00:40:38

They didn't let them in. They said, you've

00:40:38 --> 00:40:40

been disinvited from this event.

00:40:40 --> 00:40:42

And I immediately went to protection.

00:40:43 --> 00:40:45

I go to protection. Do you know why?

00:40:46 --> 00:40:48

Because they can't racially profile

00:40:48 --> 00:40:51

every single person. If they do, no one

00:40:51 --> 00:40:52

is gonna be at their event, and they

00:40:52 --> 00:40:53

need the optics of diversity.

00:40:54 --> 00:40:55

So they can't just say no. No one

00:40:55 --> 00:40:57

can go. They don't know who's gonna stand

00:40:57 --> 00:40:59

up because at our event, there were people

00:40:59 --> 00:41:01

from the Jewish community. There were people from

00:41:01 --> 00:41:02

the Native American community. And we know that

00:41:02 --> 00:41:04

Muslims can be so many different races. There's

00:41:04 --> 00:41:06

no way to be able to specify. And

00:41:06 --> 00:41:08

we know Muslim women were hijab, Muslim women

00:41:08 --> 00:41:09

don't. There's no way they'd be able to

00:41:09 --> 00:41:10

tell.

00:41:10 --> 00:41:13

But for these two women, they were able

00:41:13 --> 00:41:15

to be racist, very boldly Islamophobic.

00:41:15 --> 00:41:17

And do you know what I thought of

00:41:17 --> 00:41:17

as protection?

00:41:18 --> 00:41:20

I said Allahu Akbar.

00:41:21 --> 00:41:24

A woman in hijab is so powerful and

00:41:24 --> 00:41:25

such a threat

00:41:26 --> 00:41:28

that they see her, and they don't even

00:41:28 --> 00:41:29

want to have her come in because they

00:41:29 --> 00:41:30

assume

00:41:30 --> 00:41:32

that she is going to vocally speak for

00:41:32 --> 00:41:33

justice.

00:41:34 --> 00:41:35

It is a protection

00:41:36 --> 00:41:39

that someone would see you and say she's

00:41:39 --> 00:41:40

not gonna stay silent.

00:41:40 --> 00:41:42

It is a protection that they would see

00:41:42 --> 00:41:44

you wearing hijab and say she is a

00:41:44 --> 00:41:46

threat. She is so powerful that her voice

00:41:46 --> 00:41:48

is gonna disrupt us.

00:41:48 --> 00:41:49

That is a protection.

00:41:50 --> 00:41:52

The last thing we would ever wanna be

00:41:52 --> 00:41:54

is have an opportunity in the face of

00:41:54 --> 00:41:55

someone who's an oppressor

00:41:56 --> 00:41:57

and stay silent.

00:42:00 --> 00:42:02

When we, though, think about that, sometimes that's

00:42:02 --> 00:42:03

a lot of pressure.

00:42:03 --> 00:42:06

I know I've had days where I don't

00:42:06 --> 00:42:08

want to be the billboard walking for Islam.

00:42:08 --> 00:42:10

I've had a bad day. I'm very, very

00:42:10 --> 00:42:12

tired. I'm just in a bad mood. And

00:42:12 --> 00:42:14

then someone's like, oh, Islam is so oppressive.

00:42:14 --> 00:42:15

I'm like, no. I'm exhausted.

00:42:16 --> 00:42:18

Aren't you so hot in that? Yes. I

00:42:18 --> 00:42:20

am. I'm very hot in that. And you

00:42:20 --> 00:42:21

know what? I'm hot for the sake of

00:42:21 --> 00:42:21

Allah.

00:42:23 --> 00:42:25

But the point is, sometimes I don't wanna

00:42:25 --> 00:42:26

be someone who has to stand up for

00:42:26 --> 00:42:29

everything because I can't feel emotionally I don't

00:42:29 --> 00:42:30

have the capacity in that moment.

00:42:31 --> 00:42:33

Or maybe I'm not an introvert, but maybe

00:42:33 --> 00:42:35

if you're an introvert. I've heard from many

00:42:35 --> 00:42:36

of my friends who are. They're like, I

00:42:36 --> 00:42:38

don't wanna have to explain to hijab all

00:42:38 --> 00:42:38

the time.

00:42:39 --> 00:42:40

It's very overwhelming.

00:42:41 --> 00:42:43

And I didn't mean to specifically say introverts,

00:42:43 --> 00:42:44

I mean anyone. Maybe sometimes at some point,

00:42:44 --> 00:42:46

you just don't wanna talk to people all

00:42:46 --> 00:42:46

the time.

00:42:47 --> 00:42:48

And this is when I think it's important

00:42:48 --> 00:42:50

for us to look at the example of

00:42:50 --> 00:42:52

Maryam alaihis salaam, and we're gonna close with

00:42:52 --> 00:42:53

her story insha'Allah.

00:42:54 --> 00:42:55

Miriam Alaihi Salam,

00:42:55 --> 00:42:58

many of you know that Virgin Mary was

00:42:58 --> 00:43:00

the first woman ever to be entered into

00:43:00 --> 00:43:01

Baytul Maqdis,

00:43:01 --> 00:43:03

to be entered into

00:43:03 --> 00:43:04

this space,

00:43:04 --> 00:43:05

which is now.

00:43:06 --> 00:43:09

It is the place that so many prophets

00:43:09 --> 00:43:11

every prophet, every space of

00:43:11 --> 00:43:13

there has been a prophet or an angel

00:43:13 --> 00:43:14

that has walked upon it. There's not a

00:43:14 --> 00:43:16

single space this big in which a prophet

00:43:16 --> 00:43:18

or an angel hasn't walked there.

00:43:18 --> 00:43:20

And Miriam was the 1st woman to be

00:43:20 --> 00:43:22

entered there as someone who's worshiping and serving

00:43:22 --> 00:43:23

the masjid.

00:43:24 --> 00:43:26

Now she spent her days in worship. She

00:43:26 --> 00:43:29

spent it quietly in worship, in praying, in

00:43:29 --> 00:43:30

fasting, in doing good.

00:43:31 --> 00:43:33

She had her time, that private

00:43:34 --> 00:43:35

contemplative time with Allah,

00:43:37 --> 00:43:38

but she also

00:43:39 --> 00:43:41

turned that into action in that when Angel

00:43:41 --> 00:43:44

Jibreel, alaihis salam, came and told her the

00:43:44 --> 00:43:45

news of her having a child.

00:43:47 --> 00:43:49

Before he gave that news, he was in

00:43:49 --> 00:43:50

the form of a man,

00:43:50 --> 00:43:52

and the description of him is that he

00:43:52 --> 00:43:55

was a very beautiful man standing in her

00:43:55 --> 00:43:56

chamber.

00:43:56 --> 00:43:58

So she walks in, and she's like, why

00:43:58 --> 00:43:59

is a man in my chamber?

00:43:59 --> 00:44:01

And you can imagine this is probably the

00:44:01 --> 00:44:03

first time ever a man is in her

00:44:03 --> 00:44:05

chamber other than Zakaria, the prophet who was

00:44:05 --> 00:44:07

her uncle taking care of her, alayhis salaam.

00:44:08 --> 00:44:11

So the way that she responds do you

00:44:11 --> 00:44:12

know what she says? You know. Some of

00:44:12 --> 00:44:13

you know.

00:44:13 --> 00:44:15

Who can recite the verse for us?

00:44:18 --> 00:44:19

Please, we wanna hear you.

00:44:24 --> 00:44:26

Okay. What were the two names that Allah

00:44:26 --> 00:44:28

Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is called by by her?

00:44:31 --> 00:44:34

Yes. Ar Rahman. Sorry. One name. Yes. Exactly.

00:44:34 --> 00:44:35

Exactly.

00:44:35 --> 00:44:37

She reminds him of Ar Rahman.

00:44:38 --> 00:44:41

Ar Rahman, the most compassionate, the most merciful.

00:44:41 --> 00:44:43

She didn't say the one who is the

00:44:43 --> 00:44:43

punisher.

00:44:44 --> 00:44:45

She reminded

00:44:45 --> 00:44:47

him to go back to Allah.

00:44:47 --> 00:44:48

He's the most merciful.

00:44:49 --> 00:44:50

And,

00:44:51 --> 00:44:51

subhanallah,

00:44:52 --> 00:44:53

what is the response?

00:44:53 --> 00:44:57

Angel Jibril is so overwhelmed by the power

00:44:57 --> 00:44:58

of her voice that he flips into the

00:44:58 --> 00:45:00

form of an angel. He goes from man

00:45:01 --> 00:45:03

to angel, flips, and he says, I am

00:45:03 --> 00:45:05

here I'm just here for Abidasa Messenger. Abidasa

00:45:05 --> 00:45:07

Messenger, here to tell you you're gonna have

00:45:07 --> 00:45:09

a baby, which, of course, is terrifying for

00:45:09 --> 00:45:09

her.

00:45:10 --> 00:45:12

And I want you to know her reaction

00:45:12 --> 00:45:13

is not to say, Allahu Akbar, I've been

00:45:13 --> 00:45:15

chosen. It's to be terrified.

00:45:16 --> 00:45:19

And then she gives birth, again, terrified.

00:45:19 --> 00:45:22

The Quran keeps recording how scared she is,

00:45:22 --> 00:45:23

how worried she is.

00:45:24 --> 00:45:25

It's human.

00:45:25 --> 00:45:27

Even when an angel, the angel comes to

00:45:27 --> 00:45:29

you and gives you news, glad tidings from

00:45:29 --> 00:45:31

your Lord. Allah called it a gift.

00:45:32 --> 00:45:33

She didn't see it as a gift in

00:45:33 --> 00:45:34

the moment.

00:45:34 --> 00:45:37

And what did Allah tell her to do

00:45:37 --> 00:45:39

after she had given birth and she had

00:45:39 --> 00:45:41

eaten and drink drank and rested? What did

00:45:41 --> 00:45:42

he tell her?

00:45:43 --> 00:45:44

Go to the people.

00:45:44 --> 00:45:46

That she needed to go to the people

00:45:46 --> 00:45:48

with the baby. She needed to be the

00:45:48 --> 00:45:50

one to go to her people, to show

00:45:50 --> 00:45:52

them the baby, to be there physically.

00:45:53 --> 00:45:55

He could have told Angel Jibril to go.

00:45:56 --> 00:45:58

Allah could have told Zakaria, alaihis salaam, to

00:45:58 --> 00:46:00

go. A baby speaking from the cradle saying,

00:46:00 --> 00:46:03

I'm here with prophet Zakaria, and my mother

00:46:03 --> 00:46:05

is Maryam, she's virgin Mary, and she's actually

00:46:05 --> 00:46:07

a miracle. My birth is a miracle. You're

00:46:07 --> 00:46:08

gonna believe a baby that was just born

00:46:08 --> 00:46:10

if they're speaking and saying they're from God.

00:46:11 --> 00:46:13

But Allah wanted her to be there,

00:46:13 --> 00:46:14

alaihi salaam.

00:46:15 --> 00:46:16

Just like Allah

00:46:17 --> 00:46:19

wants you and me, us

00:46:19 --> 00:46:21

to be there. He has chosen us to

00:46:21 --> 00:46:23

be here in this moment in California for

00:46:23 --> 00:46:25

a reason, in this year.

00:46:25 --> 00:46:27

Whatever we think that we are going through

00:46:27 --> 00:46:29

and when we feel like we're not enough,

00:46:29 --> 00:46:31

he knows you're enough, and that's why you're

00:46:31 --> 00:46:31

a part of this.

00:46:32 --> 00:46:34

And that is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

00:46:34 --> 00:46:35

tells us in the end of Surah Al

00:46:35 --> 00:46:35

Hajj,

00:46:36 --> 00:46:36

he says,

00:47:31 --> 00:47:34

This first starts with keep going, keep striving,

00:47:34 --> 00:47:35

keep going,

00:47:36 --> 00:47:37

do the act,

00:47:37 --> 00:47:38

do the work.

00:47:39 --> 00:47:41

And then it ends with, he

00:47:42 --> 00:47:44

is your ally.

00:47:45 --> 00:47:46

He is the best ally.

00:47:47 --> 00:47:49

He is the one who will give you

00:47:49 --> 00:47:49

victory.

00:47:50 --> 00:47:52

He is the one who's going to support

00:47:52 --> 00:47:52

you.

00:47:52 --> 00:47:55

He sees every single one of you, and

00:47:55 --> 00:47:57

what did he put in the beginning of

00:47:57 --> 00:47:58

that verse?

00:47:58 --> 00:48:00

He has chosen you.

00:48:01 --> 00:48:04

He's chosen you for equality. He sees inside

00:48:04 --> 00:48:05

of

00:48:06 --> 00:48:08

inside of every single one of you. He

00:48:08 --> 00:48:10

chose you for a reason,

00:48:11 --> 00:48:12

that we are here for a reason in

00:48:12 --> 00:48:14

this time period, in this ummah for a

00:48:14 --> 00:48:14

reason.

00:48:15 --> 00:48:18

So know that he sees you, specifically you

00:48:18 --> 00:48:20

and all that you go through. And in

00:48:20 --> 00:48:20

the

00:48:21 --> 00:48:22

journey of hijab,

00:48:22 --> 00:48:24

that the reason we wear this,

00:48:25 --> 00:48:28

the wisdoms change. Sometimes it helps us feel

00:48:28 --> 00:48:30

all these different things. But at the end

00:48:30 --> 00:48:31

of the day, whether we hate it and

00:48:31 --> 00:48:33

we're struggling with it, which is so real,

00:48:33 --> 00:48:35

or or we love it and it's our

00:48:35 --> 00:48:36

favorite thing and it's never a and never

00:48:36 --> 00:48:38

a test, wherever you are in between in

00:48:38 --> 00:48:39

that,

00:48:41 --> 00:48:43

that we wear hijab for Allah.

00:48:43 --> 00:48:46

And that every single second that you wear

00:48:46 --> 00:48:47

it, every single second that you wear it,

00:48:47 --> 00:48:48

of course, it's one that's blessed, it's one

00:48:48 --> 00:48:51

that's rewarded, of course. But also

00:48:51 --> 00:48:54

in following the footsteps of the woman companions,

00:48:56 --> 00:48:58

it's us sharing their narrative,

00:48:58 --> 00:49:01

continuing their story. And being able to be

00:49:01 --> 00:49:04

those who the next generation says, I was

00:49:04 --> 00:49:06

inspired to come closer to Allah. I was

00:49:06 --> 00:49:08

inspired to keep going with the Quran. I

00:49:08 --> 00:49:10

was inspired to feel close to my Muslim

00:49:10 --> 00:49:11

identity because of the woman who came before

00:49:11 --> 00:49:13

me, and that inshallah is all of us.

00:49:21 --> 00:49:23

For that beautiful reminder.

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