Naima B. Robert – A Sisters Ramadan Season 3 Episode 2 6 Essential Relationships Relationship yourself

And welcome to a Sisters Ramadan.

I'm your sister Naima b Robert and as

always, I am honored that you are joining

me

today. Now as I've mentioned before, I am

on a mission.

I'm on a mission to remind every single

one of you to cherish and nurture your

loved ones while you still can.

None of us is guaranteed tomorrow so let's

not act as if we are. So the

central question of this year's show is this,

how can we as Muslims, as Muslim women

use this Ramadan to improve

our relationships?

Our relationships with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with

ourselves and with our loved ones and those

around us in this blessed month and beyond.

In today's show, we will be looking at

your relationship

with your self.

If you've ever made Hajj or Umrah,

then you will know what it's like to

be just one

from amongst

100,

1000,

tens of 1000, sometimes 100 of 1000 of

pilgrims,

all in Ihram,

all going to the same places,

all making the same askar,

all treading the same path.

So many people,

so many souls,

so many individual duas, so many

individual situations, every one of them coming from

a different country, from a different family, from

a different nation.

And sometimes in those moments,

we can wonder

how significant are we really?

Are we not just 1 of 1,000,000,000 on

this planet, Just a human being like everybody

else?

And in a sense we are,

we are one of many.

But in that moment

when you raise your hands

and you make

the dua from your heart, whatever it is

that you've been carrying, whatever you went there

to the to the Kaaba to pray about

and you raise your hands and you make

that dua,

you know for a fact

that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala hears you

and hears the dua of every

single pilgrim and every single person

in this whole world.

The 100, the 1,000, the tens of 1,000,

100 of 1,000, the millions who raise their

hands to pray to him.

And so while on the one hand, yes,

we are insignificant

human beings the same as everybody else, we

are also

deeply significant and unique.

Every one of you was created unique

with your own characteristics, your own personality, your

own strengths, your own weaknesses and your own

path in life.

Now my question to you is,

when you look in the mirror

and you see the woman looking back at

you,

every single one of you was created unique

with your own skills, your own talents, your

own characteristics, your personality,

your strengths and your weaknesses.

And this is how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala

has designed

every single one of us,

unique and special in our own way.

Now let's reflect on that because

what we know from our Dean is that

everything that we have

as individual people is an Amana.

So

we've been blessed with a heart, a mind,

a body and a soul. And these

are trusted to us by Allah Subhanahu Wa

Ta'ala.

We will be questioned

about

how we live this life and how we

treated

this amana that is our mind, body and

soul.

And the reality is,

you you yourself,

you are the only being that accompanies you

until your end. You're the only person that

accompanies you until the end.

So

let's just dig a bit deeper

and see what it actually means

to cherish and nurture and develop

a relationship with yourself.

Let's look at the mind firstly.

As muslims,

the way that we respect ourselves and the

way that we develop and nurture a relationship

with ourselves and our minds

is to seek knowledge,

to maintain our pure Islamic belief system, our

aqeeda.

To be constantly

learning and improving.

We also have a body which is an

amana, is a gift from Allah subhanahu wa

ta'ala. And a part of nurturing our relationship

with ourselves is looking after this amana. So

that looks like

eating healthfully,

maintaining our health and making sure that we

look after ourselves,

keeping a good appearance.

The sunnah teaches thus teaches this to us

in so many different ways.

Another thing that we need to be looking

at as well is exercising and staying active

and having a healthy lifestyle.

This is an investment in ourselves that pays

dividends throughout the rest of our days.

In addition to our mind and our body,

we also have a soul

and it is upon us to nurture our

souls with regular Ibadah,

Istighfar,

self reflection and correction

and self care and acceptance.

And in this way, we build a relationship

with ourselves and nurture a relationship with ourselves

which will inshallah allow us to show up

so much stronger for all our other relationships

in our lives.

Now, when it comes to Ramadan,

Ramadan again

is an amazing opportunity

to nurture your relationship with yourself, sis.

I'm gonna offer you 10 strategies specifically

for nurturing and developing your relationship with yourself

because this is a perfect time

to take stock and renew your intention when

it comes to how you treat yourself.

How you commit to looking after yourself

and honoring this amenah that Allah Subhanahu Wa

Ta'ala has given us. So when it comes

to our mind, I would like to invite

you to choose a book this month. Choose

a book or a course to study.

In terms of maintaining our belief and our

aqidah,

take some time to just examine the un

Islamic influences around

you and actively unplug.

In terms of learning and improving,

take stock of where you're at and set

yourself some targets. Some realistic,

but exciting targets for your own learning and

your own improvement.

When it comes to your body, let's look

at eating healthfully.

Let's be mindful of what we're eating for

suhoor and iftar.

Every morsel of healthy food that you put

into your body with the intention

of looking after the amana

is a better for you. So let's do

it. In terms of maintaining our health,

take some time to detox from other things

that may be harming your health. Whatever it

is that you may have in terms of

addictions,

cigarettes, anything like that, let's take time now

to detox from those things.

In terms of looking after your appearance, sis,

take stock.

Have you been letting yourself go? Are there

small ways in which you could be taking

better care of yourself?

And, although exercise is really a priority in

Ramadan,

take this opportunity

still to stay active even if it's just

for 15 minutes a day.

Now, of course, Ramadan is centered around our

Ibadah, centered around the akhira. So in terms

of your soul,

Ramadan is an absolute

godsend because with the regular Ibadah, inshaAllah, you

will be polishing your soul and making sure

that you

maintain that connection.

When it comes to Istighfar,

make the most of every prayer, every du'a,

every qiyam

to seek Allah's forgiveness.

In terms of self correction and reflection,

set aside time each day to reflect on

the day's activities,

your own attitude,

your perspective,

and take yourself to account before you are

taken to account.

Take steps to rectify any shortcomings.

And when it comes to self care and

acceptance, you know what I'm going to say.

Be kind to yourself, sis and make the

decision to be your own best friend, your

own cheerleader

this

And now it's over to you.

Your task, as last time, is to take

some time to think about how you can

nurture your relationship with yourself

through your Ibadah this Ramadan.

Remember our 4 key steps.

Renewing your intention,

slowing down,

taking yourself to account, and pressing the reset

button.

I hope that you could take some time

out, get your handbook and just do a

little bit of journaling in order to be

able to work through how you were going

to actually

put these steps into action for yourself.

JazakAllah Khayram for joining me for this episode

of A Sister's Ramadan.

I pray that it was beneficial to you.

If you got anything from it, alhamdulillah.

I pray that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala accepts

all our efforts this Ramadan.

And, if you would love to share what

you've taken from this episode, please do tag

us on social media at imanchannel@naimabrobert

and make sure you use hashtag sistersramadhan.

See you in the next episode where we

will be discussing,

guess what? Your relationship with your spouse.