Naima B. Robert – Be Magnificent in the Now A motivational message for Muslim women
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Assalamu alaikum. My name is Naeema b Robert.
I'm an award winning author,
editor, and publisher,
and,
speaker, and thinker, and doer, and dreamer, and
I want to tell you a little story.
It's a story about a girl who grew
up in Southern Africa,
surrounded by love, by care, and by big
dreams,
and that girl went to a school where
she excelled.
She did so well. She was a public
speaker. She was an actress.
She was the head girl, and when she
left school,
everyone believed she would go on to do
amazing things.
She was destined for greatness,
as everybody said.
And then
that girl became Muslim
and everything changed.
So instead of the flamboyant
life of the party
girl destined for greatness,
there was
a young woman in hijab
who didn't party, who didn't drink, who didn't
mix with guys, and was on
what looked like now a completely
different life path.
And so those who saw that that girl
go from the life of the party, the
star of the show,
to the girl in hijab
with a lowered gaze,
modest,
humble,
living a simple life.
Those who saw that change lamented
and said, what a waste.
What a waste.
How could she have thrown away
all that talent?
How could she have thrown away all those
dreams?
She's just a Muslim woman now,
and that's the end of that.
I think I believed that too for a
while.
I think I believe that
that it was over,
that,
that was the end of my big dreams.
That was the end of
being what they always told me I could
be,
a star,
I guess.
Somebody bigger than a star.
Somebody who could make a real impact.
Somebody who could touch lives.
Somebody who could be amazing.
And,
for a while I believed that
that was all over
and that that was no longer in my
destiny because I had chosen Islam.
I chose Islam wholeheartedly.
I chose Islam because I believed it to
be the truth,
and I was happy
to forego the dunya,
and I was happy to simplify my life,
and I was happy to have God at
the center of my existence,
and I am still happy to do that.
What's changed
is that I now know
that those who lamented
and those who wept and those who mourned
the girl that once was were wrong.
Because there is greatness in me.
Alhamdulillah.
There is still talent in me. Alhamdulillah.
I still have something of value to give
to the world.
My hijab doesn't change that.
My marriage didn't change that. My 5 children
didn't change that, and I'm grateful to Allah
every single day
for giving me the opportunity
to use whatever talents he gave me
to benefit my people,
to benefit my ummah, to benefit my sisters.
And through this journey,
the one thing that I have seen
again and again and again
is that so many of our
sisters, we believe that story.
We believe that story that because we are
Muslim women, because we wear hijab in a
particular way, Muslim women,
because we wear hijab in a particular way,
because we live according to the laws of
Allah,
that's it.
We can no longer
have an impact. We can no longer make
a contribution.
We do not matter.
What we spend our days doing does not
matter. What we value does not matter,
because we're just Muslim women.
And I think
us undervaluing
ourselves,
and us
buying into
that narrative
is one of the saddest things for me,
because it means that we don't even see
our own brilliance.
We don't even see our own strength. We
don't even see our value.
We criticize ourselves.
We downplay what we do.
We downplay our achievements.
We downplay our contributions. We downplay our role
in our families.
We walk with an air of despair
and disappointment
and dejection
because we've bought into the narrative.
And subhanAllah,
if only we could turn
our vision
and get a new paradigm
to see
in truth
how strong we really are, every single one
of us.
How brilliant we are, how amazing we are,
how dedicated we are to the things that
we do, how committed we are, and how
the things that we do,
so many of them are bigger than ourselves.
Loftier
than anything we could imagine because those things
are things that can bring us closer to
Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala can earn his pleasure,
can earn us reward in this life and
the next and Insha'Allah raise our ranks in
Jannah.
Think about that.
How many of us sisters are living a
life,
an existence
that is without joy?
Where the gratitude
is is
is almost
begrudging.
We wish for what was.
We wish for what others have, we wish
for what will be,
we worry about what will be, we regret
what went past,
and we spend so little time
in the magnificence
of now,
in the amazing
blessings of now,
in the gratitude of now.
Who we are now,
what we have now, what we do now,
who we have in our lives now
because guess what?
None of it is guaranteed.
None of it is guaranteed
tomorrow,
next week, next month, next year.
Everything
can and will change.
And so
don't you think it's time
for us to start to appreciate
who we are now?
Where we are now?
What we are doing now,
because you are exactly
where you're meant to be right now, no
matter what that place is.
If there is a test,
there is in it. If you've just come
out of a test, there was in it,
and if you're going to be tested
there will be heir in it,
and the only thing that will change is
your understanding of that test.
Your approach to that test, and you know
what? The most amazing thing is that you
have complete control
over your response.
So many times we feel
like we're out of, we're powerless. Other people
are making decisions for us. We are at
the mercy of other people, but there's one
thing you can control and that is you.
Your mindset,
your perspective,
your response is in your control.
Take back that power.
Take back that power and stop blaming everyone.
Stop
comparing yourself to everybody else. Stop lamenting the
past. Stop being anxious for the future.
Claim back the power of who you are
now and the power you have
to decide how you will behave today.
How you will believe today. How you will
think today. Who will you be in the
world today,
and make that count
because guess what?
Tomorrow isn't guaranteed.
So make today
matter.
You are a source of inspiration
and guidance and love and an example
to so many people and you don't even
acknowledge that.
You say things like, oh, I'm just a
mum. I'm just a mum at home.
Oh, I'm just a teacher. I'm just
But if you spend some time thinking,
spending time thinking
of the people in your circle of influence,
the people who love you, the people who
have respect for you, you will realize that
you are an influencer too. Just like those
people with 30 k followers on Instagram, you
have your own circle.
Cultivate yourself and cultivate that circle
because that's the difference that you're here to
make in the world.
Everyone has their own circle of influence,
but the people who make a difference are
the ones who acknowledge
and recognize that circle and then behave a
particular way on purpose
with intention,
with clarity and focus,
and that my dears
is free for anyone.
Claiming your power,
understanding who you are,
understanding that you are the one in charge
of your own
response, of your own perspective, of your own
behavior,
that's free.
Choosing to be
present in the now, to be grateful for
the now,
to be magnificent
in the now
is free for anyone,
and so I invite you to think of
that today
as you go about your daily rituals, your
daily
your daily dailies,
think about the meaning of what you do.
Think about the intention behind what you do.
Chances are what you're doing
is far more wonderful
than you are allowing yourself to believe.
And that's my message to you my dear
sisters.
Until next time, be blessed, be brave,
and be you.
Assalamu alaikum.