Naima B. Robert – How I Became a Writer Na’ima B. Robert
AI: Summary ©
A woman named Naima shares her story of writing books about her own life and feeling oppressed, repressed, and depressed. She emphasizes that every woman has a story and that every woman has a message to share. The book coach invites the audience to a book challenge and offers support to help achieve their goals. They will train and coach women, show them how to take their story, their knowledge, and put it into a book that will benefit others. They will give them a chance to participate in the 5-day book challenge, and will give them a chance to choose their own story. They will also train them and coach them and give them a chance to secure their spot and be part of the family.
AI: Summary ©
Assalamu alaikum.
This is your sister, Naima b Robert here,
and
I'm passing by to do a little story
time if you like. Many, many years ago,
I was a young mom
in an apartment in South London.
I had been Muslim for about a year,
maybe more. I had adopted by that time
the hijab, the jilbaab, the niqab,
and I was going to a local masjid.
All my friends were just like me, dressed
just like me. We were all on the
same journey together, young Muslim sisters, reverts, returnees,
all of us on this journey of living
life as a Muslim woman.
And being a writer was never part of
the vision.
It wasn't something that I thought about. It
wasn't something that I dreamt about.
It was not something that I brought with
me from Jahiliya.
And it was only because I realized that
there was a huge gap for children that
I actually started writing books about Muslims and
about Muslim life because I wanted my son
to have access to those books. But in
terms of writing a book for adults, it
just was never on my radar
until I was given an opportunity to meet
with the woman who became my agent, Sherry.
And
she
was taken aback
by my appearance.
We were supposed to work together on a
children's book. And she said, let's meet up
for a drink. We can go through it
all. And I remember at that time feeling
so uncomfortable because
I knew how business was done, obviously, because,
you know, from Jahiliya, you just know how
people do things. But I I also knew
that that wouldn't work for me. So I
came up with a workaround, and I said
to her, why don't you come to my
house? Because I cover
fully, so not everywhere that we would go
would be appropriate. Those days, I used to
feel very, very self conscious when I went
out into public where I would be the
only in Okavi. Right? And she said, okay,
fine. Lovely. I will come around.
But she was shocked
by the fact that I cover fully, and
she asked me so many questions.
And I said to her, you know what?
I just wish I could write a book
to answer all of these questions.
And
that was the catalyst for her saying, well,
why don't you put something together and I'll
go see if I can sell it? Now
I tell this story
to illustrate
to you that
sometimes life gives you an opportunity to be
a catalyst for change.
I knew
at that time
that the way that Muslim women were being
represented in the media
did not correlate with my reality.
Everywhere you looked,
books,
films, TV series,
the covered Muslim woman was depicted as oppressed,
repressed, depressed, every kind oppressed.
She was a woman who had no voice,
who had no say, who had no agency.
She was a victim.
Her life was a life of sacrifice and
drudgery.
There was no love, there was no joy,
there was no beauty in the way that
we were depicted
as Muslim women. And that bothered me because
it was so alien to the reality that
I was living
and what I saw my friends living.
And
like when I say to have been given
the opportunity
to counter that narrative
with my memoir from my sister's lips
is possibly the highest honor that Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala has given me. Aside from, you
know, being the mother to my children, when
it comes to creative works, I believe that
being given the opportunity to counter the misconceptions,
to address
the prejudices,
to open up the truth of our lives
to the widest audience ever
is one of the highest honors that I've
been given by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And
I've seen
how it has changed
lives. Whether it is a non Muslim reading
this book and
realizing that everything that they thought they knew
about Muslim women is untrue.
Or somebody looking into Islam, but nervous and
scared and not really knowing what it will
be like on the other side, being able
to see a vision for herself
inside this religion and inside this faith.
All Muslims who read the book and were
touched
by the zeal and the enthusiasm and the
love that we had for this deen that
we had embraced.
And for every one of those people to
be somehow changed,
somehow moved,
somehow
enlightened
by me simply telling my story and the
story of other women?
Come on, man. That's huge.
How many of us get the chance to
do that? Well,
as it turns out, it's not as hard
as I thought. And as I've
been able to build on
the foundation that from my sister's lips kind
of built for me and for other sisters
with Sisters Magazine and with subsequent books with
Show Up and more books to come, Insha'Allah,
I realized that
truly every one of us has a book
inside us.
Every one of us has a story. A
story that matters
to someone,
to 10 people, a 100 people, a 1000,
10,000.
A message
that will resonate
with people out there who are suffering.
Knowledge that will benefit
those out there who are in ignorance and
darkness right now.
And if there is anything that my journey
has taught me and my work as a
book coach has taught me, is that once
you realize
the gold that is in your story, in
your message, in your knowledge.
Once you realize that Allah has
given you this gift
and that that gift is to be shared,
when you own your story and you give
yourself permission
to serve,
to put it out into the world for
the benefit of the people for the sake
of Allah,
amazing things happen.
I've seen it with myself.
I've seen it with colleagues. I've seen it
with clients.
This isn't hyperbole. This is real.
And so if any of this resonates with
you,
if there is any part of you that
feels
like I know I have something of value
to
share. I just don't know whether I can
do it. Whether I can do it justice,
whether I can do it properly, whether I
can complete it. It, I want you to
come to our 5 day book challenge.
I want you to choose,
choose yourself and your story today.
Don't put it off.
Don't make excuses. We've removed all excuses.
We've removed every excuse.
I, sis, listen to me. I'm going to
train you.
I'm going to coach you.
I'm going to encourage you and support you.
And I'm gonna show you
how to take that story, that message, that
knowledge,
and put it into a book that will
benefit others.
So if you're down for that,
then make sure that you secure your place,
register for your free spot in the 5
day book challenge this month. This may be
the only time we do this.
All my team are on board
to treat you guys like our paid clients,
To treat you just like we treat the
ladies in our program. To walk you through
the exact same steps as we walk our
ladies through.
So take advantage of this opportunity, whether it's
because you know that this is the move
you need to make in order to make
this dream a reality,
or you wanna experience what it's like to
be coached by me or you wanna give
my team a try or you just wanna
be in a space with other sisters who
are all
intentional
about writing a book that will build a
legacy,
you need to be part of this challenge.
So click on the link,
secure your spot, and
promise me this,
that when you get into that challenge, once
that 5 day challenge kicks off,
you will play full out
with a pure intention.
And if you need to be reminded of
the impact
of a book,
just ask yourself,
think back to a book that you read
that changed your life. The person who wrote
that book,
it may have been hard for them.
It may have been uncomfortable for them to
share what they did, to research the way
they researched, to do the work of writing.
It may have taken them a lot of
devotion and commitment. They may have had to
sacrifice.
They may have even faced backlash.
But they went through that
in order for their story, their message, their
knowledge to be heard.
And now it gets to change your life
and
the lives of however many, 1,000, millions of
others. You're no different. I'm no different. My
clients,
they're no different.
What you need to do right now is
claim your dream
and
step up. Step up to get the help
that you need. Claim that free spot, and
I'll see you on the other side, Insha
Allah.