Naima B. Robert – How I Became a Writer Na’ima B. Robert

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.