Inspired Muslimah

I am a Muslim Woman

Feel free to ask me why
When I walk, I walk with dignity
When I speak, I do not lie

I am a Muslim Woman,
Not all of me you'll see
But what you should appreciate
Is that the choice I make is free

I'm not plagued with depression
I'm neither cheated nor abused
I don't envy other women
And I'm certainly not confused

Note, I speak perfect English
Et un petit peu de francais aussie
I'm majoring in Linguistics
So you need not speak slowly
I own my own small business
Every cent I earn is mine
I drive my Chevy to school and work
And no, that's not a crime

You often stare as I walk by
You don't understand my veil
But peace and power I have found
For I am equal to any male

I am a Muslim Woman
So please don't pity me
For God has guided me to truth
And now I'm finally free!

This poem is NOT by me,just thought it was cute..I am not sure of the author.

Holiday Party by Inspired Muslimah

On my way to class by Inspired Muslimah

My weekend study get up by Inspired Muslimah

Perfect for shopping with the girls! by Inspired Muslimah

Then I passed by Abraham and he said, 'Welcome! O pious Prophet and pious son.' I asked Gabriel, 'Who is he?' Gabriel replied, 'He is Abraham. The Prophet added, 'Then Gabriel ascended with me to a place where I heard the creaking of the pens." Ibn Hazm and Anas bin Malik said: The Prophet said, "Then Allah enjoined fifty prayers on my followers when I returned with this order of Allah, I passed by Moses who asked me, 'What has Allah enjoined on your followers?' I replied, 'He has enjoined fifty prayers on them.' Moses said, 'Go back to your Lord (and appeal for reduction) for your followers will not be able to bear it.' (So I went back to Allah and requested for reduction) and He reduced it to half. When I passed by Moses again and informed him about it, he said, 'Go back to your Lord as your followers will not be able to bear it.' So I returned to Allah and requested for further reduction and half of it was reduced. I again passed by Moses and he said to me: 'Return to your Lord, for your followers will not be able to bear it. So I returned to Allah and He said, 'These are five prayers and they are all (equal to) fifty (in reward) for My Word does not change.' I returned to Moses and he told me to go back once again. I replied, 'Now I feel shy of asking my Lord again.' Then Gabriel took me till we '' reached Sidrat-il-Muntaha (Lote tree of; the utmost boundry) which was shrouded in colors, indescribable. Then I was admitted into Paradise where I found small (tents or) walls (made) of pearls and its earth was of musk."

Surat al Fatiha 5-7: "Thee (alone) we worship; Thee alone we ask for help. Show us the straight path, The path of those whom Thou hast favored; Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who went astray."

This is what we all strive for; direction in the right path. Recently I have been finding solace in relying on the Quran and authentic hadiths. With my limited knowledge of Islam, I find the hadiths to be the perfect bridge from the Quran though I know the Quran is the only perfect book written since it is from Allah (s.w.t). I am on a journey to learn as much about Islam as I can because while I enjoy learning from others, its time to start exploring myself.

According to the Cambridge history of Iran there are six major hadiths collections. Al-Sihah al-Sittah, is literally the translation for authentic six.

According to University of southern California, compendium of Muslim text, they state there are 4:

Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim,Sunan Abu-Dawud, and Malik Muwatta.

I will start my personal journey with Sahih Bukhari and will strive to share my knowledge with others, inshallah.

BACKGROUND

Sahih Bukhari is a collection of sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), also known as the sunnah. The reports of the Prophet's sayings and deeds are called ahadith. Bukhari lived a couple of centuries after the Prophet's death and worked extremely hard to collect his ahadith. Each report in his collection was checked for compatibility with the Qur'an, and the veracity of the chain of reporters had to be painstakingly established. Bukhari's collection is recognized by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim world to be one of the most authentic collections of the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh).

Bukhari (full name Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin al-Mughira al-Ja'fai) was born in 194 A.H. and died in 256 A.H. His collection of hadith is considered second to none. He spent sixteen years compiling it, and ended up with 2,602 hadith (9,082 with repetition). His criteria for acceptance into the collection were amongst the most stringent of all the scholars of ahadith.

It is important to realize, however, that Bukhari's collection is not complete: there are other scholars who worked as Bukhari did and collected other authentic reports. Sahih Bukhari is divided into nine volumes, each of which has several books.

I am having a great time incorporating Islam into my life and learning every that Allah (s.w.t) has willed us to do. I have yet to start taking arabic although I have a few friends that speak it and are willing to teach me. I am trying the best that I can and I know i have a ways to go. As far as being a true muslim women, I am taking it day by day. But I will be honest. As soon as I feel as if I am making progress, I learn something else that I am doing that I shouldnt. I can understand why islam is intimidating to others. It can be overwhelming and thats where I am. I am happy with my decision to become muslim. I just feel as if Its taking me so long to grow. Living in the states doesnt help. I am a student and have class during juma. This bothers me because I feel like this is my chance to connect with other muslim sisters however, I cannot miss class. My schedule does not permit for me to make my five prayers on time as they come in. Is this an excuse? no, not at all. I know I need to do a better job with this. I will pray to Allah to guide me in the straight path and to know that for every area i fail in, its not intended. While I am happy to be muslim, I feel bad that some things are hard for me to accept. For instance, short sleeves, makeup, eyebrows, nail polish, ect. These are just to name a few. I didnt drink before so that has not been a problem, neither is things like not clubbing. Just some things im trying to get use too. I will not get discourage however, I just will learning and reading and praying and doing the right thing inshallah. To my fellow bloggers, how good are you all with making your 5 salats. I have attached a poll let me know, I am interested in this. Shukrain!

Winter outfit by Inspired Muslimah

"ROSA PARKS SAT, SO MARTIN LUTHER KING COULD STAND, SO BARACK OBAMA COULD RUN, SO OUR CHILDREN CAN FLY!!!!!!!"