20 tips to becoming more "Islamic"

Image Source*

Asalamalaikum,

Bismillah was salatu as salam ala Rasoolillah

There is no other face more pleasing than that of a humble sister returning to Islam. From beneath tender wisps of hair escaping their loosely wrapped hijabs, I see their hopefilled eyes. These eyes are soft from crying tears of repentance of a long heedless past. Their skin radiates that glow of newly invigorated iman, a reflection of their illuminated heart. With a voice that trembles from that lump in her throat, she asks: How can I become more.

They don't have words beyond these. But I understand what they mean. It happens in an instant almost, through a lecture, through a kind friend, through words overheard.A random verse of the Quran embeds itself in your heart and disperse into the whole essence of your body. It propells you forward. To light, to beauty and to happiness. And you just want more. You want it to increase, you want it to travel higher and further.

The soul is felt wanting, yearning and gravitating towards Allah azza wa jal. As I listened to a lecture about Jannah in one deep dark busy Sydney subway it seemed to burst open with luminance. I could feel Allah. I could almost touch his mercy, his love and his guidance just beaming down into that tunnel from the heavens.

Sisters never intend to be become "religious" or "pious" or "islamic". Though the world outside wants desperately to define practising muslims so. Many simply want more of that narcotic happy feeling that one obtains through listening to words of Allah. These blessed pearls blur out all the vices and woes of the dunya, they blot out the pains and melt away the worries. They give hope of new lives to come and I use that in the plural. I believe you attain two lives when you make the decision to turn to Allah, to accept the Quran and follow the footsteps of the blessed Prophet alayhis salam. One clean, happy, fulfilling life in this dunya and one honoured life after death, the life as an inhabitant of paradise. Inshallah.

I used the word Islamic in the title because in my own muslim circles that is how sisters are talked about when they return to the deen. Those sisters are referred to as Islamic who are devoted to Allah. I used to watch from afar those sisters and wondered how I could be like them for they looked so content and confident in talking about Islam.

Alhamdulilah Allah has enabled me to understand some techniques in becoming closer to Allah, although I have a long way to go in this road. I do not claim to be close to Allah at all, but rather closer than I was many years ago. I pray that Allah accepts my wanting to be closer him and pray that for you too. Ameen. 

Try all of these tips and tick them off as you go inshallah:

1) Reading Quran with translation and exegesis (Tafseer) 

2) Reading the Biography of the Prophet (Seerah) salalahu alayhi wasalam

3) Making Dua and Dhikr

4) Learning to pray Salah correctly with translation of the Arabic meanings

5) Learning why the Quran is a miraculous text in every field

     Ie. Scientific, linguistic, psychological, socio-political, historical, and the list goes on

6) Lectures on the topic of the Hereafter:

    Death

    The Grave

    The Day of Judgement

    Paradise

    Hellfire

7) Learning the etiquettes of humility (humbleness)

8) Learning about the End Times - Dajjal - the AntiChrist, Signs of the End Times and the Day of Judgement

9) Discovering the History of Islam - 1200 years of Islamic Rule across the Globe

10) Learning about the contributions scientific and technological at the time of the Khilafah

11) Enrolling in Shariah Courses, Knowledge Courses, Basics of Islam Courses, lectures by orators both Online or In Person at Local Events

12) Attending the Masjid - the Weekly lectures, Jumuah, Community Iftars, Charity events, Charity dinners, Cake Stalls, Princess Parties, Sports Days etc.

13) Memorising Quran as much as possible

14) Youtube Inspiration Videos:

  By Motivational Speakers

  Revert Stories

  Youtube Short Courses

  Islamic Youtube Movies

  Dawah Videos

15) Learn how to give Dawah - through courses, videos, 

16) Community Service - As part of organisations and in your own family and friends circle

17) Giving charity and helping the needy

18) Respecting your parents

19) Understanding how Politics, the Media and the Economic Structure affect how muslims are blamed for violence and terror

20) Learning humility (yes! again....this bit tends to get a bit rusty over time :) 

I pray that this brings some help to sisters wanting to experience the beauty of Islam. Ameen.

Allah Most High says in a Hadith Qudsi (record containing the words of God), “When my servant takes one step towards Me, I take ten steps towards him. When my servant comes walking towards me, I come running towards him.”



Umm Musk :)





*Image Source: smileysya.tumbler.com

A Gym in the Masjid!?

Asalamalaikum,

Traditional gyms traditionally mean sweat, stink and sleaze. Throughout the hard silver metal and black vinyl landscape there are images one can not escape. Images of jiggling, bouncing things at every unsuspecting corner. Everywhere you look there are round wobbling things doing what they do best - protuberate. Some are big, some are small, some young, some old, some through wrinkled skin, some covered in cellulite and others lean, mean and tight as buns.

There are some places we muslim women allow our husbands to go to. And there are many other places we do not give permission for. Gyms are one of these places.

Unbeknownst to the non-muslim world it is actually the husband in the muslim marriage who is the oppressed one. But that doesn't matter because no one will believe muslim men when they make that claim or be there to hear their cries. So we can continue to oppress them. Hence I stand firm in saying that I do not agree that it is acceptable for a brother to go to traditional gyms.

This is a contentious topic between my husband and myself.

My husband disagrees and believes there are certain types of gyms that men can attend provided they have reached a level of self-control.

I lean towards the opinion that if we have halal gyms, we should prefer those over regular gyms.

Islamic mens only gym like the one pioneered by some good brothers in South Western Sydney were a brilliant idea for possessive wives like myself. The budding new Islamic youth culture in my local community needed this halal social outlet back in 2008 when Sheikh Feiz created one of the first Islamic gyms inside Liverpools Global Islamic Youth Centre. Today there are many such halal gyms all over Sydney, the most well set being the UMA gym in Lakemba.

Call me insecure, call me oppressive, call me the overly obsessive, possessive wife It doesn't bother me. I call myself the "husband eye hog" - proudly. I disagree because I feel that pious, god fearing men shouldn't place themselves in such places where they can accidentally gawk. True disrespect of a woman is by gawking at her.

I put my argument very simply and spoke frankly.

Women are hot and their things are hot. It's a reality. We just have to accept it, get over it and tackle the situation as say it like it is. I am very vigilantly anti-jiggling things- even if it is an accident or a rare occasion. Most women are anti-jiggling "other woman" things. Muslim women however especially have a sharp eye (and tongue) against their husbands catching any sight of things- especially when this things are bending over, twerking, thumping and bouncing out of it's containing (and failing) lycra fabric all over gym equipment.

So we met halfway in this sense. I am comfortable with our agreement. It's important that in our marriages we discuss what bothers us and important too for our husbands to be let out of their prisons given parole conditions.

My husband put forward to me that he is truly honest with himself, he fears Allah (not me) and that he would never go somewhere that would put him in fitna or upset me. He said that he completely lowers his gaze, head down and glasses off and takes another pious Islamic brother with him. He says he goes straight into a tight corner where he can see no one and no one can see him. He attends a more sophisticated gym that charges triple the price of regular gyms so he can attend at 5am in the morning and other times when the venue is empty.

I am okay with this now but it took many debates for us to reach this consenses. Alhamdulilah for Islam and all of it's ahkam in preserving the muslim marriage. Ameen.

Image credit: restored2fitness.org

The horrors an joys of being a birth partner! :)

Asalam alaikum,

I have had four children subhanallah but never once have seen a baby being born. During the natural births of all my children the birthing moment has been filled with joyous hopes, immense expectations, paralysing fears, screamed out duas and intense pain. I thought that was difficult and emotionally overwhelming enough. 

Until now.

Witnessing my neice's birth set me off on an emotional rollercoaster - a bigger, faster and wilder one than to my own labours. 

If you've never been a birth support and wonder why your own mother, husband or sisters looked so washed out after your birth, let me tell you its a strickening experience that drains the life out of you. 

It is almost as if seeing your daughter, wife or sister die and be resurrected again. That moment between the transition and crowning is so petrifying. You see your relative in unbearable pain and you can't do a thing about it except allow your hand to be squeezed like a lemon (and control yourself from saying things just as sour to the midwife or doctor). You are told that the baby is coming but it is no where in sight. You have heard all the stories of things going wrong and all of them at the same time start replaying in your head. You start reciting the dhirk, quran and duas you read with your relative throughout the labour and hold your breath.   

The whole thing is akin to a sci-fi move. The bright lights, the smell of alcohol, the buzzing, the beeping machines, the cold steel tools, the monged eyed, tight lipped, scared of being sued hospital staff, the fake cheers in medical monotone and finally this blue gurgling spluterring alien that someone tells you is your niece. 

Tabarakallah. I burst into tears out of joy when I found out it was a girl. She was so beautiful mashallah. Her tiny face, arms and legs were just so perfectly created. A little girl that will take be there for my sister thoughout her life inshallah. A little girl whose tiny footsteps I pray will follow in that blessed path the females of our glorious past have tread. The path of the great women mentioned in the Quran and loved by Allah subhana hua ta'ala. 

Subhanallah I'm glad for the experience but next time I need to do that again this is what I'll be looking like:

May Allah protect her. Ameen 

Umm Musk :)

Contact Film and Leather Activity

Engaging with our children in fun Halal activities is a great way to strengthen our bond with them. Inshallah :)

Asalamalaikum,

I love colours, feathers and a good activity the children can do by themselves. This one is perfect for all these categories. Inshallah this helps sisters looking for ways to squeeze in some extra chores or ibadah.  

Getting children to create amazing art with colourful dyed feathers by sticking them onto contact paper proved out to be very fun and very pretty.

I've found it especially hard to get my 2 year old doing activities that require minimal supervision. Everything arty seems to need alot of attention and equate to cleaning up a big mess at the end. Whoever has stepped away from a toddler art table for even 2 seconds knows what I mean. (My previous house had white carpets, they were not as white when we moved out),

I love the fact that I don't have to help little BabyGirl2 with glue, tape or peeling sticker backing. There were just feathers to sweep up when they finished making this my favorite activity.  

All that is required is a sheet of contact paper, non-sticky side stuck against the wall or fridge with tape and off they go sticking away.

I used a yellow contact film (I couldn't seem to find it anywhere except at Big W and except in yellow) and the feathers were from the art section from an asian dollar store.

You can substitute feathers with pom poms, pipe cleaners, felt, streamers, cut out shapes and so much more.



Asalam alaikum :)

Umm Musk

Niqab and University Degrees

Asalamalaikum,

Niqabi with a University Degree? Where there is a niqabi will - there is a niqabi way :D. Allah will always show us awesome ways to overcome every hurdle in our path inshallah.

I have two sisters mashallah one a full time niqabi, single mum and another a part-time niqabi and alhamdulilah both are enrolled at uni. They are achieving brilliant results and have had no issues studying at campus. The universities have a very high respect policy and security and exam arrangements are carried professionally with a female invigilator inspecting the face before start-time.

I fell pregnant at 20 so I'm lagging behind a little. What with 4 children over the past 6 years I'm still in my second year of uni and all my studies are on hold for the time being. 

Being a mum of 4, full-time wife, and full-time housecleaner/chef/laundromat/chocolate-off-wall scrubber it is hard for me to attend uni physically so I study online with Macquarie University.

If attending uni and wearing niqab is hard for you, don't give up. Study Online. Tackle Modernity head on.

Open Universities Australia:
http://www.open.edu.au/

Islamic Online University:
http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com/

Alhamdulilah I gave up my previous degree because of its incompatibility with niqab. Alhamduliah that same year Open University Australia ads bloomed out from nowhere.These are the beautiful moments I live for moments where you do something for Allah and think that there is no way some solution comes about and bang. It's almost as if to say "Gotcha! You thought Allah wouldn't find a way for you but here I am". A miracle hits you. Allah will always help us if we sacrifice in this deen. 




Umm Musk :)

Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan - NAK Sydney Tour

Asalam alaikum sisters :D


Alhamdulilah Story Night with Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan took place last Friday in Sydney. Muslims turned up in record numbers and it was said to be the largest ticketed Islamic event held in Sydney.


The amount of sincerity with which Ustadh exercises his effort in order to illuminate the world to the miracles of the Quran was demonstrated last weekend. He took time out to visit Rooty Hill masjid, Lakemba masjid for Jumuah, Sydney Olympic Park on Friday night and met with community leaders on Saturday morning.


His work brought many different people of the community together last weekend. Muslims from different cultures, ethic backgrounds and associations turned up as one.


I was grateful for meeting many of the sisters at the event too. One sister during our ritual hijab fixing bathroom session gushed over how "amazing Ustadh is", her reply was promptly met with a response by a very young sister with a smile- "he's not amazing. It is the Quran that is amazing". The commenters face lit up as if to a new revelation. So did the rest of ours as we continued to wrap, fasten and pin. We affixed this point in our own minds.


I first took ustadh seriously through my husband who watched his eulogy for Dr. Israr Ahmed on Youtube. Dr. Israr had passed away and we were awash with sadness and had an empty slot for a guide in our hearts. Ustadh Nouman filled that void. He truly picked us up and out of depression.


Because we are from an Indian/Pakistani background like Ustadh, we are deeply appreciative of his advice on how to deal with difficult family members and other members of the community. Some of our people can be very defiant and hateful of rulings in Islam to point of hating Allah and his Messenger and doubting their validity.


What Ustadh has presented is genius. Proving the miracles in the Quran brings forward immediate physical evidence of the truth. Once the Quran is proved as a real miracle, everything in it follows suit. Bringing people to the Arabic language means they can understand the miracle and follow the beautiful hidaya that comes with it.


It was a simple idea but it changed the world. It definitely changed ours. From our relationship as husband and wife, as parents and as children to our role in the community as madrassa teachers - Ustadh has influenced everything. In the most beautiful of ways. If everyone could implement his teachings the ummah would be brought so forward.


If you would like to learn from ustadh sign up to Bayyinah TV here: www.bayyinah.tv


I have video footage of three events that i'll edit and post here soon inshallah :)


May Allah reward Ustadh for visiting us. It was a pleasure and a humbling experience to be able to host him.


Ps: His wife wears niqab and has 6 six children and she still sent him here from America. What an inspirational lady - even more than her husband! :)


Umm Musk :)

5 reasons - Why I wear Niqab

Asalam alaikum sisters :D


I love niqab :) I love to discuss it with sisters who are curious about it. I believe it is a beautiful solution to so many issues the secular modern world suffers from. Here are 5 very simple reasons as to why I wear niqab. 

Please note that these are worldly reasons for my wearing niqab. I do not like to go into the fiqh explanation because once the rulings become clear to a sister (and yes the rulings surprisingly are very clear from Quran and Sunnah) then it may put the sister into stress and trouble. Inshallah if you are really interested in wearing niqab I would suggest you discuss the matter with a qualified and trustworthy sheikh - one is who is not afraid of the feminist backlash would be your best bet lol :) 

1.  I  enjoy expressing my love and obedience for Allah azza wa jal and for the Prophet peace be upon him. I love the way the niqab is the modern solution to the advice of Allah to the sahaba and sahabiyat in Surah Ahzab. Verse 33:53 (translation)

2. I dislike being "checked out" by "guys" - it happens unfortunately - even after marriage. Alhamdulilah for my niqab :) 

3. I dislike to upset my friends/sisters/wives of sheikhs during islamic discussions I have with their husbands. My niqab assures them that their marriage is not threatened in any way. It is comforting knowing they can feel at ease. It makes the conversation comfortable for everyone knowing there is no issue of lustful feelings in the way. From a sociological perspective, the niqab is brilliant in facilitating smooth relations between men and women so that we have a safe, clean, healthy environment in which to discuss pressing issues about Islam. If every masjid adopted this practice - even if just during discussion time or during lessons, as an ummah we really could progress extensively inshallah. 

4. Fabric and bodies have always been used together in art to convey expression and feelings. I use my face and my veil to deliver the message of Islam as well as projecting the emotions I feel about my modesty. My niqab is creative, symbolic expression of who I am.

5. The niqab reminds me that I am a muslim woman. Which then reminds me of my duties as a slave of God and servant of humanity. Every time I look in the mirror and see my religious outfit, it inspires me to do good deeds. 


Inshallah I will write these points up one in more detail in future. Talking about niqab is not quite high priority at the moment. I guess it is one of those things where either Allah guides you to it or he doesn't give you guidance of it. And only he knows whether the knowledge of the rulings of niqab are good for your personal situation. 


Umm Musk :)

Junk Mail Crafts - Healthy Eating Collage

Some of the most fun arts and crafts can be created with things that are lying around right under our noses. We made use of junk mail this morning but cutting it up and creating pages of health posters. 

Junk mail is fun to look at but a chore to dispose of. There's nothing that I see more messy in my house than a pile of scrumpled, overly colourful, glossy pages of ads. So it was great to cut it up into tiny pieces and make good use of it. It was great because I didn't have to print anything out or sift through my arts and crafts boxes to find suitable materials. It was less stressful art time since I did not to have to plan anything out in advance. 

I've been trying to get healthier with my children so we made health posters about what junk food is and what healthy food is. Both Baby Boy 1 now 3 years old and Baby Girl 2, now 2 years old found it exciting to recognise and lable household items whilst going through the grocery ads. They identified junk and health quite well which surprised me since I didn't think 2 years could tell coke has absolutely no nutritional value. Subhanallah. 

We made a page of junk food and a page of healthy food. We practiced learning the names of things in both english and in arabic too since that's the language we're trying to learn right now. We found tamar and burtuqaali and that's about how far my fruit vocab goes for now - dates and oranges! 

Woolworths has a Jamie's Garden promotion going on right now which I found very useful sincethe pictures of fruit were so cute. We've been collecting a few of those garden stickers too.

Lessons learnt: Labelling, language skills, knowledge of health issues, fine motor skills through using scissors.


Umm Musk :)

Bop Along Buddies Review

Asalamalaikum :)

Alhamdulilah Hubby ordered a surprise Bop Along Buddy for us :)

It was great timing as I have been trying to set up activities that will help my children adopt a healthier and more active lifestyle, however a tiny paved backyard hasn't allowed for that mission to be too successful. Going to the local park everyday for sporting activities in this chilly winter doesn't seem as appealing as it did in summer.

Alhamdulilah for the Bop Along Buddy, the kids have been bopping around all over the house. The ball bouncer had been lying around the house for a while and had lost it's initial novelty (as toys do...). It seems we've found an excellent alternative for it!

My children are aged between 5 and 2 and this seems to be the perfect age bracket for it. It is best loved by my 2 year old, suited for her height and weight. Kids up to 7 years should be fine using it, kids under 2 will need supervision as the children do fall off it. Its bopping design means that it isn't as stable so the child must support it with their own weight and hands.

Hubby bought Darcy the Dragon. It is a cute and fun bouncing invention made of durable PVC, easy to clean and okay for storing. I just have to make sure to keep it out of the praying area since it is an animal shape with a face.

The box included a pump and inflating it was pretty easy. Care needs to be taken to ensure it isn't over or under inflated.

My children love their Bop Along Buddy and I love it too as it has sorted out our winter exercise regime :)




Umm Musk :)

Bright Starts Pretty in Pink Flutter Dot Baby Bouncer Review

Asalamalaikum :D

With BabyGirl 2 I bought a Bright Starts Savanna Dreams bouncer and it worked really well for us. Since it was already tried and tested, BrightStarts was the choice for BabyGirl 3 too, although this time I went for something with added features and extra comfort. 

The Pretty in Pink Flutter Dot bouncer arrived this morning and I am every bit pleased with it! Alhamdulilah.

As the name suggests it is quite pretty but what improves it from the Savanna Dreams is the extra padding for comfort, the removable head rest and the vibrations option. I love the velvety warm fabric, excellent for this very cold winter right now. It is super light so I can move it around with me through the house and take it to friends houses inshallah. 

Savanna Dreams vs Flutter Dot vs Comfort and Harmony

Price wise, Savanna Dreams is around $37,  the Flutter Dot is $59 and the Comfort and Harmony at around $79 (online shopping prices). 

I liked my old Savanna Dreams bouncer and would have used it for BabyGirl3 but it was ruined since it developed mould in storage, rain got to it somehow subhanallah.  

I was leaning towards the Comfort and Harmony but it just looked a little to warm for Summer. Baby Girl 3 will be 6 months inshallah by December, this is when I'll be needing the bouncer the most so I decided against it. 

The Flutter Dot seemed like the perfect middle choice between the Savanna Dreams and the Comfort and Harmony. 

Newborn Use

I do get a little worried about putting newborns into bouncers as the curvature of the cradle is a little deep for newborns. Since BabyGirl 3 is only 3 weeks old she won't be spending too much time in it but I just don't want her getting too used to be held all the time by loving grandmas and aunties. May Allah help me when I go back to my own house. So now I'm just popping her in to get used to it, the curvature is not too bad for small periods of time. 

Bouncer vs Rocker

Speaking of being on my own - this is why I chose I bouncer over a rocker. I love the way the bouncer soothes the baby as she starts to cry. Her own movements push off the bouncing motion, which gives me enough time to wrap up mum duties and come to attend her needs. Rockers need to pushed with a foot, which means if my foot is there then I must be too and if I'm there then she shouldn't be crying in a contraption, she should be snug and cuddly in my arms! :)

Putting it all together

The top of the bouncer is just two pieces that snap tgether to make this piece:

The lower bar is made up with three pieces snapped together:

The top and bottom pieces join in the middle to make a full cradle

Attach the vibration device:

This part is a little tricky, it needs a little force. This device should be placed before the padded cover.

Padded cover easily buckles tight at the back

The flower head rest is placed in with a piece of velcro at the top

Easy remove toybar:

All Done :D

Very easy to put together alhamdulilah.



Umm Musk :)

My baby is here, Alhamdulilah

Asalamalaikum :)

Alhamdulilah our new arrival has made it safe and sound to our arms. Allah has blessed us with a little baby girl and we are very happy to finally have her here.

She was born at 41 weeks and 2 days gestation, 9 days past her due date, weighing 3.5kgs - the heaviest baby I have delivered yet, a bright fluro pink on a beautiful Friday right before Jumuah. Hubby alhamdulilah made it down for the delivery from the countryside on the Monday as I was having a false labour. I'm sure he prayed Jumuah with a tremedous amount of stress off his shoulders.

After a whole week of various induction methods, sweeps, admission to hospital for Prostin (which alhamdulilah wasn't able to be conducted) and artificial rupture of membranes and finally a syntocinon drip, Allah fulfilled my wish of having a natural labour.

We had an syntocinon induction booked at 7am Friday morning. The day started off a little rough as the hospital wanted my artificial rupture to be performed by a male doctor. Alhamdulilah I was prepared with much dua and packed my dear husband to deal with the midwives trying to give me a male. Hubby put his foot down, so did I. We had waited the ultimate length for this baby and we were willing to wait another few hours for a female doctor to arrive. Alhamdulilah since it was my fourth delivery we weren't gullible enough to fall for the "no female doctors available" excuse. We travelled all the way down from the countryside to have an all female delivery and we weren't going to budge. Alhamdulilah, three female doctors arrived not long after that due to some difficulties in engaging the little one's head.

I was also grateful for a double room with an ensuite and a window alhamdulilah in the maternity ward. There were a few hiccups with the noisy neighbours in the bed next door but alhamdulilah I'm back home. May Allah forgive that family, they were lovely people (muslim too), just too loud for hospitals subhanallah.

I cut short my hospital stay and rushed home, happy, safe (and quiet). Alhamdulilah for all his blessings and may Allah forgive us when we complain but may we learn from others' mistakes so we don't repeat them inshallah.

Anyway that's all over now and mashallah can't stop looking at my little pink bundle, the dark hair on her little head, her tiny little hands, her little legs - the size of my own hand, little socks, little hats, little nappies, everything is so miniature compared to my other children. Mashallah wa alhamdulilah.



Mama of 4 little blessings
Umm Musk :)


  

What I learnt by going overdue

Asalam alaikum,

My midwife took one look at my yellow card and threw back her corn rows as she laughed in that big, open hearty way that African women have. Her tiny student midwife looked at me sympathetically as I rolled my eyes, shook my head and ended up laughing too. 
"38, 38, 38 and now this!" My midwife exclaimed, still laughing.
"We were not expecting this at all!" My mum joined my spectator list and all three of them looked at me in amusement. 
It probably isn't funny but when you've gone so far overdue when you've had all your other children at exactly 38 weeks and 2 days, there is nothing else left to do but see the bright side.

I'm 41 weeks today as it is Wednesday. Most women are given the date 40 weeks from their LMP as their due date but anywhere between 37 and 42 weeks is considered a normal delivery. My midwife advised that we shouldn't wait until 42 weeks so inshallah this Friday has been allocated as my induction date. 

It has definately been long journey and has not been easy. I have had severe symphisis pubis dysfunction or pelvic girldle pain. It is a pain that shoots through the joints when the pelvic bones meet the back, with horrible clicking, cracking sounds. Its makes simple tasks such as walking, sitting, laying very difficult. Alhamdulilah, I'm grateful that this is the only issue I've had. This is one of the most important lessons I have learnt this pregnancy. Gratefulness to Allah subhana hua taala. 

I am happy that Allah taught me a tremendous lesson through my going overdue. One of them was that life isn't a game of chance.  Everything is predestined and destined by the Almighty - not in anything else. Just because our bodies, our genes or medical history cause our births to go a certain way it doesn't necessarily mean that Allah will conduct things the same way next time. 

It has been enjoyable being the butt of many jokes by the midwives, family and friends (all of whom are so lovely that I travelled a 7 hour drive down to Sydney just to be with them during this birth) as to why this baby isn't coming. As funny as it all is, I have realised is quite risky for our iman when we are surrounded by non-muslim or secular opinions on qadr. Its so to nod our heads or affirm a joke that may in fact be shirk in disguise. For instance all my midwives expected this baby to arrive in Mid April, it is not Mid May and Allah has shown everyone who will decide when the baby will be born.

Allah knows what every female carries and what the wombs suck in and get bigger. And everything with Him is by due measure. Surah Rad Verse 8

Subhanallah we don't know anything. We can not predict anything. No amount of expert gynaecological technique or technology can bring forward this baby. Neither can any "home remedy" bring on labour without the explicit permission of Allah. 


The Knower of the Unseen and the Seen, the Great, the Possessor of the Greatest Heights. Surah Rad Verse 9

Since the end of April almost all my family and friends have called, every few days to see whether my little blessing has arrived. Subhanallah I am overwhelmed by the care, the concern and the love. And this has been the most humbling pregnancy to date. I have been messaged, called, visited and food parcelled with so much love this pregnancy that it should wipe away any feelings of difficulty, any pangs of pain and struggle that pregnancy brings. My mother and sisters have been the greatest support, taking me into their home at the beginning of the school year to help me with settling my BabyGirl1 into kindergarten. My spd condition meant that they put alot of sweat into helping me with BabyBoy1 and BabyGirl2 with all the mess and stress that toddlers make. 

My love and appreciation for my dear husband has also alhamdulilah increased. Every week for the past few weeks i've been getting fake contractions and everytime he is ready to drive down his 6 hour drive in order to be by my side during labour. I am making dua that Allah allows us to be together during labour since he is the one who reminds me to make dhikr, to remember Allah and ofcourse who is the one who gets his hand painfully crushed :)

I feel so much love and gratefulness to Allah for giving me so much. I ask him to give abundance to everyone who helped me through smiles, through strains or hot biryani, for everyone who made dua for me through their own labours, hajjs, griefs and trials, for everyone who even gave me the slightest thought. May Allah relieve each and everyone of them from any distress regardless of how trivial they think it is and to reward them in ways that will please them. Ameen. 

(A still pregnant) Umm Musk :)