Assalamu aleikum to all my sisters here, Muslim, Christian, or whatever you may be.
I don't really think of myself as Muslim yet. I have all of the basics down when it comes to belief, and I'm working on the practice (hello, prayers!). But the label is kinda... "Uhhhh..." at the moment, lol. It's different on the inside looking out, rather than on the outside looking in. I think, given some time, I'll be more comfortable saying that I am a Muslim. Right now people ask me "Are you Muslim?" and I look around wondering who they're talking to, haha!
I think that I'll start to "feel like a Muslim" when I get home and can wear hijab and go to prayers and classes at the mosque. Here, I'm one of a grand total of THREE females, and the only Muslim. It's pretty isolating. :(
Not to say I'm not surrounded by Muslims. Guys. But they're all looking at me like, ooh, is she married? (No.) My sergeant has actually gotten four marriage proposals for me. LOL, he's friends with all these guys, and I'm his soldier, so I guess that makes him my wali in their eyes. : P One guy offered $500 as a dowry. LOL It really cracks me up. But I'm not looking to get married, especially to a local. If and when I'm really to marry, inshallah he'll be an American convert/revert like me. (I prefer the term convert because I don't buy into the belief that everyone is a Muslim at birth and taught differently by their parents.)
Oh, and to my dear sis Sarah -- this wouldn't have happened without you and your willingness to engage in long email and chat Q/A sessions. We couldn't be more alike if we tried. Inshallah, Allah (SWT) will add this firmly to the scale of your good deeds and reward you with many blessings, in this life and the Hereafter. : )
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I'm sure it will become easy and familiar with time!
ReplyDeleteI do find it funny that you've got guys going to your boss to ask to marry you. Kind of cute, from over here! 8D
Yeah, not sure I'd marry a local Afghani unless I wanted to live there. Otherwise I'd wonder if he married me to get to the US. Not that this is a bad thing, but is this his main motive? Is that being pessimistic? :) But it IS cute that they take notice of you and that your "wali" is looking out for you! :D
ReplyDeleteI have a question about something and you seem a good one to ask. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I am curious. :) I can understand once you are Muslim all the (SWT) stuff since it's required of you to have more good deed on your scale. But is the Arabic talk necessary or just something converts like to do to show their Muslimness? I see this often with some bloggers - but not all - and have often wondered. Maybe it's just exotic to say Arabic words since it's the heavenly language of Muslims (do you believe this?) or maybe it's like Christians saying "Hallelujah"? I was wondering if you could explain from your perspective. Thanks! :)
Note: Arabic phrases ARE fun to say, but I just notice when someone converts suddenly their whole post is full of Arabic stuff when "peace be upon you" and "God willing" conveys the same thing in the writer's given language. But maybe they don't agree that it carries the same weight? like I said..curious...that's the reaction I keep checking! :D
Susanne: LOL! I think a lot of it is personal choice. For me it's a method to help the idea that I am a Muslimah settle into my head. To internalize this "label change", I suppose. But it is a blog thing, for me. The "lingo" hasn't settled into my speech. It's not a show-off thing for me, just kind of a reminder. :) And it helps me to remember what all these phrases mean, otherwise I'd get really confused hearing other people say it. LOL! I rather like the Arabic (I'm a big fan of learning different languages), but the English works just as well for me, and I'll probably use them interchangeably as time goes on. :) I can understand when it seems kinda odd to you! No, I don't think Arabic is the heavenly language. After all, God created all language! Arabic just happened to be the language of the people and the Prophet to whom the Qur'an was revealed. :) Hope this answered your questions. If not, you're always welcome to ask more. I'm a big fan of questions. :D
ReplyDeleteThank you, Heather, for your good attitude. I was so scared you would be offended. I didn't want it to come across snarky, but I was genuinely curious and have been for some time as I've noticed it ever since I started reading blogs. :) Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts on it. I really do appreciate that! :D
ReplyDeleteAwwww, thanks Sis.*hugs* ^_^ If you want to thank anyone, thank Allah. Who knows what would've happened if I hadn't randomly chanced upon your blog.^_^
ReplyDeleteSusanne: She prob. gets it from me.Its addicting. lol Its a very beautiful language and it rolls off the tongue very easily. Also,Muslims around the world seem to know these phrases(insh'allah, mash'allah etc.) so its a good way of communicating EXACTLY the sentiment we mean(happiness,sadness,how cute, hopefully,thanks) instead of trying with our many different languages. Theres no such thing as a collective Muslim language, since there are Muslims worldwide but maybe this little bit of Arabic vocabulary peppered in our native tongues is what identifies us.^_^
In any case, I agree with Heather. I find myself using both. English to non-Muslims, and Arabic to Muslims.
And yeah, more questions!lol I like answering questions too. If I didn't Heather would still be like"Wtf?!" lol
Converts aren't as touchy about that kinda stuff as some born-Muslims seem to be.
Thank you, Sarah! I appreciate your sweet attitude. :)
ReplyDeleteHey, Heather! So, a question. How do you reconcile some of the stories of Mohammed from the older seerah with him being, well, basically a prophet of God. I'm thinking, for specific examples, of the stories that have him either ordering the deaths of poets who didn't like him (but who didn't physically attack him) or at least approving of their deaths?
ReplyDeleteps: This is definitely not meant to be something where I try to sneakily lure you away from faith in Islam. I hope you know me better than that!:)
Also, how're you doing? I hope you're safe(ish)! (it's a relative term, at this point)
Amber: I don't recall anything like that from the Qur'an, but I remember a story from the hadith about a poetess named Asmaa bint Marwan. And you have given me yet another topic for a post. : ) I need you to stick around so you can ask questions that prod my brain into writing posts, lol! I'm doing well, alhamdilullah. We had a bit of a dust storm earlier this afternoon, and the temps only reached a balmy 110 F, versus the usual 120 F. ^_^ Safe is indeed a relative term.
ReplyDeleteNo, it was definitely not in the Qur'an. I heard of it from reading parts of ibn Ishaq's seerah. Yes, that's one of them. the other was an old man, whose name I can't recall. But Asma's the one that was killed while nursing an infant at her breast. But, you know what, never mind that. Because in trying to find you a reference point for it I discovered that it's contained in hadith that are considered weak anyway, and most scholars, both modern and historic rejected it as being untrue. Ugh. Which...actually makes me feel better. That story bothered me a whole hell of a lot, to be honest. I think I either need to ignore the ahadith or manage to figure out which ones are accepted and which ones aren't once and for all.
ReplyDeleteI'll try and think of more questions for you then!
But, at least there's no humidity? ;) lol
I'm glad you're doing well!
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