This weeks blog post is going to be a bit like a diary but about my week.
Unlike many of you people, I am not in education at the moment. But that will change by Monday 11am. This does mean that I have had quite a bit of time on my hands recently, some of which I have spent wisely and some not so wisely.
Monday is an example of my time not being spent wisely. I did not even get out of the house. I felt so depressed being cooped up at home all day and the worse part is... I didn't even get out of my PJs. (I bet some of you guys have lost respect for me because of that)
I have had my friends complaining about waking up early to attend lectures on time, while I have been in bed. Sleeping from 3-4am, waking up after midday and having an evening nap has become a routine. I wish I could be doing something, but I become too lazy. When I start Uni, I know I will miss these lazy days.
I'll start with Last Friday- 20.09.2013. In the evening I managed to change the plans my sisters had of going out all night to attending a talk about the Middle East Crisis in East London. Thank you very much to the people who arranged this. The speakers gave some in depth details of what is going on in Egypt and Syria and why. One thing that I took away with me, and will use in the future if I get into any debates is a metaphor which one of the speakers used to describe democracy. It was something like this, 'Democracy is like a bus. When it is their stop, people will get off. However, Egypt and Syria are still on that bus. They still do not have democracy'.
Truth be told, I really don't think anyone has got of that bus. Democracy is a load of beep beep :D
I'm not so sure what I did on Saturday so I will skip to Sunday.
A march was organised for Sisters in Syria for women only. This march went through Edgware Road, Oxford Street and ended up in front of the Syrian Embassy. We marched and chanted in support for our sisters who are fighting, getting killed and protecting. They really are heroes.
One thing that really touched me was, as we marched towards Marble Arch, there was a man standing on the side with one hand in the air doing the R4BIA sign (the four fingers) and with the other hand he was wiping away his tears.
We do not need to be Syrian to understand pain, to feel the heartache when someone dies. We need to have a heart. We need to be human.
Outside the Syrian Embassy, sisters held the Qur'an above their heads and chanted 'SYRIA WANTS QUR'AN, SYRIA WANTS KHILAFAH' (An Islamic system)
The turnout was amazing. I couldn't see the end of the march because it was crowded with sisters and young children.
There was a slight debate on the issue of women going out and marching, travelling without mehram (A male guidance who is closely related) and shouting on the streets. You may or may not agree with me, but I think that sisters all over the world should be more active in these kinds of things. We have brothers marching for brothers and no one marches for the sisters. We need sisters to march for the sisters suffering in the world. It is not drawing attention to an individual, but to a crowd who are trying to pass out a message.
We have ladies fighting for the sake of God, for their land, for an Islamic state yet we sit and debate about going out and supporting them. We want to help yet we make excuses to sit at home. That's not right. But hey, that's my opinion.
Then came Monday which seemed to drag but Tuesday came to my rescue. I slept that night thinking about the British Museum and on Tuesday, me and my best friend got up and went. It brought back memories of when I used to go there every summer with school and family. I really wanted to go see the Islamic section, the Islamic art, the swords that were used during the wars, the delicacy and thought of designs that went in to designing even the handle of a sword. I also enjoyed seeing the Ancient Egypt section. That part is truly a reminder of what was written in the Qur'an, about bodies being preserved to show the people of the future on how the Pharaoh made people suffer. Aiii, How I really want to visit Egypt. It's a dream!!! Maybe I could fix the Sphinx and put the nose back on. :D
Wednesday was my Freshers fair for Uni. It wasn't as wow as I thought it would be. I was in the queue for nearly an hour and I got a whole load of leaflets for late night parties and offers like '1 shot for only £2'. ARE YOU MAD??? Firstly, I will never touch any of that, Secondly, Why would I waste my grant money!?? I signed up to a load of stuff which I doubt I will attend but one thing I will get involved in will be the ISOC - Islamic Society. The few people that I met on the day seemed so nice from ISOC.
Thursday was another day that was spontaneous. I went Oxford Street with my sister and ate in a pasta place called Vapiani. We saw the guy make the food in front of us. According to the guy who made our food, it doesn't matter whether we eat halal or haram, as long as it isn't pork. What examples are these other Muslims setting? They go into the place and don't mind about whether the food is halal or haram. So he has it set in his mind that all Muslims think the same. Well, we put him in his place. Booyakasha!!!
After this, 4 of us sisters met up in Greenwich and chilled near the waterside and watched the sun set. The view was amazing with Canary Wharf in sight. Then came the Bollywood music and the attempt of dancing. Yurp... We got a little crazy. We attempted to do that ballet thing that people do, the thin person runs and the stronger person tries to catch them and lift them in the air... 10 tries and all were failed. I'm very disappointed. The only downside to this day was the journey home. I mean, men really need to invest in DEODRANTS!!! I felt like I could see the white light, and the stench of old curry wasn't helping.
Friday, Yesterday, I attended another talk for sisters only in London Muslim Centre. It was called 'Pursuit of Happiness'. There were two very well spoken sisters, one from the US and one from the UK.
A brief summary of what was said, firstly about inner beauty. Apparently, inner beauty is what those without outer beauty say they have - ugly people say that have inner beauty according to the urban dictionary. This is sooo wrong!!!
We spend precious moments of our time everyday trying to make ourselves look presentable with what we wear, how we look, what we smell like. We like to look nice and clean, use clean things and leave things in a clean way. Why can we not clean our insides? Have inner beauty. Take time to make our insides clean and beautiful as opposed to the outside. Have pure intentions, think clean, speak in a well manner and listen to only good things.
That was one talk.
Another talk was about happiness. God put us on this earth to be happy. Not to suffer. When we see one in sadness we should try and lift their spirits and make them smile or laugh. Many people walk around with a grumpy face. Why not cheer up a little and smile? You underestimate the rewards of a smile. A smile makes others smile, and their smiles make loads more people smile. You should smile so much that your mouth hurts (like I do at work. It hurts, but it's rewarding).
Happiness is not a goal. We do not pursue happiness. Happiness is within.
Today is another Saturday... And in the evening, I will be going to an outdoor cinema thingamabob with my sisters to watch 'Les Miserbales'. I hope it's good but the bonding with my sisters is good enough :D
Hope you all enjoyed this blog post about my week
And have a good day.
Stay safe Ya'll.
Peace out!!!
(I'm sorry if my posts are really long, I just tend to blabber on and on. I'll try and post shorter ones in my next blog posts)
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