“Anti –hijab Employers”

I read the article on Islamonline with this headline “Anti-hijab employers”, it writes about private sector employers and their discrimination against Muslim women in hijab in southern Nigeria.
Unemployment rates are high in Nigeria, in several states the private sector employs over 70% of the populations. The graduate job market is very competitive and stiff; some graduates already have second degrees at master’s level without any work experience. Employers always have their feel in recruitment, typical job adverts will discriminate on age, nationality, years of experience and degree class.

Women in hijab face another odd, when they seek employments in the same market. It is almost degrading, as in some cases sisters would have made efforts to conform to the “corporate” dress code as is expected from these employers. Then they get the snotty “this is not a professional dress code”.
Sister’s talk about their experiences, many have made grave compromises in accepting job offer from such employers.

I think the Nigerian Muslim communities especially in the south have a challenge on their hands and it is not filling a lawsuit for discrimination (there are all sorts of discriminations not attended to), I believe it is in creating halal working environment for Muslims.

I don’t want a job in the private sector, these jobs are a big trial; you find Sisters stuck in small spaces/offices with men, Muslims are selling insurances and offering loans to customers, worst still you are not allowed time to establish your salawat, then the job becomes haram for you.
Let us a Muslims employs ourselves and create halal working environments for the Sisters and brothers. There are very few Halal establishments in Nigeria, this should be our focus.
Sister should not have to settle for less, tying your scarf back is not hijab, wearing a knee length skirt with a headscarf is not hijab either. What we loss from shrinking the hijab for employment outweighs what we gain (if there is indeed any gain).

Allah is the Sustainer, the preventer of Harm, and the owner of All.
He has all the power to meet our needs.

Am Beautiful

Am beautiful
I won’t let anyone tell me otherwise
My face is free of dirt
My hands and feet are clean
I wipe then five times daily, in wudu
My days are fulfilled
With salaat I find tranquillity and forgiveness of sin
You don’t have to tell me about my beauty
Beauty is in my speech
Beauty is in my character
My beauty is within me
My clothes don’t tell my beauty
My clothes are my own assemble
Beauty is not my waist size
Beauty is not the colour of my hair
My beauty cannot judged and criticised
By stranger and onlookers
My beauty is understated
In my hijab, jilbab and niqab
My beauty is mine to behold and honour
Beauty is my reflection on life and death
Beauty is my acceptance of truth in Islam
Am beautiful, am beautiful, damn it…
I am Muslim
I am beautiful

Love like this

If your love is gracious,
If it shows mercy
If your love brings calmness, if it guides to faith
If your love is protecting, if it is compelling
If your love is real, if it is forgiving
If you love is subdued,
If it is open and knowing
If you love expands, if it honours
If you love hears and listens
If your love is just and not judging
If your love is known and forbearing
If it is a great love that forgives and appreciates
If your love is generous and watchful
If it is responsive and embracing
If you loves like it is the first time and the last one
Then you love for the sake of Allah

One Story

I am walking to the mosque when I see this girl her face is pretty, she is only wearing slight make-up, the dress she is wearing looks very expensive so does her shoes. “What is she doing taking a stroll dressed like that” I thought.

As I step into the mosque and settle down to make my nafl prayers I notice the girl with the pretty face is stepping into the mosque as well. “What does she think she is doing?” I thought. “She must be lost.” “This is a mosque where people come to pray”, “how does she think she can manage that dressed like that”- Then it came to me maybe she is a revert coming to the mosque for the first time. It crossed my mind to walk up to her and tell her these things, let her now.

These thoughts are in my head when this other sister tell me that congregational prayer had already been completed, then a voice from behind me suggests that we should pray together in congregation, that’s nice I thought, as I turn around and the girl with the pretty face is now completely dressed in a yet again lovely abaya and veil she is totally covered up, in a semi state of shock I agree.

We stand in prayers and as I start to gather my focus and stand before my creator I hear the belting out of “Alhamdulillah robilli alameen” with sound tajweed, it continues with the other chapters she recites and through the prayers.

Lucky for me the natural course of events was kind enough to expose my story before it went any further.

Sister’s Blogging

Asalaam Alaikum Sisters
Masha Allahu there is loads and loads of Sisters blogging
This is such a good thing
The inspiration or need to blog I bet is as varied as the names we give to these blogs
I have laughed, been amazed, questioned, frowned and dismissed some of the name;
These are the names I loved
1. Chasing Jannah
2. Muslimah in Training
3. Persistently Practising
4. In the making
5. Sweet Surrender
6. Ninjabi
7. Jamaican Muslimah
8. Muslimah Love Stories
9. Muslim, Black and Female
10. Opinion Ate It
11. The Confessions of a Multicultural Muslimah
12. Verbal Freeway
13. Seeking Sekeena
14. Tea Break Thoughts
What can I say “Go on Sisters or be totally naija and say Carry go Sisters”
In the words of Suhaib Webb….Y’ll gonna hold it down sister y’ll on the frontline, them gurls holding it down”
P.S: he was talking about the hijab
P.P.S: The list is in no particular order

The Curse

Who did this to us,
We, ourselves this is the making of our own evil deeds
We lost our position in exchange for misery and disappointment
You see Muslimah today
We have fulltime jobs at home and outside the homes
Our husbands don’t cook
We don’t have wet nurses
We don’t have our mother in-laws living in the house
We don’t live near our parent in-laws
We don’t have maids in the house
Why do we have to do it all?
I say we don’t
Do we???
WE DO NOT,
The women before us took advantage of all the things we have neglected
And are we more successful that they were………..

Sisters

Who are my Sisters?
She is that Muslimah you walk past on the street, she is the one you sit next to on the bus, and she is also the one that shares your cubicle at the office. She is the one that stands next to you in salat at the Masjid, the one that shy away from the front rows.

Where do I find my Sisters?
The sisters are all around us, wanting to be identified, needing a hug and a smile. The next time you see that sister, on the street, at the supermarket, or on the bus offer her salaam, introduce yourself, tell her about the mosque where you offer you salat. Plant the seed of sisterhood and friendship, and let Allah, The Sustainer, sustain it and when it blossoms and fruits you shall benefit from it.
The Sister is not her hijab, she is not her clothes, she is one like you, and like you she strives and struggles. Maybe she is yet to prevail over her desires, so tell her about your experiences make du’a with her, join hands with her, together we are stronger.

What do I say to my Sister?
Say salaam alaikum, and wait to receive an even more beautiful response. Tell the sister your name and remember her name for the next time you will say salaam to her.
Don’t tag a sister with names like Hijabite/alhaja, she has a beautiful name you can use. She is just as nervous as you are; together we can explore and expand unchartered territories for the muslim women insha allahu.

Sister’s Pledge

All praise is due to Allah we are rightly guided, we hold firm our faith in the oneness of Allah. We seek knowledge, we strive to love and fear him (Allah) with sincerity. We strive to live by the Quran and Sunnah.
We take solace in the mercy of Allah, We are sisters, bonded together by faith, despite our differences. We share hugs, smiles and knowledge. We have an understanding or our rights to each others, to our husbands, to our children and to our community.
We are strong together, we are one together.

From the Quran:

“The believers, men and women. are Auliya (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another, they enjoin (on people) Al-Ma’ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbids (people) from Al-Munkar (i.e. polytheism and disbelief of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden); they offer their prayers perfectly ; and give the Zakat and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah will have His mercy upon them. Surely, Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.” (At-Tauba 9:71)

From the Sunnah:

“The Muslims in their mutual love, kindness and compassion are like the human body where when one of its parts is in agony the entire body feels the pain, both in sleeplessness and fever.”
(Bukhari and Muslim)

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