Salam. I pray that you are all in the best of health. The topic for this article was requested by a close friend of mine and after hearing what she had to say, it really opened up my eyes to just how we take friendship for granted. However, before i go ahead to discuss the topic of friendship, I’d like to apologise to Brother Danish who emailed me the following response to me article ‘Women in Islam: The Blessing of being a Muslimah’:
“I think you were a bit sexist in your previous article where you said you wouldn't want to insult the animals by comparing them to men lol I mean how could you generalize all of the men...everyone's not the same or are they?”
First of all, when i was writing that particular article, my attention was to be bias and sexist. I know that sounds kind of strange so allow me to explain. I know that It was wrong of me to generalize and i am aware of the fact that not all men are the same. Unfortunately, it just so happens to be the minority and not the majority and i suppose i just wanted to put across to other Muslimah’s that No; men don’t have the right to rule over us. No; they don’t have the right to use and abuse us and No; they most certainly can’t pick and choose ‘whatever girl they want’ I’m sorry but it doesn’t work that way and i just felt it was about time someone spoke up. Nevertheless, it does take two to tango and that is why i shall Inshallah be writing an article about the so called ‘innocence’ of girls.
Secondly, i do apologize for the delay in this article. Things have been quite hectic and i have been trying my upmost to fit everything in: Writing articles for you and for my local mosque, working on my book, designing etc. Nevertheless, i have along the way picked up a few suggestions for future articles as well as some amazing comments so Jazakallah Khair! Credit must be given to Hajirah and Saima for the hilarious suggestions and i look forward to sharing them with you.
Thirdly, i would like to share some news with you all. My friend Saima is a unique friend and an inspiration for all. I hope that she doesn’t mind me saying this but she is living proof of how faith in Allah swt can change one’s life. She fought for her right to wear the headscarf and Jilbab and coming from what can only be described as a modernised family background, credit must be given. Just yesterday she told me of some great news. Her sister had begun wearing the headscarf for the first time and for all you Hijabi’s you know just how difficult and intimidating it can be. Nevertheless, she showed the strength, courage and faithswt in Allah and she is now a proud Hijabi! Congrats to her!
Now, back to this article. Friendship. We all take it for granted but do we ever sit and think about how lucky we are to have such great friends?
Ever since a young age, many of us realized the importance of friendship and some of us even had an imaginary friend. I don’t remember this it but i have been told by family that i used to seek comfort in... wait for it.... the fridge. Apparently, i used to go and sit in the fridge and crack eggs on my head and talk to the fridge as it were my best friend. Embarrassing or what?! Some of us may have sought comfort in our stuffed toys that we snuggled up to at night and our dreams and secrets.
Friends. They are always there for you in your time of need. When you’re having a rough day, you are able to ring them up knowing that they’ll put a smile on your face. And when things are just not going your way, they always have a shoulder for you to lean on. No matter how busy they may be, they are always there for you.
But my question is, do we return the same friendship? Are we always there for them? Do we lend them our shoulder? I think that it is about time we think long and hard about whether we are able to call ourselves a true friend.
What many of us fail to remember is that friendship is a gift. It ain’t a present that can be brought from a shop and then wrapped up in a bow and it more precious than any diamond, pearls or riches. Every friend is unique and special in their own way but i think that at times, we find ourselves caught up in our own materialistic world that we fail to notice when we are being anything but a true friend.
If a friend has invited you over for the day, you don’t ring half an hour before you agreed to meet up and come up with some ridiculous excuse about how you can’t come. Or if someone has invited you to a gathering, you don’t come with some pathetic excuse about not coming because someone who you don’t get on with is going to be there. I mean, that is just a disgrace in the human race. If you want to act immature and childish, then go ahead but don’t go and ruin it for others.
I tell you what i hate most. When you politely tell your friend off for doing something wrong and before you know it, you haven’t heard from her in days and whenever you try and ring her, it always goes to answer phone. I mean, what is up with that? For flipping sake, be grateful that a friend is helping you out and at the end of the day, if you choose to ignore her and act all snobbish, then it’s your loss.
It doesn’t really help living in a westernised society where wrong is portrayed as being right and where you are surrounded by so called ‘friends’ who insist on having a good time... the haram way. For this reason, it is essential for one to befriend only the righteous and vitreous and this can at times be a difficult task to deal with.
A true friend is one who ‘Wishes for his Brother what he wishes for himself’ or in our case ‘Sister’. I ask of Allah swt on behalf of all of us to associate us with the good and pious. Ameen. I have reached the end of this article and it is now time for me to wrap this one up. I shall now leave you with a blessed verse from the Qur’an:
“Friends on that Day will be enemies one to another, except al-Muttaqoon (i.e. those who have Taqwah).” Qur’an 43:67
Until next time, stay safe and keep smiling! Remember me in your duas and if you would like to catch up with any of my previous articles, just visit: www.a-muslimahs-blog.blogspot.com
Asalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.
1 comments:
Heyyooo, love this article. Thought I'd comment so you knew i follow you. Omg im your biggest fannnn. can I have your autograph??? plllzzz, all my friends would be jealous :P:P:P
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