remember that favor?

Prohibition of Recounting of Favors

Riyad-us-Saleheen
Prohibition of Recounting of Favors page 1185 & 1186

Allah, the Exalted, says:
"O you who believe! Do not render in vain your Sadaqah (charity) by reminders of your generosity or by injury.'' (2:264)
"Those who spend their wealth in the Cause of Allah, and do not follow up their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with injury.'' (2:262)

Thank you Reflective Reminder

Rite of Passage: Attaya (W. African Tea)

Salaams. Most Gambians and Senegalese will know what the picture above represents! Attaya is a tea ritual using gunpowder tea brewed in the little pot you see above served in the little glasses you see above. I have been a fan of this strong tea for years but never knew how to make it (still don't really lol). Today my husband's good friend Ali gifted me with the tea, teapot and glasses you see above! I was so touched and honored!

Got Plans? (Ramadan's Coming)

salaams! so did y'all know Ramadan is right around the corner? come to think of it the year is more than half over! Oy!! So do you ladies have any plan, hopes or dreams for Ramadan? Me? Well thanks for asking loves! I have a few aspirations.

*To finish the Qur'an in English and Arabic (emphasis on English)
*To memorize 2 surah during Ramadah and 1 before
*To memorize a couple of dua in Arabic
*Pray tarawih at home nightly.
*Do something special for the children in my life

That's all I can think of right now.

Photo credit Musaafir Wordpress. Check out the Ramadan post here.

make use of

“Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.”

Charles Richards

curly hair hijabis (for transitioners and napptural girls)

(photo credit: hijabiapprentice subject: my minime (step)daughter with freshly washed air dried hair.)

salaams! Is your hair big? does it grow up and out as opposed to down? Are you transitioning from relaxer or thermal reconditioning to your natural glorious hair? If so this post is for you.

I relaxed my hair from the ages of approximately 14 to 26. The year before I converted to Islam I grew out my relaxer (transitioned) and started sporting my own super duper curly coily kinky hair. I found online support via fotki, naturallycurly.com and nappturality.com. I read every book I could get my hands on regarding caring for naturally curly hair. Once I started to "getting to know" my hair I converted and started wearing hijab. I had so say good bye to most of my cute "out" style because they could not hold up under the weight of the hijab lol. I went through an extremely awkward phase wear I began to loathe my hair! It was constantly dry and it seemed that the trillion products I tried (I was an extreme product junkie) didn't work. I was jumping on every bandwagon and trying everything to find my "holy grail" of products.

Alhamdulillah I know my hair better and try to keep it a simple as possible. On a desert island I'd take conditioner, my denman brush and castor oil! I've learned to accept my hair for what it is and make the most of it.

My advice to newly naturals or transitioners who hijab is:

1) be selective with your underscarves. I usually wear a silk or satin scarf as an underscarf. Cotton sucks the moisture out of your hair. If you have trouble with the underscarf staying on top it with a coordinating lace stretchy underscarf.

2) Moisture Moisture Moisture! I personally wet my hair everyday in the shower, spritz it with Oyin Handmade Juices and Berries and follow up with a cream like Qhemet Amla Olive Heavy Cream or an oil like castor oil. If your hair is not as dry as mine (we're talking EXTRA thirsty) then use lighter products or pre-poo (pre shampoo) overnight with amla oil, olive oil or coconut oil and then shampoo it out in the morning.

3) Protective styles are a lifesaver for me. I have my hair braided or put in buns to protect my ends AND to help my hijab lay flat lol. I'm currently trying to grow my hair out of a short cut so I'm living in protective styles to maintain as much length as possible.

4) Diet! Your food and water intake play a huge part in your hair's health. Nuture your hair from the inside out!

5) Exercise! Keeping the blood pumping stimulates circulation which is great for your scalp! (A scalp massage helps too!)

6) Limit heat styling. Flat irons, blow dryers and pressing combs combined with friction from your scarf can equal loads of breakage.

7) Find a simple routine/regimen with just a few key products and stick to it. My regimen is quite simple. I am a low (sham)pooer. I usually conditioner wash (cowash) a few times a week and use shampoo or a shampoo bar to wash my hair a couple times a month or whenever my hair needs it. I simply listen to my hair if it's feeling weak I'll do a henna treatment, dry I'll do a conditioner mixed with coconut oil deep treatment etc. I dabble in ayurvedic treatments, bentonite clay, ACV (apple cider vinegar)rinses whenever my hair wants them.

I guess my last words of advice is patience. Set your hair goals and be patient and insha Allah you'll get the results you want :). I'll leave you with some helpful sites:

www.naturallycurly.com
www.nappturality.com
http://www.curlynikki.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/richeau (she will turn you into a product junkie :)
http://mwatum.blogspot.com/ (another product junkie but i love her :)
http://www.youtube.com/user/Oyinhandmade
www.oyinhandmade.com
www.hennasooq.com

today in sunday school

salaams! i mentioned i was a convert and the students stared at me like this O_o in disbelief! lol!

student: so you still have brothers and sister who are Christian?

me: I don't have any brothers or sisters.

student: O_o

student: so your mom and dad are still christian?

me: yes

student: O_o

LOL! They were so shocked. Anyhow we have nearly 50 students now! Can you say full house? We can't take anymore students. Today a friend of mine visiting from Portland took Zach while I was teaching and I really need to find a sitter for him on Sundays! It's quite hard to teach with a baby on one's hip.

Anyhow I must run! Zach is going to hangout with Auntie while Kufi Apprentice and I see Journey To Mecca at IMAX!

quickie

salaams! just checking in loves! i have emails, tags and comments to get to so please forgive me. I am supposed to go to a girlfriends for brunch in 45 minutes and I have yet to shower and Zach just fell asleep :(. So really quick updates:

Family: We just had a visitor from the hubster's homelandia. He, my husband's uncle, was here for a week. It was good to have a visitor but it was quite exhausting. I'm looking forward to when hubby's dad comes so I don't have to be hijabed up the whole time! I learned some new things about hubs culture and family so all in all it was nice.

Sunday School: It's growing and it is a bit difficult with just me and my husband full time and my sister friend part time. I think we have about 30 students now. We have one girl in my class who, masha Allah, has memorized more Qur'an than I but she cannot read Arabic nor knows the tajweed rules. That's the only thing that saved me lol.

Deen: I obviously need to ramp up my memorization. I am also going to start a girls halaqah at my house 2x a month for girls 8 and older.

Zach aka Hybrid: He is 9 months old! 2 teeth. Crawling, standing and VERY curious!

okay peeps I'm out for now.