In my secondary days, I studied in a Roman Catholic School. I wore the hijab to and from school. I have memories of schoolmates talking and laughing with me in school but becoming total strangers once we were out of school compounds.
But with time God made the journey easy for me and these same people became close friends. An exceptionally close friend I had was a Catholic girl. Her family was very warm towards me whenever I went over to their place.
My friends used to ask me the reason as to why I don the hijab. Initially my reply came with a religious explanation that we Muslim women have to guard our chastity as taught to us in the Quran. However, the day came when I no longer had to explain. All I had to do was to point.
You see there was a church right next to my school and every morning I went in to change into my uniform – blue pinafore with a white blouse. In the front portion of St Anne’s Church, there was a lady dressed in a long white gown (Abaya I’d like to call it) with a scarf that draped over her hair and shoulder.
Who was this lady? She was none other than Mary, the blessed mother of our prophet Jesus (peace be upon them). SubhanAllah, there I was standing in a church and yet we both had something in common; our dress code. This had been the conviction that I was looking for and my love for the hijab deepened.
A year later, my sister joined the same school and her spiritual journey began. With His guidance, the both of us took a brave step and wore our hijab into the school compounds.
Fast forward a couple of months, a junior came up to me and expressed her liking to don the hijab. So with that, began our iconic journey as striving Muslimahs in a convent school.
My journey is not extraordinary but it has made me to grow into a person that I am grateful to be today. I love my hijab and it defines who I am.
To sum up my Umrah
experience is to simply describe it as the most beautiful thing that has
happened to me thus far. A powerful supplication (see below) shared by my
cousin. She read it and was soon called to visit the Ka’bah and I gave it a try and
true enough Allah called me to the holy land of Makkah and Madinah within a few
months.
*line 5 of dua [bulughil MARAAM]
I remember the moment
when I first sat gaze on the Ka'bah. It was such a humbling experience to come
face to face with something that I had dreamt of seeing since a child. My heart was beating fast as I poured out my
heart’s supplication. After all, the duas made at first glimpse of the Kaabah are
mustajab (accepted). And the more you look at this beautiful structure, the
more attached your heart becomes to your Creator. Its amazing how
soft your heart becomes and how tears flow so easily and uncontrollably when you are there..
Look out for my next post on "Must visit places when in Makkah and Madinah"
This took me forever but I finally sat down to pen my first entry. The purpose of my blog is to share with readers, the essence of my life. My biggest dream is to explore every continent on Earth in this lifetime. So far, I have been to places in Asia, Europe and the Middle East but that's an iota of the many more places I'd like to journey forth. Ironically I love travelling but hate airplane rides. Such is our love hate relationship.
I remember this instance when we were flying, our plane had to make an emergency landing in Sri Lanka half an hour after take off. When questioned, the stewardess coolly answered that there were passengers coming on board. Lol no one bought their story. When asked if I will still travel by air, my answer is a definite yes (but my panic attacks are here to stay).
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