Sacrifices

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

This is one of those days when my mind says YES but my body says NO! So I wanted to challenge my body. I put on my running shoes and ran 1.5 miles and here I am. Alhamdulillah. I actually set myself up to run 2 miles but it was becoming too exhaustive for me. I do listen to my body once in a while and let it win a little. That's okay. Alhamdulillah.

It was the morning of September 11, 2001 (9/11). I believe the first tower was already down, not the second. But I didn't know anything about what was happening. I had been busy preparing court papers and getting ready to go to court for an ex parte hearing in a child custody case. The night before my client had called me, in frantic, because his ex wife failed to drop off his daughter at the designated drop off place--the police station parking lot. Before I left my house, I called the visitation supervisor (a lady who facilitates the drop off), and asked her if she could meet me at the courthouse with a written report. She blurted, "I am shaking right now, I am trying to reach my family. The country is at war!" Puzzled, I asked, "What war, what country?" She said, "The twin tower is bombed! Turn on your TV!" and she hung up. I rushed and turned on my TV (I had TV at that time) and couldn't believe my eyes! I had a glimpse of the news, got my things and drove to the courthouse. The roads were quiet--it was like a ghost town in Martinez, where the courthouse was. I could feel people were looking at me strangely. I went through the normal security, which was no security check for attorneys, except that we need to flag our our bar card and drivers license as we walked through. The security guard on duty knew me and he smiled and gestured for me to just proceed without my id. I said to myself--"good sign, Alhamdulillah." I had to file some papers before going inside the court so I stood in line with the rest of the people. People were glancing at me and glancing at me. All of a sudden, I heard from across the room someone shouting, "Miss, over here!" and I looked at the direction of the voice, and the person was actually talking to me. I asked her what did she want. She said, "that line you are standing is for attorneys!" I then asked, "What does an attorney looks like?" Everybody started laughing.

Lesson--we should not be afraid to show that we are Muslims. It may be uncomfortable sometimes but our discomfort is nothing compared to the sacrifices of our Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the early Muslims, in order to bring Truth to us. We need to push ourselves to give and give and give more. Paradise is not free. We have to work for it. As for woman, what separates us and the non-believer women in public is the proper hijab we wear. Be proud to carry the banner of Islam. Don't be afraid, and have good opinion of Allah that He will not leave us alone to fend for and by ourselves after He put us on this earth.

May Allah give you tawfiq. Ameen.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam