Umrah

Asalam waliykum my dear sisters,

Sorry that the good news is rather late, I was meant to inform everyone last week. Anyway, as you can tell by the title, I am off on Umrah soon!! we just got our visas so I did not want to say anything until we got the go ahead.

Ramadan Do's and Don'ts

Asalam waliykum Sisters,

Another post related to Ramadan on the "Do's and Don'ts" Inshallah you will find it beneficial and a source of encouragement. Firstly I would like to say that we are all at different stages with our deen, some very practicing  some not so much. Inshallah we are all on the path to Allah but each of our paths are different due to the tests Allah bestows upon us. Some people have a straight path to Allah others find their paths to be a series of winding roads that branch off, filled with obstacles and that does not make them any less of a Muslim or a bad Muslim.

Hijab storage

Asalam waaliykum sisters,

Alhamdulillah Day 5 of Ramadan. Hope you are all doing well, inshallah.

I thought I would share how I store my hijabs with you guys. I was asked by a couple of sisters I know who are struggling due to limitation in space; what is the best way to store hijabs.
If you are looking for a new way to store your hijabs i have one idea. I have tried everything, I used to roll them and store them in my chest of draws, but that took up so much space and by the next day they were a total mess. Plus chest of draws are for my normal clothes.

Tried the hijab hangers, worked well for a while until they broke and snapped. I have a lot of hijabs 3 huge bags worth. So they weighed a lot,  when I hung them the hangers that are made for hijabs could not cope with the weight. I tried using skirt/trouser hangers and clip on a 2-3 per hanger again that took up my whole wardrobe. Not practical especially as I share my wardrobe with zawji.

I know this works well if you have less then 10 hijabs. I must have around 50-60 now so the hangers was no longer practical.

When I was at university 3 years ago now!! subhanllah. The landlord left two wardrobes in my room. So as you can imagine I used one for clothes and the other for hijabs. I just hung the hijab straight onto the poll and this was the tidiest way to store them.

Blessed Ramadan

Asalam waliykum sisters,

I hope you are having a wonderful and fulfilling Ramadan. It is already day 4 subhanallah the month will fly by as usual. I just wanted to take the time to share my love of Ramadan with everyone and inshallah you can tell me how your Ramadan is going too!!

Last Thursday when they announced that Ramadan would begin on Friday the first thing I did was get the Bukhour out! This is something mama always did at home to mark the start of Ramadan and again on the last night of Ramadan. I can not imagine not doing it, just feels the house with a lovely Arabian fragrance and gets me in the Ramadan spirit.

We have this bukhour burner also called a Mabkhara/Majmor, from Saudi Arabia and with it a box of Yemeni Bukhour. Have had this for 3 years and never once used it. I bought some charcoal disks and have been using it for a couple of months. You can get all types of bukhour, resin, wood chippings powdered. I prefer the Yemeni  which is resin formed into small cubes, find they last the longest and the smell is more pleasant when burning.

Naima B Roberts, book review

Asalam waliykum sisters,

I was meant to do this review last week but due to preparation for Ramadan I had no time. Alhamdulillah it is the perfect time now, and the books I will review are in keeping with this month!

A little bit about the author, Naima B roberts a sister, who reverted to Islam in her early 20's. She is an author of many books, runs Sisters Magazine, and has her own blog. I read all about her in one of her first books, From my sisters lips. This book is sort of like an autobiography with other reverts journeys to Islam. I recommend it to every sister, not just those new to the deen.

I think I have read all her books now. You can find out more about her online, just google her name, she has a FB page and her books sell on most online stores like ebay, amazon etc.

The two books I am reviewing are her first books aimed at small children, 3-9. I am an adult, 25 and i loved the book! so use that age range as a rough guide :D

She collaborated with others on these books, as with most children books you can expect lots of colours and pictures to keep your eyes busy, and keep kids engaged.

I originally bought these books for my younger cousins, after reading the content myself (could not help myself). I realised that perhaps they are little too old and would not enjoy it as the reading level is also for younger children. My two cousins are 10 and 13. Therefore, I have decided to keep the books for myself, well not really, but keep them until I can find a good home for them and in that time I will enjoy them!!

Ramadan Kareem 1433

Asalam waliykum sisters!!!

Just a quick post to welcome in the new blessed month. May we all make use of these 30 days. May we all increase our good deeds, our actions so we can reap the rewards. Please make plenty of dua for those who are less fortunate then us, those who have no food, shelter, not free to practise their deen, oppressed and who may not make it through this month. May Allah help those in need.

We should be thankful we have peace, and we are free to fast and pray and that we have the ability to help others. So this month we need to really help those suffering, inshallah. Do the best we can to help others as well as our own families and our self.

Inshallah I will post more on this blessed month in the coming weeks.

Food I make and eat! Mafrouk, Moroccan flat bread

Asalam waliykum sisters,

Alhamdulillah many of you enjoyed the last "Food i make and eat" Chicken and Mushroom pie!

And some of you sisters been interested in how to make authentic mafrouk, flat Moroccan bread. So Alhamdulillah i have been able to make it a few times last week and while at home visiting the famo (Family).

I really wanted to make a post on this as i have seen a few people online and on youtube make this the wrong way and use completely different ingrediants. So i wanted to put up the authentic way.

Really easy to make, not time consuming and quick to cook too enjoy!

This is what mafrouk looks like, its savoury flat bread. With the recipe and quantities I have used you will make 7 medium sized mafrouks. you can make them bigger or smaller, upto you guys :D

Food I make and eat. Chicken & Mushroom pie

Asalam waliykum sisters :D

Inshallah you are all having a wonderful day, I am in a good mood Alhamdulillah have some very big news to announce to the world as of next week. But, you have to wait one more week.

In such a good mood, that yesterday I treated zawji to a new dish, my chicken and mushroom pie with rich creamy sauce. First time i made it for him. Mama used to make this for me lots when i was younger, this and steak and onion pie with a short crust pastry. :D

Inshallah going to share the recipe and lots and lots of photos too!

My cook book and my favourite oven glove :D

Hijab Obsessions- Review

Asalam waliykum sisters,

I have been wanting to do this review, along with a few others for weeks now! Alhamdulillah finally got round to doing it!

As you can see from the title, the hijabs I will be reviewing are from Hijab Obsessions. I came across the site back in march while looking for pretty sparkly hijabs and jersey hijabs.

Islam-Ticket to Jannah presents!!

Asalam waliykum sisters,

One of my dear friends and another sister have opened a fan page on Facebook, called Islam-Ticket to Jannah, not too long ago. It has been a huge success Alhamdulillah and due to so many fans they wanted to thank those who are frequent followers/readers and sharers of the page so for every 1000 likes they do a random give away.

A little bit about the group, "Islam - a ticket to Jannah is solely for dawah to Muslims and non-Muslims to Islam, the religion of Truth". It provides daily reminders on various topics and with very eye catching photographs with powerful messages added to them. I was not aware it was set up by a sister I know, until recently. Mashallah such great work and a lot of effort and time have gone into this group. More recent posts from the sisters cover topics related to the fast approaching month of Ramadan and even a FREE Ramadan productivity calender/checklist. Please do check it out by clicking HERE .

Here are some photos I have taken of all the goodies I won! I have never won anything before in my life... and now I can say I have once, Alhamdulillah. I will no longer whine about not winning anything again!! Plus I FINALLY got a bobble scarf, and I love them, woohoo. The sisters are uber sweet and always given and dedicating countless hours in the cause of Dawah and Islam. Look at all the goodies they got me, are they not deliciously cute?!

On with the photos!!!....

Overhead Abaya!

Asalam waliykum sisters,

Just wanted to do a post about the abaya. In particular a new style that i have become fond of over the last few months, its not new but it is new to me! Its the Overhead Abaya, I first came across this style while out and about in London. I saw many Somali sisters wear the black over head abaya, which has a long v neck, and sits on the head or ties behind the head. All the sisters i have seen wearing this wore black, and the material was very heavy crepe/polyester/nylony... looked nice and cosy for winter. One thing I disliked was how it dragged on the floor behind them. This is a thing that we should avoid as muslimahs and one thing which will ruin your abaya. Not to mention the obvious  hadith regarding dragging ones garment, it being a sign of arrogance, plus getting it dirty, tripping over it etc etc.

It is a very modest outfit and it complies with the verse in the Quran when Allah commands women to wear an outer garment when going out.

In the Quran, Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59 (33:59) says:

"Ya ayyuha an-Nabiyy qul li azwajika wa banatika wa nisa al-mu'minin yudnina alayhinna min jalabib hinna; dhalika adna an yu'rafna fa laa yu'dhayn. Wa kana Allahu Ghafur Rahim"

"O Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw their JALABIB close around them; that is better that they will be recognised and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle."

Hijabi hair care

Asalam waliykum sisters,

Bad hair days, yes we all experience them. It doesn't matter what type of hair you have at some point while wearing hijab your hair will start to show some signs of wear and tear.

Some sisters complain of Hijab hair, which i can say sort of resembles bed head. It is true, and to make matters worse sisters start to neglect their hair, as they are not showing it as often then they don't need to look after it as much or so they think. This is totally wrong, and something i went through myself. But i soon realised i should look after my hair for myself and for those who are deserving of seeing it.