[Faith Friday] Al-Munfarija: The Reliever with Imam Suhaib Webb

"Why do bad things happen?"

"Allahu'alam," Imam Suhaib Webb said. 

We won't always get the answers we want but if we continue to listen or look carefully, we'll know in due time. This is what I've learned in the one-day course "al-Munfarija" (The Reliever) by Ella Collins  Institute and Muslim Professionals Forum last week. Nobody has the perfect life and we're all bound to face hardship and challenges in some or another. What makes things worse is when we compare our lives to someone else's. 

But what if these "bad things" aren't necessarily bad? What if they're a means to better things and a better you? I know, it's hard to see it this way when you're under a lot of pressure and you can't seem  to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been there and all I can say is, it's not a pretty place to be but if you just hang on a little bit more when you're about to give up, things do get better, God willing.

I Met a Mountain Today: A Day with Peter Sanders

I met a mountain today.

He was not intimidating but I was in awe as he stood dignified, strong and unperturbed as he spoke about art and spirituality with a level of wisdom incomparable to anyone else I know. This "mountain" was none other than Peter Sanders, a renowned British photographer "who happens to be Muslim" [his own words].

Sanders is currently in Malaysia in conjunction with IRPC's exhibition launch at the Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia. Today he conducted a workshop and represented IRPC's panel of jury for their "Capture the Spirit of Ramadan" photography competition that will run during Ramadan this year, inshaAllah. Sanders was also a guest speaker at today's symposium featuring  Basel al-Misshal and Lina Ali of Studio Basel, the organiser of IRPC's photography competition which is open to all budding and talented amateur photographers and professional photographers. All you have to do is submit a maximum of 3 photos per day during Ramadan and the panel of jury includes the likes of Peter Sanders and Steve McCurry (the man behind the famous Time magazine's "Afghan girl" photo). Selected photos will be featured on their social media platforms and the winners' photos will be part of IRPC's photography book and exhibition.

source: IRPC's Facebook page

Anyway, Sanders began his speech at the symposium by sharing his experience at the Malaysian immigration upon arriving the country. The officers curiously asked him if he was an imam. "Absolutely not," he replied, "I'm a jury for a photography competition. I'm here to see if Malaysia's got talent!" he joked.

Modest Street Fashion K.L. x Langston Hues x Mizz Nina x Felixia Yeap x Natasha Hudson

source: Natasha Hudson's Instagram

Every now and then I am fortunate to be a part of unique events like Modest Street Fashion K.L. which was recently held on Sunday, 23rd February and hosted by Art Beat Consultants and Crescent Collective at the enchanting venue called Talent Lounge. I must admit, I was a tad nervous about being an emcee this time. So much so, I can barely remember the dialogue between Langston, Natasha, Felixia, Mizz Nina and myself. Thank God, the whole session was recorded and hopefully I get to watch it soon! I know, it sounds crazy but I was truly stressed out and by the end of the night, my brain was almost mush. All I know is, everyone had a good time and we all learned something new. Thank you to our hosts Art Beat and Crescent Collective and our sponsors Neng Geulis, Fashion Valet, Indahijabbe and Lawa Photography.

You can check out the video or the photos below. Or even better, both.

#OOTD x Modest Street Fashion K.L. x Langston Hues

Hello hello! Just a quick #OOTD post and a shout out for the upcoming event I will be emceeing this Sunday, inshaAllah - Modest Street Fashion K.L.! It will be a casual meet and greet with Langston Hues himself and our special guests, Mizz Nina, Felixia Yap and Natasha Hudson. To spice things up there will also be a fun discussion on a universal understanding of modesty, Islamic modesty, and the rise of modest street fashion around the world.



Hope to see you at the event! Don't forget to have a look at some of Hues' latest work on YouTube.

Style Sunday: It's Never Too Late to Wear Red

 

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Dresses are great,

But pants are so underrated, true?

Okay, I can be really cheesy like that. I couldn't help it ;) I wore this outfit to a meeting about an upcoming event I will be part of, inshaAllah, and what makes a monochrome ensemble a bit interesting? Red lipstick, of course.

Modest street fashion photographer and globetrotter from Detroit, Langston Hues, will be in Kuala Lumpur and we are hosting an event featuring the man himself, Natasha Hudson and Mizz Nina on 23rd February 2014. It will be held at 8 pm, Talent Lounge, Damansara Perdana.

 

Sha Elaiza x Shea Rasol x Amenakin

I once wrote that my blog is like my vision board because for some reason I end up meeting the people I write about! Hmm, I'm getting ideas now ;) Anyway, I never thought I'd ever meet the lovely and inspiring Amena (YouTube / website) but I did. Yay! All the way from the UK, she visited Malaysia and Singapore and held meet-and-greet sessions. I went along to the KL event to be a mere attendee but Shea asked me to emcee and I was more than happy to. Hence the lack of variety in my photos from the event... but here they are anyway! 

Date: 8th January 2014

Venue: Found Foundry, PJ

Host: Aquila Style and Shea Rasol

Food & beverages: Food Foundry and Dear Azalea

Photography/video: Azrianna Photography / CST Productions

Questions for the Tall White Man

Not your usual event title, I know. But that's kind of our attempt at being ironic. [check out Hipster Muslim, by the way]

Are you searching for faith, answers, hope, an identity? A poet, brother and teacher; perhaps the Tall White Man can help you in your journey during this chilled out session with Arabic coffee and spoken word poems. This session is created for the youth by the youth. It is a safe space for the youth to ask questions regarding faith, spirituality and this crazy thing called life.

Fatih Seferagić: From Houston to Kuala Lumpur

photo by Rafidah Ahmad

"Verily the one who recites the Qur’an beautifully, smoothly, and precisely, he will be in the company of the noble and obedient angels. And as for the one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its verses, then he will have TWICE that reward.”

- Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him {Al-Bukhari and Muslim} (source: Rewards, Benefits and Virtues of Qur'an and its Recitation)

My blog is kind of my accidental vision board. Due to Allah's will, I end up meeting some of the people I have written about despite never imagining that I'd someday meet them. When I blogged about Fatih Seferagić last year it never crossed my mind that I'd eventually meet the 18 year old hafiz. When I think of a hafiz, for some reason I think of someone who's the total opposite of Brother Fatih i.e. strict, serious and older. (Yeah, we should never stereotype!) One might say he is quite the YouTube sensation but not for anything frivolous. He's well-known for his Qur'an recitation and many young girls would also say, for his youthful good looks too (can I get a mashaAllah?). Thanks to Muslim Professionals Forum, Brother Fatih flew all the way from Houston, Texas and spent almost 3 weeks in Kuala Lumpur recently.

2013 Ramadan Series - You're Invited!

The Ramadan Series is an annual endeavour by Young Muslims Project aimed to inspire the Muslim youth to redirect their focus during the holy month of Ramadan. InshaAllah (God willing), every Sunday morning we will discuss a topic in relation to this blessed month and the purification of the soul with a knowledgeable scholar of Islam. 

This Sunday we are fortunate to have Sister Tasneem Ghauri to speak on the topic "The Power of Self Control and Forgiveness" and YOU'RE ALL INVITED to come and hang out with us :) For more information on the topic and the speaker visit the Facebook event page. Do follow YMP's Facebook page or Twitter account to stay updated on our upcoming Ramadan Series open circles.

Ramadan Dua by Br. Fatih Seferagic

We recently had Brother Fatih Seferagic with us here in Malaysia. He spent about 3 weeks in Kuala Lumpur, alhamdulillah, courtesy of Muslim Professionals Forum. In collaboration with MPF and Genius Aulad, one of the programmes my friends and I helped organised was a Ramadan workshop with Brother Fatih for children aged 7 - 12 years old. At the end of the session Fatih recited a dua (prayer) to welcome the month of Ramadan. 
Ameen to his dua! May Allah (swt) grant us a blessed and fruitful Ramadan, inshaAllah.
p.s. More video snippets of Brother Fatih to come, inshaAllah. Work is crazy hectic lately. Just give me some time :) By the way, do check out 'The Spirit of Fasting' by Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda and 'The Different Forms of Fasting' by Imam Khalid Latif! 

Qur'an Workshop with Fatih Seferagic in Kuala Lumpur

Brother Fatih Seferagic is no stranger in Malaysia. I even wrote a post about him because I was impressed by this young man, mashaAllah. Videos of the 18 year old hafidh who completed the memorisation of the Qur'an at age 12 went viral on the Internet last year and with high demand he will be in Kuala Lumpur at the end of June 2013, inshaAllah.

  Can you believe this got almost 2000 retweets?

Brother Fatih will be one of the speakers at this year's Being ME event on the 29th of June but Young Muslims Project have created a special event in anticipation of the month of Ramadhan.

A Day with Yasmin Mogahed

I first came across Yasmin Mogahed's work on SuhaibWebb.com during my final year at university. It was a stressful year for many of my friends and I, but discussions about Yasmin Mogahed's Serenity radio show and inspiring articles helped get us through our trials that year. When I returned to Malaysia I had the chance to listen to her speak live at the 2012 Being ME conference. This year I have been fortunate enough to attend her talks and meet her in person again, alhamdulillah. I was invited by the lovely Husna Musa to an afternoon tea session organised by Light Upon Light and Viva Palestina Malaysia, and when that ended we rushed to attend another lecture by Yasmin Mogahed that evening. So you could say I spent a day with Ms. Mogahed :) 

One of the best parts is that ticket sales of both events went towards projects for women in Gaza, inshaAllah. Here's a little something for everyone who couldn't be with us that day.

The Gift of Gaza

 Banksy graffiti on the separation wall in Palestine

When Operation Pillar of Cloud commenced in Gaza we turned to Twitter for coverage and commentary because the majority of mainstream media failed to deliver sufficient information. Harry Fear's live reportage of the 8-day war was one of the few that garnered worldwide attention on social media. From digital activism to real life activism, Fear is currently on a tour to speak about his personal experiences in the occupied land. It never crossed my mind that I'd listen to him speak in person someday but I did when he was in Kuala Lumpur a few weeks ago.

Sha Elaiza in The Star, Hijabista and on TV!

I was recently interviewed by Kevin Tan from The Star newspaper about my feat of fasting from music during Ramadhan. The article is published in today's print so go get it TODAY! I'm also featured in the August issue of Hijabista magazine for a  fashion shoot called "Beautiful Dancer" along with Shea Rasol from My Amethyst, Eyqa Sulaiman from SugarScarf and Sue Anna Joe from Budu dan Belacan . Although, I should say the skinny jeans I wore in the shoot is not something I would wear in public especially as a hijabi...

Being ME: Muslimah Empowered 2012

After living in a Western country for many years I've come to realise there were things I had taken for granted about Muslim countries. I am now able to appreciate the "little" things about living in Malaysia.  Things such as being able to hear the adhan (call to prayer) from my house, the availability of halal food everywhere, and most of all, more access to Islamic knowledge. I am very fortunate to have attended many Islamic talks and events in Kuala Lumpur this year alhamdulillah e.g. Productive Muslim, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani's "haul". This is what I feel has been missing in my life all those years in Dunedin. 

On the 30th of June I attended Being ME: Muslimah Empowered, a women-only conference organised by Mercy Mission. The array of speakers made it impossible for me not to go - Yasmin Mogahed, Myriam Francois-Cerrah, and so many more!