Remembering the start of the Arab Spring

The Revolution by Fiona

Salute the parade! Oil soaked hope spitting benzene promises.
Raise the flag! We the people, their paper thin hostages,
but when ignited we burn furiously, the heat drying ever tear.
Our message is reborn in you and you now have no fear.
Bouazizi, Said, Khateeb are our names,
now they are yours, rise up from our flames

The sky slowly folds away its scalding wings,
casting shadows on forgotten conquests by archaic kings.
Hunched over bone and flesh,
first right then left.
Your dusty palms pleading,
your scars of freedom bleeding.

The lines tell a hard story.
Each jagged routes misplaced glory.
A story of words painted green with anticipation,
a story of laws built upon the corpses of domination.
You shake these hands with your brothers while your leaders shake hands with theirs,
God overlooks and remembers while they plan and prepare.

The fire from above nervously darkens where you stand.
This country your grave, the people your sand.
You have looked death in the eye,
and you are not afraid to die.
Screams hang thick through the blackness of the evening night,
"God is Great! Tonight we fight!"

This morning, Channel Islam International granted me the platform to share my story, "Off with her hijab!". 

Click the link below to listen to the full interview between morning presenter Brother Ebrahim and myself.

INTERVIEW PODCAST

Hijab is our free choice and our beautiful right!

OFF WITH HER HIJAB!

 
When you think of South Africa, the words Mandela, peace, democracy, apartheid, safari, to name a few, come to mind. Up until a few years ago, I strongly believed that South Africa was one of those very few countries with religious tolerance especially for Islam, I mean isn't that what Mandela fought for and meant in his Inaugural Address when he said, "Our single most important challenge is to help establish a social order in which the freedom of the individual will truly mean the freedom of the individual."

I believe African people above all should be the ones upholding that legacy, Mandela might have been African, but he fought against oppression for ALL people!

In African culture in South Africa, many women are expected to cover their hair and dress modestly especially after marriage and Raidah and I have been stopped by numerous African non-muslim women to ask us how we tie our hijab.

With all this in mind, I was no where near prepared for the harsh reality check!

Word of the month: Perspective - the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.

The month of January has been about perspectives. From starting this blog with my sisters, being told to "take that THING off your head", to coming home to Swedish equality and attending a funeral in the snow, taking a few steps back and getting a dose of perspective is always healthy.

Melancholy snow

For me, funerals are like walking past an open window. You want to look in even though you feel a sense of shame for being inquisitive but once you do you've already walked past and you're only left with a glimpse. Funerals give us that window into the certainty of death. We're scared to look through it for fear of seeing the inescapable unknown yet we cannot help being drawn towards it. 

Asalaamualiakum guys.. This page is under construction.. Sorry for the inconvenience.. Will be updating shortly crazy, inspirational and motivational stories In Sha Allah ;)..