1
Never curse a fall. The ground is where humility lives.Yasmin Mogahed
2
My value as a woman is not measured by the size of my waist or the number of men who like me. My worth as a human being is measured on a higher scale: a scale of righteousness and piety. And my purpose in life-despite what fashion magazines say-is something more sublime than just looking good for men.Yasmin Mogahed
3
Maybe the brokenness comes to teach you how to kneel. Stop trying to ‘be strong’. We cry, to heal. We feel, to stay human.Yasmin Mogahed
4
Deprived is the one who has never witnessed his own desperate need for God. Reliant on his own means, he forgets that the means, his own soul, and everything else in existence are His creation.Yasmin Mogahed
5
The human currency of praise is Monopoly money. It feels great for a moment to collect, but when the game is over, it's worthless.Yasmin Mogahed
6
Speak your heart. If they don’t understand, the message was never meant for them anyway.Yasmin Mogahed
7
The mind replays what the heart can't delete.Yasmin Mogahed
8
Beware of what you let enter your heart. There will come a day when you'd give anything to remove it.Yasmin Mogahed
9
Oh external worshiper, know that worship without heart is motions. Oh seeker of knowledge, know that knowledge without purification is a dangerous weapon of the ego. Oh activist, know that work without orientation of heart is fruitless. Oh lover, know that love without God is pain.Yasmin Mogahed
10
Tear your heart out of your chest. And hand it to God. There is no other healing. I swear, there is no other healing.Yasmin Mogahed
11
[A Letter to the Culture that Raised Me] I'm not here to be on display. And my body is not for public consumption. I will not be reduced to an object, or a pair of legs to sell shoes. I'm a soul, a mind, a servant of God. My worth is defined by the beauty of my soul, my heart, my moral character. So I won't worship your beauty standards, and I don't submit to your fashion sense. My submission is to something higher. .Yasmin Mogahed
12
We hold on so tightly, because we’re terrified of loss. We hold on till our hands bleed. And in that self-shattering persistence, we fail to see the answer: Just let go.Yasmin Mogahed
13
If given a choice between stoic justice and compassion, I choose compassion. And if given a choice between worldly leadership and heaven at my feet– I choose heaven.Yasmin Mogahed
14
She stood up. Something inside her had changed. "It was finally time, " she thought. It was finally time to leave the past in the past. And move on. She took her first step. It felt like walking for the first time. It was strange to not be chained anymore. It felt like life. Like hope. Like happiness.Yasmin Mogahed
15
Allah loves His creation. That’s why He rewards so greatly for serving them.Yasmin Mogahed
16
Sometimes, the ocean floor is only a stop on the journey. And it is when you are at this lowest point, that you are faced with a choice. You can stay there at the bottom, until you drown. Or you can gather pearls and rise back up – stronger from the swim and richer from the jewels.Yasmin Mogahed
17
It’s never easy to stand when the storm hits. And that’s exactly the point. By sending the wind, He brings us to our knees: the perfect position to pray.Yasmin Mogahed
18
Tawakkul is having complete trust that Allah's plan is the best plan.Yasmin Mogahed
19
With my veil I put my faith on display–rather than my beauty. My value as a human is defined by my relationship with God, not by my looks. I cover the irrelevant. And when you look at me, you don’t see a body. You view me only for what I am: a servant of my Creator.You see, as a Muslim woman, I’ve been liberated from a silent kind of bondage. I don’t answer to the slaves of God on earth. I answer to their King. .Yasmin Mogahed
20
And while it’s nice of you to want to call us ‘modern’ or ‘moderate, ’ we’ll do without the redundancy. Islam is by definition moderate, so the more strictly we adhere to its fundamentals – the more moderate we’ll be. And Islam is by nature timeless and universal, so if we’re truly Islamic – we’ll always be modern. We’re not ‘Progressives’; we’re not ‘Conservatives’. We’re not ‘neo-Salafi’; we’re not ‘Islamists’. We’re not ‘Traditionalists’; we’re not ‘Wahabis’. We’re not ‘Immigrants’ and we’re not ‘Indigenous’. Thanks, but we’ll do without your prefix. We’re just Muslim.Yasmin Mogahed
21
In his mercy, He sent the storm itself to make us seek help. And then knowing that we’re likely to get the wrong answer, He gives us a multiple choice exam with only one option to choose from: the correct answer. The hardship itself is ease. By taking away all other hand-holds, all other multiple choice options, He has made the test simple. It’s never easy to stand when the storm hits. And that’s exactly the point. By sending the wind, He brings us to our knees: the perfect position to pray.Yasmin Mogahed
22
The enduring life is the one that begins once we awaken from this world. And it is in that awakening that we realize… It was only a dreamYasmin Mogahed
23
I have so much respect for the emotionally brave. The ones who put in the emotional work and take the real risks of being vulnerable and removing masks. It's easy to make chitchat, but it's hard to speak about what's really under the surface. It's easy to joke, but difficult to cry. It's easy to numb, but hard to feel. Ironically the real victims of emotional laziness are the people themselves. They end up choosing their emotional comfort zones over happiness. So in the end, they may not be 'uncomfortable' anymore; but they are also miserable.Yasmin Mogahed
24
So often we think that Allah only tests us with hardships, but this isn’t true. Allah also tests with ease. He tests us with na`im (blessings) and with the things we love, and it is often in these tests that so many of us fail. We fail because when Allah gives us these blessings, we unwittingly turn them into false idols of the heart.Yasmin Mogahed
25
Shaytan will tell you that you’re not worthy, so give up. But his traps are based on lies. When was any of it because of *your* worth? It was all because of His mercy, His generosity, His love of giving, and forgiving. And those qualities don’t change because you’re messing up. Just seek them. Call Him by His mercy, not by your deeds.Yasmin Mogahed
26
Be the moon in somebody's night. Be the yusr (ease), in somebody's usr (hardship).Yasmin Mogahed
27
The secret to happiness is to never make it dependent on that which can be taken awayYasmin Mogahed
28
Let go of your grudges. Let the bitterness die tonight. Make a decision today that it’s time to move on. And begin again. New, this time. Never forget that what has passed you by was never meant to befall you. And what has befallen you, was never meant to pass you by. Know that sometimes Allah withholds from you, in order to give you something better. Keep your heart focused on Him, and He will take care of the rest. And remember: you will stumble, but that’s part of the path. Keep going. Keep rising, and refuse to give up.Yasmin Mogahed
29
To empty the heart does not mean to not love. On the contrary, true love, as God intented it, is purest when it is not based on a false attachment. The process of first emptying the heart can be found in the beginning half of the shahada (declaration of faith).Yasmin Mogahed
30
They say you don’t get over someone until you find someone or something better. As humans, we don’t deal well with emptiness. Any empty space must be filled. Immediately. The pain of emptiness is too strong. It compels the victim to fill that place. A single moment with that empty spot causes excruciating pain. That’s why we run from distraction to distraction–and from attachment to attachment.Yasmin Mogahed
31
The worst prison is not made of metal bars. The worst prison is when your internal reality does not match your external reality.Yasmin Mogahed
32
Know that transformation sometimes begins with a fall. So never curse the fall.Yasmin Mogahed