CURRENT OBSESSION: MO SALAH!!

(Insert a bass voice)

Hear me join the chant:

"Mo Sa la la la lah

Mo sa la la la lah

If he's good enough for you

He's good enough for me

If he scores another few

Then i'll be Muslim too!!

He's sitting in the mosque

That's where I wanna be!

Mo sa la la la lah..."

It's actually more fun hearing the fan chant. Check here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GsQ1XzTGFI 

So, Mo Salah you people!! I mean, where do I start?! I'm just totally amused, amazed, obsessed, inspired by this guy.

Wait a minute, could I be leaving behind someone in this 'virtual conversation?' For those who don't know, Mohammed Salah is a 25 year old Egyptian football player currently playing for Liverpool and he's swept the entire world with his character, his talent and passion. They call him 'The Egyptian Messi' as well as 'The shining light of Arabic football'.

He is the first Egyptian player to score a PL hat-trick, first Liverpool player to score four goals in a single PL game since Suarez, He is the top goal scorer in Premier League and the top goal scorer in Europe. Not my words, but as stated from one of the tweets by the account: @blamefootball.

I am honestly learning a lot from Mo Salah, well not playing football (I'm yet to learn :D ) but from how his character and humbleness has touched the whole world. Before I even go into what I have picked from him, I want to share some of the best tweets talking about this phenomenal player.

"Mohamed Salah teaches us how to be a true hardworking successful professional while also being an extremely humble human being, what a man." @lfc_family

"Mo Salah doing more to end the clash of civilisations than anyone in the world." @karlreMarks

"Looool mo salah is doing more for tackling islamaphobia in Britain than Theresa May and all her cabinet." @BigHComedy

"Not sure if my fandom of Mo Salah is going over the top but I keep kissing the floor every time I finish a job around the house." @stehoare

"I present to you the eighth wonder of the world. Mohamed Salah *insert fire emojis* @kollinswitha_K

"Just realised Salah's goal for Liverpool equated Lingard's 14 career goals for United. He's done it in 16 matches. Lingard's on 100k while Salah is on 90k a week. Pass me some bleach." @UtdOliver (This tweet was by a MAN-U fan and it got over 2400 retweets and 3300 likes. Even other football club fans can't resist admiring him.)

"I'm not a Liverpool fan but you must believe football builds bridges with this red chant for Mo Salah." @GreatObiesesan.

"Should they replace these pyramids by Mohamad Salah?" @touficzayni (If you get the joke :D )

In an image showing Messi holding a jersey with M. Salah's name, @footyhumour says: "Messi naming his successor- Salah is the new GOAT'

"That's the secret to his greatness right there. Humility. He won't let it get to his head. Messi's exactly the same." @stevenelson45

And one of the most trending tweets was this one by @CarsonCoffield who tweeted: "HE GONNA TURN ME MUSLIM"  The tweet got so much attention; retweets and responses. One of the responses was by @ShahdHany who said: "If you wanna know why this tweet got this much of attention is bcuz Salah represents a role model to muslims all over the world."

The tweets are so juicy I need to stop or I wouldn't finish today :D

The beauty of this all is how the Mo Salah chant above was received well in the entire world. You know normally we'd expect rude comments from some of the very negative people who would question the intention of the chant, like why do we necessarily have to celebrate Mo Salah in terms of his religion or just post ridiculous comments insulting the fans for what may seem to others as 'naivety'. Yet I wouldn't call it naivety, I call it purity. I mean, in this age and era, Islam has been portrayed in great extents as mostly a negative religion, violent and BAD. But here are the fans, from very diverse background, diverse religions, homes, race and all that, yet they decide to keep that all aside for the love of this man's character and zeal. They want to identify themselves by what Mo Salah has shown matters a lot to him; his religion. I mean, I.AM.AWED!!

Here are some few things i've learnt from him:

1. Be proud of who you are: Mo Salah is your typical Arab guy who speaks English with mother-tongue influence. He keeps his beard despite the negative notion of what the combination of 'Being Muslim + Being Arab + Having a beard' might spark especially in the Western world. He didn't force himself to speak with a British accent or cut off his beard to fit in. In fact he openly portrays himself as Muslim inside the pitch by making dua and doing sujood (prostration) openly when he scores or wins a game. This guy is not just a Muslim. HE IS LIVING ISLAM. Are you still ashamed of being Muslim? This man is just an inspiration!                                                                                                                                                              
2. Being humble: Mo Salah, who was previously a Chelsea player, at one of the games didn't celebrate a goal he scored while playing against this former team. Some say this was in respect of his former team mates while others say, Salah’s lack of celebration could have been due to terror attack in Egypt where 305 people were killed on Friday after heavily-armed militants bombed a mosque and opened fire. Either way, we like him for that. He also once apologized to the Watford goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis after scoring four times at the 5-0 win at Anfield. You'd say its not even necessary! Its just a game but this man goes ahead and apologizes. Perhaps just to show his empathy and humbleness? Humanity at its finest! He also teaches us to remember where we came from and never forget people who once were in the same task force as us.                                                                                                                                        
3. Go after your dreams! In one of the interviews, Mo Salah is asked about his favourite subject at school and he answers something close to: Subject? It was always football. Parents, ARE YOU LISTENING?! Let your children go after their dreams. You reading this, go after your dreams however impossible they may seem at the moment. I am sure Mo Salah never quite imagined that they'd be a day he'd be compared to Messi, right?!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
4. Let your actions speak for you: Brand ambassadors, PR managers, marketing staff, borrow a leaf from Mo Salah! At no precise point are we shown Mo Salah  preaching or talking about Islam. It is all in how he naturally talks, interacts, behaves with the people around him. He is the brand ambassador of Islam right now. Not because of what he says, but by the positive energy he keeps sending to the people around him. Even his name reveals this already :D Mohamed- The name of one of the greatest influencers in the world history, the beloved prophet peace be upon him and Salah? The Arabic term for our prayers. He is representing our deen well. Maybe remember him in your duas that he keeps doing the great job?                                                                                                                                                                                              
5. Do not give up! Mo Salah didn't quite live to his expectations while playing for Chelsea. When he was asked whether he felt the pressure of making just 19 appearances for Chelsea he said, "I don't think it's like this." Klopp, manager of Liverpool football club said on this: "Maybe it was one reason he came back, but he's not like 'Now I will show you the real Mo Salah.' 'He was a kid when he came to Chelsea, and we have heard a few times that's quite difficult and in that time they were really successful. It was quite tough to come through...he's a man now, he was a kid at Chelsea, now he's a man. That's good." He wasn't given enough time at Chelsea to showcase his talent and some even thought he was a premier league flop. We see the growth here. From what he was before, his struggles and him not reaching his full potential, yet still he went on to work towards his goals. Like literally :D

Photo credit: theconversation.com

In one of the many articles about him, "Liverpool FC's Mohamed Salah's goal celebrations: a guide to British Muslimness" the writer says: "The double-edged sword of Salah's sujood is that it is tied to his excellence on the field. If he stops scoring, he will stop performing sujood. As a result, the fans will love him-and Islam-a little less." Which  is quite possible but then it reminds me of Usain Bolt when he became runner's up on his very last race before his retirement. We were a little bit disappointed but it didn't make us love him or his skills any less, did it? Let's just hope Mo Salah keeps scoring though. Positive vibes aaalll the way!

P.S I don't really watch football. I'm just good at what I do *sips tea* :D ;)

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Talking of what I am good at, I will be holding the second creative writing training during the Easter Weekend (Friday-30th March and Sunday 1st April). Two full days at a reasonable fee. If interested, do registered prior to via this no: 0704 731 560.

Venue: Abad Institute, Makadara Old Town

Time: 8 am - 4 pm

Sessions include: Basic writing skills

Introduction to blogging

Finding your voice

Islamic writing (For Muslims)

Therapeutic writing (Dealing with stress)

Writing about the Coast and other fun activities.

Kindly do share the information! Thank you :)

HE IS LISTENING

You are standing by the window, watching the raindrops hit your windowpane before touching the ground. The rain is rhythmic; you love its predictability, unlike your life. Your life needs a Sherlock Holmes to solve the unending mystery. Every other day, you seem to have a surprise stored for you. It makes you wonder whether you are a guinea pig of a social experiment. Perhaps some scientists just want to find out how much can a human being handle when in distress. You can almost hear their voices on the opposite side of the windowpane. They are using a lot of scientific jargon and psychological terms as they scrutinize you. You don't really understand what they are saying but you know you are the subject of interest. Perhaps if this experiment works and the theory works, you'll become rich from what they'll pay you. A happy guinea pig. You smile then sigh.

From afar, you hear your neighbour sobbing. There is a lot of commotion and shouting going on. Her husband is beating her up. Your heart aches a little more. Then you sigh again. Life is miserable, you think. They had been married for ten years; happy and blessed with six children. Then he re-married and boom! everything shattered. It wasn't the re-marrying that brought the problems per se, it was the attitude towards his family. Life is scary like that. People change, love fades off, evil is real and the world is yet to end. Or you are the one who can't wait for your own end.

Your father left your mother while you were two months old and she was critically ill. You are lucky to be here. There was a time you almost became homeless, you almost dropped out of school, you almost became malnourished, your mother almost died, YOU almost died; twice in fact. You look at the marks of the razor that went through your hand skin. You look at the scars skillfully and very carefully hidden under the famous Kenyan flag bracelet. You are lucky to be alive, with your mother and under a roof. You seem to have the nine lives of a cat or is it just life that loves you? Perhaps it is the scientists, pumping oxygen forcefully into you. They can't lose their guinea pig.

'I don't want to be part of this social experiment anymore,' you whisper to the virtual scientists. They look at you like you're crazy. Like they want to shout on your face, 'Do you know how much we've spent on you?! On this experiment?!'

You feel the burning sensation in your eyes. You force back the tears. 'Wanaume hawalii' (Men don't cry) they say. You ask who? People. In the streets, the wazee in their barazas, youth on their Facebook posts. Real men don't cry. You are tempted to ask how much tears can a man shed before he is regarded as 'a useless man' or even told, 'You are no different from a woman' Like a woman is a bad person. But you can't ask because then, they'll doubt your manhood.

You hear your mother groan in pain inside. It turns out she has leukemia. You've been jobless for the past five months. She's been strong all along but strength at this point isn't enough without the ridiculously expensive treatment she needs.

'God? Can you hear me?' You look up to the sky and gaze at it. Like you are waiting for a response from God. You and God, you have a strange relationship. Some nights, you stay up throughout, kneeling, begging, praying, crying in silence and talking to Him one on one. And sometimes, some days pass without saying a word to Him. Those days when you feel like He has abandoned you. When you feel like He doesn't care about you. You get angry and ignore Him like a disappointed lover.

'God, can you hear me?' This time, you let the tears flow. It is night, no one will see your tears anyway. Your eyes have now become the Niagara falls. You had missed this. Talking to Him.

You remember this old man in your neighbourhood, he once told you, 'Snap out of it; the self-pity. God is always there for everyone and anyone who calls out to Him.' You slowly wipe the tears as you remember his most famous story that he narrates to you: 'Job (Nabii Ayub A.S) didn't die despite his severe illness. Abraham (Nabii Ibrahim) didn't die despite being thrown into the fire.  Jonah (Nabii Yunus) didn't die despite being swallowed by the whale. Joseph (Nabii Yusuf) didn't die despite being thrown into the well. Jacob (Nabii Ya'qub) survived despite losing his son and his sight. And Ishmael (Nabii Ismael) survived despite the order that he is to be slaughtered. Whatever the test and turmoil you are in right now, God has a plan for you. Don't give up on His mercy.'

You stare at the clear sky. It has stopped raining now and once again you call out, 'God?' Suddenly, you see a star, it twinkles. With tears in your eyes, you smile.

'He is listening. God is listening!'

DON'T GIVE UP ON YOURSELF JUST YET

Sometimes we look at our heap of sins, at our bad habits, at our personality flaws and think to ourselves, 'At this age and time how will I ever change?' We feel like there is no hope for us especially after we tried to change but we kept sliding back to our same old destructive habits. Yet there is always hope. Always. Allah S.W says 'Do not despair from the mercy of Allah'. All we have to do is keep striving to be better individuals, keep praying for ourselves and others and watch Allah take us out of the trash pit.

A beautiful story of sheikh Malik ibn Dinar is just one of the proofs that Allah's mercy is endless.

Malik ibn Dinar used to be an alcoholic and a highway robber. Everyone knew him for those traits until it became his identity. One day he comes across a poor man and a rich man trying to buy bread from another man. The man only had one bread remaining and just as the poor man paid for it, the rich man offered to pay quadriple the price for the same bread. The poor man said to the seller, "Please I really need the bread. My daughters will starve to death if they don't get something to eat." But the rich was still ready to pay more for the bread. Malik ibn Dinar was triggered by this and went to them whilst very angry. He paid the seller more than what the rich man had paid so that the poor man can get the bread. But the rich man still added more money. Malik added some more money again. It went on like that until the poor man got the bread. He then said to the poor man, "When your daughters eat tonight, tell them to pray for Malik ibn Dinar" and he went away.

Years went by and Malik was still an alcoholic and a robber. When he wanted to marry he couldnt get a wife because of his reputation. So he bought a slave, freed her then married her. He really loved his wife and God blessed them with a daughter called Fathima.

Malik was very attached to his daughter and vice versa. They had a very close bond. And sometimes when Malik was seated with Fathima on his lap while he drinks wine his daughter told him, "Father I dont like this. I hate this" referring to the alcohol. Malik knew that his daughter hated the wines and alcohol but he still couldn't stop his bad habits.

A time came when Fathima became very ill and passed away at a very tender age. Malik was so shattered and was drinking even more now to forget his pain. He hadn't slept for days and one time, he fell into deep sleep due to the excess fatigue. In his sleep, he dreamt that it was the day of judgement and the world looked chaotic. A monster (in some narrations they say it was a huge snake) emerged and started running after him. Malik ran away but the monster was still running behind him. He reached a cliff and below him was jahannam and behind was the monster. He decided to go to another direction, still running. He arrived at the coast of an ocean and a very old man in a white robe was seated at the coast. He went towards him to ask for help but the old man was very frail and weak. He just pointed to Malik to a direction and Malik followed the way. He kept running, the monster still behind him until he reached to a hill with small beautiful cave openings. He saw children, girls at the entrance of the caves and he immediately knew these were the daughters of the poor man he bought the bread for. The girls started calling out "Fathima come save your father! Fathima come save your father!"

Fathima appeared and motioned to the monster and it faded away.

Then she said to him:

"My dear father, ‘Has not the time come for the believers (who indulge in sins) that their hearts should submit in all humility to the remembrance of Allah and to the truth which is revealed’ (Al-Hadeed:16)”. He was moved to tears and asked her “My dear child, what was this monster?” She said “It was your own evil deeds which had made it so strong that it was about to push you into Jahannam”. Heasked “And who was that white-robed old man?” She replied “That were your good deeds and you had made them so weak with your scanty good deeds that he could not help you against the monster(though he suggested to you a means of escape.)” One of the few good deeds was the one he helped the poor man get bread for his daughters.

His daughter then asked him, "Father isn't it time yet to repent?" Then he woke up from his sleep saying, "Yes it is time. Yes it is time."

He stood up and went to the masjid. The imam (it is said that it was Imam Shafii, Allahu a3lam) led the prayer and recited the same verse that his daughter had recited to him.

‘Has not the time come for the believers (who indulge in sins) that their hearts should submit in all humility to the remembrance of Allah and to the truth which is revealed’ 

Malik was weeping uncontrollably. After the prayers he went home, packed his clothes and went off to Madina to acquire deen knowledge. He thereafter became a very famous, pious and knowlegable sheikh who propagated Islam.

It is through his pain for losing his child that Malik ibn Dinar repented. Many times Allah puts us in a difficult situation or takes something beloved from us just to make us realize how much we need Him. So do not ever give up on yourself or even on someone else. This story of repentance is a reminder for us that the door of repentance is open to even the most devilish sinner.  Allah's mercy remains endless and He guides whomsoever He wills. Keep working on yourself. Don't be discouraged by your sins or by irrational thoughts that Allah will never help you or accept your repentance. Another lesson we get from Malik's story is the importance of sadaqa and dua in a person's life. You just never know when or how or what will lead to your/someone else's guidance. May Allah guide us all. Ameen.

GETI KALI

When I was in university, I’d hear ladies or even men sometimes point out seemingly modest or religious ladies especially when they are fresh students and say, “Watoto wa geti kali wale. Just give them time, they’ll adjust” And by adjusting they mean, unveiling themselves and joining the rest in the typical university lifestyle. These statements used to really break my heart because it made life even more difficult for modest ladies; like they must fit in somehow, like they need to change, like this is the time for ‘freedom’ as most would say. But even more, it used to really scare me because eventually I came to see several sisters and even brothers slowly withdraw from their principles and values and embrace ‘the freedom syndrome’. Some entirely changed their mode of dressing and some discarded the religion as well. All this used to make me question a lot. Are we, as a community supposed to raise children in the ‘geti kali’ conditions or are we to show them the real world whilst giving them the weapons and right mind-set to deal with it?

Geti Kali houses in Mombasa are those homes whereby it is known that the children, especially the ladies are over-protected with strict rules on whom to interact with, talk to, where to go and limited permission to go out unnecessarily. At least that’s how I understand it. In its original sense, the geti kali culture is an innocently protective way for parents to ensure their children don’t go astray or get influenced or taken advantage of. It isn’t out of mistrust (not always), or just to put their children in distress, but just their own way to safeguard their children. Some connect this with religion whereby ladies are encouraged to settle in their homes and avoid unnecessary movements. Fine, but are we educating them on what is really happening outside their homes? The dangers, the kind of people, the rotten mind sets, the scary environment?

It is all good and safe until you take your child to university and poof! A whole new world is exposed to them. It is like taking a kid to Disney world for the first time, you can imagine their reaction. So this teenager or young adult suddenly, out of the blue, so abruptly is exposed to a new environment they totally have no idea about. They know absolutely nothing about. They don’t know how they will adjust to the new culture shock without losing their morals and values that their parents taught them. People who’ve never gone out to the shop by themselves and suddenly you leave them an entire day or semester in a totally foreign environment full of peer pressure. Even when they are not taken to university, these young adults stay at home and are given the phones; bringing the entire world to their rooms. Again, the amusement, the shock, the surprise like ‘All this exists?! Where have I been all along?!

Don’t get me wrong. I know several geti kali families who lead their lives in a modest way and the societal pressure didn’t get to them but what happens to the many others? Again, my question, are we to protect our children or show them the real world but weapon them to face it?

I heard one very dedicated teacher say, “We really have a problem. Sometimes a parent comes to us and asks why her very young daughter came home with a boy’s book. I mean, boys are living in the same world with us. You can’t protect your girl all your life. You need to train her to take care of herself. This is how we know of girls who grew up within very noble and pious families and they are very disciplined themselves, but one year into university, they came back home pregnant.” And this is really happening. It is, and we need to address it as it is; plain and honest.

I write this because I really wish someone else had prepared me enough for university life. Not because I come from a geti kali family but because everyone needs that mental preparation. At an early age, my mother plainly told me that there is a lot of fitna out there and she would frequently tell me on what’s going on around and the real situation and would repeat it to me that she trusts me enough to find my way without being influenced. I wasn’t given freedom per se, I was given a healthy amount of freedom such that sometimes I heard no many times before getting a yes. Despite having some healthy amount of exposure, I still wasn’t psychologically prepared enough to face the challenges. Now imagine someone who has absolutely zero idea how the real world is out there. They have no idea that a boy could pursuit you for a whole year just for one single night just to dump you immediately. They have no idea that many people will encourage you to join them in their filthy activities just because they can’t stand your seemingly upright morals. No one really prepares them for the world out there. 

The truth is, eventually, one way or another, they will have to face that real world and what will they use to protect themselves when they don’t exactly know what they are dealing with?

Haven’t we seen people being raised in very good environments, very holy lands, yet still turn out lost? And haven’t we seen people growing up in very rotten societies yet still stand up firm on their principles?

You don’t raise your child in a palace all their childhood and once they become a young adult, you wake them one morning and say, “Son/Daughter…you need to go for war right now”. It is never going to be the same with the child who was raised in a palace yet still was informed about the continuous wars. This child is open-minded and is trained; ready for the war. They can never be the same.

No one is really safe from the whispers of shaitan. Not those in geti kali homes or those given absolute freedom. Don’t point fingers at others or other people’s children whilst you have no idea of how your own are dealing with the intensely influential phase of their lives. We are all fighting the same battles with our souls, we might as well share our notes and help each other in dealing with the problems we are facing. May Allah protect and guide us all. Ameen.