Jihad of the Soul: Singlehood in Muslim America

Both prior and since founding Niyah Publishing in 2007, I've worked to raise funds for good projects happening around the world. Alhamdullilah, since I work full time elsewhere, we are able to use all proceeds from our publishing to benefit educational projects. Last year, through the sale of my book, Jihad of the Soul: Singlehood and the Search for Love in Muslim America and through donations gathered by Iman Khalid at the Riverside Academy in Dearborn Michigan, Niyah was able to donate $2400 towards the building of a long-term water well in Mile 91, Sierra Leone West Africa. Such a blessing!

This week I've been reflecting on our intentions for publishing the 2011 Beautifully Wrapped calendar. The Project is about celebrating the beauty of Muslim women and women who cover their hair. We are women who define our own standards of beauty and dare someone to say otherwise. We are women who are often misunderstood but admired from afar. We are women who create our own style and then perfect it.

In a world where beauty is often defined by the length of your skirt and the depth of your neckline, we are saying No Way! We will not play by your rules. We can beautiful, be feminine, be stylish, be flyy AND respected for who we are.

So we began this project with two simple goals: 1) to provide a voice to our beauty and 2) to raise funds for 10,000 Girls in Senegal. Alhamdullilah, we're getting there!

Thanks to all of those who have submitted entries so far. I am in awe of the way you have captured the depth of uniqueness throughout the community. Keep them coming!

For details see our Call for Photography!

A Work of Art from the Artists of all artists.

Call for Submission of Photography

2011 Beautifully Wrapped Calendar

Greetings!  NIYAH is pleased to announce our call for entries to the 2011 Beautifully Wrapped Photography Competition. Call is open to all photographers, amateur and professional worldwide.   

In an age where beauty for women is often equated to the size of your hips and the shortness of your skirt, the Beautifully Wrapped Project -  featuring portraits of women who cover their hair for religious of cultural reasons - effectively redefines the notion of beauty.

Due to popular demand, the Beautifully Wrapped at the Kalamazoo Public Library is full. But don't worry! We're in the process of scheduling a second program. Join our mailing list to receive the announcement.

Transform you do and you!

Peace,

Zarinah.

I've been thinking about "isms." The problem with addressing just one is that the root is never full eradicated. People exhange racism for homophobism (whatever your moral beliefs) or islamophobism or meateatersism (discrimination against people who eat meat, lol). Anyway the real problem is a LOVE DEFICIENCY. A lack of love... for another human being and the understanding that we are all made of the same thing.

From the Fetzer Institute (www.fetzer.org)

Take Action to Love & Forgive

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." — Maya Angelou

By more consciously practicing love and forgiveness, you may notice three things: one, it gets easier; two, it makes you feel good; and three, it's contagious. Why not spread some love and forgiveness around and see what happens?

It wasn't until I wrote a book that I realized how many others dream of writing their own books!  Some want to do it for money, some just have an idea they want to share and others are shooting for fame.  Whatever the reason, books are wonderful ways to begin a conversation with the world. My advice to those of you who want to write a book is to WRITE!   Get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper.  Even though your first 3 drafts will be total crap, you'll feel much better knowing that you've started the process.

Remember that being an author is like having your own business.  You are responsible for the success or failure of your product.  Books don't sell themselves, you must market and let the world know it's available. 

I'll be blogging the steps I find helpful for those of you who are intersted in writing your own books.

Special thank yous go to Jillian and the Canton Public Library for hosting the Art of Headwrapping workshop! Unfortunately, most of our pictures were lost from the event (camera left in movie theatre fiasco :( )  but here is the announcement reprinted from www.cantonpl.org:

From Jillian the Tween Librarian:

Writing a book is an extremely humbling process. You spend so much time researching, writing, editing, talking, pondering, erasing and rewriting that in the end, you finally decide that enough is enough! You must stop at some point and trust that you've done a good job. But reaching that level of comfort is extremely difficult, especially for a perfectionist like me! There is always one more comma that could be placed, or another section that should be added.

Writing and marketing Jihad of the Soul has been an exciting journey and I appreciate all of the positive feedback. The book has cracked open the community discussion can, ever so slightly. Don't get me wrong, I realize that one book cannot end all of the ailments for single Muslims (and by extension the community as a whole), but it can push us to think and openly discuss ways the Muslim community can begin to grow.

So please continue to send us your feedback, I LOVE to hear your thoughts!

Yesterday I left work to find my car covered in at least an inch of snow. Kalamazoo's first snow fall of the year had come with a vengeance! It was beautiful and I thought of how happy DJ, our Indonesian exchange student would be at seeing snow for the first time.  While I reveled in the beauty, I also thought about the symbolic nature of weather changes. You see, earlier in the day it had been raining and now with a slight drop of a few degrees, the rain had changed over to snow. We're taught to study nature so that we may know more about ourselves.

Could it be that our lives are the same? That with the change of just a few characteristics, our entire life can be effected in a multitude of ways?  We all have qualities of goodness, of love, and of patience, but sometimes there are just a few minor things that stop us from transforming ourselves into people of beauty and grace.  What are the minor things hindering you in your life?  How can you propel into a higher plane of existence?