Energy
Cleanse your mind
Rain Purifies
It is pure and clean when it falls down the earth. It washes off all the dirt of everything it touches. It wipes clean the impurity of the objects around it. And by the time it hits the ground, it has become dirty. Then it flows back from leaves to rivers and seas cleansing itself and raising up in the sky again. To then come back down in full purity.
Outside Energies
But during all this time, outside energies, arguing or negativity, might already have put a burden on us in some way. It is tough to deal with people who don´t have the same values, whose most basic worldviews and attitudes are contrasting to yours.
Though I have to remember: never ´otherize´, never put yourself in a higher place, never think you are better than anyone around you. I have to remember: arrogance is ignorance. Being true to myself is what will help to understand the viewpoint of others, and although I never need to accept it, I need to respect their existence.
We never know, what others do in private.
After discussions, after setbacks, after having to defend and explain yourself over an over again. At some point, we need to cleanse ourselves again. Cleanse ourselves from the prejudice, from the pessimism, from the discrimination from the ignorance of others. The ignorance of our values or our viewpoints.
I have the tools
But how do I do that? Do I do that even? Do I take time to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to relief the burden I feel daily? The burden of being a Muslim woman in a world that does not respect my values, decisions or even... mere physical existence? Do I ask for relief the burden just as the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did?
While I am not saying we have the same burden as the Prophet (saw) did, I have to acknowledge that he has shown us, if we are burdened in some way (any, believe me, mental and emotional burden is secured for us as Muslim women in this environment), rather than ´victimizing´ ourselves and screaming "ignorance" and "Islamophobia", we can actually ask to be relieved of that pressure.
I can ask to cleanse my mind(set) again to go out with new energy, having the purest tools to set myself up and to stand up for our beliefs. I need to understand for myself: I have the tools.
Imagine how you feel reciting just for 5 minutes, after a day full of discussions, comments about your opinions and appearance. Imagine just 5minutes.
Allah's word purifies. It washes off all the dirt of everything it touches.
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Q: What do you do to cleanse your mind from outside energy? Is there anything you go back to that eases your mind?
Disclaimer: This is a merely personal view of an individual life. None of this is supposed to reflect or exemplify women, reverts, Muslims or even Islam. Self-identification is not to be seen in relation to a group but merely in relation to oneself. One might share this identity but must not publicly announce its speciality or an imagined community created by such. The sharing or not-sharing of identity (with ethnic, cultural, spiritual, gender-specific, nation or whatever other forms of identification) is neither good nor bad but remains personal and private to oneself. The author is voicing personal opinions and rejects any generalization or speaking-for-ization but rather aims to shed light on one of many diverse stories of one of many diverse individuals in one (or more) of many diverse contexts. Also, the author tends to create grammatically incorrect words to clarify perceived phenomena, opinions or feelings. This blog might include discriminating terms which are emotionally loaded by a long history of oppression and suffrage. Do not read this if you get offended by the cruelty of ignorance.