A Poem: In Between

‘In Between’

A Poem

I want to tell you a story ... of a girl lost in between

Living according to the Sunnah or some far-off American dream

Living up to her own expectations or letting shaitan devilishly demolish her scheme

In other words, she has a choice to make - "be normal" or stick to her deen.

Because everyone around her isn’t very accepting of what they have so far seen

You may think it to be easy

I mean she is always happy

And besides how hard could it be to pray,

It’s only five times a day

Then wrap a scarf around her head? It’s really just not that hard!

And only a few other things to complete her fard.

So you overlook the struggles she goes through

But in reality, you would probably cry if you knew.

I mean don't get me wrong

She loves who she is and her faith is very strong

The hope, love, and peace she puts into her song

And her beautiful sense of right and wrong -

But the problem is, she doesn’t know for how long she can still stay strong.

It’s a real struggle at times,

She puts on a 'simple scarf' and people automatically envision crimes

She prays five times a day and Alhamdulillah that brings her peace

But the rest of the time she’s struggling to keep herself in one piece

Because she’s stuck in between.

Trying to make the right choices that will keep her towards Allah's pleasure - firm on her din.

She does it only to please Allah, her creator

But it wouldn't hurt if you lent a comforting word, a dua, or maybe once in a while - simply think of her.

                                                             -Alexandria Potter

You Can’t Sweeten Pepper With A Sprinkle Of Sugar

When we want something, we generally try to do anything we can think of to get it. When I say that, I mean both in the sense of material things as well as “abstract” things - but namely, for the purpose of this article, I am talking about the “abstract” things - and even more specifically, I am referring to those such things, that we, as Muslims, are not supposed to have.
          Maybe you want to listen to that new Justin Beiber album that came out. Maybe you really want to go to the prom this year - I mean come on, it’s your last year in high school and not to mention the whole school is going. Maybe you are really attracted to some guy and you really wish you could go out with him - even as “just friends”. Or maybe you just don’t feel like wearing hijab today. I will stop there, because I hope that you understand what I’m trying to get at here.
           So when we have these desires - when we’re really wanting whatever it is that we are wanting... we tend to do what we can to try and get it. And one of the main ways we go about that is - Making excuses!!!

And that's exactly what I want to talk about in this post.

You know how many times I have been talking to a sister and she tells me how it is okay for her to be talking to brother so-and-so because he’s so religious and they only talk about religious stuff?
You know how many times we say there’s no problem with going to prom because we’re just going to be with friends - dancing and having fun but no guys or anything like that.
You know how many times we turn on some Justin Beiber or Chris Brown or whatever music people are listening to and say that it’s okay because we listen to Qur’an too?
You know how many times a sister has said that she doesn’t have to wear hijab because it doesn’t make her more religious or worse - that she won’t wear it because it makes her feel like a hypocrite because she doesn’t do everything else that she’s supposed to do?
---And many other similar stories---
WAY TOO OFTEN!!!

And these are real things. I didn’t make them up. I’ve really heard every single one of these before.
What I’m trying to say:

We need to wake up and smell a little bit of reality.
Yes temptation fills the air.
But we have to let our desire for Allah - our desire for paradise - overpower that.
We have to be strong.

I know that it’s hard sometimes. And I understand that it’s sometimes hard when you are trying to fit in and be cool and all of that - and still stick to the deen.
But you can’t make something that is haraam into something halal, just because it suites you.
These excuses aren’t fooling anyone - not even ourselves and especially not Allah.
We will still have to answer for these things on the day of judgement.  

So I want to leave you with 3 small things for us to think about - and hopefully implement them in our lives.

1st - Allah is all-knowing, all-wise. Everything He does is out of His wisdom. So although we may not see wisdom behind a command, there is definitely wisdom in it - and if we follow it, it will definitely pay off. And if we don’t follow it, we will definitely see its consequences.  

2nd - Nothing we do - whether it is something good or bad - it doesn't affect Allah. So His telling us to do this or not do that, it's not for His benefit, it is for our benefit. If we pray - it doesn’t benefit Allah - it benefits us. If we don’t pray - it doesn’t harm Allah - it harms us. If we smoke - it doesn’t harm Allah - it harms us. If we don’t wear hijab - it doesn’t harm Allah - it harms us.

3rd - Everything Allah tells us to do or not to do is to protect and preserve 5 inalienable, God given rights for our individual self as well as the whole of mankind and humanity. These 5 rights are - Religion, Life, Honor/Lineage, Intellect and Property.  So when we think about the things we have to do or the things that we can’t do - we should bare in mind that all of these things we have to and can't do are, at the roots, there to preserve these 5 God given rights of every human being. So when you are about to do something - think, will it damage/take away any of these rights from myself or from anyone else: if the answer is no, than it is generally okay to do. If the answer is yes, than it is generally not okay to do.
So remember:


You cannot sweeten pepper just by adding a sprinkle of sugar.

Can't We Just Have Fun???

Can’t We Just Have Fun???
You can’t do this. You have to do that. You shouldn’t do that. You should do that.
RULES! RULES! RULES!  
Sheesh!
Can’t we just have fun?

But a problem we all face - half the things that our peers consider fun - we can’t do.
So I guess we can’t have fun after all, right?

WRONG!

Thankfully!

Here are 10 awesome (and very general, so you can kind of tweak them to fit you) examples of  Halal Fun!
Halal!
Fun!

1.) Reading a book! - boring start, (for some of us) I know. But reading a book is halal and it can be a fun and awesome adventure. Or maybe you can learn something new.  And if you don’t like reading - I am not a huge fan of reading either (usually) - just skip this one and I’m sure you’ll find other options that suit you better.

2.) Writing! You can write stories, poetry, essays, a journal - you could write a novel if you want to. And it’s perfectly halal (as long as you keep it that way, of course!)

3.) Sports! You have to dress modestly - and don’t believe those who say you can’t do stuff with hijab and abaya or even niqab - I wear all three and I just love skateboarding!! You have to find enough girls that will get involved - or find something you can do yourself. But sports are an awesome option of halal fun.

4.) Henna party!!!! Or...any kind of party. Kick out all the guys. Invite over a gazillion sisters and just partay. Get some henna, a decent movie, some board games, some other games, turn on some nasheeds and have a ball!

5.) Watch a decent movie. If you are of the opinion that movies/TV is haraam, than I deeply respect that. But if you are comfortable with watching TV and movies - there is nothing wrong with watching a good movie every so often. I just watched a great movie in 3D - Life Of Pi - I recommend you to watch it if you are comfortable doing so.

6.) Go out someplace - Museums, Science Centers, Aquariums, Zoos, Parks, etc.... They’re halal unless you make them otherwise. And not to mention they are awesome. And also don’t forget to mention the places that I mentioned along with many other options are great ways to take a look at and contemplate many great and beautiful signs of Allah (swt)

7.) Go out someplace and eat - by yourself, with friends, whatever - just make sure you eat halal, keep the table-talk halal and ABSOLUTELY... no guys allowed.  HAHA

8.) Let the games begin!! (and may the odds be ever in your favor) - Board games, Board games, Video games, for the most part - whatever games you like.

9.) Art - Drawing, Singing, Sculpting, Painting, Writing,  Woodwork, Glass blowing, along with so many other options.

10.) Just hang out - family, friends, imaginary friend, whatever. Just get some good food and sit back and chill out. Be yourself. Don’t be haraam :)  

I want to end this by telling you this:

Sometimes we as Muslims (myself included) find ourselves feeling bored, lacking options of entertainment, and just feeling overwhelmed by the list of ‘guidelines’ that we have to be good people and good Muslims. But my teacher once told me that this thought comes through ignorance. We don’t know - so we tend to keep very narrow minds. Islam is meant to be easy. When I say that, I am not telling you that you can do whatever you want or that there aren’t any boundaries or anything even similar to that. I am saying however, two main things:

1.) Everything in worship is prohibited except that which is in a clear text (ie, Qur’an and/or Hadith). Everything in this world (including entertainment) is permissible except that which is clearly Haram. So we must educate ourselves on what is Haram and what is Halal.

2.) Please keep in mind that everything that is haraam has a halal alternative. You want to listen to music? We have nasheeds. You wanna date? Get married. ETC. ETC. ETC... Everything haram has a halal alternative.

With that, I say Salaam to all of you.
Anything good is purely from Allah. Any mistakes are from myself.

Welcome :)

Assalamu-Alakum,
May Peace Be Upon You,
And
Welcome
To all who find themselves on this page,

I wanted to take a minute and introduce myself to all of you, so here it goes:

My name is Alexandria Potter and it is a great pleasure to meet you... even though I guess I haven't actually met you yet.. its still a pleasure... I think... 

Believe it or not, coming up with an 'about me' was pretty hard. But I figured I ought to do it anyways. So after trashing about 5 really lame attempts, I decided to sit back and think - If I were looking at this blog and considering reading or following, what are some things I would be looking for...and this is what I came up with:

-Relativity ~ Someone I can relate to, Someone who can relate to me. And relative content.
-Open-ness-ness ~ An open and non-judgmental environment filled with open and non-judgmental ideas and people.
-Listening ~ Quite Frankly, in order to have someone listen to you, you have to be willing to listen to them.
-Caring ~ Whomever I may be talking to and whatever I might be talking about - I want them to care about me.
-Friendly
-Welcoming

So basically - that (and more) is what I hope to provide to you all.


As I said, my name is Alexandria (Potter). I am 17 years old. I like to do many different things - arts, sports, reading, writing, -you name it. I am not much of a gamer although I do play games once in a while. 
         Anywys aside from working on this blog, I am currently studying the Islamic Sciences (through Qibla: Academy for Islamic Sciences). I intend to begin pursuing a degree in psychology this year - maybe.. And I am working on writing a novel which I hope to publish by the end of the year. I teach Sunday school and volunteer at camps once in a while. I love helping people and seeing people happy.
      Last summer, I decided that I want to work with Muslim youth. I want to help our generation to rekindle their relationship with Allah and with Islam - and so this blog is basically my first step. I want to provide an outlet for Muslim youth to present problems and then become part of the solution. I want to provide you all a safe-and-sacred place (as said by Ustadh Usama Canon) where you can check out content that is relevant to you and if you need something more than what is made available that you can reach out and ask for what you do need. I want to help us become more aware of the relevancy of Islam in our lives and to be able to realize that the Islamic principles really are the solution to our problems. And as I said in the beginning, I really want to help our generation to rekindle our relationship with Allah (swt) and bring Islam back to being the driving force of our lives.
       This blog is like my first step in this journey of mine. And in order to do this:
                                - I will be keeping you up to your neck in articles - relevant, fun and engaging ones with catchy titles.
                                - I will be keeping my email line open so you all can feel free to reach out.
                                - I will be keeping a few social media lines open so we can connect even better. (links to be at the bottom, top or side of this page....eventually)
                                -And hopefully other things later on down the road.


Wa'salaamu-Alakum
May Peace Be Upon All Of You
And
Peace Out
To all as you finish this post.