MIA...

Assalamu'alaikum all,

Sorry, I've been missing in action recently because somehow (Subhanallah) my schedule went from being sitting around doing nothing to actually having a pretty packed week.  I had an interesting week with lots of updates!

Everything around us is a learning experience.  My goal is to be able to find my way through the challenges of this life with the deen in my hand and most importantly...my heart.  One thing I read recently in this article (it's amazing...highly suggest you read it) really opened up my eyes.  Your heart needs to be purified constantly.  One of the ways in purifying your heart is by surrounding yourself with people that remind you of the akhira.  Now...where do you find those people?

I had one friend that I met in college.  We both came from very different backgrounds and in terms of being religious...she is definitely far more than I am.  Even though she is younger than me, I always looked up to her and was motivated by her purity and closeness to Islam.  She may not know it...but she is a major reason I've improved and I'm always searching for companions like her.  She is the type of person that gives you her honest opinion and reminds you of what you need to do to get to the akhirah.  Unlike some of my other friends in college, she always gave me advice that was sincere and would help me be successful in this life and the afterlife.

One of my worries when I moved to Dubai was whether I'd be able to find a friend like that here.  Subhanallah, this week I really saw how Allah (swt) made many of my fears go away and answered my du'a.  I didn't even realize how much I wanted it...until I got it this week.  Alhamdulillah.

First off...I found this organization, Al Huda Sisters, that was started by some Western Muslim women getting together to learn about Islam.  They have a wonderful teacher that gives lectures in English.  She teaches tajweed, Arabic, tafseer, hifdh, seerah, etc.  It's amazing!  They have classes every day...talk about dedication.  I missed registration for Arabic classes...so right now I'm attending the other courses twice a week.  I was there for one day and I was blown away with how much I left with.  Best of all, I made a friend.  One thing I love about classes such as these is that it gives you an opportunity to meet people with similar values and lifestyles such as your own.

I also took the time to meet with my old co-worker's sister.  She moved to Dubai from America a few years back.  I was a little worried that we may not hit it off very well because she's a few years older than me and she has three kids, Masha'Allah.  But of course...Allah (swt) knows better.  We actually got along very well.  Since she is a teacher too...we had a lot of things to talk about.  Our professions brought us together.  I also was very happy to see that her family values were similar to my own.  In fact...her overall spending habits and challenges were ones that I was facing, too.  We live far from one another, but I was happy to see both of us were willing to take the time out to see each other.

My husband came home this weekend.  He knew my first few weeks were tough and he told me he was worried about me.  Alhamdulillah, I was happily able to tell him that Insha'Allah things are getting better.  It took me some time to get used to it...but I'm starting to like it here.