Quick Meal: Chicken Shawerma

Assalamu'alaikum everyone,

My husband is traveling from Sunday to Wednseday during the week because of work.  I hate cooking for myself!  I only cook large meals when he is here and live off of snacks and sandwiches when he isn't here.  Here's a quick meal that you can leave to marinate in the kitchen and cook any time during the week.

Here is a video of the recipe courtesy of http://www.dedemed.com/ (I love her!).

Purifying the Soul through Hardships

Assalamu'alaikum,

So as you know, Subhanallah, I have been facing a serious test with my mother-in-law as described in detail in my previous post.  I just wanted to clarify that my blog is kind of a secret blog that none of my friends and family are aware of.  I needed a place to vent out my frustrations, express myself, and do it with the freedom of knowing that no one knows who I am.

Anyways, I am the type of person that easily forgives and tries my best to forget.  Usually, I only forget awful things said and done after the person has come to me and apologized or had shown regret for what they have done.  One thing I have a very difficult time forgetting is slander against me.  I am the type of person that realizes what I have done wrong and I ask for forgiveness right away (most of the time when I am aware/become aware of it).  Unfortunately, people aren't as forgiving as I would hope they would be...but I always tell myself that if I want people to forgive me for my faults...I need to forgive them for theirs. 

Well, I want to try to forgive everyone...whether they have come to me with an apology or have not shown any regret.  It is not my problem...it is on the person.  I do not want the evil of resentment, anger, and hatred to fester in my heart.  In order to help me do this, I have been trying to focus on Islam.  The lectures I attend are given by a well-educated Muslim woman, an engineer, a home-maker, a mother, a wife, and a daughter.  The reason I love her is because she talks about and mentions emotions.  She mentions situations, feelings, and thoughts that every woman can relate to.  Each woman in the room always comes out saying they feel as if she knows them better than they know themselves, Subhanallah.

I feel like Allah (swt) has been blessing me by bringing these opportunities to learn, to grow, and to find ease.  Well, just yesterday I was reading a post about this woman my friends kept mentioning.  They put up beautiful quotes she had said in lectures or articles.  I googled her and found a bunch of articles, but then I checked videos and Subhanallah, I found a video on hardships.  Wow, this was exactly what I needed.  She discusses how hardships can be either blessings or punishments.  The best part was her explanation that hardships in the form of blessings purify our souls.  When we go back to Allah (swt), we need to go back with pure hearts and souls.  Hardships in our lives are what purify us and bring us to the state we need to be in (Insha'Allah).  She also used a beautiful quote from Rumi...which I will not mention so you can watch it for yourself! 

What did I do wrong?

Assalamu'alaikum,

These past few weeks I have been on a spiritual high that has made me content with my life, overall, Alhamdulillah.  It has been easier to deal with the difficulties in my life and a kind of calm has replaced the worrying and negative thoughts, Alhamdulillah.  Of course, this new found patience was to be tested.

About four days ago, I attended a lecture on good manners and good character in Islam.  It was an inspiring and humbling experience.  For two hours, I was writing furiously to catch every word in order to capture the beauty of the stories and the lessons.  Afterwards, I sat for hours typing up my notes.  I searched for each hadith that was mentioned and I found each ayah with the translation.  Alhamdullilah, it was a task I truly enjoyed because I was able to take out time to appreciate the ahadith and ayaat on this topic.  I wrote back home to all of my friends and family about the organization that gives these amazing lectures and how it has helped me settle into my new life here.  I can never put into words what these classes have truly done for me.  I thought sending my friends and family these notes would be a great way to show them what I get to experience on a daily basis.  I thought it would be a wonderful reminder and a gift of knowledge.

I sent it to all of my friends and family.  I usually send out forwards in BCC, in order to make sure I don't share people's e-mail addresses with others.  Alhamdulillah, while my husband and I were out to dinner he received an e-mail from his mother.  It was in response to my e-mail and was sent to the both of us and read, "Make sure you read it properly yourselves!!!!"  That was all she wrote.  Since we have moved here about five months ago, she has not responded to one of our e-mails, she has not picked up any of our calls, nor has she ever tried to return the calls.  Alhamdulillah.  Through these classes, I was able to resolve many issues and the pain that I felt about our strained relationship with her.

Well, my husband gave me an angry glare making me feel as if I had done something to make matters worse between them.  Alhamdulillah, he came to his senses and realized his mother misunderstood.  She thought I sent the e-mail to her alone...trying to send an indirect message.  Subhanallah.  Such a simple action meant to do good can be twisted in such a way.  I was sorry that she felt the way she did, but I also was shocked that she would think I was that kind of person.  I have never done anything to make her think that I could be so disrespectful or rude.  My husband saw how upset I was and he asked me to stay out of it.  He e-mailed her a short response letting her know I had sent it to everyone and it was a misunderstanding.  The next day, I wrote an e-mail out to all of the recipients of the original email, including his mother.  I mentioned that I wanted to add where the notes came from, my intentions for sharing them, and why I BCC'd it.  It was a general note that I thought would help her see that I sent it out to a bunch of people with the intention of spreading knowledge and as a reminder for us all.

Last night, my husband having just gotten off his flight to his next destination for work....received another e-mail.  I guess this one was more aggressive and as he said "nasty"...but of course...he would not share it with me.  Surprisingly, she did not include me on this one.  I figured he didn't want to make me more upset and emotional by seeing the flowery things his mother must have written about me.  All in all, he just told me that she does not believe I sent it to everyone else and he would like me to take a screen shot of my original e-mail to prove my innocence to her.  I found it so incredibly childish and disrespectful. 

First, she accuses me of sending indirect messages as if I'm an evil human being!  Does she not think that I fear Allah (swt)?  Does she really think I could be such an awful person...that I would use the lessons from Islam and the words of Allah (swt) in such a way?  And now...she is accusing me of being a liar!  It upset me that I had to go through such lengths to prove myself. 

Nonetheless, I told myself to be patient, I took the screen shot, and sent it to him for it to be sent to his mother.  I told him that I would always be kind and gracious to his mother, despite the way she is treating me.  However, Allah (swt) knows best my intentions and after this I am done with this conversation.  What I did...I did for Allah (swt) and for the reward associated with spreading His (swt) knowledge.  I do not have to prove myself to anyone but Allah (swt).  I will not subject myself to more disrespect and allow her to make me feel like I have done something wrong.  These are her own issues and her own negative thoughts she will have to deal with.  I have given her the proof and there is no more that I can do.  And with that...I went to bed. 

I was initially so upset with what happened, but Alhamdulillah I have come to realize that she has burned many bridges with others in the past.  It is not me...it is her.  Do you guys think I can do anything else to ease the situation?