Voice of British Muslim Women

Samra Waseem, Hayes

As we entered Lockdown three in the UK, the uncertainty of how we cope with the Coronavirus pandemic became harder than ever. It’s fair to say that individuals who have never experienced mental health issues such as depression and a sense of hopelessness have felt it now. During our lifespan, we are put through many trials from Allah the Almighty. We get tested by facing hardships which result in severe loss, change and impairment. As I’ve gotten older I have had my family and friends say to me that “I think I am losing both myself and hope”.

Atypically, I observed myself reiterating this phrase lately. A part of me felt a sense of guilt, as I shouldn’t feel this way since I have Allah’s countless blessings, and the prayers of my beloved Khalifa, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad. As lockdown continued, I found myself trying all sorts of exercises/meditation to get rid of this bizarre feeling, but nothing worked – until one morning as I sat down in the early hours after offering pre-dawn Prayers, I felt a sense of inner hope which made me think about a verse from the Holy Qur’an: “Allah burdens not any soul beyond its capacity…” (Chapter 2: Verse 287). This verse made me realise that regardless of the situation, Allah the Almighty is choosing to test me with challenges, because He knows that I can get through them; it is important that I trust in the strength that Allah has given me, because after the storm comes a rainbow. This realisation came as a result of pouring my feelings out to Allah, and became even more prominent as I scrolled through guidance of our beloved Khalifa. “The mercy of God is infinite and boundless. Allah the Almighty never leaves man empty-handed and without reward or blessings, when man spreads his hands out to Him begging for something.” (Summary of Friday Sermon, February 24th 2017).

The truth of the matter is that we are not really losing hope; we never will. The reality is that we are travellers within this beautiful world and we are meant to find a purpose in our life, as we complete this journey back to Allah. Allah the Almighty has written our destiny before we were even born; all we have left to do is fulfil the commandments of Allah and make our relationship stronger with Him and the Khalifa of the time.

For those dealing with conscious and subconscious struggles, allow me to share a few ways on how we can potentially ‘rediscover ourselves’.

1- Spirituality: A Hadith by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) says “He who knows himself knows His Lord.” Everyone will have a different interpretation of this saying, but personally, I think that as Muslims we have to work towards improving our character every day. By improving ourselves we will be eliminating bad habits and fight our nafs (the self) which is the hardest Jihad (striving), a battle with the self. At the end of it all, we will gain countless blessings from Allah by knowing Him.

Furthermore, the one who knows his Lord also needs to develop in taqwa (righteousness)   which links with sabr (patience/steadfastness). As believers, we know the importance of prayer and patience and the Holy Qur’an reminds us repeatedly. We can take this lockdown as a blessing in disguise and use it to reflect upon the quality of our prayers. Have we only been praying to tick the obligation list? Or, have we been praying only because we need the latest iPhone? Or in fact, have we been praying at all?

2- Daily Routine: The majority of us are not able to travel, and being indoors has disrupted our pre-Covid routine. After coming out of two lockdowns, I managed to make good use of my daily planner, which allowed me to write down my tasks for the day. To help feel more organised, think of goals which are achievable within our day. Remember when planning, not to set unrealistic tasks which will leave us feeling overwhelmed.

We can still have our family time thanks to technology, and so, during these lockdowns, we can keep in touch with our loved ones via phone or video calls. Let’s ask ourselves, have we shown love to those we claim to care about? Perhaps now it’s time for us to show them; video-call, and just connect while we have the spare time.

In this time of uncertainty, I pray we can realise that this pandemic is a caveat from Allah, calling the believers to observe Prayer attentively to verily connect with Him.

May peace be with you.