Mother and daughter - A horse brought them to Islam
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Takbeer and cries of joy filled the Luton Mosque as a mother and daughter embraced Islam after Jumu’ah prayers.
It started with a horse
Mother and daughter love horses. The horse they loved and cared so much for became ill and died. So, they went to buy a new horse.
The seller warned them this horse was throwing people off. However, they went ahead and bought it.
This looked like a crazy decision, but it was the decision that brought something bigger into their lives.
The Muslim horse trainer
After buying the horse and bringing it back to the stables, they let it out in the field. In the evening, when they tried to bring it into the stables, they couldn’t catch it. Everyone around them couldn’t catch it.
This is where the wisdom and plan of Allah (swt) started to show.
They ended up calling a horse trainer who happens to be Muslim. He managed to catch the horse and set a program to solve some of its issues.
Every time this trainer visited, he would discuss something related to the horse and link it to some Islamic ideas like patience (sabr), how we are not guaranteed outcomes, confidence, and belief.
Not your typical teenager
As time passed, he met the daughter. He noticed something unique about her; she wasn’t your typical teenager who is into boys, drinking, and pop culture. She was actually far from all that.
She had good manners and was very thoughtful. She also felt out of place in the very confused liberal West.
Whilst her peers at school were having sexual relationships, changing their gender identity and even having abortions, she was really uncomfortable in that environment.
She begged her mother to be home-schooled.
Non-Muslims fasting Ramadhan
The horse training continued and so did the discussions.
When Ramadhan arrived, they asked all the typical questions non-Muslims ask. Is it not difficult? Why do you starve yourself?
The trainer replied “My actions are built upon two facts. If you can prove they are not facts, I’ll stop fasting, praying, and everything else my way of life requires.”
The two facts are that God exists and the Quran is the word of God.
They were surprised at how bold and confident he was regarding the belief in Islam.
Changes over two years. Family gave them dawah
As time progressed the trainer noticed they now abstained from alcohol and the mother stopped cooking meet which wasn’t halal.
Over the past two years they fasted both Ramadans. They trainer invited them to have iftar with his friends and they celebrated eid with his extended family.
Last Ramadhan, I was invited to meet them over iftar, so we could discuss, clarify questions and they could see that Muslims are all colours, races and backgrounds. Read the article I wrote about that meeting.
Mum – can I become Muslim?
Not long after, the daughter confessed that she wanted to become a Muslim but didn’t know how her mother would react.
The trainer asked her to discuss with her mother and be open about it. She talked with her mother and put forward strong arguments as to why Islam is correct.
Islam addresses all human problems
The mother then also began to think and see issues more clearly.
The horse trainer discussed various issues with the mother. Discussions about how the society at large has defined relationships between men and women in a sexual manner, how men are wrong in pushing some hyper masculinity and women are also wrong in pushing feminism.
How society doesn’t value the elderly and the relationships between most people simply revolves around benefit.
How wider society is all about me, myself and I but the Islamic society is all about caring and putting others first.
Slowly, mother too came round to the idea of Islam’s correctness and how good it is. Alhamdulillah.
No interaction with Muslims before this
Before the horse trainer, they had no interaction with Islam or Muslims.
It goes to show that we Muslims always need to be ambassadors of Islam, conveying it’s beauty and string proofs wherever we are.
Our objective is not driving Teslas, taking pictures on Jumeirah beach and indulging in the dunya with no regards to the beautiful Islam we have and our duty to convey it to those around us.
This story also shows Islam isn’t just delivered in a hall, Mosque or Islamic school. This journey started with a horse. Who would have thought so?
Finally, we have to learn the strong arguments Islam gives us. When asked about Ramadan, most people justify fasting as a way “to feel like the poor” or say it is good for medical reasons.
The trainer instead put forward the correct arguments; we fast and live as Muslims because we are convinced of the Islamic creed and that human’s should follow the guidance sent by the All-Knowing Creator (swt).
So many lessons from this story
That change can take time though we often look for change to occur instantly. This was a two-year journey for mother and daughter as well as the trainer – who could have given up on them.
The fact he involved his wider family and friends to engage with mother and daughter because you never know whose words, actions or character will help to open someone’s heart and mind. Alhamdulillah
We welcome our new sisters to the amazing and beautiful ummah. May Allah (swt) continue to bless them, make easy their way in Islam, grant them the best in this dunya and the akhirah. May they become strong worshippers who implement and convey this Deen.
May Allah (swt) enable us all to engage in dawah and be ambassadors of Islam wherever we are. Ameen.
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Love and salams,
Taji
🧔 What have I been up to?
I’ve been checking out ChatGPT, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool recently launched and talked about all over the internet.
ChatGPT is a long-form question-answering chatbot that is able to answer complex questions conversationally.
What are its possible uses? What are its limitations?
To see an example of how people are trying to use it, watch The CORRECT Way to Write YouTube Scripts with ChatGPT (6 RULES) by Alec Wilcock
📖 Ayah and Hadith
تَنزِيلًۭا مِّمَّنْ خَلَقَ ٱلْأَرْضَ وَٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ ٱلْعُلَى
˹It is˺ a revelation from the One Who created the earth and the high heavens
[Sura Taha 20:4]
Quote of the Week
“I advise you, my brother, to have a good opinion of all people, especially the scholars. And it is part of having a good opinion of someone to look for the most positive possible interpretation of his words, and if you cannot find [one], then blame your own inability to find it [rather than him]”
– Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali [Haqıqat al-qawlayn]
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