:bism: Bismillah Ir-Rehman Ir-Raheem (In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)
:sl: (Peace be upon you)
First off, sister, a warm and humble welcome to the forum. :statisfie
Thank you for soliciting our advice and entrusting us with your post.
Let me say that I'm very glad that you love Islam. :coolious:
As you may recognize, this life, our life is a journey. And Islam, like life, is a journey; we're very fortunate indeed and blessed to be Muslims. Being Muslim is though a commitment if you will, a sort of pledge that you make between yourself and Allah that you're going to try your best to inculcate the values of Islam into your life. I'm not a perfect Muslim, and I know I never will be. But I'm willing to try, and that part about trying in itself is something that I know Allah counts in Islam as success for human beings because intentions are the arbiter of how Allah will judge any person on Judgment Day. I strongly recommend that you try too in intentions to the best of your abilities even if you're not succeeding or not ready yet to follow through in terms of actions.
Sister, our life goal should not be to try to meet some human or arbitrary standards of what we should or should not do but to keep trying to attain closeness to and pleasure of Allah
SubhanAllahwaTaala (Glorious and Exalted is God). Fashions change, seasons change, and things and people come and go from our lives. However, Allah is and always was with us and known to us and on whom we relied not only as souls in Heavens but also when we were placed in our mother's wombs and through the transition we made from childhood to adulthood. Life is tricky in that it doesn't always let us realize its transient nature, but we must be wiser and become wise to its nature. Allah is Eternal and doesn't die, but we as human beings do and will. And we should want to present ourselves in the best possible light to Allah on Judgment Day so that Allah can be proud of us and Prophet Muhammad :saws: can be proud of his ummah
(nation) for whom he :saws: wept and made untold sacrifices so that the light of Islam could shine like a bright moon in the night skies. This life is a gift, a beautiful gift, and we should not let it go to waste chasing after ephemeral pleasures, conveniences, and mirages.
Labels are generally unhelpful, unhelpful to you and me and anyone reading this thread. Therefore, I do not want to focus on what is a bad or good Muslim as we're all hopefully just Muslims that are trying to do better on this journey to Allah. So, therefore, I request that you don't judge yourself or have any type of negative or positive tapes playing in your mind about who you are as a Muslim, because we're all failing at some things and doing other things (hopefully) better or right. That said, we should always be striving, because only in trying to better ourselves as human beings, as Muslims, as souls who acknowledged Allah as our Lord in Heavens when we were not even born, will we find a ladder to hereafter success and inner peace that is beyond our greatest imagination. I do not wish to tell you about what to wear or what not to wear or mixed gender interactions, because you seem like a smart young woman that already has some idea that you're not currently observing the Islam you love to the best of your abilities. However, you're in good company always, because we're all flawed Muslims here, not angelic beings. Therefore, simply, dear sister, try your best to do the things you can do better in your life as a Muslim; and if there are some things for which you are not ready whether it is the dress code or something else, then try your best to at least have intentions to one day do better. And keep challenging yourself to do better and the best way to do that is to seek inspiration in the form of excellent company. I am a strong believer that the combination of trying, keeping higher intentions, and challenging ourselves through seeking or keeping excellent company will enable us to change when we're ready to make the changes that we know in our heart of hearts is probably the correct thing to do even if we're not 100% ready to walk that walk just yet. My advice is just to strive and be patient on this journey, because patience lightens the heart and striving gladdens the soul.
format_quote Originally Posted by
mysmallstory
Hi sisters (and brothers). When I first read the story "practicing Islam in short shorts," I never felt so...connected. That woman describes me. I am not a bad muslim, but I sometimes tend to wear, say, skinny jeans, and I don't cover my hair, and I talk to guys. But I love Islam. Thoughts?:ermm:
:wa: And peace be upon you