Salam..
I'm a 22 yo Muslim girl from Pakistan. I have multiple hobbies and I can't do much about them because a lot of them are forbidden in Islam.
1)I have always been good at drawing. Islam forbids you to draw faces and I used to love drawing portraits. I get requests from people to draw them and when I say I wouldn't because it isn't allowed, I'm bombarded with salty remarks about how I'm not that good a Muslim anyway and do a lot of stuff I shouldn't do, so might as well draw them too...^o):facepalm:
4)I have brilliant expressions. I was always chosen to perform important roles in school plays by my teachers because I was so good. Due to my conservative family, I cannot act on large scale because that would mean facing huge masses which isn't allowed.
6)I also love music. I love to sing and listen to music. I don't have a good voice so I might not have been able to become a singer anyway so I wouldn't blame religious restrictions on that one but I listen to music and indulge in daydreaming to compensate for the stuff that I love but cannot do, all the whilst knowing this is wrong too but I'm just obsessed. I listen to music most of the time with this guilty feeling at the back of my head. :astag:
7)I LOVE DOGS
! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THEY TAKE UP 50% OF THE SPACE ON MY CELLPHONE.:wub: Cannot own one because they're considered impure. They have so much love to give and I have so much love to give to them but this is a dream that would never come true without costing me blessings and the angels.
I don't know what to do. I feel depressed because most of what I absolutely love and talents I am blessed with are impermissible to cash out on.
What can I do?
:anyone:
:wa:
My sister it is praiseworthy that you know it is wrong in your heart to do the things you have mentioned because unfortunately today many people people in our societies justify the wrong things in some way or another. They say "Why be so extreme" etc. What they do not realise is that one evil leads to another. But you can easily fine tune what you have listen to make it permissible and within the boundaries of Islam. If you give up an evil for the pleasure of Allah then you feel feel the sweetness of imaan in your heart.
It is shaythan and our nafs (inner desires) that says to us "Its ok you carry on doing that there is no harm in it". But shaythan knows that one step leads to another. If he can get us to make one step towards evil then the remaining steps are easier. That is why we should avoid each step that leads to any evil deed or act.
1. Just remember sister:
Drawing pictures of animate objects is impermissible and falls under the severe warning mentioned in the Hadith of Rasūlullāh (SallAllāhu ‘Alayhi Wasallam):
“The most severely punished of people in the presence of Allah are the picture-makers.” (Bukhārī and Muslim, Mishkāt al-Masābīh, 4495)
So why continue doing that which will neither give us any happiness, peace or blessings but burden us with sin and darkness in our lives. Therefore instead draw inanimate objects such as the sky, rivers, sunsets, lakes, the sea, beaches, coastline, mountains etc. So you do not have to stop drawing, just change what you are drawing!
2. My sister you only need to look at the celebrity world and realise they are the most unhappiest people but they are falsely projected on the media so that they are the envy of all. You can see for yourself in Pakistani drama's how the women have to act intimately with other men and get up close and personal with them. The acting world is known to be a very sleazy and you will know doubt be made to act intimately with other strange men and sell your soul and Deen in the process. So my sister use your talents in the right way so as to benefit your community and other sisters out there. Join a sisters circle, group, volunteer in the community and in charities and get involved in the work of dawah to other sisters. This is how you can use your expressive talents to help benefit others and be rewarded immensely in the process inshaAllah.
3. How can your heart ever be content with doing something that is harming you? This "guilty feeling" is clear indication that you are torturing your soul by listening to Music. Again you only have to look into the music world to realise what evil is prevalent in such an industry. Most Music artists along with actors sell their souls to shaythan who deceives them into thinking they will be "rich and famous" when in reality they have sold their deen and ruined themselves.
Music is strictly forbidden in Islam. Allah says in the Qur’an:
There are those amongst men who purchase vain speech without knowledge, to mislead from the Path of Allah and throw ridicule on (the Path). For them there is a humiliating chastisement. (Luqman;6)
Hasan al-Basri (Ra) stated that this verse was revealed in relation to singing and musical instruments.
The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:
"There will come people in my Ummah, who will make adultery, silk, alcohol, and musical instruments permissible, Allah will change them into monkeys and swine.” (Abu Dawood)
My sister our biggest aim as Muslims are to die with Imaan. Believe me sister there are Muslims out there who that on their death bed they were not able to say the Shahada but instead the music lyrics they loved were on their lips. Imagine being on our death bed and we are not able to say the shahahda but sing the music we loved? What a terrible death that would be.
4. My sister one can keep a dog in some circumstances but we must realise that there is always a wisdom behind every prohibition. Firstly dogs are inherently impure and secondly one will naturally get attached to a dog and spend much of ones time with a dog which means less time on the more important matters in life. Dogs do not live as long as humans therefore a person may lose several dogs in ones life and to lose a dog one was attached to may cause as much grief as losing a human relative. When we spend our time on the wrong things then we get an attachment to them in our minds. We day dream and "fantasize" and create scenario's in our minds. But my sister this is not reality. This is a dream world we have created for ourselves and there is no good in this. Once we start living our lives to please Allah then we will naturally incline towards that which pleases Allah.
Therefore my sister we need to look at the bigger picture and realise our time in this dunya is very short. The time we have and are wasting doing evil and the wrong things will be a source of huge regret for us on the day of Judgement when we finally realise that we wasted our entire lives following our desires when we should have invested into the Hereafter and spent our lives pleasing Allah.
So my sister as I stated earlier on it is about honing our talents, gifts, skills and attributes that Allah has given us all and using them to benefit ourselves and others for the pleasure of Allah. This is true success. We all have the ability to make such a positive impact on our families, friends, communities and even mankind. We all have the ability to leave a legacy behind that will impact people even after we are gone. Therefore use what you have been given in the right way in order to benefit mankind and please Allah. Learn to recite the Qur'an in a beautiful manner and learn the deeper meanings and implement it in your life. Connect with the Qur'an, learn it and teach it to other sisters. Learning and teaching the Qur’an are among the noblest and best of good deeds, because the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:
“The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.” (Bukhaari (5027)
Learn the deen. Become an Aalimah so you can teach the next generation of sisters about Islam. Become something that will benefit others. This is what will give you true happiness, contentment and peace in your heart and soul. There are so many poor in Pakistan, so there is much you and me can do in our communities to help the poor and be of benefit to mankind. Look at Eidi. Many think they can never achieve what he has. But why limit yourself? As Muslims we should never put limits on ourselves. Anything is possible as long as we have goals, ambitions and the desire to do the best we can in order to benefit others to please Allah. We should aim high and be ambitious and be the best we can be. So be the best you can be of good, not evil or wrong.
By doing good we will feel peace, blessings and happiness in our lives but by doing evil we will not feel peace, contentment or happiness and our hearts and souls will not be at peace. This feeling of guilt will remain within us until w are so used to doing evil that we will not even feel guilt anymore but numbness. Our enemy shaythan wants us to destroy ourselves and to do that which will lead us to harm. Therefore we must go towards that which will benefit us and others and most of all please Allah. In reality we are wasting and misusing our gifts, talents, skills and attributes by doing evil and wrong things. But by doing good for the benefit of others solely for the pleasure of Allah then we are using our gifts, talents, skills and attributes in the best way and manner possible.
May Allah enable us to use our talents, gifts, skills and attributes to be the best we can be in order to benefit others solely for the pleasure of Allah. Ameen
