Hiatus

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Peace be with you السلام عليك

I'm taking a break from fashion blogging for now. A few things have happened to me in the last month and I'm figuring myself out as well as working on a Ramadan program for Ramadan 2012. inshaAllah.

JazakAllah khayran for following this blog, I hope to get my self in order soon.


wa salaam :)

Inspiration, Maybe this way?

As Salaamu Aalaykum!
This is an old image from StyleCovered and I don't like this look specifically but I do love the sketching/hijabifying style. It will take a LONG time to get done but I do like the end results. 

Original Source: http://www.stylecovered.com/2009/12/01/hijab-forum-spotlight-aifa/

What do you think? Do you like to see the actual image and take inspiration or do you like the sketch?

Sometimes I just wanna...

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Peace be with you السلام عليك

Had rough couple of days and I wanted to pull away from the online community as it had become too much for me. The constant criticism, bickering and nasty messages in my inbox, private and public accusations of being a hypocrite finally got to me. I was furious, so furious in fact that I barely slept last night as the anger just twirled in my head. The anger carried over to today and it was fueled by more anger as I was upset that I had engaged internet warriors. Its a waste of time. Its ALWAYS a waste of time to engage them. Now its almost 3AM on day two and its still making my blood boil (although it is getting better).

It wasn't until I had such a strong desire to just cut off all the Muslims online and stick to those who I know in person (they are sweet, kind and such great examples of Islamic adab) that I realize this is just another one of shaytan's many tricks. He separates you from the jamaat so that its easier to take you down.  InshaAllah he never succeeds. I didn't become Muslim because of Muslims online or off (ALHAMDULILLAH I DIDN'T MEET ANY BEFORE TAKING SHAHADA). I did it because I believe in LA ILAHA ILA ALLAH. I am strictly monotheistic and these people will not help the shayateen in their attempts to destroy my iman. (inshaAllah).

A few years ago 3 blogger friends left Islam and at first I felt betrayed, hurt, confused, and just couldn't understand how they just up and left one after the other. I made du'a for them but I kept my distance for my own sake. I remember the negativity they used to receive (email, fb and youtube inboxes full of acrimonious messages) and that's part of the downside of being visible online, the shayateen have soooooo many ANONYMOUS outlets to attack a person. They are cunning as they hide behind religious veil/undertones so if the person gets upset they get mad at the religious aspect totally distracted from the shayateen underneath.

Enjoining the good and forbidding the evil go hand in hand but at the end of the day there are flawed people (works in progress) behind these machines. Always make du'a for them.

Now that I've been online for a few years and I've received my fair share of nastiness being passed off as dawah and naseeha that I'm convinced that while those 3 are ultimately responsible for leaving Islam for whatever the case or reason (may they be guided back to the haqq ameen), there are a few hundred others who share in that responsibility too and probably don't even know it.

May this blog and fb page bring me and all those who land on it benefit in this dunya and akhira. May it be a source of good deeds for me. AMEEN.

Wa salaam,


UPDATED LINK: http://hijablife.blogspot.com/p/about-hl.html

ps, A side from this episode the majority of my online activities with Muslims have been positive and that's partially because I don't go to forums to debate on fiqh issues I have no knowledge of. I love my blogs, my readers and all the friends I've made via these venues. I can't let a few people ruin it for me.  They have no power.

pps, Just because I'm online doesn't mean I'm not entitled to civility and respect. I've also received many GOOD/positve dawah and naseeha from sisters like in this post http://hijablife.blogspot.com/2012/02/hijab-fashion-blogger-pledge.html

My resolution on halal fashion

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Peace be with you السلام عليك

I'm treating Hijab Life facebook page like I do my blog, its meant for women only and as such will be treating the awrah accordingly.

What does that mean?
The awrah of a woman amongst other women is the same as the awrah of men (from the navel to the knees). There is a difference of opinion in this but that's how I will be handling fashion from now on. The majority of my readers are women (95-98%) so this is a warning for brothers.

Still thinking about it but for now this is how I will tackle the halal fashion bit.

Maxi Picks of the Week for February 19

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Peace be with you السلام عليك

Picking Maxis on this fine Sunday morning was awesome and after this I'm heading to do some kettle bell training.

Wa Salaam!
ps, Which one is your favorite?

Hijab Fashion Blogger Pledge

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Peace be with you السلام عليك

I love fashion its always been one of my interests even if it rarely translated to my offline world. Growing up I disassociated myself from clothes because it was never a possibility for me. My mom was really abusive and I would get beaten if I asked for anything, by making myself not want anything it saved me pain. Once I moved away to college I made just enough to cover my expenses like food and shelter but nothing for clothes. I did the best I could with what I had, it helped that I was in REALLY good shape so whatever I did have looked good on me.

After I became Muslim a lot of things changed for the better for me and the focus returned to clothes as I now needed more modest attire. I was really lucky that the sisters around me weren't judgmental and instead helped me on this trip by providing more modest clothes and hijab.  Later I got married and I finally had internet at home (yay! fyi this was at the end of '06) and I started browsing fashion magazines. 

Now halal and haraam are very important to me as I go out of my way to make sure I stay away from the doubtful. When it came to this blog I swore I would stay in the halal zone but as it turns out that's VERY hard to do and after sometime I've noticed I am not as careful as I used to be and posted many pictures both on this blog and on my fb page that weren't a good choice. Alhamdulillah a sister privately emailed me and informed me of it and I want to recommit myself to halal fashion. 

WHY?

For starters if an image is not halal by default it means that the aura is exposed which means that its something I have no right to look at = sin. See where am going with this? NOW, lets say I post that image for the world to see and for google and other search engines to index in their massive servers, I've helped propagate that img.  I get a few thousand hits on this blog per month and that means A LOT of people are now looking at that img and they themselves are generating sin (maybe not the first time as the first glance is forgiven but not the subsequent glances ::THIS ALSO APPLIES TO WOMEN::). Because I'm sharing that picture I am also getting some sins for facilitating the behavior.

I love fashion but I love my faith much, much, much more and its not even a competition or even at the same level of love.  So since I don't want to give up this blog I'm going to make it conform to my first love, ISLAM.  There are a few bloggers who refuse to post items that are not fair trade/organic (their personal belief) and others who wont cover designers who use animal leather or fur in their shows as it goes against their personal beliefs. Well, this is MY belief, fashion should be halal.

Know what I mean? 

I'm not sure how I'm going to tackle this one as I don't like the way Saudi does it but its going to take a lot of work from me. :(

p.s., I want to apologize for falling off the wagon, May Allah swt forgive me for transgressing against myself and others and may this blog bring me benefit in this dunya and akhira. AMEEN.

p.p.s. I created these badges to keep me reminded. I am choosing D, but which one do you prefer?

A	B
C	D

Bloomers...not for your head

Bismillah,

Here I was browsing online store and BAM! found this. What?! Anyone else see lacy bloomers? or am I the only one?

Lawyer Hijabi en ROJO

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Peace be with you السلام عليك

What would a lawyer hijabi wear to court? ^^ THIS! Only problem would be if she needed to take off her jacket for something but on the other hand wudhu would be a breeze. :) Although heels *look* they can be killers so flats with good support would be better but they still need to look professional. I couldn't decide on the hijab for this look so I ended up keeping both of them. Which one looks more professional?

ps. I heard that some judges don't like pantsuits but WHAT say do they have in that? Is it hearsay? 

The Office Hijabi :)

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Peace be with you السلام عليك

I LOVE THESE PANTS! btw Three Button Chambray Trouser above is only $15! I was getting requests for sisters who work in office.  The peach was just to brighten it up but knowing me I wouldn't have the guts to go with such bright accessories.  What do you think?

Maxi Picks of the Week for February 12 (DARLING!)

In the name of Allah, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Peace be with you السلام عليك

I love window shopping for maxis and this fine Sunday morning I've taken the higher end crowd. I usually focus on maxis less than $50 but I wanted to drool over the bigger ticket items as they can be used for inspiration. later in the week. In the end I created this blog to indulge in my fashion interests and although my closet may be ALL black and navy blue with a hint of earth tones, my sets are my empty canvases to paint as I wish.  :)

Wa Salaam!
ps, Which one is your favorite?