Editorial

An-nisa, Al-Hikmah Centre, 28 Track Road, Batley, WF17 7AA e: an-nisa@imws.org.uk t: 01924 500 565

voice of

Assalaam alaykum, and welcome to the Janu-ary issue of An-Nisa. The weather is really cold but disappointedly we’ve not had any snow. I’ve been anxiously waiting. But a lack of snow does mean I’ve been able to hit the sales without having to worry about getting my car out of the drive. Hope you all managed to get some good bargains – my best bargain was a pair of gor-geous brown boots for just £9!

Now on to this month’s issue, once again we’ve packed the issue with articles hopefully of interest to you. This month we’ve received some very harsh, unwarranted criticism so we’ve decided to dedicate a big bulk of the magazine to rebutting this. But here at An-Nisa we’ve not wasted any time on wallowing as we do believe until you get criticised you’re doing it all wrong.

But on a happier note we’ve also got recipe for pancakes – a recipe you shouldn’t wait until February to try. And finally we’ve included some excerpts from some of the other niqaab entries we had. Last month choosing the winner was a very difficult one so we decided to include excerpts from some of the other entries.

As always we hope you enjoy this month’s is-

sue and keep warm in the freezing cold weath-er. If you are interested in getting involved with An-Nisa or even organising events for women at Al-Hikmah Centre do get in touch with us by email or phone – we’re open to all ideas and all articles – and just to reassure you – you do have the choice to remain completely anonymous.

Take care and enjoy the sales.

Editorial Team

To contribute to An-Nisa drop us an email at:

an-nisa@imws.org.uk

An-Nisa Editorial team reacts to abusive language

This month has been quite test-ing. When we were asked to write this supplementary magazine for women we agreed wholeheartedly. We saw it as nothing but a positive step for women in our community. A chance to write about things that would be of interest to women and a chance for women to write about things that are of interest to them.

However, this month we learnt of a South African publications opin-ion on the magazine. Now I take no offence at this per se, although it would’ve been better had the indi-vidual approached us first and dis-cussed it with us. However, we did take great offence at the language used in his response and we would like to acknowledge that somebody from the community has written to a moulana and take this opportunity to put our side of the story forward; but before we do we would like to make it clear that at An-Nisa we are not opposed to criticism. We be-lieve that if we are doing something wrong talk to us, explain our mis-takes and help us correct our fault.

Back to this letter in South Africa – the letter to the moulana mentioned the articles about the Muslim wom-an going into space and the woman studying away from home; however, it was because these were the two articles in that month’s issue and could’ve been any article that we have published. Both these articles were written with the best of inten-

tions. We have always believed that if a person submits an article and as long as it’s not libellous or factually incorrect we will do our utmost best to publish these articles. There was nothing in either of these articles or any others that have been published that have encouraged women to forget their Islamic or their cultural roots. The articles were written just to show Muslim women what other Muslim women have achieved, and to maybe empower them to follow their dream; and to be honest the critique should spend their time worrying about other problems af-fecting the Ummah as I am almost certain there is probably no Muslim woman in Batley or Dewsbury who could actually afford to go into space.

As we said earlier someone criticis-ing is not offensive to us, however, the Moulana’s response was and it did cause a lot of outrage amongst the editorial team, both at An-Nisa and Paigaam, but also amongst supporters of both the magazines. The language used was foul – the moulana should be aware that every woman within Islam is precious and she is to be treated as such; and therefore the moulana should’ve refrained from using such foul lan-guage – but as they say it is only the inarticulate that need to resort

to the use of swear words so we won’t say anymore on that.

...continued on page 3

January 20142

There are many people who believe that we shouldn’t openly discuss issues such as the niqaab ban – however, without discuss-ing it and without letting the world know our opinions how can we let them know the importance of niqaab to many Muslim women? But even putting Muslim women aside the banning of the niqaab is about rights, today they discuss taking away the right for Muslim women to wear the niqaab and tomorrow the discussion is completely different – maybe it’ll be about taking away the right of an Indian girl to wear shalwar kameez. And for this reason it is important not to brush these issues under the carpet and openly discuss them.

So in this manner a couple of months ago we had a competition asking women to write in with their views and experiences of the niqaab. Last month we published the winning article. However, this decision was a very difficult one. All of the entries were fantastic. Many of them were from the heart, and although not a niqaab wearer we were able to empathise and for this reason we decided to publish excerpts from some of our favourite articles. If any of you would like to add to this discussion please do send us your views and we will do our best to have them published.

The Voice behind the veilMany people may wonder or ask why a Muslim woman, especial in the

West CHOOSES to cover her face. Well the answer to that is simple; Love for her religion, the desire to be modest and the fact that she wants people to judge her by what’s on the inside and her character rather than her appearance. In today’s society the niqaab is not seen this way, rather it is linked with being anti-social, symbol of oppression and male domination. It baffles me and will continue to baffle me at the level of hatred and fear that niqaab critiques can have over a piece of cloth covering a woman’s face. I guess the answer to that is “people are scared of what they do not under-stand”, and there is nothing more misunderstood and more misinterpreted than the beautiful religion of Islam.

My own experience of wearing a niqaab is that I felt a sense of freedom and as cliché as that sounds it’s the truth. There is something exhilarating, peaceful, a kind of ethereal joy in wearing the niqaab.

The woman with no nameA veiled 20-something year old longs to take that first step into town,

with no heads turning and no comments from the girls in mini-skirts gath-ered on the street corner. Fuelled with the easiest source of knowledge

available to them; the media – I cannot fault them when they think men and our Creator oppress her. Yet when walking down the street she’s actually no different from them. Scolded for either wearing too much, or for wearing too little.

As we grab our weekly dose of garble in the form of a newspa-per, we see ‘covered girls’ have replaced ‘cover girls’ and reached national headlines.

We live in a society where there is no compromise when it comes to “creating a barrier” i.e. wearing the veil, in the world of education, politics and expert health care, so it really is just a matter of time until a ‘burqa ban’ – to some extent – will be set in stone. And that 20-something year old will just be the woman with no name stripped of her doctrinal identity, but with a religion that bestows her her rights.

Nikaab for thoughtA nikaab shows that you can control your own mind. It shows

you don’t have to follow these celebrities or people who are in ‘power’

Of course everyone has a negative experience whilst wearing a nikaab – whether it’s a torment or a taunt, racism or discrimina-tion. However, never feel that it is pointless to wear a nikaab.

My dear sister, think. Think about the diamond – where would you find it? Outside on a street? No of course not! Allah hides such a precious jewel in a cave. A cave which is hidden, concealed, kept hidden. After all something so precious should be kept hidden.

Now the next bit we are going to say does refer to the letter but it also makes reference to a certain ruling in Islam – and at this point we want to make it clear that none of us are scholars and what we write here is our understanding, we may have got it wrong and if this case please do correct us, but at this point in time we feel we do need to address this in order to support this magazine, and to keep in line with the ethos of the magazine.

The moulana justifies his reasoning for women not being able to write a magazine by stating that women are not allowed to go to the masjid to pray fard namaz. Now we know this is a controversial topic. We know that scholars and readers will disa-gree on this point. All of us at An-Nisa are very firm believers in that the best place for a woman to pray is in the darkest corner of her home, however, this point cannot be noted without also noting that the Prophet (SAW) never forbade women from going to the masjid, and neither is this the case anywhere in the Qur’aan. We understand the reasons behind women not going to the masjid and we agree with it fully, however, we refuse to accept that this is justification for a woman not allowed to have a voice in her community or fulfil her aspirations within Islam. May I remind the Moulana that Hazrat Nusaybah (RA) fought on the battlefield alongside Rasul (SAW) – he didn’t ask her to go back home to her kitchen; in fact he asked a retreating Sahaba to give his shield to her.

As we’re now running out of space we’re go-ing to end this here. But we would like to make a couple more points – firstly Moulana it is haraam to call even a khuffar a khuffar – so how dare you call us khuffar without even knowing any of us? And finally to whoever it was that feels this magazine is unIslamic just approach us for a conversation about your reasoning and your thoughts on how we can become a better magazine – don’t worry it’ll be a civil conversation. You know what we’ll even pro-vide complimentary coffee and biscuits.

January 2014 �

Food for thought byMashuda Shaikh...continued from front page

If an elderly lady calls out to you in the street what do you do? Ask her what she wants, smile, or walk away? I’d like to think we would ask her predicament or at least say salaam. However what I witnessed was not so.

I was walking to the post office on Mount Pleasant and noticed an elderly lady calling out to passersby, waving a piece of paper. All I could hear was her saying can you come here.

Now I appreciate that we hear of cases where people are duped into helping and the person turns out to be a mugger or murderer, however, this was an elderly Muslim lady crouched over with a walking aid, so not a major risk. Three Muslim sisters walked past clearly hearing the lady as they looked straight at her and then walked away.

After seeing this debacle I crossed over the road and asked her what the matter was. All she wanted was someone to make a phone call to the council because she had no hot water and had not heard the engineer knock. It took five minutes of my time, not much considering the relief on the lady’s face. Can you imagine in this weather not having hot water?

The more I thought about it the more enraged I became. Not that this lady had no one to make this call, or she was living alone, but that these sisters just walked away. Do we not realise this is someone’s mother, sister, aunt? How would we feel if our mother was in the position?

The reason she lives on Mount Pleasant is because she is in the heart of the Muslim community who will help her in her hour of need. But we walk past; wrapped up in our own lives that we can’t spare five minutes of our time for a person in need.

As a community we love to donate to charity because we are helping those less better off or in distress, but what about on a daily basis when someone in our own community is in need.

Even sat here in front of my open fire it brings tears to my eyes to think we have become so cold hearted that when a mother calls for help we walk away. She wasn’t my mummy but she was someone’s mummy, I pray to the Almighty that she is safe and warm this winter and that we all have an Imaan strong enough that we help those in need.

Spare a thought for those who live alone this winter, all we need to do is ask if they need help or just a friendly hello and a beaming smile.

This page contains Qur’an/ Hadith, please dispose of it with care

January 20144

PancakesMethod:First of all sift the flour and salt into a

large mixing bowl with the sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs – any sort of whisk or even a fork will do – incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge the bowl as you do so.

Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don’t worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the butter in the pan. Spoon 2 table-spoons of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl and use it when needed to lubricate the pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round.

Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium, and to start

with do a test pancake to see if you’re using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tablespoons about right for a 7 inch (18cm) pan and 3 tablespoon for an 8 inch (20cm) pan. It’s also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook, you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it’s tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or a palette knife – the other side will need a few seconds only- then simply slide it out of the pan on to a plate.

Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitter over simmering water to keep them warm while you make the rest.

To serve, sprinkle each pancake with freshly squeezed lemon juice and caster sugar, fold in half, then in half again to form triangles, or simply roll them up. Serve sprinkled with a little more sugar and lemon juice and extra sections of lemon.

This recipe is a Delia Smith recipe and works perfectly every time. My mum likes lemon and sugar but the rest of us are fans of Canadian maple syrup. Don’t wait until Pancake Day to try this recipe.

»ÉÉ»ÉÖ-´É¾Ö{ÉÉà ¡Éà©É (+àH ±ÉPÉÖ HoÉÉ) -+ÉÊ¥ÉqÉ¥Éà{É ùÉW~ÉÖùÉ

mÉiÉàH ´ÉºÉÇ A~Éù ùà¶É©ÉÉ NÉÖWùÉlÉoÉÒ ´É¾Ö ¥É{ÉÒ{Éà@N±Éà{e +É´ÉÒ. ¥Éà §ÉÉ>+Éà{ÉÒ {ÉÉ{ÉÒ ¥É¾à{É, ±ÉÉeoÉÒ AUùà±ÉÒ+{Éà LÉÉ{ÉqÉ{É lÉoÉÉ »ÉÖLÉÒ PÉù{ÉÒ qÒHùÒ, UlÉÉÅ ùÉàyÉù¾É©É Wà´ÉÉNÉÉ©É©ÉÉÅ lÉà ¥ÉyÉÉ »ÉÉoÉà LÉÚ¥ÉW ©É¾É॥ÉlÉoÉÒ ù¾àlÉÒ oÉ> NÉ>. XàHà »ÉÉ»Éùà{ÉÖÅ HÖ÷ÖÅ¥É {ÉÉ{ÉÖ, ~ÉÊlÉ ùÒ]´ÉÉ{É, »ÉÉ»ÉÖ-»É»ÉùÉ +{Éà U +àH ©É¾Ò{ÉÉ ~Éù oÉ«Éà±ÉÉà {ÉÉ{ÉÉà ùà¾É{É.¥ÉÅ{Éà »ÉÉ»ÉÖ ´É¾Ö ©ÉÉ qÒHùÒ{ÉÒ Wà©É W ù¾à. ùà¶É©ÉÉ{ÉÒ »ÉÉ»ÉÖ«ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{É{Éà ±ÉÉNÉà Hà lÉà©É{Éà qÒHùÒ {ÉoÉÒ lÉÉà ùà¶É©ÉÉ °~Éà qÒHùҩɳÒ. »É´ÉÉùà ùÒ]´ÉÉ{É +{Éà lÉà{ÉÉ ~É~~ÉÉ ¥É}Éà HÉ©É yÉÅyÉà WlÉÉ ù¾à~ÉUÒ »ÉÉ»ÉÖ ´É¾Ö ¾³Ò©É³Ò{Éà ùà¾É{É{Éà ùÉLÉ´ÉÉ{ÉÖÅ lÉoÉÉ PÉù{ÉÖÅHÉ©É-ù»ÉÉà> ´ÉNÉàùà Hùà. ùà¾É{É »ÉÚlÉà±ÉÉà ¾Éà«É l«ÉÉùà «ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{É~ÉiÉ ùà¶É©ÉÉ{Éà ùÉÅyÉ´ÉÉ©ÉÉÅ ©Éqq Hùà. HÉ©ÉHÉW©ÉÉÅoÉÒ ~Éù´ÉÉùÒ{Éà¥É}Éà ©É{É~É»ÉÅq »ÉÒÊù«É±É ~ÉiÉ »ÉÉoÉà Xà́ ÉÉ ¥Éà»Éà. ¶ÉÉà~ÉÓNÉ ~ÉiÉ»ÉÉoÉà W Hùà. +àH »É´ÉÉùà ùà¶É©ÉÉ{ÉÉ »É»ÉùÉ +¶Éù£§ÉÉ> +{Éà ùÒ]´ÉÉ{É Xà¥É©ÉÉ÷à {ÉÒH³Ò NÉ«ÉÉ. ùà¶É©ÉÉ ù»ÉÉàeÉ©ÉÉÅ {ÉÉ»lÉÉ ~ÉUÒ{ÉÖÅ {ÉÉ{ÉÖ ©ÉÉà÷ÖÅHÉ©É HùlÉÒ ¾lÉÒ. l«ÉÉÅ £Éà{É{ÉÒ PÉÅ÷eÒ ´ÉÉNÉÒ «ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{É ~ÉÉ»Éàùà¾É{É ¾lÉÉà +à÷±Éà ùà¶É©ÉÉ+à £Éà{É ±ÉÒyÉÉà. »ÉÉ©Éà lÉà{ÉÉ ©ÉÉ©ÉɻɻÉùÉ{ÉÉà ¥ÉÉà±÷{ÉoÉÒ +´ÉÉW »ÉŧɳɫÉÉà. »É±ÉÉ©É qÖ́ ÉÉ HùÒ ~ÉUÒ£Éà{É «ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{É{Éà +É~«ÉÉà. “ Hà©É §ÉÉ> +ÉWà PÉiÉÉÅ Êq´É»Éà¥Éà{É{ÉÒ «ÉÉq +É´ÉÒ? «ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{Éà ~ÉÚUëÉÖÅ ” ¾É ¥Éà{É >q ~ÉUÒWÖ{Éàq{ÉÖÅ +à ±Éà´É±É{ÉÖÅ ùÒ]±÷, +àe©ÉÒ¶É{É ´ÉNÉàùà{ÉÒ yÉ©ÉɱɩÉÉÅ~ÉeÒ NÉ«ÉÉà ¾lÉÉà. +±±Éɾ{ÉÉà ¶ÉÖJ lÉà{Éà HÉà´Éà{÷ÄÒ{ÉÒ eà{÷±É

HÉà±ÉàW©ÉÉÅ +àe©ÉÒ¶É{É ©É³Ò NÉ«ÉÖÅ. “+É lÉÉà ¥É¾ÖÅ LÉÖ¶ÉÒ{ÉÒ ´ÉÉlÉUà. ©ÉÖ¥ÉÉùH lÉ©É{Éà »ÉÉä{Éà” «ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{Éà HÂÖÅ. LÉÖ¶ÉÒ lÉÉà Uà ~ÉùÅlÉÖ»ÉÉoÉà +àH {ÉÉ{ÉÒ ©ÉÚÅ]´ÉiÉ ~ÉiÉ Uà. §ÉÉ>+à HÂÖÅ. «ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{ÉàLÉÖ±ÉÉ»ÉÉà ~ÉÚUëÉÉà lÉÉà §ÉÉ>+à »É©ÉX´«ÉÖÅ Hà ©ÉÉà÷Éà X´Éàq+à{Y{ÉÒ«ÉùÓNÉ{ÉÉ Uà±±ÉÉ ´ÉºÉÇ©ÉÉÅ Uà. U ©Éʾ{ÉÉ A~Éù©ÉÉlÉÉ-Ê~ÉlÉÉ{Éà PÉù »É©ÉÉù´ÉÉ >Î{e«ÉÉ ~Éä»ÉÉ ©ÉÉàH±É´ÉÉ ~ÉeëÉÉ WàW°ùÒ ¾lÉÖÅ. +à÷±Éà +É ´ÉºÉâ WÖ{Éàq{ÉÒ £Ò, ¾Éà»÷à±É £Ò ´ÉNÉàùà©ÉÉÅ~ÉÉÅSÉàH ¾Xù{ÉÒ LÉáSÉ ~Éeà lÉà©É Uà. X´Éàq{ÉÒ +É´ÉH SÉɱÉÖ oÉlÉÉÅlÉùlÉ lÉà {ÉÉ{ÉɧÉÉ>{ÉÉà §ÉÉù A~ÉÉeÒ ±Éà¶Éà, +{Éà ~Éä»ÉÉ ~ÉùlÉ HùÒqà¶Éà. +É÷±ÉÒ »ÉNÉ´Ée HùÒ +É~ɶÉÉà?“ ùÒ]Ö{ÉÉ ~É~~ÉÉ{Éà »ÉÉÅWà ´ÉÉlÉ H°Å ~ÉUÒ lÉ©É{Éà £Éà{É HùÒ¶É.”«ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{Éà HÂÖÅ. £Éà{É ©ÉÚG«ÉÉ ~ÉUÒ «ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{É{ÉÉ ©ÉÉàhÉ A~Éù oÉÉàeÒNÉŧÉÒùlÉÉ +É´ÉÒ NÉ>. SÉɱÉÉH ùà¶É©ÉÉ+à lÉà {ÉÉàÊ÷»É H«ÉÇÖÅ, +{ÉàlÉà +ÅNÉà ~ÉÚUëÉÖÅ “©É©©ÉÒ ¶ÉÖÅ Ê´ÉSÉÉù©ÉÉÅ ~ÉeÒ NÉ«ÉÉ? ~É~~ÉÉ +{ÉàùÒ]´ÉÉ{É{ÉÒ +É´ÉH lÉÉà ©ÉɶÉÉ+±±Éɾ »ÉÉùÒ Uà, ¾É±É +É~ÉiÉàHÉà> ©ÉÉà÷É LÉSÉÉÇ {ÉoÉÒ lÉÉà ~ÉÉÅSÉ ¾Xù ~ÉÉA{e©ÉÉÅ ¶ÉÖÅ? ~É~~ÉÉ{ÉÉ {É¾Ó W ~ÉÉeà. ¾ÖÅ ùÒ]´ÉÉ{É{Éà ~ÉiÉ §É±ÉÉ©ÉiÉ HùÒ¶É.”«ÉÉ»©ÉÒ{É ´É¾ÖÅ »ÉÉoÉà Ê{ÉLÉÉ±É»É ¾Éà´ÉÉoÉÒ lÉàiÉÒ+à »É©ÉX´«ÉÖÅ Hà,oÉÉàeÉ ´ÉºÉÉâ ~ɾà±ÉÉ V«ÉÉùà lÉà©ÉiÉà {ÉÉ{ÉÉ©ÉÉÅoÉÒ ©ÉÉà÷ÖÅ PÉù ±ÉÒyÉÖÅl«ÉÉùà ùÒ]´ÉÉ{É H©ÉÉlÉÉà {É ¾lÉÉà, +{Éà §ÉÉ>{Éà l«ÉÉÅ HÉà> ©ÉÉà÷ÉàLÉSÉÇ {É ¾lÉÉà, UlÉÉÅ ~Éä»ÉÉ AUÒ{ÉÉ ©ÉÉÅNÉlÉÉ lÉà©ÉiÉà +É~É´ÉÉ{ÉÒ {ÉÉ~ÉÉeà±ÉÒ. +¶Éù£§ÉÉ>{Éà ©ÉÉàNÉâW ±Éà´ÉÉ{Éà ¥Éq±Éà oÉÉàeÒ W LÉÚ÷lÉÒùH©É {ÉYH{ÉÉ Ê©ÉmÉÉà, »ÉNÉÉ ~ÉÉ»ÉàoÉÒ AUÒ{ÉÉ ±É>{Éà W±qÒ~ÉùlÉ Hù´ÉÉ{ÉÒ >SUÉ ¾lÉÒ. ´«ÉÉW §Éù´ÉÉ{ÉÉ lÉà Ê´ÉùÉàyÉÒ ¾lÉÉ. ´ÉyÉÖ +É´ÉlÉÉ +ÅHà......