October 2014 – fatimabutt

My birthday this year was amazing. Initially when my birthday month started, I was extremely sad about it, not going to lie. Every year my birthday is simple. I only want to spend it with family and my best friend. It always consisted of work/school and then a dinner… with my best friend. The past eight birthdays went that way. This year was different, my “best friend” isn’t in my life anymore, and that has been hard in itself to cope with. My birthday felt weird, how was I going to spend this day? Plus, I turned 27, how do you celebrate that? Jokes aside, I just didn’t want anything or to do anything. I wanted to have a little family dinner, where Rubes cooked my favorite food. Of course though, my lovely sister and amazing friend Mary, wanted to do something special for me, considering how I felt. My family and her threw me a surprise birthday party a week before my actual birthday and boy was I surprised. A room full of incredible people. Can’t thank my family and friends for constantly making me feel so loved. As I walked in, my adorable baby brother goes, are you surprised? I managed to get a yes out and held back the tears. I said why? and he quickly responded, you do so much for others, you deserve this. It was the sweetest thing ever, he makes my heart melt. My sister and Mary went above and beyond for the cutest party! I am blessed with amazing siblings. To top off all the amazingness, on my actual birthday, my awesome cousins surprised me from New York! Drove all night to get here one day before, just for me. Blessed doesn’t even begin to to cover how I feel. I have the most amazing people in my life, and they just happen to be my family.

“Don’t grieve, anything you lose comes around in another form” -Rumi

I might not have known what I was doing for my birthday, but I knew exactly what I was going to wear. Confessions of a shopholic, clearly. I went into forever21 and went a little crazy on jumpsuits. I found two that I absolutely adored. As my birthday approached, I knew I wanted to keep it minimal and sophisticated. I opted for the black jumper with my whisper pink blazer. I added the headpiece – had to be a little fancy, it was my birthday after all 🙂 My favorite thing I wore, was my father’s watch. I’ve had my eye on this watch every since I was a little girl. It was in my mothers jewelry box and I would just stare at it, hoping one day it will be mine. It was the watch he wore on his wedding day. Just a year ago my mother took it out and gave it to my brother. I literally cried and was bitter for months, I actually still am. It just happened that my brother gave it to me to get the battery changed. I took this as an opportunity to wear it at least once. My father got married when he was 27, and the fact I got to wear it on my 27th birthday, made up for the fact that Bilal got the watch. Hey, the connection works for me, let me have it.

Jumper: f21 | blazer: h&m | headpiece: A La Couture | shoes: Steve Madden | purse: Versona

Eid is such an exciting time for me. It consists of my favorite things all in one day, family, food, and getting to dress up. I aways feel different on Eid ul Adha though. There’s consistently something deeper pulling on me, perhaps for what this Eid stands for. Undoubtedly, Eid in it’s glory is amazing, but it is essential to actually reflect on what it all means.

Eid ul Adha or the festival of sacrifice is celebrated in the honor of prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, at God’s command. As prophet Ibrahim struggled with this, when he told his son, Ismail didn’t even hesitate. His answer was simple, if that is what Allah wills. As the day approached, God of course, intervened and provided prophet Ibrahim with a lamb to sacrifice instead, hence the importance of all Muslims to slaughter a lamb.

Allah never intended for Ibrahim to slaughter his son. The idea behind the command, was to slaughter his attachment and to trust what God intends. Sacrifice. It means different things to different people. How many of us really understand the concept of sacrifice? How many of us sacrifice daily?

I see my father sacrifice everyday. His precious time, his precious health, to provide for my siblings and me. My mother, despite being ill, makes sure we are fed before she eats. I see the way my sister is raising her children, without her husband physically being there with them. Sacrifice. We see sacrifice, in its purest form, everyday, in our parents.

Hug them, thank them, and hug them again. For they have sacrificed the most. And for who? For us, to have a comfortable life. For those who are parents, having children really teaches you unconditional love. To love someone, and not want anything in return, is exactly how we should love. Think about what we sacrifice. For God, for your husband/wife, for your children, for those you love… for anyone. To sacrifice means to love.

You can be anything you want in this world, just don’t be ungrateful.

Month: October 2014

new birthday beginnings.

the real sacrifice.

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