MY MUSLIM
FOR THE WOMEN OF FAITH
& HONOR
MAGAZINE
Natural Cosmetics & Masks
HALAL Skin Care
Staying
Beautiful &Healthy
Weight loss TIPS + HEALTHY EATING
CONTENTS WELLNESS 06 Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle Aysha-Anastasia Izgagina
09 Get in Shape this Spring Natalja K
BEAUTY 13 Natural Cosmetics for your Skin
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Hafsa Issa-Salwe
15 Halal Skin Care
MOTHERHOOD 17 Work & Family: ways to Balance a Busy Life Aaapa
MARRIAGE 20 Top Tips to Obtain Happiness as Muslim Wife Ponn Sabra
FAITH 23 Power of Dua: the Greatest Delight Amatul Wadood
STYLE
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25 Adventures in Online Shopping: When Fashion & Modesty Meet F. R Hasan MY MUSLIM VEIL
www.mymuslimveilmagazine.com
SPRING ISSUE 2012
CONTENTS WELLNESS 06 Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle Aysha-Anastasia Izgagina
09 Get in Shape this Spring Natalja K
BEAUTY 13 Natural Cosmetics for your Skin
06
Hafsa Issa-Salwe
15 Halal Skin Care
MOTHERHOOD 17 Work & Family: ways to Balance a Busy Life Aaapa
MARRIAGE 20 Top Tips to Obtain Happiness as Muslim Wife Ponn Sabra
FAITH 23 Power of Dua: the Greatest Delight Amatul Wadood
STYLE
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25 Adventures in Online Shopping: When Fashion & Modesty Meet F. R Hasan MY MUSLIM VEIL
www.mymuslimveilmagazine.com
SPRING ISSUE 2012
MAINTAINING a healthy lifestyle by Aysha-Anastasia Izgagina
WELLNESS
Health as we define it today is a state of complete physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. Good health is formula to a healthy mind, spirit and body. One important factor for maintaining a healthy lifestyle is choosing our food wisely. The Prophet, peace be upon him, assigned top priority to good health. He instructed us in his hadith: “Ask Allah (Glory to Him, the Exalted) for forgiveness and health, for after being granted certainty, one is given nothing better than health.� (Related in Tirmidhi)
Brown Rice Brown rice is full of carbohydrates, which are necessary for maintaining energy levels. They also contain plenty of fiber, which aids in digestion. Brown rice can help lower cholesterol levels, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, gallstones, diabetes, and obesity. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition underscores the importance of choosing whole grains such as brown rice rather than refined grain, i.e., white rice, to maintain a healthy body weight.
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Spinach Spinach is a source of iron, vitamins C, A, K, and antioxidants, which can shield against heart attacks, strokes, colon cancer, osteoporosis, and arthritis. Bananas Bananas contain a lot of potassium, which is needed for muscles (particularly the heart) to remain strong and healthy. It also lowers blood pressure. Bananas help to prevent cardiovascular disease, and they neutralize acid so they're useful for treating heartburn. Other sources of
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potassium are lentils, sardines and dried apricots. Research published in the International Journal of Cancer has shown that daily consumption of whole fruits and vegetables, especially bananas, is highly protective to kidney health. Salmon Salmon is rich in omega-3, which reduce cholesterol, protect against some cancers and prevent blood clots. Studies have shown that salmon can help ease depression and prevent memory loss. If possible, eat fresh or tinned salmon at least three times a week.
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Tools For Success
Faith in Allah, and continuous Dua (Supplication) to help you in your weight loss challenge Strong Will and Positive Attitude Digital kitchen scale Measurement cups ( various sizes) Food diary or sign up for a free account with www.caloriecount.com or similar website that keeps track of your daily calories Vitamins
How I lost post baby 50+lbs in just a few months As long as I can remember, I have always struggled in maintaining a healthy weight. Stress, busy routines of every day life, family, college and just overall tiredness and carelessness put healthy eating and exercising on the bottom of the priority list. However, after having my first baby, I completely blew out of the proportion. Being so unusually huge 6 months after delivery, of course, was depressing. I did not like what I saw in the mirror, none of my clothes would fit and shopping for new, larger clothing was an even sadder event. I felt helpless and pretty miserable—I wished to have all that weight just disappear. After a visit to my OB, where they politely reminded me that I am overweight, as they returned to me my really bad blood test results, is when I decided— ”That‟s it, I had enough. This extra weight has got to go !”. I could no longer handle not liking what I look like and on top of it losing my health. MY MUSLIM VEIL
As Muslims, we believe that we have the right for our soul, and we also have the right for our body. “..Your body has a right over you, your eyes have a right over you…” (Sahih Al Bukhari, Volume 7, Hadith 127”) I knew that I had to loose weight for my Deen (religion), for myself and for my family, and the time for doing it was— right now! So, there I was. At home. My baby went for one hour nap and I had to come up with a diet plan. My next blood test was in six months, so I had a deadline to work with. It’s not a secret that healthy diet plus good exercise equals normal weight. The question was, how to make it work for my lifestyle, and even more, how to make it last? 9
Knowing myself, I figured my transformation had to be painless, with elements of enjoinment and with rewarding results. Pushing myself to do something I hated would result in a failure, and failure was not an option. I needed a plan that I would have control over, with projected results, so I could live up to certain expectations. I did some quick homework, and found out interesting information: 3,500 calories equals to 1 pound, a pound that can go in either one direction. Meaning, that if a daily intake is exceeded by a total of 3,500 calories , at any given time, one will gain it as a pound. But, if a daily intake is limited by a total of 3,500 calories, at any given time, one will lose that as a pound, accordingly. Needless to say, intake of required daily calories without output will break even, meaning you will not gain weight, SPRING ISSUE 2012
These beautiful words deserve to be inscribed in golden ink.
The first and second of them are: Be content in his company, and listen to and obey him, for contentment brings peace of mind, and listening to and obeying one‟s husband pleases Allah.
‘The third and fourth of them are: Make sure that you smell good and look good; he should not see anything ugly in you, and he should not smell anything but a pleasant smell from you. Kohl is the best kind of beautification to be found, and water is better than the rarest perfume. ‘The fifth and the sixth of them
are: Prepare his food on time, and keep quiet when he is asleep, for raging hunger is like a burning flame, and disturbing his sleep will make him angry.
The seventh and eighth of them are: Take care of his servants (or employees) and children, and take care of his wealth, for taking care of his wealth shows that you appreciate him, and taking care of his children and servants shows good management.
The ninth and tenth of them are: Never disclose any of his secrets, and never disobey any of his orders, for if you disclose any of his secrets you will never feel safe
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from his possible betrayal, and if you disobey him, his heart will be filled with hatred towards you. „Be careful, O my daughter, of showing joy in front of him when he is upset, and do not show sorrow in front of him when he is happy, because the former shows a lack of judgment, whilst the latter will make him unhappy. “Show him as much honor and respect as you can, and agree with him as much as you can, so that he will enjoy your companionship and conversation. „Know, O my daughter, that you will not achieve what you would like to until you put his pleasure before your own, and his wishes before yours, in whatever you like and dislike. And may Allah (Praise be to Him the Most High) choose what is best for you and protect you.‟” She was taken to her husband, and the marriage was a great success; she gave birth to kings who ruled after him. I could not find better words for us to remember what is important. We have it in front of us. We are given this life to enjoy. Hard work is a fundamental characteristic of a Muslim woman. The duyna tries to assault us with how we are inferior to ourselves. We are always chasing something and running and out of time and behind and ungrateful. The
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Islamic perspective is the opposite. We are given opportunities to better our beings. We have to have patience. We have to be steadfast in all that we do. Each task we have is an opportunity for us to show our love for Allah( Praise be to Him the Most High). We take pride in being able to take our responsibilities seriously. As we accomplish the chores we can use this time to dhikr. We can take this time to excel in all that we do without feeling lost or struggling for nothing. What I am trying to say, and feel I am not doing a good job, is we as Muslims cannot compromise any deed that is set before us. When we have many tasks we have to evaluate what we do not need. We have to seek knowledge of what the correct behaviors are and we emulate those by finding examples from our rich history. In summary, if Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, peace be upon him, was told by her father not to complain about working hard; who are we to complain that we have too much to do. Insha‟Allah, these words will inspire my Believing sisters to appreciate the blessings Allah (Praise be to Him the Most High) has bestowed upon us. An Excerpt from the Book “The Ideal Muslimah: The True Islâmic Personality of the Muslim Woman as Defined in the Qur‟ân and Sunnah”) By Dr. Muhammad „Ali Al-Hashimi
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TOP TIPS MARRIAGE
To Obtain Happiness
As a Muslim Wife
MY MUSLIM VEIL
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SPRING ISSUE 2012
“...you should appreciate the great blessing for solely being responsible for what is inside the home, your children and wealth….’
By
Ponn Sabra,
Best-Selling Author & Founder of AmericanMuslimMom.com
M
arriage is fulfilling half of one‟s religious duties in Islam. Therefore, learning to be a confident, supportive, loving, wise and righteous wife should be a top priority for all Muslim women once they are married. And, in doing so, Muslim wives have the profound power to offer much happiness to this world, as noted in the sayings of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, “This world is nothing but temporary conveniences, and the greatest joy in this world is a righteous wife”. (Sahih Muslim). Learning new methods to help Muslim wives fulfill their duties and responsibilities to their husband, family and household are also seen as completing critical acts of worship to Allah, may He be glorified. Listed below are some tips for a Muslim Wife striving to reach new levels of happiness for herself and her family.
Understand your duties, roles and responsibilities as a Muslim Wife. MY MUSLIM VEIL
Understanding that your husband is the Imam, spiritual leader, of your family should give you great peace of mind. The ultimate responsibility of providing for the family financially, spiritually, physically, morally, and emotionally lies on his shoulders. And, the consequences of his abilities to do it appropriately and righteously are weighed on his scale of good and bad deeds. His inability to advise or provide correctly may incur sins by Allah because he is failing in his duties as the Imam. For example, if he advises you or your children to do something unacceptable in Islam, and you obey his wishes, he incurs the sin for teaching you wrongly as well as your sins for doing the sinful act. Therefore, you should appreciate the great blessing for solely being responsible for what is inside the home, your children and wealth.
Strive to be your husband’s partner in this life deserving of the hereaf21
ter. You should strive to reach the highest level of heaven, furdose, together. Offer him the comfort and joy to do the difficult yet extremely rewarding acts of worship. For example, be his alarm clock for fajr, make sure he does not miss his prayers or jummah (congregational prayer on Friday). Prepare a healthy suhoor (breakfast before fasting) and have iftar (meal after the fast) ready on time. Help save money for Hajj, encourage giving random charity throughout the year beyond the prescribed zakat (alms-giving) and accept a more modest lifestyle in return. Offer to make Qiyam al-Lail (night prayers) together in the third
part of the night, and strive to be the most caring, compassionate.
Be his trustworthy confidante.
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