Love.

Assalaam Alakium girlies!

How's the day been? Alhamdulliah, I just made dinner and cleaned up. I feel accomplished now. hehe =) This post is dedicated to my love. 

I love the way you protect me, shelter me from any kind of storm.

I often times forget about you but you're always there. 

You've changed my life in every. single. way.

I love you.

I love the way you flow ever so peaceful in the wind. 

You obey Allah's (swt) command. 

You may not always get along with me.
Sometimes we fight, but somehow it turns out all right.

I thought you would be a burden. 

Oh how misguided I was. 

I love you

I would never forsake you.

Never leave you hangin.

I yearn for more of you.

Sometimes I just can't control myself. 

I want all of you.

You're so beautiful.

Pliable.

I can't see myself without you.

We've become one.

I love you.

My hijab =)

I'm not a poetess, that just came to me just now. I bet you all thought I was talking about someone else. ; )

Have a great night and I'll see you tomorrow morning inshAllah.

Wasalaam,

~Hijabi Butterfly~

Sprucing Things Up

Assalaam Alakium! 

How has your day been so far? I lost myself in Photoshop for about two hours creating that background you see over there! What do you think? Yay or Nay?

I guess you could call today a semi-productive day since I was away from home. I went to my usual hang out, Barnes and Noble and did some reading which I talked briefly about in my last post. I had lunch with the Writer at Subway then went to work for a few hours and finally to the library and got the background done.  I actually enjoy sitting at the library with my laptop. It's peaceful and I have nothing to distract me...well except Twitter. I just recently made a Twitter for this blog and have been posting little tidbits here and there. If you wish to follow me just search for "hijabibutterfly", I'll follow you back. =) I like to get Islamic wisdom sent directly to my phone. Love technology. 

I like to surround myself with Islam. I'll gladly sign up for anything that will give me a quick little blurb on Islam. It keeps me refreshed and always remembering Allah. Before Islam, I rarely ever picked up the Bible or researched anything. I only knew the basics and whenever I would try to learn something I got so confused that I just gave up. Islam is so straight forward that answers are readily available. I only research at sites I know and trust are legit. Anybody can make a website and post whatever they want (like this blog) a little bit of digging will uncover if a website is reputable. Here are a few websites I trust:

www.islamicity.com    All around a great website

http://www.guideus.tv/live/   Great for watching videos on Islamic topics

http://www.imaanstar.com/index.php    Free software for help memorizing the Qur'an among other things

http://www.studying-islam.org/      You can take free online courses here. I've taken a few myself and they are very detailed

Share some of your most frequented reputable Islamic websites in the comments below. I love finding Islamic gems. 

Have a great night and I'll see you tomorrow with a new post! Early Jummah Mubarak!

Wasalaam,

~Hijabi Butterfly~

Hijabi Dress Code...What is it?

Assalaam Alakium!

How's Monday treating you all? I just wanted to stay under the covers this morning, it was chilly here in Houston! I ran a few errands already this morning, all that's left is to write a blog! I had trouble thinking of a topic this morning until I thought about what I was going to wear today. The hijabi dress code...what is it? 

I'm sure a lot of you have seen that picture shared around the internet. This is a good visual description of what hijab means. The word hijab just means to cover, the veil covering the hair is just one part of the hijab. Also, as a side note, men have their own "hijab" dress code they must live by (must cover shoulders, belly button to knees).

A Muslimah has options though, she doesn't just have to wear an abaya (long dress). She can wear pants as long as they are loose and cover her appropriately. I'd also like to point out here that no where in the Qur'an or hadith does it say women are not allowed to wear pants. I do recommend if you are going to wear pants that you wear a slightly longer shirt like a tunic type, I wear this a lot. Another style I like to wear is loose pants with a dress over it, it's both comfortable and stylish. 

And of course a nice skirt is a great option as well. 

As for the veil, it's really up to you. Make it your own! If my clothes are neutral colored I usually wear a colored hijab. You can get really creative with how you wrap it as well. There are a bunch of YouTube tutorials showing how to wear different styles. 

As for makeup, keep it simple if you are going out. If you're staying in, go all out! I love playing around with makeup so I play around with bright colors while I'm staying home, the Writer (my husband) likes the change. If you miss doing your hair on a daily basis try different styles while at home! Hair styling was a big part of my "look" before I became Muslim and it was hard giving that up but now I just do my hair for the Writers benefit, as while as my personal creativity. 

Just remember to be yourself while staying within the fold of Islam. You don't want to completely change the way you look (unless of course you want to). Ease into different styles you want to try and inshAllah your transition will be easy. It took me over a year after becoming Muslim to finally wear a skirt. I never wore them before becoming Muslim so this was a style I needed to ease into. 

What is your favorite style to wear?

Please share in the comments any tips you have for new Muslimahs in the transition into wearing the hijab. 

Have a great day everyone, inshAllah I'll be back later. 

Wasalaam,

~Hijabi Butterfly~

Oh How I Love My Desi Husband

Assalaam Alakium everyone!

Happy Saturday, what are you all up to? Not much is going on over here, just some good sleeping in and relaxing. Later on we're going to visit my in-laws! I love my in-laws, especially my little sister in law, Layla, she's eight and has Down Syndrome, you can't not love her. :)

As you've probably figured out from the title of this post, I'm married to a Pakistani man. He is a first generation American, meaning he was born here in the United States. I know a lot of Muslim women who are married to Pakistani men, a great deal of them Latina. Being that I'm white/Native American there are some cultural differences between the two of us. One example is chai. Desi's love their chai and they take it pretty seriously. The first time I made my husband chai, I added 1/4 cup of sugar to one cup of chai (knowing he wanted it really sweet) and to my surprise he couldn't even taste the sugar! I was amazed, 1/4 cup sugar would have been too much for me. So, I went back and added 1/2 cup of sugar, with the same results, not sweet enough! I then added almost a full cup of sugar, and that was finally enough! Health wise, no one should be drinking that much sugar, good thing he doesn't drink chai too often.

Would you like some chai with your sugar? HAHA (I made that with my basic Photoshop skills)

Do any of you have any funny mixed-cultural marriage stories? If so, please share below in the comments!

Have a great Saturday, inshAllah I'll be back soon!

Wasalaam,

~Hijabi Butterfly~

TAIF! (Thank Allah It's Friday)

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have had a blessed day. It's a gorgeous 70 degree day here in H-Town, I definitely don't miss the weather in Minnesota! It's taken me a bit to get use to the change in climate here, it's like Summer/Spring year around....I'm not complaining. :)

A great thing about Houston is the large population of Muslims here, you don't have to travel far to find a Masjid (Mosque). Back in Minnesota most of the Masjids were in the suburbs and they were few and far between. I love being able to experience different Masjids and get a feel for the community. The Muslim community here is good, but like most could use a little help. Being a convert I have a lot of wishes for the Muslim community. Some would be: a place for children to enjoy the Masjid on Fridays and therefore, allow their parents time to listen to the khutbah (lecture), to make the Masjid a place youth WANT to be and to make it more friendly to converts and non-Muslims. One Masjid I discovered here in Houston is doing a great job of all of the things I just spoke of. They have a great facility and it's more than just a Masjid, it's more like a community center and I seen a lot of families enjoying the space. InshAllah (God willing) I'll write an entire post on the things this incredible Masjid is doing, for now I'll grace you with a beautiful picture of the place.

 

That's it for now, inshAllah I'll be back soon! Let me know what you'd like to see on this page!

What things would you change to make the Masjid a better place?
What ideas do you all have to make the Muslim youth want to come to the Masjid?

Walakium Assalaam!

~Hijabi Butterfly~

Here We Go Again....

Assalaam Alakium (Peace be upon you),

Long time no type!! I can't believe it's been this long since I've written a blog (over two years). I hope you all are in good health and have been doing well. The last two years have brought a TON of change and I've welcomed it all. I've moved from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Houston, Texas and have finally settled into my new apartment! More stories to come about the move, adjusting to life away from home and finally being happy!

I can't promise much with this blog, but I'm hoping to become more active and less informative....it was way TOO stuffy in here! I want to add excitement to this blog. I'll be talking more about my life as a 22 year old, white/Native American, convert to Islam and wife. If anyone has any suggestions or questions please let me know. I'm a very honest person...sometimes too honest.

Take care all and I hope to see you soon,


~Hijabi Butterfly~

Butterfly of the week: Blue Morpho

The colorful blue morpho is this weeks butterfly of the week. The blue morpho is a neotropical butterfly and is commonly found in South America and other warm regions of the world. These beautiful creatures come in blue and green metallic shades. The color comes from the butterflies wings, they reflect the sunlight and give off those beautiful shades of blue and green.

These butterflies tend to live alone, even during mating season. They are commonly found in the forest but often venture out into the warm sun to warm themselves. The blue morpho life's span is about 137 days.

The adult blue morpho's have few predators since they poisonous compounds that build up during their caterpillar stage.

Overall, these butterflies are beautiful and a treasure to have on Earth. I can't imagine how great they would look in real life.

~Hijabi Butterfly