Revive Your Heart, Nouman Ali Khan | Book Review

Happiest of happy release days to Revive Your Heart by Nouman Ali Khan. 

A stunning collection of spiritual lectures that are both current and thought-provoking, Revive Your Heart: Putting Life into Perspective is Nouman Ali Khan's first book and I'm so glad it exists. I've followed his lectures and conferences on Youtube for a few years now and he is hands down one of my favourite Islamic teachers.

Revive Your Heart was written to suggest how Muslims can find peace in chaotic times. In a world that revolves around technology, social media and globalisation, it is easy to get distracted and disheartened by every day life. As a Muslim myself, Nouman Ali Khan's book was as much comforting as it was eye-opening. His thoughts on the way Muslims continue to favour sons over daughters as appalling was a refreshing thing for a young woman who has been exposed to such experiences whilst his call to collectively condemn terrorist attacks that hijack the name of Islam was a reassuring confirmation that the Muslim ummah (community) could be unified under this global issue.

Divided into five key parts, Revive Your Heart delves into the issue with Connecting to Allah through Du'a, Creating a Cohesive Muslim Community, Our Financial Dealings, Some Contemporary Issues and finally, Focusing on the Akhirah. The chapters are very short therefore I would recommend reading the book in parts. This way, you're able to treat each topic individually, allowing time to process it, maybe even discuss with those around you, just like as if you were to watch one of his youtube videos. I really felt like reading Revive Your Heart became a brief period amongst the assignment deadlines every week where I could spend valuable time reflecting on myself, my behaviour towards those around me and most importantly, my connection to God. 

Favourite parts! 

This is a book that interestingly works much like the format of Nouman Ali Khan's youtube videos. Just as easy as it is to copy>link>share his talks, I found myself snapping pictures of poignant passages midway through reading and either posting them on Snapchat, Insta-story or sending them to friends. Some of my favourite quotes are:

The believer recognises that whatever Allah gives you, whatever food He puts on the table, whatever job you found, whatever business you're doing - not only is it good enough, you desperately needed it. You don't get to be fussy with Allah and tell him, 'Ya Allah, I don't know if I want this one'. You don't get to tell Allah, 'I know You provided me this rock or this tree to sit under but if You could provide me some kind of bedding, it would be better'. 'I know You gave me this water over here but maybe some coconuts might help.' No, no, no. Whatever You have given me, is exactly what I needed and I desperately needed it. 

- from A Prayer for Desperate Times p. 15.

It's an honour Allah gave to these girls that are born in our households... I'm reminded - Allah has blessed me with four daughters... but I will tell you something: I had two daughters in a row, and then when my third daughter was born I was really happy. And I got a bunch of doughnuts and I went to the masjid. For I'sha, I'm just going to give everybody doughnuts because we had a girl again. This brother came outside the masjid and he said, 'Oh doughnuts? What happened? Good news?' I said 'Yeah, it's a girl' and he said, 'in sha Allah, next time.' That's what he said - 'in she Allah, next time' - and I wanted to slap him!'

- from It's a Girl! p. 158.

And any people, any people including Muslims when they are insulted, when things they hold sacred are insulted, they have a right to be offended. We have a right to be offended. We have a right to be insulted that is part of our dignity. If it didn't hurt our feelings it would mean we have no dignity... I have a right to be angry but those are two separate issues. What's happening in the media now is these two are being made into one issue... No, no, no; for the Muslim it's not that simple... we are against people who are killed unjustifiably and we stand against those who killed them unjustifiably... but at the same time we have a right to be offended by that kind of ignorant and hateful speech; and we will speak out against it and we will stand against it. 

- from Thoughts on Paris (Charlie Hebdo) p. 179.

One thing I have always appreciated about Nouman Ali Khan is his honesty. You can tell when something seriously grieves him in his videos just from the way he talks or when something ridiculous cracks him up. It's the same for Revive Your Heart. 

This book is the perfect addition in your life to reflect during the quiet hours. Get your copy from Amazon or Kube Publishing now. 

*** Will you be getting a copy? What other spiritual/lifestyle book have you read? ***

*A copy of Revive Your Heart was provided for review. Words are my own. 

Don't Appropriate My 'Dress and Trousers'

A new trend in the fashion industry has supposedly emerged called the 'dress over pants'. Kendall Jenner was recently seen sporting a long white tunic over a pair of white trousers and suddenly articles were calling her "excruciatingly cool" and a "pioneer" of the outfit.

The tunic-over-pants actually originates from the shalwar kameez* which Asian women have been wearing for centuries since the Mughal era. They wore them when they first arrived in Europe and America and they wear them to this day. But no one is taking photos of them and praising how "chic" they look. What's more, they can tell you about the humiliation they received in the Western world. How their garments were compared in relation to Western clothing and deemed "backward" or "unfashionable". So do you see how it's wrong to applaud Kendall Jenner's stylist? It's just another example of cultural appropriation existing today: only when a white celebrity wears another culture's clothes, it is deemed a fashion statement.

As a daughter of Bangladeshi migrants, I was brought up wearing shalwar kameezes. My grandmother wore cotton sarees* and after having six children, my mother began to wear printed maxi dresses. But whilst they wore an over-garment when they went outside, I was expected to wear a shalwar kameez. I owned several in different colours, prints and materials.

I slowly began to dislike them when I joined primary school. When there were any school assemblies and we were told to bring in our own clothes, I would be one of the few girls in shalwar kameez whilst the rest wore t-shirts and jeans. My sisters and I were not allowed to wear jeans because they were "tight" and "not cultural". It was only during Eid and Christmas parties at school that I felt I could proudly wear my shalwar kameez - this time a sequined number. But as I grew older and witnessed more of the world, I began to long for t-shirts and jeans. I saw them on my friends and on my teachers, on strangers in the streets and on television actors and asked myself, "Why can't I own a pair?"

I didn't know then that I was being brainwashed into thinking I needed to adopt a certain culture in order to fit in. I didn't know the Western world always had a knack at showing off things they possessed to intimidate its colonies. To intimidate me. They made us realize that we were not "white" and we will never be regardless of our expensive polo shirts from Oxford Street.

When my parents eventually allowed me to buy two pairs of straight-cut jeans and three t-shirts from Asda for my residential trip in year 6, I was ecstatic. I would finally look like the other girls! During the next five days, I acted as though I had always worn t-shirts and jeans. The reality hit me when a week later I was dragging my feet to my grandmother's house in a black shalwar kameez with printed roses. Looking back, I wish I could tell myself all the things I now know about my culture:

"To my twelve year old self,

Hold your head up high when you wear your dress over your trousers.

Be proud that whilst you live in one country, your mother's country still welcomes you.

Look how beautifully your shalwar matches your kameez, how the chador hangs on your shoulders and rests on your chest in an embrace.

It isn't a prison. It is freedom."

I'm 19 now and I still wear shalwar kameezes at home. I love them. They are a part of my identity. Over the years, I have come up with several styles. I can present myself in a shalwar kameez with a chador* flung across my chest before my parents and siblings, or throw the chador quickly around my head before opening the front door, or I can wrap it neatly around my neck before greeting guests. I no longer desire t-shirts and jeans because, for me, they symbolize the power Western culture held over my origins as a British-Bangladeshi.

Therefore it is unfair that Kendall Jenner is able to wear an outfit and be praised for her ingenuity when Asian women have been fighting for this right for decades. The unjust glamorisation of diverse cultures by Westerners is worryingly abundant, adopting clothing, hairstyles, speech and art, and Kendall Jenner is a representation of this insecure world. They compared my culture in relation to theirs before I was even born. And when I was, they didn't see a British girl wearing a shalwar kameez, they saw a brown girl peculiarly wearing a dress over trousers. This is why I ask them not to appropriate a culture they were initially ignorant to accept.

*** Glosses:

- shalwar kameez: outfit made up of a tunic and trouser

- saree: 5-8 meters of material wrapped around the waist with one end draped over the shoulder

- chador: piece of cloth matching a shalwar kameez, typically known as dupatta