Peace be Upon those who follow True Guidance
Assalamu’Alaikum wa rahamtu Allahi wa Barakatuh
Welcome to my Blog, I sure appreciate your readership. My name is Muna Mustafa. In 36 years of Earthly Existence, I’ve been blessed with a loving husband and 5 children. Ready to take on any tide, while Seeking The pleasure of Our Beloved! Who has truly favored us with this Earth as our temporary home.
I’m a social addict, I enjoy meeting people and putting smiles on their faces. As much as I love meeting people in cyberspace, there is nothing like the feeling of meeting a nice lady in a bus, on a plane, in a corner shop or a hairdresser and talking to her as if you’ve known her for years. Wow meeting new faces, hearing their stories, what bliss…
I’ve been a chatterbox for as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a dreamer too. But as life’s started to challenge me, I’ve started to enjoy writing. I’ve realised that writing actually gives me the time to think of my words 2-3 times before they are noted down. I’ve decided to take on the challenge of writing this blog… This is all new to me, so let’s see how it develops. I might be a really bad writer but I always believe that as individuals we’ve been put here to grow and to increase our abilities…
I appear to people as a carefree individual, always smiling and who loves to volunteer her time doing things for others-a strong character who wants to make a difference by always dedicating her time to the community-little do they know the inner struggles that I go through. This feeling has been with me from a very young age. Although I grew up in a loving home, with kind parents of which I owe so much to.
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Firstly, I dedicate this blog to my own children, by making sure to:
- Educate them to the best of my abilities about their ROLES in this life-that they were created to worship Allah and to always seek His pleasure first and foremost.
- Protect them from the evil of this world.
- Love and nurture them while making sure that I equip them with the abilities to know right from wrong and to keep their heads up no matter what they go through.
- Never look for people’s pity and to always stay positive even when people turn against them.
- Inspire them to be socially active, being driven by the desire to contribute to a positive change in the communities in which they live in-not for fame but purely for seeking Allah’s pleasure.
Then to my sisters in humanity whether they are teenagers-when life is most challenging… My wonderful sisters from all around the globe, the married, unmarried, the Mother and the Grandmother… who have struggled in their lives and find everyday a challenge due to depression or the just “not the know how”- You all need to know that you are not alone and that life is a lot more precious. Also, not forgetting my dear sisters, who have been favored by being strong and always positive in life-I pray that you will take the time to understand what other women go through and try to be there for them without passing any judgements.
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Finally the reason for the title “Against The Tide”. It was chosen because I’ve noticed that we have so many social expectations that drown us. We are not allowed to think for ourselves anymore or make our own decisions… living our lives as slaves to the system, the typical 9-5 jobs – to pay for the 25 years mortgage – the yearly holidays and of course the kids go to the best schools with the most choice of extra curricula activities. Where parents hardly spend any time with the kids except for picking up and dropping offs.
Hence where the name for this blog came from, it made me think that if I tell anyone about what I would want to do with my kids I would feel so alone, going against the tides of not just family but friends, community and the society that we live in. I spoke to my dearest friend about the feeling I had when I told her that I wanted to take my kids out of school and travel with them..May God bless her, she straight away came up with this title-thanks soof and of course approved by my wonderful friend shazia. 🙂 They both truly understood how I felt and have been supporting me ever since. Without forgetting of course our most talented sister and teacher Bayan Hawa who has also embarked on her own amazing journey all the way in Malaysia.
I always believed that through good parenting we can change the world one child at a time, by passing my knowledge to the next generation, but ensuring they gain control over their own future through increased access to information and skills. Children have the right to be given good parenting not because they need it, but because they have a right to life. I am definitely not the expert in this but I am all for good parenting and I hope together we will learn the heart of the art. Some see it as a chore some see it as a duty…many parents see it as a passion and others ultimately as an obsession. Whichever it is I’ve learnt not to worry about the results and the outcomes, but to enjoy the process, hope and aspire for the best.
As a family we’ve been blessed by Allah of doing lot with our kids especially travelling to different places together which has made us bond even more. I personally enjoy the escapism that travelling while raising my children allows me, the unique and seemingly untouched locations I would want to visit.
Please join us in our humble journey and I pray that I will learn from you all as much as I would learn from my travels with my family in making this world a better place for the generations to come… Your thoughts and input are always welcome, because remember that it takes a Village to raise a child!!!
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