An Easy Game of Tic Tac Toe?

Tic Tack Toe, three in a row. Just match the three symbols, X or O, and you're a winner I always thought. Notice a pattern and fill in the blanks, it's one of the easiest games I always thought. But play the game now with any intellectual mind, and you'll find a once too simple game something almost impossible to win. Cat's game, they call it. Life is a cat's game: you win some and you lose some and sometimes the winner isn't immediately known. It's not always as easy as filling in the last O--sometimes life places that O before you do and you have to find a way around it. Sometimes someone finds the pattern before you. Sometimes it's harder than just filling in the blank. But, ultimately, you win if you don't think you lose. Love the game. Appreciate the blessings that surround your day to day struggles and remember that life can be simple if you make it so. Remember you destination and your commitment to Allah, and you'll notice that the struggles in your life are either a lesson or a blessing--two things that you can ultimately benefit from. So if you find yourself frustrated by the events in your life or those happening around the world, remember that beauty can be found when we follow the simple instructions that God has given us. They are the answer to every puzzle. No matter the conflict, love the One who can give you strength to get through it all and have faith that Allah is on your side. Love what's around you. After all, it is XOXO.

We are Ants

A small hardworking ant: so minuscule to the human eye, yet so vital in its natural functions. A player on a large team, but an individual in its survival. Most of the time, we too are ants-so carried away with the busy work, the day to day tasks, the collecting of things, so busy that we often can’t see the big picture. Like ants on a beautifully designed carpet, we scurry on not knowing that we are walking on beauty, simply because we cannot see the full design yet. It’s important we take a second and look around: to remember the destination and to remember that where we are is truly beautiful, in the present moment and in the greater picture…if we just took the time to reflect. So don’t just hear what's around you, listen. Don’t just look, see. Be a hard working ant, but remember you have the capability of looking at the big picture.

Peace: the destination and the means.

Photo taken at Walk for Children of Syria in Chicago.

So often we hear the word peace. The struggle for peace. So often we see the V sign symbolizing peace–raised proudly next to a smiling face or firmly in the face of oppression. Can peace be felt and grasped or is it a lingering intangible that always lies at the end of our quests? Will peace stand the test of time or will time test the peace that remains? Is peace the expression of love and harmony itself, or is it the outcome, the result, of hope and justice. To me, peace is both. Peace is the struggle and peace is the fruitful yield. Peace is the visible smile and the silent invisible joy of a relaxed heart. Peace is the destination, but peace is also the means. For love and truth to prevail, we must have the goal of peace in mind. And as we travel on this road to peace, we must join hands in the struggle, shake hands in the agreement, and raise the peace sign in that moment when we reach it. That moment of peace.

Faith and Hope

The Syrian regime has killed babies. It has starved families. It has blown up mosques. What it doesn't realize however is that God is not confined to the mosques, He is in the heart of every believer. Nothing can take away the Faith of the people. And that is the strongest weapon. Marching at one of the rallies downtown side by side with my brothers and sisters, it didn't matter that I couldn't feel my hands or feet because I COULD feel something that was truly beautiful: the love in each heart that chanted for a free and peaceful Syria. And that love and determination is what will create change, InshAllah ♥