Hajj Dreams

I recently read the book Leo Africanus, and it was a fantastic novel. While reading, it reminded me of some of my religious life goals. I felt like I was that little hijabi, sitting in Quranic school again. The book was an excellent refresher on the life lessons I learned as a child.

In a lot of the novel, he incorporates Islamic lessons, and I couldn’t help but do an audit of my life and particularly my deen. Based on my previous post, we all know that I’m not the most pious Muslimah. My only religious/spiritual goal is to be a good person and make a positive difference. I’ve spoken about not mercurially caring about marrying a Muslim man and just wanting to live without religious guidelines. But the book reminded me of who I am, and at the very core, I’m a Muslimah; I believe and see the importance of Islam and its teachings. I just happen to be a little wild Muslimah and a little too much in the dunya during this time. I feel like I’m transitioning from growing out of my rebellious phase to honestly figuring out what kind of Muslimah I want. 

A part of the book I keep rereading is when the main character makes Hajj, and his description of the experience really hit me. I’ve always imagined going to make Hajj with my husband and parents. It was a goal of mine to pay for my parents to make Hajj; it’s the least I could do after all the sacrifices they continue to make on my behalf. I shouldn’t put it in the past tense because it still is a goal of my mine that, unfortunately, I lost sight of. 

I truly enjoyed reading Leo Africanus and highly recommend it to you all. It definitely made my top 5 book list and brought out a part of myself I haven’t felt in a long time. Like I said in my last post, I have a new flame burning inside me, igniting sparks of all the best parts of myself.