Naima B. Robert - Show Up: A Motivational Message for Muslim Women

Show Up: A Motivational Message for Muslim Women

First Published in England by

Kube Publishing Ltd

MCC, Ratby Lane, Markfield

Leicestershire, LE67 9SY

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 1530 249230

Email:

Website: www.kubepublishing.com

Copyright Naima B. Robert 2021

All rights reserved.

The right of Naima B. Robert to be identified as the author and translator of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988.

CIP data for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-84774-148-6 casebound

ISBN: 978-1-84774-141-7 paperback

ISBN: 978-1-84774-142-4 ebook

Editor : Asma Anwar

Cover Design : Jannah Haque

Typesetting : Nasir Cadir

Printed by : Elma Basim, Turkey

Contents

Endorsements

Naima brings out our dynamism by letting us see her (usually invisible) fragility. I was crying by page ten and ready to take on the world a chapter later! This is a boost in times of global fear and personal challenges!

Lauren Booth , Author Finding Peace in the Holy Land and Accidentally Muslim

I was so overwhelmed with emotion and started sobbing three pages in. I appreciate Naima sharing a love story that will insha Allah continue in the heavens above.

Selina Bakkar , Founder, Amaliah

Through a deeply personal narrative of her own journey after the death of her husband, Naima B. Robert inspires Muslim women to gather the resources available to them so they can be the heroine in their stories and show up as victors. Show Up is a powerful testimony of the beauty thats possible when you choose to rise in the face of lifes challenges as a heroine in your life story.

LaYinka Sanni , Host, Honest Tea Talk

I read Show Up in exactly 3 hours! When I decided to read it the morning I received it, my intention was just to get started, however, the writing style was so beautiful, the message so straight to the point and the actionable takeaways were so clearly outlined, I couldnt stop.

Its about time someone gave us the wake up call! And who better than one who is already living the truth she is inviting others to?

Aishah Adams , Author, Rise, Irrespective

CEO, The Support Lounge

Finally. Finally a motivational self-help, self-care book written for the Muslim woman, with Islamic references and stories intricately woven in. This gives it beautiful depth. Naima B. Robert has written an insightful book, full of raw vulnerability, sharing her own deeply personal stories and experiences. This book reads like a love-letter to the sisterhood of Muslim women to inspire her to ... choose courage over fear . It takes the reader on a reflective journey that lights a fire of hope for whichever life stage shes at, and for situations she has faced or is facing. It guides her on how to show up authentically with an easy to follow, step-by-step process. This is a must-read for any Muslim woman ready to be present as a hero in her life, and for any woman trying to find the courage to do so. As Robert asks Now is the time for it, if not now, then when? And, if not you, then who? .

Tumkeen , Writer and Poet,

Contributing Writer for Detroit Mom and Lansing Mom

Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem

Introduction

It came as a shock.

I found him unconscious on the bed early on Saturday morning and, within two weeks, he was gone.

A shock.

An out-of-the-blue, out of nowhere, blindsiding shock.

***

I dedicated my first major book, From My Sisters Lips , to my husband, Sulayman Henry Amankwah. The dedication read:

For my husband, the wind beneath my wings .

Even now, I look back and marvel at how fitting that dedication was.

We married young, young enough to make both our families feel uncomfortable. They were convinced that we werent ready for the responsibilities of married life, that we should wait a few more years, get established, be sure.

But we were sure.

And we handled it.

I remember our early years together as the adventure story of two kids: two eager, fairly new Muslims, playing House. He went out to work, I stayed home and cooked (badly); and dressed up before he got home. When I worked in East London, he used to drive all the way over from Northwest to drop me off at Whitechapel. This was so that I wouldnt have to take the train on my own at night. Or maybe he just wanted to be with me.

We developed our own rituals as a young couple: travelling to Watford every Monday to attend Islamic talks held in a friends house, visiting his mother on the weekend, staying up late on Saturday nights to talk and laugh and laugh and laugh.

Then our first baby came and we shifted gears: we were parents.

I will never forget my first labour: it was at home, Sulayman was in attendance, calm and supportive, and my sister was cooking upstairs. I gave birth naturally, in the bath, then we all ate rice and chicken together. That night, the baby wouldnt settle for the longest time and I was ready to crash out, exhausted. Sulayman lay at the end of our mattress on the floor, his body curled around the baby, soothing him until he fell asleep.

He never lost that touch.

We had four more children after that, alhamdulillah, three of them in different homes, in different countries, and one in hospital. We explored different careers: he went from selling websites to small businesses, to setting up a mobile phone company and finally a call centre in Egypt. I went from teaching, to setting up a school in my front room, to writing and doing henna as a profession, to writing full-time, to setting up a magazine called SISTERS.

When our third child was one, we decided to leave the UK and settle in Egypt for the children to have easier access to the Arabic language and to learn the Quran. We lived a good life there, surrounded by friends who had moved for similar reasons. We performed hajj and decided to take the leap into homeschooling.

Quite simply, we understood each other, we supported each other, we were best friends and allies, as well as husband and wife. It is no exaggeration to say that, without him, I would not be the woman I am today.

Sulaymans understanding and patient attitude brought out the best in me, in deen and dunyah. His way was not to command or force, but rather advise and let me make my own mistakes and learn from them. As with those he worked with, his aim was always to support me in fulfilling my potential, because it was that quality that had drawn him to me in the first place (his words, not mine!).

So, how did I find myself in 2016, a single mother of five children, CEO of a business I didnt know, facing an unknown and unknowable future?

In this book, I will be sharing with you the story of how I came to understand the meaning of Showing Up through tragic circumstances and enormous life changes. I will also share the roadmap I used to come back from the brink of despair to a life of contribution and meaning, and the ideas and insights I have gleaned over the years, inspired by the Quran and Sunnah and by the many teachers and mentors I have had during this time, alhamdulillah.

Throughout the book, I invite you to pause and reflect on the ideas I share, to answer questions about your own life situation and, piece by piece, build your own roadmap towards showing up as the hero of your life story.

Feel free to mark the pages, write notes and use the space provided to make this book a transformational, healing journey that is personal and pertinent to you.