Dear Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wasalam),

If I were to meet you, I would talk to you about:
 How there are Muslims world-wide who love you
 How Islam has helped me deal with mental and physical worries
 The peace that salah brings when you don’t know how to articulate your personal prayers to Allah but you know that Allah know you more than anyone (including yourself) knows you
 Strong and intelligent women in Islam
 How honour-based cultural abuse and violence is mixed with Islam
 How divided the Ummah is now by sects, cultural practices and prejudices.
 How countries have become so divided despite having Islam in common
 How Islam aligns with my mental health and has made me find meaning in nearly every decision of my life
 How when opening the Qur’an, sometimes the Aya I first read addresses my qualms or thoughts of the day
 How Allah answers your prayers in a nuanced, loving way
 How Islam has allowed me to make meaningful friendships where I feel there is no censorship because I know that my friends have open hearts to listen to my ramblings and guide me to your practices and Allah
 How 2019 is a worrying time to be a Muslim and how he dealt with adversity in his time
 How Islam teaches basic values and has a divine intelligence around practices
 How to deal with aggressive non-believers
 How to get children to form a relationship with Allah
 How to make Ramadan easier when you have exams
 Remembering to pray to Allah when everything is going well in your life too
 The commercialisation of the Hijab
 The slandering of a woman’s honour
 The abuse of men marrying four times
 How marriage is given the importance of one of the pillars of Islam and rushed or believed to fix problems
 How to halal court in 2019
 How to overcome emotional and mental exhaustion from social activism
 How there are children and adults who recognise you as their hero
 How to teach Islam in a way to welcome discussion and always remain curious to study further into the faith
 How to deal with judgmental Muslims who would rather point out your sins publically than privately talk and try to help you
 How to communicate to family who are more culturally motivated about what people in the community would think than what is Islamically appropriate
 How to talk to older generations about social change without appearing condescending
 How to have sabr with people and with myself when having bad days rather than jumping to harsh judgements
 How to provide support to loved ones going through severe mental health problems and diseases?
 How to grow up with kindness and not become cold
 How much peace I feel when repeating ‘Allah’ and thinking ‘What would Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wasalam) do’
(WWPMD)?
With love,
Sidra Malik