Photo Courtesy of Kira Okamoto
“Truth leads to piety and piety leads to Jannah. A man persists in speaking the truth till he is enrolled with Allah as a truthful. Falsehood leads to vice and vice leads to the Fire (Hell), and a person persists on telling lies until he is enrolled as a liar”
-the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him (Agreed Upon)
I was flabbergasted. How could this be happening? My two most prim students, Maha and Zina, jumping up and down, their hijabs flying, their fingernails clawing – each other. And the foul-mouthed insults that they hurled (complete with spit) would have made sailors proud. I, like the rest of the class (except for little Abdullahi who couldn’t stop laughing hysterically), sat in stunned silence (until my referee instincts kicked in), watching the fiery confrontation right smack in the middle of silent reading time. How could this be happening?
I, like Maha and Zina, would eventually come to understand how it happened, but only when Zina (the instigator) admitted the truth about why she was feeling out of sorts. It took us awhile (the entire lunch break) to figure out the truth together – but Zina, ten years old at the time, was willing to follow along, to answer the questions, to dig deeper, to “unmask” the truth.
As we women get older, we’re not so willing. But if we were, we’d find the calm and peace that leads to true piety, and happiness in this life and the next inshAllah.
And of course, there is the Islamic duty of always telling the truth, we don’t lie to others, alhamdullilah. That’s not what I’m talking about here. Here, it’s about telling ourselves the truth. It’s about consciously acknowledging things that are happening to you and inside of you. It’s about your life, events in your life and your thoughts and feelings about those events.
It’s about the truth that we hide from ourselves. The truth that makes us uncomfortable because it would require us to get out of our prisons, ones that we often build for ourselves. It’s about facing the stormy seas that if we don’t face will continue to fester negativity and ensure that those bars never come down. The truth truly does set us free.
In Zina’s case, it boiled down to the fact that she’d lost her math book and was scared to face the teacher (not as nice as me 
). She felt like a failure, angry that she’d lose points, and jealous that Maha would beat her in marks. Of course, none of this manifested itself in knowledge of the truth beforehand, rather, there was the comment by Maha “no, I’m not going to let you copy my answers – you should have done your own math homework!” that set off the fury of emotions.
). She felt like a failure, angry that she’d lose points, and jealous that Maha would beat her in marks. Of course, none of this manifested itself in knowledge of the truth beforehand, rather, there was the comment by Maha “no, I’m not going to let you copy my answers – you should have done your own math homework!” that set off the fury of emotions. Of course, everything is an experience, alhamdullilah. Zina had to learn a lesson that day. But, it was one hard learned – so much so that it belied the simple conclusion, the simple solution. I, along with the principal and her parents stood next to her as she apologized to Maha and spoke to the math teacher, who turned out to be at least as understanding as me Zina would be forgiven, she wouldn’t lose points, and until she found her math book, she could use a spare.
Zina would be forgiven, she wouldn’t lose points, and until she found her math book, she could use a spare. The truth is that at the moment we begin to own our truths, positive change starts. It’s why leading your best life can only work well if you acknowledge that some of your perceptions are false, some of your efforts are failing, or simply, that you feel like the weight of the mask you’re wearing is pulling you down. You lighten your load, that weight of the world on your shoulders, when you unmask the truth that speaks to you.
In the book, Release Your Inner Queen of Sheba!, protocol 17, “this queen travels light” describes a process by which you can literally get rid of the baggage that holds you down. Consider this exercise an add on that will help you unmask the truth behind the baggage.
Take out your journals and complete the following sentences:
- This is what I don’t want to know…
- This is what I am avoiding…
- The real truth about my life (or about this situation) is…
Keep writing, you’ll know when you’ve unmasked the right truth. And if there really isn’t anything there, alhamdullilah, this will be easy, and consider yourself blessed. May your truthfulness lead to the highest levels of paradise.
But if you’ve suffered behind the mask of falsehoods, you may find anger, fear or grief. And though this might be a daunting process, trust me, you’ll feel better at the end of it. You’ll start to take ownership, to understand what needs to be done. You’ll begin to live a more authentically true life, free from masks.
You will be Zina, the truth seeker Princess.
And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who she grows up to be!
