Islamic survey!

It's about time I got one of these! A friend emailed it to me and I had to fill it out since it wasn't like any of those other bozo surveys I've gotten where the questions do not apply to Muslims at all! Enjoy, and feel free to fill it out yourself, only after erasing my answers of course!

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Name: Lazeena

Age: 20

Location: NJ, USA

Background: Guyanese

Spouse (if so, name and background): Abdul Malik, Colombian & European

How long have you been married? 2 1/2 years

Kids? Yusuf, 13 months

Are you a revert? technically speaking, no, but sometimes I consider myself one since I wasn't always practicing. My husband is a revert, about 5 or 6 years strong now alhamdulillah

Have you been to Hajj or Umrah? No, hoping to someday inshaAllah, it's my mahr!

How many masaajid have you been to? Wow.. um..Darul Islah, Nida ul Islam, Minhaj ul Quran, ICPC, Masjid Omar, Ansar us Sunnah, NIA of Newark, Islam Education Center of North Hudson, Masjid Rahmah, Masjid Farooq, 96th street masjid, Masjid Tawheed, Masjid Taqwa, Nugget Masjid, Islamic Society of North Jersey, Masjid al Abadein, Masjid Ashabil Yameen, Muslim Social Club, and maybe about 10 more masaajid I've stopped in at during traveling and don't know/can't remember the name of

Have you ever been involved with a masjid? Man, I used to live at the local masjid... after attending I started teaching summer classes, Saturday school, Sunday school, did office work, have done cleaning, attended Hifdh classes there and YM/halaqas there.. currently I still teach Sunday school. I can't see myself NOT doing anything there

Who are some of your favorite lectures by? Imam Anwar al Awlaki, Dawud Adib, Imam Abdul Malik, Khalid Yasin,Yasir Birjas, Muhammad al Shareef, okay basically all of the Al Maghrib instructors, and some of the local khateebs even

Who are some of your favorite recitors? Mahmoud Tablawi!!! Muhammad Jibreel!!! MashaAllahhh! Ahmed Al Haddad, Yousef Mouti, Abdul Basit Abdus Samad of course.... Imam Ajami, Hafidh Idris, my husband =) and any random kid on YouTube mashaAllah

Some of your favorite Islamic books? Don't Be Sad, The Ideal Muslimah, Zaad ul Ma'ad, Return of the Pharaoh, any books with small hisorical stories with morals, like Gems and Jewels, the Qur'an of course tops all.

Decribe your most memorable Eid: When I wasn't married I always enjoyed visiting extended family members, now that I'm married and have my son, I enjoy our small family adventures as well alhamdulillah, each Eid offers something new

When did you first start fasting? When I was 7 alhamdulillah, fasting full days! woohoo!

When did you start hijab? When I was 12, in 7th grade.. I was a fake hijabi for some time, with short sleeves and tight jeans haha.

What's your usual outift like when you go out? abayah, hijab, niqaab.. I only like pashmina and khimar type hijabs, the 45" square ones seem too small too me.

What do you like about blogging? I like meeting sisters all over the world who see things the way I do and have the same views as I do as well. It's always nice reading someones thoughts and smiling to yourself thinking they took the words right out of your mouth. alhamdulillah. I wish there was some weird virtual way we could meet one another though!

Describe your first feelings wearing hijab
Hijab: I was really insecure honestly. I didn't even understand much about it, though I was the one who chose to wear it. I felt worse when the first day of school when I wore it these girls were telling other girls to stop being friends with me, I felt like melting! But then there were those other friends who stopped being friends with the bully because of her negative attitude and I realized some people are just losers and I was thankful for my friends alhamdulillah.
Abayah: I was relieved wearing it honestly. Finally there was an end to finding matching tunics and loose pants with matching hijabs and accessories. Getting dressed in the morning was so much easier and I didn't need to spend an extra 10 minutes turning in the mirror to see if anything was showing or was too tight!
Niqaab: I was very confident wearing niqaab alhamdulillah. It took time getting used to something on my face, a lot of foods crashed into my niqaab when I first started and forgot to lift and taste haha.. but alhamdulillah I was overjoyed to put it on. After waiting almost 2 years for my parents to approve and still starting without their approval anyway, I actually felt at home in it alhamdulillah. Niqaabi love!

How do you pin your hijab? The only pinnable hijabs I wear are shaylas/pashminas so I keep one side really long, pin it under my chin, wrap the long part over my head and pin it with s traight pin. I made sure the front covers the way it should and then theres a long piece in the back providing extra coverage for the backyard ;)

Highlight the countries you know Muslims from: Antarctica, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Chechnya, China, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Spain, Taiwan, Trinidad Tobago, Turkey, Yemen, Yugoslavia

What was on the last prayer mat you made salah on? It's gray, green, black, blue and red, just some huge multicolored triangles on it. They need to start making some solid colored prayer mats, with some of the crazy intricate designs I see on some prayer mats, I don't see how people stay focused while praying!

What's your ideal iftar? Well, just dates for me when I break my fast, and maybe a sip of something. I don't do the whole samosa and 10 other appetizers thing, and wind up praying maghrib late! But for dinner, anything goes, just something warm and fulfilling. A Ramadan staple I do enjoy is rooh afza (aka Pakistani pink milk! haha)

What type of adhaan really gets to you? the kind where the masjid is filled with chatter and once the adhaan starts not even a pindrop can be heard, thats an amazing thing to hear mashaAllah

What's something that annoys you at Jummah: People taking calls during the khutbah! Or people reading Qur'an during the khutbah. Come on guys, you're not even supposed to respond to someones salaams during the khutbah, that's how focused you should be on the khateebs words!

What was the last surah you read? (not recited in salah) Al Furqan

Do you dry yourself after wudu? Sometimes, mostly when I do it's just my face because I have to put lotion on afterwards

Do you brush your teeth for fajr salah? HAHAHA uhh sometimes a quick brush or I use mouthwash, theres something off about praying with stank breath to me haha

Whats the last Islamic thing you've been involved with? helping to raise awareness and money for this family alhamdulillah

What was the last convention you went to? I've only been to 1 in my life - Masjid Rahmah's 2nd annual convention. Conventions never appealed to me that much ever since I'd ask people what it was like and they'd go on and on about what funny things brothers did there, what good bargains they got, and how many brothers and sisters they saw meeting up - no one tells me about the moving lectures! Isnt that the whole point??

Have you ever been part of an Islamic matrimonial site? No. But I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of if you have..

What color is the rug in the masjid you usually attend? green... I think all the masjids I generally go to have green carpets..

Is the masjid you usually attend separated? Yes there is a top floor for the brothers, bottom for the sisters. Whenever there aren't events there is a curtain in the middle and the brothers pray in the front portion, sisters in back.

Have you ever stood in a minbar? Haha, yes, and I've given fake khutbahs from it too

Have you ever washed a dead body before? No I haven't. I've only gotten as far as the room the masjid has to wash the body and keep the it in until the janazah

What's the last thing you ate in the masjid? Some Khasmiri food at a sisters nikaah

Where's the strangest place you've seen a Muslim working? I havent seen, of course, but a sister once told me she was working at a night club..?!

Have you ever posted a flier in the masjid? Yes haha

Rate your masjid's bathroom: I don't use it because from the reviews I've heard it isn't all that.. who likes using a bathroom other than their own anyways?

Have you ever used a bidet for istinja?:Yes, we used to have one. Thanks, I kinda miss it now!

What's the weirdest thing that happened to you in salah? The person next to me fell asleep and rolled over onto their side after we stood up from sujood. I think I had to break my prayer because I couldn't focus and was laughing!! I was so mad because it was tahajjud and I was so motivated to stand through the long prayer!

Isn't it annoying when the imam tells everyone to shut off their cell phones and someone's phone rings in the middle of salah? haha yess, it always happens! just put it on vibrate people! its only for 5 minutes!

What's some of the best halal food you've had (from a non Muslim country)?Popeyes in Canada!

What was it like when you found out skittles were haram? LOL I was in 2nd grade and the teacher gave some out because.. well I can't remember. My new Muslim buddy who moved from Texas waited until I ate some and then said "OOOOOOOOHH, THOSE ARE HARAM! THERE'S PIG INSIDE!" I didn't understand, there was no meaty texture to it, but I stopped eating them and gave them to someone else. My mom later explained pork was in them. Some months we bought Mentos and after bringing them home. My mom told me to take them to school and give them to my friends since I couldn't eat them. I handed mentos out to my friends and the one who told me skittles were haram asked for one. I handed her one and whispered in her ear, "Say Bismillah before you eat it cuz there's gelatin inside!" And she listened to me! hahaha! Okay we werent practicing then and I was young so I didn't know anything!

What's something haram that you think most people don't know? Your fiance and cousins are non mahram to you, you're supposed to treat them like any other random brother walking into the masjid. And Pepperidge Farm Goldfish have beef fat in them. Most people refuse to come to terms to that because they're so yummy. Recently I contacted a company about their soaps and the person mentioned that some of their FABRIC SOFTENERS have gelatin and beef fat in them - who'd of though?! Ironic question because I've recently started this

What's the craziest hijabi fashion you've seen? Someone wearing a headscarf and a salwar kameez, where the pants were capris, they were in high heels, the top had slits and you could see her stomach, there were no sleeves on the outfit, and it was lowcut in the front. Oh, did I mention she was a niqaabi??? This was at the airport, she was waiting for someones arrival. I wanted to puke.

What did you like about this survey?? That it didn't ask dumb questions like 'whos the last person you kissed', 'what does your breath smell like', and 'how drunk were you last night?' totally relatable questions! We need more Islamic surveys like these!