On a recent trip to a bookstore to stalk my book (as you do when you’re a new author) I realised that if we look at the self-help industry there are currently no Muslim authors representing us on the self help shelf.
As a Muslim woman who is a die-hard fan of self-development literature I often find myself wondering, where is the Muslim Brene Brown or Mel Robbins? Or where is the Muslim Robin Sharma, Jay Shetty or Tony Robins?
As Millennial Muslimahs (Muslim woman), we grew up amongst the backdrop of 9/11 and the chaos that took place in its aftermath. In many ways the events that unfolded over the last 20 years during the ‘whole war on terror’ has shaped us in ways we still can’t fully comprehend. It is safe to say that as a community, we suffer from PTSD, big time. But where is the help in the literature for us?
Some of the most successful books in the self improvement world have borrowed ideas from Judaism, Christianity Hinduism and Buddhism and I always wondered why the Islamic voice was missing, the Quran, after all is the best self improvement book I know.
Cool buzzwords such as practicing mindfulness, gratitude and meditating have been trending a lot in the self-help space lately but they are not new to me since they are at the heart and core of the principles of my faith. Words such as manifesting or the law of attraction are also familiar concepts but I am yet to see a book on manifestation from the Islamic perspective.
Representation matters. As a Muslim it is important for me that I can identify with books that places trust on the Maker of the universe, instead of simply the universe to manifest my most audacious goals. I’ve always been a big believer of manifesting my dreams through the power of prayer, which in Arabic is known as du’a, and so consequently, everything I’ve achieved in my life; whether it was academically, spiritually, relationally or professionally, all boiled down to the same three steps that I have subconsciously been practicing my whole life: Dream, Du’a, Do. But as a young woman who was trying to find her way, there was little or no direction to do that.
I decided to write the book that I wanted to read.
Dream D’ua Do is a really simple self-help book where you get to laugh a little and learn a lot as I walk you through the process of achieving your wildest dreams. My book is unique in the sense that it has all the cool bits that you would usually find in the western self help books but all the philosophies or research in neuroscience, behavioural science or positive psychology always ties back to the teachings of Islam.
I wrote this book for a very specific target audience; mainly for my shisha-smoking, designer jeans-wearing, Adele songs-listening, “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free” chanting type of readers, because there is just not enough literature out there for people like us, not in the traditional Islamic world of literary and certainly not in popular culture, in the booming self-help industry.
One of my biggest dreams for this book was to push it towards the mainstream. I didn’t want it to just make its rounds in a few Islamic bookshops or even if it sold in the bigger bookshops like Barnes and Nobles, Waterstones or Kinokunya, I didn’t want it hidden away in the religion and spirituality section either, I wanted it to sit unapologetically next to all the other self-help books that are out there at the moment. So I did just that.
Sometimes all we have to do is dream, du’a and do.
Dream Du’a Do is available across different bookstores in the UAE and online on Kindle as well as Audible.
