I want to post a brief explanation of what the title of my blog means so that you may understand my interest in articles and thoughts I may share with you. In brief, “One Woman Army” refers to my belief that one woman can advocate for change and that one woman can in turn, metaphorically speaking, be equivalent to the size of an army. It takes just one person to make a difference.

It is my belief that through the process of wanting to make a difference one must be realistic about their beliefs and who they are. Virginia Wolf sums it up best in the following quote, "If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people." The Moment and Other Essays

For me the battle of telling the truth has been a long winding road. I continue to reflect and formulate my own thoughts on what this world means to me as Allah would want it and what my purpose is. Part of my own self-realization was the acceptance of fear. Fear seems to be what holds us back from taking action. So many of us have great ideas to improve the world, but these voices become lost. So few of us are like the ‘Javeds’ (the CEO of Illume) who have a vision and make that vision happen. Or like Greg Mortenson who advocates to improve the lives of young children by providing them the opportunity of education.

Two years ago, I had a conversation with a colleague of mine, while I was in the process of changing my career. I related this conversation to an article I had been reading about the Aboriginal strife in Canada, Alienation and Isolation: Patterns of Colonialism in Canada’s Education System. This conversation resonates in my mind today. We discussed how people often have fears of making mistakes. This fear is the reason why people hold themselves back from taking actions towards their dreams. This is also a consequence of oppression. Such an example exists for the Aboriginals in Canada.

The irony of this statement is something I can personally relate to. I know why I am here and what I had been trying to achieve in the past out of my education process. Getting certain pieces of paper/certifications only allow you to gain education in order to bring clarity to understanding your own lives and the lives of the people you want to help. I can completely understand the author when she describes how she learned about Aboriginal Rights not through her formal education, but rather by examining her own pain and life experiences in feeling isolated and alienated though her process of education. The education process of understanding Islam and its implications for my life has been through these life experiences. Our wisdom comes from what we do with our life experiences. Wisdom is about how we make our life experiences work for us, after we have worked to understand what the experiences mean. True wisdom requires much self-reflection.

I recall a discussion I had a few years back with another colleague whom after our lengthy conversation, had written his interpretation of what strife in life amounts to.  I thought it was fitting to share: Life is difficult. It can bring pain and sorrow. The measure of a person can be determined by how she handles the sorrow and pain. What does it mean to be noble? To be noble is to be a person who refuses to nourish personal resentment. Has someone been cruel to you? If so, how do you respond, as a noble person? Do you repay the evil with evil? No. Do you repay the evil with good? No. What do you do? You figure out how the cruelty has helped you and, in turn, how that person has made you a better person. In this sense the following is true: What does not kill me can only make me stronger. So, we need to be noble, acknowledge the cruelty, refrain from resentment, learn from both the pain and the pain giver, and be strong at the broken places. If we can pull that off, Afroza, then we can call ourselves noble.

Insha’Allah I truly hope to be noble and to try to always help others wherever and whenever I can. Be it through community initiatives while I serve on the board for the Federation of Muslim Women, or through the involvement of outreach activities for the betterment of society. If anything, as I enter my 30's this year I realize that I refuse to remain stagnant.

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define youself." Harvey Fierstein