The Design Philosophy..as i see it

Assalam o Alaikum


Dear friends,
Here is my recent interview with a student from Brown University on the impact of Islamic art and culture on American fashion.She wanted to know what goes behind my designs and poured out my heart to her :)


I think it clearly describes the way i feel and think about 
designing clothes. Hope you will enjoy reading it :) and please share your feedback.

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This is one of the posters designed to be put up in mosques across many cities ..

hi Amy,

my name is Fatimah and i was born and brought up in Pakistan. i come from an educated and open minded family where logic and reason are of importance. i was also brought up to believe in Islam with my logic and reason and no coercion. therefore my understanding of religion is, so to speak, not influenced by culture or prejudices of any kind. i have always tried to understand the various aspects of islam through logical means.

therefore to me a religion is something that should be beneficial to all cultures, ethnicities, races etc. it should be user friendly and a complete way of life. a way in which we can grow spiritually, physically, intellectually, morally, ethically etc

Around 10 years ago i got married to a practicing muslim, open minded man who had just finished college from California Fullerton University. A very good man at heart and full of solutions and passion to change the world. 

He suggested that a muslim woman's clothing should allow her to be active, comfortable and beautiful all at the same time respecting the boundaries of modesty as suggested by the Islamic Sharia Law. One can say that casual american clothing allows mobility for women, but mostly ignores the ideas of modesty as i know it. I wanted to create clothing that was an amalgamation of all these traits. Most of the fashion clothing available on muslim websites don't respect all the aspects of modesty. For example they don't consider it vital that the silhouette of the body shouldn't be obvious or fabric shouldn't be clingy. they also don't specifically care for the coverage of the chest, which to my understanding is vital for hijab. clothes need to be loose! period.

Some of the the good quality muslim clothing available is too expensive. Other cheaper ones provide low quality garments. 

I feel that since my garments are made to the specific needs of a person, my prices are very reasonable for a custom made garment, as my cost per piece is very high.

........Therefore, 6 years ago when my sister moved to Australia, all she wanted was chic modest clothing. she loved to be an Australian Muslim and she wanted to look as much of an Australian as much a muslim...but no one was catering to that..at all!
My understanding of religion told me to apply the formula of modesty to an equation which supported comfort, beauty and mobility as well as Assimilation into any western Culture. It didn't mean that we will lose our identity and fall into the traps of the west threatening our culture, but that together we could evolve for the betterment of human kind.we can take the best of both and create solutions...

These are my personal inspirations and thoughts that go into the designing of each garment..furthermore, i recently finished a beginners' course in fashion designing from a prestigious Art School of Pakistan called " Indus Valley school of Arts and Architecture". here i was given an assignment to write about a fashion designer that inspires you... and i wrote my essay on "Ralph Lauren"
I came to realize that just the way Ralph Lauren gave Casual Clothing a class of its own, i wanted to create clothing for muslim women who could look like they are going for groceries...wearing awesome casual clothes..so yes i am a huge fan of and truly inspired by Ralph Lauren Designs.

The other thing that truly makes my work absolutely different is that i only deal with customized orders. My aim is to benefit people with a clothing store that caters to their individual requirements. they shouldn't need to run through the malls of the entire world and still come home disappointed for following their faith and the tenets of modesty. My self and many many other muslim women find it frustrating to find beautiful and elegant clothing, that fits into western culture and yet stays comfortable and modest. my sister told me" i need to cover my arms and my hips, but for that either i find a short length shirt with long sleeves or a sleeveless/ shortsleeve shirt with long length shirt... i'm tired of layering myself in hot weathers and i still end up looking like I'm wearing a million clothes..."

this is the story of many muslims i know and i want to ease their lives by doing my part.i want them to wear minimum number of garments with maximum beauty and modesty!

So guess what.... majority of my customers are new converts to Islam along with a lot of non-muslims looking for modest clothing. New muslims don't have to leave their culture and jeans just because they have a change of heart and faith. Islam teaches us to respect every one. it teaches us mercy, compassion and reasoning. I believe each one of my garments have these deep and strong inspirations, thoughts and ideas behind them. 
One of my most popular items is the salat outfit. this out fit takes seconds to put on and makes sure all the requirements for coverage in salat are met. e.g., hair, chin, arms till wrist and legs till ankles and that the figure of the body shouldn't show and clothes shouldn't be see through. many converts, new to the idea of coverage, like it that they have a way to be ready for salat without the hassle of tying a million clothes...that is a SOLUTION..this makes world a better place by helping some one and causing ease in their lifestyle ;) islam isnt restrictive, many times its applications are inappropriate and proper solutions haven't been sought.

I chose fabrics that are not see through but breathing so that with covering up, we don't feel hot. cottons are also not clingy and that too is very important so i like cottons. Georgettes stay dry and washing and drying is very convenient. i like to use light pastel colors but i welcome individual choices and i want people to love what they wear.. with 100% satisfaction...thats what i'm passionate about. 

So that's about it.


with best wishes
Fatimah

Some of my designs.....

New tags and labels :)

work done at the fashion designing course

Would you like to own one of my custom made outfits?

Merci for Mercy - part 2

Name  of Allah "Ya Rahmano" - All Merciful
Hand painted in watercolor

Assalam o Alaikum and peace to All!


Inshallah today I will try to sum up most of the important aspects of Ya Rahmano 
that i have been making notes of as a continuation to my last post. Plus a short tutorial into creating a unique background in watercolor paintings as you can see in the painting shown above.


The idea of unconditional love from Allah swt is a very comforting feeling. But I must say that this comfort only came to stay once I had developed a certain amount of trust in Allah being all merciful. so much trust that when things go wrong, instead of blaming God for messing up my life, I started looking for the reason behind an event or a circumstance.I started wondering, that if the equation only results in mercy then I need to find His mercy in this time of trial...Almost like a crossword puzzle..trying to figure out the secret-lesson that He wants to teach me! Wow...I started feeling  liberated and at ease....so much less blame, hurt, negativity and bitterness... and so much more to live for. I started to see how much i had learnt out of just trying to be patient.

Well its almost like saying, I tried to put on a pair of shades, shades that make every thing around me or happening to me, look like a sign of mercy of Allah swt.  absolutely everything.This is the most liberating feeling ever.... I was some what able to get rid of all my grudges, my regrets, any hurtful feelings etc.All the bitterness and stink just felt like it was washing away..


But how does one get to that stage of stability. A place where your inside is calm and focused. How can we trust Allah's Love and Mercy so much that no matter what calamity (in our point of view) falls on us, we still say...ShukrAlhamdolillah ( Thank you Lord)!!


A friend once said...that such a thing is only possible if you "pretend" you are thankful. How can anyone  ever, in their right mind say thank you God if they lose a leg... for example..

Let me share a true story here:

A woman was seen saying thank you Lord all the time. There are a lot of people who
say that all the time but its not surprising. What was shocking about this lady was that she had no eyes, no arms and no legs!!!! 


(Hello!!! what is she saying thank you for... such a deprived life...can God be any tougher on her !!!)


and yet she was always seen saying thank you Lord...
Once she was asked why she thanked Allah when she was so crippled
and the reply came,

 " Thank you God for if I had eyes, i may have seen sinful sights....

Thank you God for if I had legs i may have trespassed into sinful places...

Thank you God for if I had arms/hands, I may have committed sinful Acts..."

To me this story is absolutely inspiring and yet some people become very cynical and say that's CRAZY!

The idea is that life isn't very sweet for any one, its always a challenge...Challenge to accept and value! but its not so simple and yet when there is a WILL, there IS a way!.. and the simple way that I found is probably to "see the half glass full, instead of half glass empty." 

Moreover, what worked a miracle for me was some SPACE. I call it MENTAL SPACE..away from Facebook, chick flick movies (movies that instigate and amplify carnal desires) and from people who have a negative attitude towards life. After doing all this (which took a lot of will power and self control, especially with internet access at our finger tips on iPhones etc..) I finally realized how much I had cluttered my mind with Mindlessness and unnecessary mental clutter, desires, stubborn desires and non-productive activities...... 

Voila!! I finally found some time and space...

But this is not enough, freedom of time has to be used with wisdom and I yearn for freedom from a jabbering mind...a mind that only made me feel inadequate, discontented and unsatisfied????

 Meditation...ooooooo, meditation really helped changed my life a lot!! initially books like Qunoot, and  "light within me"  inspired me  to do zikr and that practice started to turn into a beautiful habit. 

When ever a negative thought or feeling would come I would try and forget about every thing, make an image any of Allah's Name in my mind and do zikr of it...BUT you can't fight your thoughts all the time, you have to let them flow by, fighting with the thoughts to to stop them is like..... thinking about those very thoughts!! isn't it???

But does Quran tell us to Meditate??

One of our teachers took us by surprise when he said, Quran is full of meditations!! "Really"? i was wondering..and then he explained... He said that every time Quran says " afala Ya'ta dabbaroon" Why don't you think, why don't you ponder .or ponder over this ....etc these are all invitations from God for us to sit and ponder.These ARE the meditations!

One of my very favorite ones is Ayat 99 of  Surah Anam (6).

وَهُوَ الَّذى أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّماءِ ماءً فَأَخرَجنا بِهِ نَباتَ كُلِّ شَيءٍ فَأَخرَجنا مِنهُ خَضِرًا نُخرِجُ مِنهُ حَبًّا مُتَراكِبًا وَمِنَ النَّخلِ مِن طَلعِها قِنوانٌ دانِيَةٌ وَجَنّٰتٍ مِن أَعنابٍ وَالزَّيتونَ وَالرُّمّانَ مُشتَبِهًا وَغَيرَ مُتَشٰبِهٍ ۗ انظُروا إِلىٰ ثَمَرِهِ إِذا أَثمَرَ وَيَنعِهِ ۚ إِنَّ فى ذٰلِكُم لَءايٰتٍ لِقَومٍ يُؤمِنونَ

English-Pickthall translation

He it is Who sendeth down water from the sky, and therewith We bring forth buds of every kind; We bring forth the green blade from which We bring forth the thick-clustered grain; and from the date-palm, from the pollen thereof, spring pendant bunches; and (We bring forth) gardens of grapes, and the olive and the pomegranate, alike and unlike. Look upon the fruit thereof, when they bear fruit, and upon its ripening. Lo! herein verily are portents for a people who believe.

These are surely wonderful, mesmerizing meditations that you can do all the time,in the car, while eating, in the garden.. ALL THE TIME. and the most beautiful thing is that they bring so much Trust in Allah!!

How's that?

Well, what clicked me was the Absolute predictability with which Allah works. There are no undue delays, no mood swings... nothing..just dicsplane and  expectability. With out fail a night follows the day and a day follows a night...  He blesses a non believer with the very same fruits, that He blesses a believer with...the apple seed is always available in an apple. Imagine if God  wouldn't put seeds into any apples one year? no apples forever..apples would go extinct !! that's it...like dinosaurs have gone extinct!!

Every year when a farmer sows the apple seeds he trusts God to grow them.... isn't it? We just don't know it but subconsciously we are at a certain level of peace because we trust God to do His work impeccably!If we didn't trust Him it would be like a guy getting married the next day but he frets about the sun coming out on time the next day or not!!

The sheer fact that laws of physics can be taught in textbooks year after year is a proof of the flawlessness with which Allah works. So if we can trust Him with these petty details  (in our ignorant point of view) of life, why can't we trust Him when He says 'I am Ar Rahman' The All Merciful!!..no matter what you do I LOVE YOU!!!!
The more one meditates about Allah's perfect ways of working, the more one absorbs a sense of trust and a constant feeling that 'I have some one PERFECT, REALIABLE and WHO LOVES ME SO MUCH AS THOUGH HE'S CRAZY ABOUT ME (so he would never ever leave me alone) and FULL OF WISDOM (he would never take a wrong decision for me)  so as to rely on Him at all times ...24/7" .... 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could experience that kind of absolute serenity where we have nothing to worry about!!! ... lets keep trying inshallah! Allah says you take one step towards me an I will take ten steps for you .... SubhanAllah :)

(Please leave your comments so i can get a feel of how much more i need to go into detail in this subject...
there is lots and many resources you can go through for a better understanding too...let me know)


Now its time for the water painting tutorial:

waterford paper seal of authentication

One of the key ingredients in getting a beautiful watercolor painting is the right choice of paper..I use waterford. Please make sure your water is clean, drinking water may even be better for places where water is chemically treated too much... but i use normal tap water :)
 ok so here goes:


1. Apply water to the entire area of background with a thick paint brush.


2. use colors like raw sienna, yellow ochre, Red umber, burnt umbre, vandyke brown. use the guide given below to find the corresponding colors from your palette. the following is available on the leaflet that comes with Cotman watercolor paints by Winsor and Newton.

3. Add water to your paints and create appropriate colors in your palette. 

4. Now paint on the already wet areas of background on your paper.

5. As you paint, start sprinkling Salt over the wet painted areas. Leave the salt on the paper until the paint dries up.

 

6. As the painting dries up, you will start seeing the effects more prominently. Let the painting dry up completely, then brush out all the salt with clean dry hands or  dry white tissue paper.

7. Now start painting the other stuff... Hope this was helpful ... have fun painting :)

Please feel free to ask any questions ...i'll be happy to hear from you all :)

May we all be honored to become the utterly humble servants of the All Merciful one day!

With prayers and best wishes for all ... Fee amanAllah until next time !!

Upcoming Blogs will discuss: getting rid of negativity and acceptance of what is......inshaAllah!

more tutorials too :)

Merci For Mercy - part 1

Batool Says" Thank You Allah" - Hand painted in watercolor

Assalam o Alaikum and peace to all!

I am very excited to share what i have come to know of mercy...The joy it has brought to my life is worth sharing for sure:)

It is only fair to be thankful towards someone who shows mercy to us. So " Merci for Mercy"

is what i want to share today.

 What is a mercy far greater than any or unlike any other? How would i feel if i were to get that kind of

mercy from some one!

The only place I discovered this kind of mercy was truly an attribute of Our Lord! 

His name Ya Rahman(o)! which means All Merciful! Although i had heard and known about  this attribute of Allah swt for a long time.. since i was a kid and also through a Surah in the Quran - Surah Rahman, Chapter number 55.

It was never clear to me the difference between All Merciful and just Merciful 

What i found recently was just a sign of how much i had never understood ( one of our teachers says in our theology explanations: " the more I know, the more I realize how much I don't know " So beautiful!, its like entering a door to find a room full of many more doors !!!)

...The word Rahman comes from the word "RAHM" meaning the womb in arabic. Wow! now it gets interesting... A Womb is a place that nourishes a child unconditionally; protects and cuddles.

A child may be a cause  of discomfort but a womb still gives comfort...that's unconditional ! It is so remarkable that Allah swt, the Master of the worlds, the King of kings, didn't need to show mercy towards us because He is  Self-Subsisting. In contrast to HIM, the rule of this world has been that the more powerful you are the more arrogant you become. When there is no need to be nice then why should you be nice!

And yet Our Lord shows His humility and love towards us by not just choosing any word to describe Himself but a word that roots from the word WOMB, the most secure and unconditional place for any one to be.  This also means that there is no 'tyranny, injustice, or unfairness' in the way God is towards us. But then how do we explain His everlasting unconditional mercy when we find our prayers unanswered, a place we didn't want to be in life or trying situations...???

Let me share a parable with you:

The world is full of millions of goodies. Out of those millions, u can't have what ever u desire.

It's like a child going to a store full of  a million things. It's not necssary that the parent will buy what so ever the kid may point a finger at. Because kid's wisdom cannot fathom the harms of his desire. But the parent's wisdom can encompass all the negatives of buying that item of desire.    

So there may be things u may desire and may even get them. But mostly u won't always get every thing because it may be bad for u. Thus a child who complies with parents because he trusts their wisdom stays a happy child. And a child who doesn't trust them lives a very unhappy, unsatisfied and resentful life. 

                                            

Have u ever seen a wise parent who is extremely rich, buy the whole toy store for a child? Any day if a rich parent would do that u would say... They're spoiling the child!!

does that look spoilt or what!!

 God is our best Guardian. He wants the best for us and He doesn't burden us with more than we can handle. Because He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He trusts us with a burden, but sadly we are the ones who dont have faith in our own abilities at times !

This  also goes to say that the trials and difficulties too are a form of His Mercy....Wonder how? 

Being a mother you too punish your child. Like, may be ground him or take away a privilege... For what? So you could make him learn a lesson,  make him more grateful, humble and a better person. If a mother doesn't reprimand a child for stealing an eraser from school, that child may well never understand what it means to steal!! In that case if a mother punishes a child for stealing, that too is her mercy!

Thank You Lord for not leaving me on my own or forgetting me, but for keeping an eye on me!

In order to understand the workings of this life and to persevere successfully, we not only need to have faith in the presence of God but more so in His Absolute Wisdom that supersedes all Divine Decisions!

May We All bask In The Light Of His Mercy!...untill next time 

NEXT BLOG : next time i will be showing you my "Ya RAHMAN" painting and the secret to creating a beautiful backdrop effect as seen in the paintings above, i will also share a few more insights into YA RAHMAN!

I yearn for Thee, I yearn for Peace!

Hand painted in watercolor available at my etsy shop! :)

With a prayer of Peace and Joy for all

I begin my blog, once and for all

Today as the morning dawns on you,

a light may bloom the inside you,

With every sprig of leaf i see

With every splash at ocean and sea,

I wish to find a way to Thee!

with Peace and Joy I Yearn for Thee!