My Background
I am a Tamil-speaking South-Asian Indian, raised and settled in the United Arab Emirates with my husband and three children. I graduated in Psychology, post-graduated in Islamic Studies, professionally trained as a certified coach, and an ongoing student of the Qur’an.
I am an author to a couple of books published under my kunyah, Umm Afraz Muhammed, and I am a book reviewer for Islamic-themed and/or Muslim-authored books. I have hosted and delivered workshops related to life skills that fall under the banner of Islam and/or Psychology since 2010, and I have been a madrasah teacher since 2020.
All Praise is to Allah Alone for His Blessings and Favours upon us.
My Story
Fueled by my love for Islam and Psychology, I had volunteered as an Islamic Counselor at quite a few organizations since 2012. I was not aware of the concept of coaching then, and what little I knew of it was related to sports, finance, or executive coaching. Six years into my role as an Islamic Counselor, I was introduced to the knowledge and benefits of pure coaching as taught by my mentor.
Throughout these years, I had my own journey as a mother, wife, sister, friend, student, daughter, and a Muslimah. Those days, I was:
> insecure,
> unconfident,
> unassertive, and
> anxious.
After going through my own coaching experiences, I learnt to unlearn and redefine myself with the Help and Grace of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta3ala.
This soloventure of mine - Redefined Muslimah Coaching - tells my story:
> of being redefined,
> of overcoming the labels of definition I unknowingly put upon myself,
> of emerging from the self-doubts, the low self-esteem, and the lack of self-confidence I had in myself, and
> to whole-heartedly accept who I am as a creation of Allah with humility and gratitude.
Redefining myself is a journey I still go through at every phase of my life, in every role that I fill.
My Journey with the Qur'an
As far as I can remember, I was often connected to the Qur'an, either through recitation or through reading the interpretation of the meaning.
Come motherhood, and I could not - rather, did not - make time for the Qur'an. And even when I did, it was not the same connection that I had felt previously. It was rushed, disconnected, and mundane.
On hindsight though, I am grateful to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta3ala for making it happen as such; because, in 2013, I had the blessed opportunity to attend the Tafseer of Surah Yusuf by Shaykh Sajid Umer where I had experienced a connection with the Qur'an like never before. This was what I had wanted! This was what had been missing in my life!
I realized then that the Qur'an was beyond tarteel, tajweed, tahfeedh, and tafseer. Not everyone is able to study the Qur'an, but every single person has the ability to reflect upon the Qur'an to implement it in their life.
This only deepened my love for the Qur'an, and I started reflecting on the Qur'an more and more. I was so in awe of this experience that I started conducting it as a family halaqah activity with my kids, and turned the activity guide into an e-booklet.
Eventually, in 2020, I incorporated my love for coaching and Islam, and wrote my Masters Thesis on Self-Coaching from a Qur'anic Perspective (which is now turning into a book, bi-idhnillah). What I learnt through my academic research and interviews for case study ingrained within me the fact that we are all connected and have the connection to Allah and the Qur'an, if we only spend time to reflect and ponder.
Thereafter, in 2021, I enrolled in a certified Qur’an course - Qur’an Fi Hayati (Qur’an in My Life) - which helps me learn the entire Qur’an word by word along with its tafsir.
This journey propelled me to serve as the Qur'an Life Coach for Muslim women, helping them to connect their lives with the Qur'an through reflection, and guiding them to listen to the Qur'an speak to them, with the Permission of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta3ala.
The true essence of the Qur'an is in tadabbur - in pondering, reflecting, extracting, implementing, and applying the life lessons from the miraculous Qur'an into our lives.
The true essence of the Qur'an is in tadabbur - in pondering, reflecting, extracting, implementing, and applying the life lessons from the miraculous Qur'an into our lives.
May Allah guide us to learn and live the Qur'an to seek His Pleasure. Aameen.