Blogger Spotlight: Meet The Millennial Muslim!
The Black Muslim Times UK is excited to bring you Blogger Spotlight! We’re speaking to bloggers of African and Caribbean descent to highlight their amazing work and get to know them a bit better.
"The Millenial Muslim" blog is dedicated to helping Muslims deepen their relationship with Allah through thought-provoking articles on faith, spirituality, life and so much more.
Founder of the blog, student, author and self-proclaimed bibliophile Suad KamarDeen, spoke to Halimat Shode of TBMT-UK to give an insight into what got her started on her blogging journey.
Asalamu Alaikum sister thanks so much for speaking with us! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m Suad Kamardeen, a Chemical Engineering student at the University of Birmingham currently on a placement year with BMW Group. I was born in Lagos, Nigeria where I lived until we moved to London in 2010. I’m an avid reader with a strong love for writing. I’m passionate about helping people – especially young adults – understand/recognise that they are great and capable of achieving what they want. I intend to do this through counselling and writing.
What inspired you to start blogging?
I love writing and giving advice to people based on my life experience because I believe people don’t have to repeat the same mistakes or fall into the same trap that others have. Blogging serves as the right platform for me to put my message across to the world. Also, I understand that giving direct advice doesn’t work well with some people so I write posts and make du’a that it is beneficial to all those who need it.
What are your favourite topics to blog about?
My favourite topic to blog about is anything surrounding “the Love of Allah” and “Ihsaan”. Since I discovered what a relationship with Allah is meant to be like, I feel like I have a responsibility to show the world how it meant to be and encourage them to give it a go.
With Ihsaan, I think it’s something we all forget and when things do not go our way, we immediately say it’s the Qadr of Allah without stopping to take responsibility for our actions. I hope I can highlight to people that the Qadr of Allah is important and does play a role in our lives but before we make such conclusions, we must ensure that everything we do is done to the best of our ability.
Who is your intended audience when you sit down to write a blog post?
When I write a blog post, I think of teenage/young adult Muslims. I have two younger brothers and when I have conversations with them and their friends I realise how much information they have about Islam but with little understanding. For this reason, the religion has come across to some of them as too strict whereas it’s a simple way of life based on a healthy balance between the love and fear of Allah. I find that a lot of them do perform the obligations of the religion but it’s more based on fear than love. My aim is to help them build a loving personal relationship with Allah because with genuine love, comes obedience and respect. With love also comes the desire to please Allah and know Him better. With this attitude, they are encouraged to learn more about the religion and continuously strive to be better.
What challenges have you faced on your blogging journey?
Funny enough, the challenges I’ve faced on my blogging journey are internal struggles. The fear of not being good enough or not worthy enough to write about a certain topic sometimes haunts me. On the day I launched my blog, I had crippling anxiety. I was a nervous wreck and now that I look back, I realise I had no reason to be anxious but at the time, so many negative thoughts were swimming in my head. I’ve come to recognise that any time I want to put out something with the intention of making a change in people’s hearts, these fears surface and what’s important is being able to remember the intention behind the posts. When such situations arise, I make du’a, upload the post and leave it in the hands of Allah.
What advice do you have for your fellow Muslim sisters that want to start blogging?
Go for it. Fear will always be there but to be honest, it’s only temporary. Once you take the first step, things become easier and you realise you had nothing to be worried about. It’s so easy to feel you’re not doing enough or you don’t have enough posts or traffic on your blog. Know that it’s one step at a time.
Figure out what you want to blog about, say Bismillah, create a blog and write. Don’t feel pressured to post too many things at once. You can start with once a month and when you feel comfortable enough, you can do twice a month. That way, it’s less overwhelming and you’re less likely to quit.
Your voice needs to be heard and what you have to say is important.
Where can we connect with you on social media for all things The Millennial Muslim?
I’m quite active on Instagram @themillennialmuslim and Facebook (The Millennial Muslim).