Welcome to a Mindful Ramadan 2022 – to leaving a legacy. This year, our goal is to inspire each of you to choose how you want to be remembered and to ignite your passion for contribution, whether at home or on a global scale

Our guest today is a trailblazing author of over 20 fiction titles for children and teens, as well as the bestselling memoir “From my Sisters Lips”. She is the founder of Sisters magazine and Editor-in-Chief for 10 years. She has touched the lives of thousands of readers and launched the careers of dozens of writers. She has appeared on British news and TV shows on radio stations and her work has been published in several well-known British newspapers and on a global level. We’re excited to have our dear guest and friend, sister Naima B Roberts.

How did you get into writing? Who was your inspiration? 

It’s interesting that you asked who was my inspiration because there was nobody around me who was writing at the time that I started. Back in the early 2000’s, there were very, very few books on Muslim stories, especially for children. 

I had converted to Islam when I was about 20. I got married, had my first child and it was when we were going to the library when my child was about 18 months that I realised that there were hardly any Islamic books with gorgeous illustrations or wonderful stories. The children’s books in the library did not reflect us or our life. I did not want my child to grow up thinking he, his family or his people were not worthy of being spoken about or not worthy of being celebrated. 

So, I took it upon myself to write children’s books that represented us! I began focusing on Islamic themes for children with my own literary aesthetic. I didn’t want to tell basic stories. I wanted to tell beautiful stories that would make you feel special. That’s how I started writing – on a wing and a prayer. 

Now, many of the books that I’ve written over the years have become a part of people’s childhood. 

It is so amazing that you were proactive. You didn’t have the training necessarily, but you went in and wanted to provide this for your own children and now, are providing it for thousands of children all over the world. Tell us about your book “From my Sister’s lips”. 

“From my Sister’s lips” is a testament that sometimes Allah makes the pieces come together. I had been writing for children for a little while. I had a few stories published. The publisher that I was working with was a multilingual publisher. They really liked working with me. We had done a few titles together and then another publisher was looking for a multicultural story. I had a meeting with this lady who was the head of a publishing house. I told her that I cover myself fully, including the niqab. She was surprised but highly interested in hearing my story and the book I could write. We met and she immediately got me a deal with Random house. 

How did you overcome the common stereotypes that are associated with Islam, hijab, and niqab?

Everything that people see about you is different. All of us do something that makes us different from everybody else out there. The extent to which you act and use your weakness or a strength makes you different. If you see your weakness as something that holds you back, this is how you would see yourself. If I didn’t have the perspective to be different, I wouldn’t have had the unique thing that the publishers saw and thought “We haven’t seen that before!”

Throughout the course of my writing career, it was the things that I brought to the table that were different that made me stand out. Those differences became my strengths. And of course, your unique traits will repel people as well. There’ll be some people who would not like you or vibe with you. You will not be everybody’s cup of tea and you never will be. Be authentically you, and it will attract your people to you through your authenticity and your realness. The people who are not vibing with you will not vibe with you and that’s fine. When you are authentic to yourself, it is very liberating.

At what point did you decide to start coaching other women to start writing? 

I decided to start coaching, teaching, training and sharing my experience and expertise in 2018 when I came back to the UK from Egypt. I was interested in doing something online, so I started with a very simple children’s book workshop that focused on writing for children. That’s what started it all. We continued creating courses and responding to the needs of our people. We’d have a fiction course. We had a basic writing course. We’ve done writing to heal courses. We moved on to helping women write, publish and promote their books. 

My biggest passion for 2022 is to help, support, and create 222 Muslim authors by the end of the year. 

A lot of times people want to leave a legacy when they’re rich and famous. They just want their names to be remembered. But this is a very different perspective. We want to Islamicize and do it with the right niyyah. How can writing a book be a very profound way of leaving a legacy?

My life would not be the same if I had not told the story of “From my Sister’s Lips”. Not only would my life not have been the same, but it would have not been the same for the hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of women and men who’ve read that story.  By Allah’s grace, I inspired people to see something differently and become a better version of themselves because of being inspired by this story – none of that would have happened if Allah had not inspired me and brought those events together that allowed me to tell that story. 

Because of “From my sister’s lips”, I travelled around the world and met thousands of sisters who’ve read the book and come to my talks. 

People think that if they don’t sell 10,000 copies of their book, it wasn’t a success. I don’t teach that because I believe that if you share your story, and one woman, one man or one child gets the awareness and the tools to break a generational curse, to heal a generational wound, and then implements that for their children, that is a legacy being passed down. You have literally changed the fortunes of that family. Every one of those children will be impacted. Every one of those children’s spouses will be impacted. Every one of those children’s children will be impacted and you’ve changed the trajectory for all those families. That is success! 

What Are Your Programs About And How Can Sisters Join?

We love to meet sisters who have passion – whether it’s a story that you have to tell or a message that you want to spread or knowledge that you want to share. If you have passion about your story and think there is value there, if you’re passionate about your message and you know that people need to hear this, if you are passionate about this knowledge which Allah has blessed you with and you want more people to benefit from it, it’s the thing that’s going to see you through when things are tough.

If you’re not sure or are lacking confidence, these programs coach you with getting the clarity and confidence you need.  We support you when you’re not sure and are confused. 

Having a coaching session with sisters carries a different kind of energy. You’re here for a reason. Allah has put this desire in you and has given you the means to put some action behind your desire. The very fact that you’re here, you’re in the right place at the right time and you have everything you need is a sign from Allah. You just have to start behaving accordingly. We’re here for you as your coach and have got your back 100%, 

You will be getting the reward for this khair that you’re putting out there because every single one of my authors have a high and lofty goal when it comes to their books. It is the heart and desire that makes the difference – that desire to be of service, that desire to benefit the people, that desire to be a perfume seller, to be the person who puts good out into the world that makes you successful in dunya and akhira. 

What Do You Want To Be Remembered For And What Is Going To Be Your Legacy?

If there’s anything, I ask Allah to have my name written down as somebody who was sincere – when I told my story, I was sincere; when I helped others, I was sincere; when I had these conversations, I was sincere and that He accepts it from me. That’s the most important thing.