 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when he introduces people to us in the Quran in this momentous way to say that he's given us certain examples, we really have to pay attention because there's something coming basically. So when he says to us, he has given examples for the believers in Fira'an's wife. That's for all of us, but also for our male counterparts to learn from, to learn from her as an example for all of us. And of course it's a much longer verse as was recited, but I wanted to point that out. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam also mentions of course, as he has specifically, so he in addition to the other three perfect women says her name, and this also should warrant for all of us to respond to, I want to know more about her. If he mentioned her, of course Allah mentioned her, who is she? I want to know, right? So he says here, the best of women among the people of paradise, already given paradise, are Khadija bint Khuailid, Fatima bint Muhammad, Maryam bint Imran, and Asya bint Muzahim, the wife of Pharaoh. And that distinguishing, you know, mention here of who she is is also really important as we will now find out. So the reality is we don't have that much biographical information about her, but what we do know is still pretty impressive subhanAllah. We know that she came from a very regal, royal, very prestigious, noble, wealthy family. So she came from wealth before she was Pharaoh's wife. And she was also known for her exceptional beauty. So she was known to be quite beautiful. And of course, this was an arranged marriage. I mean, we're talking about, you know, people who were in the world of, you know, ancient politics. So she, she's, this was not something that, you know, was a love marriage, certainly. It was an arranged marriage. She was also known in, as just in general, of one of her beautiful defining qualities was her generosity. So very generous woman and something that again, many of us here maybe relate to. She experienced infertility. You know, let's just break it down in language that we understand. She was actually, she went through that. She was, first of all, married to someone who she didn't, Allah knows, you know, whether or not it was her choice. We don't know, but we know that it was an arranged marriage. So maybe there's people in this room, just this morning, by Allah, I got a message from someone in response to my recent stories on Instagram who, you know, she was just letting, you know, her heart, she found comfort in the post, but she shared with me that she was forced into a marriage and she is miserable. So there are women amongst us, maybe in our own family, in our own friends groups, that this is their experience. This is her experience where she was married to, clearly, not a very good person. We know who Farhan was. He was the worst of human beings. But then on top of that, on top of that, she had the second trial and tribulation of not having an escape, right? Because for many women, and again, those of us who work with women in our community, we know that when you're married to someone you're incompatible with or you don't click with, the silver lining or the consolation is that you, if you have children from that person, that you can focus your love and your heart and your intentions towards that child. And Subhanallah, you know, that's some, for many women, that's what helps them. It helps them to endure. So she didn't have that. She didn't even have children to help her to cope with her reality. And we have to think about the level of, you know, just the privacy, the small circle that is afforded to people who are of this, you know, stature, you know, she's a queen. It's not like she has besties that she can go and hang out with. So she's a limited circle who knows if she was even closer, had her family accessible. She doesn't have a child. And then she has to witness her husband who is a horrible, horrible tyrant, you know, persecute, torture, do horrific, horrific crimes. And she doesn't have any means of escape. But Subhanallah, what did she have? Of course, she had her faith and her faith was a very private matter. It was always very private for her. And so, and this is also just to mention here, there's great wisdom in why she wasn't given children. Because as our scholars pointed out, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la did not want to give Fira'un a child through this perfect woman. So it was really about her, Subhanallah. Even though she suffered that, it was really, she was too good to have his children, Subhanallah. More about her that we know. So one day, she is with her maid servants at the Nile River. And you just got to put yourself at this scene. This is why I like visual sort of presentations. I want you guys to read along, but I want you also to visualize. I want you to visualize you're in this predicament. You know, you're just alone. You're probably very lonely, very isolated. But you have some moments of, you know, maybe some relief, some escape. You're at the Nile. You're looking at this vastness. I've never been to the Nile. May Allah take us all there if you've never been, if we've never been. But inshallah, she's in this amazing place with her servants. And then behold, she sees this crate box. It's described in different ways with a baby floating. Again, just think it's like the one thing you've wanted perhaps your whole life for this thing that you pined for that Allah is now giving to you and it's floating. So of course, she gets the baby out of the water with her, with the help of her servants. And she wants this baby. She fell, the scholars again described it, she fell in love with this infant. She fell in love with. And that's just again the natural disposition of women we, Allah has created us with that we have the womb, right? And this is why we are deeply connected with the attributes of Allah SWT, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim. Because it's the same root word as racham, the womb. Whether you have a child or not, right, whether you are, whether you bear children or not, you are tied to Allah SWT in a way that many people are not, half of, you know, the creation is not. So think about that deeply. But here she falls in love with this baby and she knows what she wants. She wants to keep this baby. This baby is hers. So she goes and she convinces Firaon to allow them to keep it. At that point, this, if you, the history is also important to mention because Firaon, of course, he had visited a fortune teller who told him that someone from amongst his nation or in Egypt basically was going to overthrow him. So he enacted the most horrific policy of murdering all male baby boys, literally murdering them. The descriptions are so hard to read because you just kind of, you're like, how, how, how are there people like this who could exist? He had, you know, what did he call them? Sorry, I'm losing my words. He had midwives that were appointed by him who would find out women who were pregnant and they had to birth them. And then he had his henchmen slay the boys right at the birth in front of the mother. This is how horrific of a monster he was. But he also didn't want to have, you know, he didn't want to not have a working class of men because the women couldn't do all of the slave labor. So he came up with this policy which was, every other year, I'll slay the baby boys. And it just so happened that this baby was born in a year when this policy wasn't acted. So his mother actually, and the story really does, we do need to include her. She is incredibly, I mean, she's an incredible person and she's so important in this story because it is her faith and the fact that she, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, inspired her to maintain her pregnancy secretly, to birth her baby secretly. So again, there's another person involved here that we have to introduce to the story, her private midwife. This is why Sahbah matters because when you go through a trial, you want to know that there's someone who can keep those secrets for you, who can be there for you when the whole world seems like they're against you. She had, Allah brought her an amazing soul who kept her secret when everybody else was ready to sell people, throw them under the bus, just to get into the king's court or just to ingratiate themselves to him. She kept her secret for nine months, 10 months. She birthed that baby with her, Allahu Akbar. And then as she's so terrified, imagine, she's terrified to, because they would come in and look and inspect the homes. And she had to nurse this baby. So she was secretly nursing. And there are some stories that are explanations that say that she would go and hide the baby in a forest, put it in a box, tie a rope to it, and keep it on the bank of the river because she lived by the bank. So this was her daily thing. I want you again for the mothers here to just imagine this is your reality with your infant, your newborn infant that you have to, you can't keep them on you, right? How many of us have, I mean, I had separation anxiety for a few minutes. People wanted to take my baby from me for a few minutes. I was like, no, no, no, give it back. Give him back. So just to imagine having to do this, but she had to do it. And Allah inspired in her to trust that she would, he would reunite her. And the story is beautiful. Again, as the verses of our dear Islah that she recited, her daughter also is important, Subhanallah, her daughter, the mother of Musa's daughter. So this is Musa's sister. She's also important because she's the one who was sent to follow the baby up this path, right? And we know the story, right? She's the one who convinced the court, you know, Asya's court to allow her mother to come and nurse the baby because they were testing all these women. Like they wanted a wet nurse. He needs to eat. But Allah prevented him from suckling from all of the women until his own mother came. Allahu Akbar. This is the promise of Allah. So all of these women are so important to note up. We can't just, you know, they're not just in the backdrop, like, you know, you have the starring role and then supporting people. No, no, no, these are all Allah's, you know, clearly showing us how each one of them is so essential to her story. So she finds this baby. She pleases and she's allowed to, he agrees to let her keep Musa. I mean, she doesn't know it's Musa, at that time. All right, that he's a prophet, but she keeps him. She loves him as if he's her own. She takes care of him. She, you know, he has access to everything. He lives a very good life, right? SubhanAllah. And so then what happens? So this is a really important part of the story. Now we're going to segue a little bit because as he's growing up and, you know, he becomes the prophet and he starts to teach and he comes with his brother Haroon. Again, follow the story. He is now, I mean, this is his, you know, he's a prophet. He has to call people to Allah. People, you know, are hearing of his message and some people secretly believed, you know, and those who, I mean, there were very few brave souls who would openly mention it. But there was a woman, another woman essential to the story who is known as the hairdresser or the beautician. Now she is the beautician from a previous marriage. So Farhan's daughter's beautician, right? So it's his daughter from a previous marriage, had this beautician. And one day she was combing Farhan's daughter's hair and the comb fell to the ground and she had, you know, become accustomed to calling on the name of Allah. So, you know, sometimes it's reflexive, you know, just Bismillah, Alhamdulillah, we say these things. She said Bismillah. So his daughter now, we have to see the other side, right? So his daughter was, of course, suspicious of this. She inquires, do you mean my father? Because what would Farhan do? He claimed to be God. So she's, this is how he had the power that he had. He would force people to accept it. He was Al-Bilah, a God, or not a God, the God, Astaghfirullah. So she's just trying to push, you know, a little bit more to find out who she means. And she asks her directly, do you mean my father? And then the hairdresser boldly says, no, my Lord and the Lord of your father are the same, Allah. So imagine the strength of this hairdresser. I mean, just think, you know, anybody, I mean, just think about the faith and the conviction and the courage it takes to the daughter of the most tyrannical human being on the planet that you're gonna tell her that I don't believe that your father is anything, you know, I believe in another God. So she was clearly someone. And so the daughter, his daughter infuriated, she goes and she tells her father that this is what this woman said. Now he's a monster. We have to just accept, he's a monster. He's not gonna accept this. This is a slight, it's an insult to him. He has to make an example out of her. So he basically threatens her and he orders, again his henchmen, to go and to fill a pit with boiling copper, okay? So it's like a flame of copper. Just imagine the scene. And he threatens that he is going to not only torture her and kill her, but before that, just to add some more torture to it, he's going to torture or kill her children. And one by one, make her watch. And you have to see the story from all these sides. She just boldly confronted this tyrant. And she's still, she has a stick on her. She's still standing straight. She's not bowing down. So all she says is, one request. I just can't even fathom this type of courage. One request, just please collect my bones and my children's bones. It's all I want. Miraculously, he agreed to her one condition. So one by one, they were thrown in front of her. The last one was her nursing infant. So she actually had a nursing infant. And she, just imagine, she wavered for a moment. Like, I can't do this. You know, just that whisper, it's a whisper. This is an infant. And SubhanAllah, right, there's four babies who spoke. He was one of them. He says to her, right? He says, mother, throw me and it's okay because the adab, the punishment of the next world is far worse than anything in this life. The baby spoke. Allah inspired this baby to give his mother the courage. And SubhanAllah, both of them perished. Their bodies, their physical bodies. Of course, we know the reality. Now this story was, I mean, people watched it. This was, you know, something that they gathered to watch. And Asya, Radeela Khan, she also saw this. It deeply affected her. Really affected her to see this. I mean, it would affect anyone, anyone with decency and humanity. While others were jeering and applauding here, she was moved by the reality that she's done pretending. She's done masking her true beliefs. She realized up until that point that as his wife, what would he do to her? He raped women. He tortured children. He killed people without, with impunity, with no thought. What would he do to her? But in that moment, seeing the faith of this hairdresser and her children perish in front of her, she realized, she's done. So she goes up to him and she says to him, right? Kefer Tu Bika, right? I do not believe in you, right? Wala Ubali. And I don't care what you do to me. I don't believe in you anymore. You're nothing. I don't believe in you. And I don't care what you do to me. I meant to, Rabbi Musa, and Rabbi Haroon, Rabbi Al-Alamin. I believe in the Lord of Musa and the Lord of Haroon, the Lord of all the worlds. So she, with so much bravery, faced him. She confronted him. And when she said this to him, right? What happened? Pharaoh, of course, he wasn't going to try to save her. There was no decency. No humanity in this man. So he basically needed to make another example of her. But this time it was gonna be much worse because this was personal. This was deep, right? This was a real affront to him. So he basically, again, told his henchmen to take her to the desert, right? Take her to the desert and do what? Strip her. It's a very horrific story in these details, but we need to understand why she is who she is. So we have to honor every detail of her story. She was starved. She was in the sun with this intense heat beating down on her naked body. Her arms and legs tied. And they were whipping her and torturing her. And then they would take breaks between, you know, they're tired of all that torture. So they need to take a break. And Allah out of his Rahmah sent the angels to cover her. So she would be covered in those breaks. And at a certain point, she called out to Allah. Like, yeah, Allah saved me from Firaoun. I want to be close to you. Show me my place in Jannah, right? Give me my place in Jannah. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala answered her. He answered her and he opened up the skies for her in the middle of this torturous, horrific experience. When she cries out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he opens the skies and she can see her place in Jannah. And she starts out of sheer ecstasy and joy at the vision of what is to come. She is smiling because she knows that this is temporary. And he sees her, blind as ever, laughing. And he goes, look at her, she's crazy. And he feels even more, you know, emboldened to continue to torture her. And again, no humanity. This is a diabolical, not even a human monster. He orders his men, he's so sick of her in her celebration, he wants to pulverize her basically. So he orders that they throw a boulder onto her body as if what she has been through wasn't enough. He wants to end it. And he doesn't want to give her the satisfaction anymore. So subhanallah, in her high of seeing her place in Jannah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala took her soul. She was gone. The boulder came, didn't matter, she was gone. This is Asya, the mother of Musa alaihissalam, one of the four perfect women. So many lessons that we can take from her story. Here's just a quote about her martyrdom that Abu Hurra reported, right? He, again, describing what we just did, summarizing it that he pinned her down and the angel shaded her and she made this da'a asking for her home and paradise. And the verse is from Surah Al-Tahrim, I believe chapter 66, verse 11. Now, the lessons, the story again, there's so many lessons, y'all, so many lessons. But first I wanted to focus on the examples of the women that I mentioned because we should know these women. Sometimes when we hear these stories, we only, again, focus on the main characters but the women who are the supporting people who made these things happen are also very key, very key. And Allah swt placed them exactly where they were. So Prophet Musa alaihissalam's mother is essential to her story. His sister is essential to the story. The midwife who delivered him, right? The hairdresser herself, Asya radilahana, know all of them, see examples in all of them, take lessons from all of their strength. They all had a man that was not moved, but didn't waver. And they followed exactly the command, that the inspiration Allah gave them or the direct command, but they had a deep connection. They had a secret, they knew something. And the beauty of that is that we can all know that thing. We can all know that thing and I'll get to that in a moment, but know this about them. And then the examples of the weak and the cowardly women we should also think about, right? The daughter of Farahun. So when we're in positions of power, if we're not mindful of Allah swt, and we give, we take power from false gods, false anybody. There's a lot of characters who assume power and we don't take our power from Allah swt. We should take heed from that because you abuse power and that's exactly what she did. She could have kept the secret, but she didn't. She's a coward. The same with the other wives in the concubines of Farahun who stood and watched Asya being tortured. So they were watching. And we know this as women even today, how many of us have heard that sometimes women are our own worst enemies, right? It's like you don't get a lot of, I mean, it's the sense of loyalty that you would expect from your own. Sometimes you don't feel that. So just think about that. And she experienced that in the worst situation possible. And then also what we need to take from the story in general, right? To have firm faith. Look at what firm faith gives you. Allah swt that I granted, she is SubhanAllah a perfect woman mentioned again directly by him referenced in the Quran by our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Here we are in 2021 speaking about her. She is not an insignificant person just because she's not on some website or popular or famous or has followers. There's all these ideas of what we think are significant today. But those are all false. She is significant because Allah swt and his Prophet gave her significance. And because of her faith, more, you know, the fact that she had that faith and she was able to stand up to him. So having firm faith in regardless of what you're going through will never and you will never suffer. You will never end up short on the short side of anything if you have firm faith. You may you may go through difficulty but we're talking about true suffering which is in the next life, right? And listen to that inner voice, right? We all have the inner voice. All of us. We wouldn't be here if we didn't have the inner voice and we didn't respond to the inner voice. And that inner voice was know who you are, know what your purpose is, you know, get your prayers straight, wear hijab, know that that inner voice isn't just from you. That inner voice was given to you to dial up and listen to before it's too late. Don't just ignore it. Don't skip, you know, put the volume down on that and listen to all the nonsense outside of you, outside of us. Listen to that inner voice because it could be the very inspiration that inspired her and all of the other women that we take our lessons from in this story and know that your strength and power is only with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. No one else, no other human being, not your father, not your mother, not your husband, not your children, not your teacher, nobody, your power and strength is with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. He created you out of nothing. He gave you existence. He could have chosen not to give you existence. So know that and then what not to do, never doubt Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. Never for a moment think that if you do something that you obey, that you follow Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, that he will not fulfill your du'as, that he will not answer your call. Never let that shak that doubt that comes from Iblis. It's from him. Enter your heart. Have the highest opinion of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. Some of us have more expectation and more confidence in human beings around us. It's tragic. If we have more confidence in our parents or our siblings or our spouses, our children, and then we doubt Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, we need to rectify that within our hearts. Why? Human beings make mistakes. Our Lord is perfect and he doesn't fail in his promises. So if you're gonna accept the promises of someone else and then you wonder, did Allah listen to my du'as? Is he gonna answer me? That is shak from shaitan. Reject that. Don't have doubt because as the prophet said, right? La khafu'a la ummati ila da'afil yakin. I fear but one thing for my umma, weakness of certainty. So we have to strengthen our yakin with Allah and never be drawn or seduced by power, wealth, fear. This is a demonic message that is permeating all around our world that calls people to put, to draw, to be seduced by power in a worldly sense. So that's wealth, it's money, it's beauty. How many women are just caught up in this message of focusing so much on the external. They spend hours, thousands of dollars. I mean, I don't have all the statistics. You can read them, the beauty industry and how much millions of dollars are wasted on women thinking that that's power of their beauty, of their physical body, is what they need to rely on to get ahead, to get up in the work position that they want, to get a husband and have a marriage. No, your power is with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. All of that's gonna go and it can be taken away from you like that. But if you have Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, he will, what? The inshaqatum ba'zidannakum. You show gratitude, I will increase you. He will give you more. But if you give it to other people or falsely attribute it to other things, you're losing constantly. And that's why we have a crisis of misery. Read, and I've referenced this paper again. Read the paradox of declining female happiness. Read it right now. You can do a Google search. Read this paper. Yale just posted it on their website. Recently, I didn't see it on Yale before, but it is an incredible research paper. Shows over 40 years what is happening with the fact that women have all these opportunities now. We have so much that we can do, but the happiness reporting across every section is pivoting, I mean, it's going down. It's a paradox. Researchers are puzzled, why? Because they were told a lie. You have money, you have marriage, you have children, you have education, you're gonna have it all. No, if you have all of that and you don't have Allah, you have nothing. You have nothing. That's the truth. That's the message that we believe. So don't be seduced by false gods and false claims of power. And never trust yourself to yourself. Because the nefs is the greatest enemy of the human being. That's why we need Sahbah. That's why we need to turn to teachers and people who know, who are on the path ahead of us. Alhamdulillah for organizations like Rahmah Foundation, like Jannah Institute, like our amazing teachers, our amazing scholars who you will, inshallah, hear from. Alhamdulillah. And just briefly on this idea of power, because it really affects me. I think you cannot have a conversation on womanhood without addressing this because it is always the subject of everything related to women. It's always about comes down to power. This is a quote, we should know this quote. It's from Lord Acton. Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts. Absolutely. Quran is a perfect example. And we're seeing how corrupt when people have too much power, what it does. We've seen it in politics. We see it in homes. There are big tyrants and little tyrants. We see it everywhere. Power without divine assistance, without that connection to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is corruptive. This is a quote I read from a psychology, I think today article on women and why women are drawn to power. And I thought it was important to mention here because we need to address this within ourselves. If we owned our own power, we would no longer be attracted to powerful persons. We would know that they are just people, just like us who have the same complexes, psychospiritual issues and the same biological mental emotional needs as the rest of us. This is truth talk. So any of the younger sisters here, please again, if you're getting that message from any member of society, any member of your family, any member of your friends group that tells you that you are basically until you become married, you really don't have anything to offer this world. This is a message so many of us got until you become a wife and a mother, you're irrelevant. That's when your life really starts. Reject that, right? Because those are beautiful aspects of life if Allah wills that for you, but that is not the purpose of our creation. We were not created just to be someone's wife and have children and have a home and shop all day. That's not the purpose of our creation or to go work even. So whatever calling you have, alhamdulillah, it's from Allah that He put that in you, but that is not the purpose of why you were created or why I was created. We were all created for one purpose and one purpose so only which was to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that is essential. So all of this, again, appeal to try to define yourself according to what you have, the titles you have, the wealth you have, the possessions you have is false, it's a lie. And that's why you need to know what power truly is and how do we own our power, you may ask? How do you do that? How do you get to that point? Barely among the best of faith is that you know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is with you wherever you are. This is power. If you have constant awareness and vigilance that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always with you, you are never alone. So when you walk out of this building, you go into your car, you wake up every movement that you have during the day. If you realize Allah is with me in this moment, He's closer to me than my jugular vein. He is always with me. He's never not with me. Then you don't give power to others. You don't lose that sight. You always have that presence of mind. And just to further this point, this is a beautiful story that was related to us from Ibn Abbas. And he was around 13 at the time. So again, imagine being a 13 year old and the Prophet ﷺ tells you this message. He says, one day I was riding a horse right behind the Prophet ﷺ when he said, young man, I will teach you some words. Be mindful of God. And He will take care of you. If you think of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He will think of you. To be a thought in our creator's mind, right? Just to think of that idea that He's thinking of us. Of course He's always, He has full knowledge. So that's not the same thing. When we talk about this, right? Be mindful of God and He will take care of you. There is that law of reciprocity, right? Be mindful of Him and you shall find Him at your side. If you ask, ask of God, don't turn to just anyone. Always think my first protocol, the protocol I have when I have a need is to turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because He's with me. He knows my plight. He knows my condition. He knows the solution. Why would I go to anyone else? So ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala if you need help, seek help from Him. Know that if the whole world were to gather together in order to help you, that they would not be able to help you except if God had written so. And if the whole world were to gather together in order to harm you, they would not harm you except if God had written so. The pens have been lifted and the pages are dry. This is how we define our power. Being mindful of our Lord. The strong believer is more beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala than the weak believer. So we need to strengthen and fortify our faith. But there is goodness, alhamdulillah, in both of them. Be eager for what benefits you. What benefits you? Allah. Be kept feed. That's it. That's all you need. If you have Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, it's more than enough. Hasbun Allah wa ni'mal wakil. We don't need anyone outside of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Seek help from Allah and do not become frustrated. Don't become impatient, right? Because shaitan, this is how he destroys faith. This is how we weaken faith. As another hadith says, and I don't have it here, but the summary of it is that the believers, du'as are answered until they start to look at the time, basically, and say, you know, oh, it's been, I've been praying for this for a month, a week, a few days, a few hours. Then you call us. As soon as you start putting time constraints on Allah, you're presuming to know what's best for you. Where did reliance on Allah? Where did tawakal? Where did surrendering, submitting to Allah's will? Where did that go? So we don't appoint time frames on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We submit, right? So we submit and don't become impatient. Don't become frustrated. And if something befalls you, which it will, life is hard. Life is not meant to be easy. Life is difficult, but that is the design of it. But with Allah, he can give you, as they say, the storm, the storm can be going. He'll help you to find the eye of the storm. That safe refuge so that even though the storm is going, you won't feel the effect of it, right? And don't ever let that word what if. This is also a huge part of what I see in the suffering of so many of our sisters. What if, right? Low minashaitan, this concept, if I could go back in time and rewrite things, things would be better. And I'll tell you briefly, as I close out, and I know I'm going a little over because of the delay, forgive me, I'll finish up in just a moment, just briefly. For those who don't know, some of you know me and you've heard me speak about my story, I've lived so many things that I see in Asya's story. But in particular, this idea of not having things go as planned. I got married very young with the full intention of having children. I wanted many children. That was my plan for myself. Allah, of course, we plan and he plans and he's the best of planners. He willed it that I married someone who could not give me children. And it was the worst form of infertility where nothing, not even in vitro, could work. So there was no way that I was having children with that person. Alhamdulillah, ala kullihal. But I did not expect that four years into the marriage and I'm thinking, OK, I think I'm ready for children. Boom, nope, no children. Another four years in that marriage, I had to come to grips with this, that I planned something. It didn't go the way I planned. But Allah knows best for me. And alhamdulillah, when you have teachers who remind you of these things and you have Suhba that remind you of these things, you can endure. And alhamdulillah, wa shukrillah, immediately after I left that marriage, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala opened up just like the skies. For Alasya, I could see hope again. And everything changed for me. Within a year of that divorce, I had my child. Within a year or a month or so. My first child. I was remarried, obviously. I forgot to mention that part. But Allah knows best. And alhamdulillah, I can't even remember my previous life. I know I had one, but I really don't remember it. And I'm so grateful for that. Because my life, in so many ways, right, when we again look back in our trajectory, we can sometimes remember the painful moments. But that's one of the mercies of God is that He'll take those memories from you. Alhamdulillah. But with that said, the last and final message, I just want to finish these slides because I put a lot of work into this. That's why I was like, I got to get this up here. You decide your path. You decide your priorities. The power that you have is in your choices. All of us have choices to make in our decision. That's where it reflects our power. You decide the lens you choose to see this world, right? Your perspective, your worldview, your framing. That's your decision. You decide your choices, your words, your actions, behaviors, your attitudes, reactions we have to remember. We are moral agents. We are responsible for ourselves. You decide the narrative that you live according to. You want to adopt the narrative that's going around in the world that just reduces women to nothing but physical beings that are there to please everyone else except for themselves. Okay. Or you can choose what our faith teaches us, which is you have the highest aspirations to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's the narrative that we should all be living according to. And you decide the value of your life. Your life means something. You are important. You are meant to be here. Every single one of you. Allah loves you. Allah loves you. Remember that. And then the final and last message here is another beautiful example. The believer is what? That of a fresh, tender plant. From whatever direction the wind comes, it bends. But then the wind, when the wind becomes quiet, it becomes straight again. This is how we are. Life is going to hit you. It's going to come at you this way and that way. You bend with it. You go with it. You don't resist the decree of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then when all of it settles, you're firm. And that's faith, insha'Allah. Jazakum Allahu Khair. Wa salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.