.:VOLUME 1: ISSUE 3:.

Assalaamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu and welcome to the SUMMER 1433 issue of SAKYNA Magazine; a collaborative magazine centered on mindful & Islamic natural living, nurturing, & crafting through the seasons.

Issues of the magazine are available for purchase here.

Table of Contents:

.:Letter from the Editor:.

وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا ۚ وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ
And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided, and remember the favor of Allah upon you.
{‘Ali ‘Imran 103}

I love to write. I always have. Its always been my greatest way to say what I want and how I feel.
A while back, I asked myself, “What do I want to read about?” and then set out to answer my own question.
I wanted to read about Muslims and how they live, and not necessarily about Islam and what it teaches, I already know its teachings because Alhamdulillah, materials of Islamic resources are plentiful and always available in every form. I wanted to read less about what Islam teaches, and more how people live out these beautiful teachings.
Now that I had answered my own question, I could finally start to write with meaning.
I did not want to write a book, I wanted to start something that could grow and evolve. I wanted something that could inspire others continuously, and something to reflect its own influences through its pages. I dreamy to create a community based on sharing experiences on how we live our Islam, but you can’t have a community without people, so I decided to create a collaborative magazine, something anyone could submit to.
In a space between motherhood and sanity, I began building the foundations of my project and I sought out people to contribute to what would become SAKYNA. I expected to find critical people , and people hesitant to write for no compensation, which of course I did encounter, but what I hadn’t anticipated was finding that there is little confidence among Muslim women to write about their Islam. As I tried to understand this insecurity, I was confronted with this apprehension that if you’re not a scholar, or at least a man, then you have nothing to say or worth sharing. This further reenforced my desire to write, and now publish, for Muslimahs and not about Islam. We know the teachings, we know the rules, but what our Ummah lacks today is a balance to Islam and contemporary mores. Never before have Muslims had to hold so tightly to the rope of Allah against such a steep slope, and I’m not just talking about prejudices or discrimination. So much in the last one hundred years has become acceptable that never has before in history. As I grow into my deen, and my daughter grows into hers, this community I’ve dreamt about is no longer just a want, but a need, and right now, SAKYNA needs you.
This is our third issue in publication, mashaAllah. For this issue, which is largely focused on Ramadan and ‘Eid, I had high hopes of a growth in the SAKYNA community. Alhamdulillah, a lot of interest was generated for this issue, emails and messages pouring in all the time, and as the submission deadline drew closer and closer, my anticipation and hopes were still high, and we received just one submission.
Remember that place between motherhood and sanity that I had built SAKYNA in? I felt the walls begin to give. For the past year, I had given this place so much of my self, spent nearly ninety hours a week in it. I don’t regret a single second of it, but I cannot go on like this for another year. I extended the due date and, MashaAllah, received a few more in that time.
SAKYNA has taken on an Assistant Editor, the very cherished and talented Aneesa Ahad, and with her, myself, and our dear Co-Editor editor D. Salah, the future of SAKYNA is safe for now, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need YOU.
We need your essays, tutorials, patterns, recipes, tips, poems, quizzes, and pictorials. If you’re living your life, applying Islam’s principles as best you can with what you can, you’re already a qualified expert. Help us build the community of SAKYNA. Please visit http://www.sakyna.com/submit/ to learn how to submit a piece of your work..
Looking forward to hearing from you all this Autumn ❤
.:.:.:.:.
Dalecia Young, Editor in Chief of SAKYNA Magazine