Of all the things that I wish Allah would have blessed me with: appreciation for sports is something I crave to have.  Actually, why am I trying to make myself look good?  What I truly would want from Allah is to discover a way to attain and maintain abs that would make a washboard envious and continue eating my way through every food establishment in London without having to break a sweat.  Alas, this Muslimah’s dream is not within the Merciful’s plans and she must come to terms with the fact that with hardship comes ease.

That and the fact that aesthetics will not stop my arteries from becoming the congregating grounds for congealed fat.  Health and wellness is something that comes from within and needs to be maintained with some form of a fitness regime.

If I’m honest, I can say the only thing that made me cancel my gym membership was the fact I was giving them free money. I’ve never really had an issue with mixed gyms, just the exercise.  I find that all thoughts of self-consciousness and worry fly out of the window once I use the apparatus – we’re all supposed to be at the gym for the same reason right?  So it was a judgment-free zone and I was able to miserably get my body into motion.

Though I have to admit, while I would be on the cross trainer, one thought would always cross my mind: where are the other sisters? 

A question that I couldn’t always get an answer to until I took to social media and asked a group of sisters what their workout regime consisted of, and if they were even members of a gym.  The responses were incredible and certainly sated my curiosity.  Out of 60 Muslim women, only 11 were gym attendees with a third of the focus group stating that they preferred to work out from home.  And there are a number of reasons for this; from finding the time in their busy schedules , to most sisters stating they would prefer to attend a women’s only gym for obvious reasons. Some just preferred to partake in group activities with other women.

Reasons that I can definitely relate to; What with having to adhere to Islamic dress code, going to the gym and something as simple as jogging around the block, can be intimidating under the gaze of men as well as the general public.  At the same time, I can’t deny the amazing images I’m seeing on The Interwebs with the prevalence of Muslim women dominating the Fitness scene.  I’m just fangirl-ing behind the screen like “YAASSSS”!  I’m all for it.  Sisters like personal trainer Shazia Hossen behind the Instagram account @_shazfit, who works out and lifts weight in her hijab like a boss.

" 'Dear Woman' ???? poems… . There is an army of women out there battle-worn and dripping with self love… There are women building kingdoms with every breath they take and every move they make is to fill up a space that they've been told to vacate and they will not moved. So tell me, where are your 'Dear Man' poems?" ???? Exerpt from THE woman of the evening, @salmaelwardany's performance at @summerpoetryx last night ???? @t13_abes ????

A post shared by Shazia || Hossen (@_shazfit) on Aug 16, 2017 at 2:59pm PDT

Sisters like YouTuber and fitness coach Zahra Pedersen , better known as @thehealthyhijab, who regularly gives guidance on fitness, healthy eating and well-being.  What I love about these two sisters is the encouragement they give to women ; that it only takes  good intention which turns into an action, and then you too can be like them.  Shazia has even gone to the lengths of coordinating a free full body blast workout for all women at Morningside Community Centre each Monday from 6:30 – 7:30pm which is too dope.   I haven’t actually been to one yet, but seeing an image of so many sisters in hijab post-workout is motivation enough for me to attend one day, insha’Allah.

What are your thoughts on working out? 

Maybe you can join me for one of Shaz’s sessions and we can talk it over in between burpees.