I'm glad I decided from the very beginning to read the ENTIRE book, from cover to cover, otherwise I know I would have skipped reading some of those sappy true stories after a while. Some people like to read other people's success stories but I must admit sometimes I'm just not in the mood to hear about how good someone else has it, even though they may have struggled to get to where they are.
I thought the stories were corny and useless at first, I just wanted to get to the steps I needed to take to get to my own happy ending. Now, however, I see the pure science behind the placement of these stories throughout the book.
Most relationships, regardless of what shape they're in, don't change over night. It takes work and patience. Apparently Helen Andelin is well aware of this phenomenon and the frustration that comes with it. Sometimes you feel like this can't possibly work for your situation or in real life at all! Then you come across a story that sounds strikingly familiar to yours, and somehow hope is restored.
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I will take this time to say how thankful I am for the teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and his representative the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. It was the Honorable Elijah Muhammad who suggested that the sisters in the Nation of Islam read this book, and I probably would have never heard of it otherwise.
Because I have Islam, I am able to overlook the role-reversing effects this world has on the human psyche and delve into Fascinating Womanhood and see the truth that is has to offer. But it is also because of my Islam, that I am able to find a balance between Fascinating Womanhood and my role as a TRUE woman of God. In the book Andelin makes references to the degeneration of marriage because of women winning the right to vote and work outside the home. She often implies that a woman's ONLY place is in her home caring for her husband and family. "Forget about yourself and devote yourself to the welfare and happiness of your family." pg. 102 We are taught in Islam that a woman has the right to rise as high as her God-given talents and abilities will take her. I don't want to take what the author says out of context, but I do want to stress the need to always pursue balance in our lives and endeavors.
Dr. Ava Muhammad spoke this past Sunday in Chicago and brought up women in the time of Jesus. "For 6,000 years, women have been in a position of inferiority and subjugation to men, based on sexism, which like racism, is one of the four great impediments to self development. When you look for the Jesus, you are looking for a man whose relationship with and teachings about women are radically different than that of the religious institutions that exist in that time. In the time of Jesus, women in Palestine, women in those days, had almost no rights. They were restricted to roles of little or no authority...they were confined to the homes of their fathers or their husbands...Prior to this time, women were in every role that exists in the deliberative process of life...When Jesus came, he overthrew centuries of law and customs...He appointed women in the ministry. He had women as accountants in his ministry, he had women in his inner circle of disciples."
http://noi.org/webcast/weekly-archive.shtml
I do not mean to say that Ms. Andelin supports the subjugation or role of inferiority for women, I do not know her position on that. This is just a reminder to us that as we involve ourselves in the process of becoming the ideal woman for our husbands, we keep in mind that God also placed in us gifts and talents that have great benefit to the entire UNIVERSE. I once told my mother that I wanted to be a housewife when I grew up. She said, "So you're gonna marry a house?"It would be a great disservice to humanity to keep some of the gifts and skills we have hidden away in our homes.
Think about it.
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