“He who knows his Lord knows himself.”
The age-old saying above has been uttered in a myriad of different iterations, often traced back to Imam al-Ghazali. To know oneself necessitates a constant journey of calibrating the heart as an exercise of taqwa, steering it back to Allah through our everyday joys and trials.
I thought about this quote a lot during our beloved Anse Tamara Gray’s Mountain Views reflection on Surah Maryam this past Ramadan. In describing Maryam (ʿalayhā al-salām), Anse vividly paints her as a woman who knew herself through her devotion to Allah.
One way to be firm in our attachment to the Almighty is through ṣuḥba, or good companionship. For Muslim women, finding a space where our journey in Islam is honored and welcomed—wherever we are spiritually—can be challenging in the face of expectations imposed upon us.
Enter the Joy Jots Book Club (or JJBC, as we call it), an intimate reading circle organized by the Malaysian chapter of Rabata.
I had just hit two years of living in the capital city after moving from my hometown in late 2023, when Anse Tamara visited Malaysia—at the same café where our bi-monthly book club is held. It was my first introduction to the local Rabata chapter, and on a whim, I decided to dive into JJBC, unsure of what I was really signing up for. It proved to be Allah’s guidance as a cure for my loneliness and isolation in the big city—a refuge beautified by the love and sincerity of believing women.
Each chapter of Joy Jots is systematically divided according to the Hijri calendar. This is how we work through the book in each gathering, sometimes opening the space with drumming and praises to the Prophet ﷺ. With renewed intentions, we then take turns reading Anse’s words of wisdom aloud as a preface to sharing our own stories.
From reflecting on the everyday to the extraordinary, the women of JJBC gather around a circle to own their narratives, embodying the footsteps of our foremothers such as Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā) and Umm Salama (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā), referenced in Chapters 46 and 47. What started as a reading club stretched beyond its simple purpose and became a communal exercise in self-reflection. Our circle became a mirror that gently asks: How is your heart, sister?
Some of us are stay-at-home moms or women juggling family and career. Among us are reverts wading through the waters of faith, or those like me—single women in our 20s and 30s—relearning our dīn in a third space while coming into our own authentic selves. Whether it’s goal-setting in Muharram, doing Anse’s 70,000 istighfār challenge in Rajab, or bringing out the best in each other during Pilgrims at Home, we share a bond forged through laughter and love for the sake of Allah.
As I write this, we have just wrapped up the final pages of the book to mark the end of Dhul-Hijja. We will soon begin our fourth reading of Joy Jots, keeping our doors open to both newcomers and returning sisters.
I cannot claim to know my Lord more now, as this is a lifelong inward expedition. But I do know myself a little better—and I have the women of JJBC to thank for anchoring me in my striving toward His love.
Thira Mohamad