Once upon a time... OUMMI MUSLIM
OUMMI MUSLIM, that's me Noura, it's also the story of my conversion to Islam, it all started in 2020...
I was a young 17-year-old student on a work-study program in catering at a good Parisian school who knew nothing about Islam... nothing at all in fact. I knew that Muslims observed Ramadan and that women wore veils, but that was it.
One day, I received a message from someone I hadn't spoken to for a very long time, she suggested I join an activity she was doing related to travel,
Being very adventurous and loving to travel, I jumped at the chance. After all, if it allowed me to see a bit of the country, why not? I was far from imagining everything that would follow...
Following this, a trip to Cannes was organized, I was very happy,
In the hotel, I was in a room with two girls I didn't know at all. They were Muslim and it was the first time I was with Muslim women in their "privacy".
I had absolutely no idea why the girls in my room were getting up at 6am to do what was actually ablutions...
I was all perplexed
The moment I really started to think, "What are they doing?" was when they started praying in the bedroom.
I asked them what they were doing, or even when I was in the hallway and knocked for 5 minutes why no one came to open the door to my room. They explained to me that they were praying.
Religiously I was asking myself questions at that time about "why are we here?", what is the purpose of our existence, but mainly due to intellectual laziness I had never done any more in-depth research,
When they were performing the salat, I felt a sense of calm and it was so peaceful in the room.
I asked one of my roommates to explain her religion to me a little...
Why does she wear a veil when she would be too pretty without it, why does she get up to pray when she could be sleeping,
She answered me clearly and simply with the knowledge she had and recited Ayat Al Kursi, the verse of the Throne in French,
“Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting “Al-Qayyoûm”.
Neither drowsiness nor sleep seizes Him.
To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth.
Who can intercede with Him without His permission?
He knows their past and their future.
And of His knowledge they embrace only what He wills. His Throne, "Kursi," overflows the heavens and the earth, the guarding of which costs Him no effort.
And He is the Most High, the Most Great.”
A whole bunch of questions I had found their answers in these verses,
Instead of enjoying the activities and nightlife offered during the stay, we spent our evenings and nights in the room talking. I asked him my questions: "But what does your religion say about this, and about that?"
Al Hamdoulilah, when I returned home, I converted at the end of November 2020.
A few weeks later,
I had to go back to school and experience things I had never experienced before. I quickly put on the veil after my career change, so when I had to take it off to enter the school and put it back on when I left, it was a humiliation that I would wish on absolutely no one, not to mention the mixed school environment, which was quite complicated to manage.
Having to travel back for an hour and a half and then make up for missed prayers... it was really a difficult pace.
FEBRUARY 2021
I'm leaving school
One day, I was in class, my teacher was explaining to us how champagne is made,
I had a moment of pause, like a click, "but what am I doing here? I'm Muslim, I believe in Allah, but I'm sitting here listening to how alcohol is made in my school uniform."
Without further ado, I said
"Madam, can I go to the infirmary?"
I left the room, then the school, I put my veil back on while looking at myself in the window of a car,
With the firm intention of never returning to this school again, even if I was 3 months away from the baccalaureate, even if I was on a work-study program and it was only by this means that I earned my living.
MARCH 2021
The creation of OUMMI MUSLIM
I was actually about to get married. One morning, waking up in my grandmother's attic, I wondered what I was going to do next. I had just given up everything. I opened my computer, tried to make a logo, and called a friend who was looking for work at the time: "Okay, don't look for work anymore. We're going to launch our brand. I've already made the logo, everything is ready, it's good!"
It wasn't very professional, but our hearts were in it, and in just 3 days our entire small stock was gone,
We reinvested everything and little by little our stock grew. We didn't have more than four €20 notes to invest at the start, but by the grace of Allah our business began to take shape...
MAY 2021
The big departure
I got married, then I made the hijra where I expatriated to Egypt,
A new adventure was beginning...
Here in Cairo, I discovered and learned a lot of new things in the world of ready-to-wear,
I found excellent fabric suppliers, a great workshop and really everything I needed to develop my brand...
And my brand took a big turn when I left...
I did not expect so much, and all the opportunities that have opened up to me here have often reminded me of this verse in Surah An Nissa, in the approximate meaning of verse 100: " And whoever makes hijra in the way of Allah will find on earth many refuges and abundance."
early 2023
My creations
So I launched the “Our Creations” collection in 2022 which was a great success,
Original and innovative pieces that have greatly contributed to making us known in France and Europe
End of 2023
New project
Following these two years of work and learning, I decided to move to the next level by launching a new project in ready-to-wear at the end of 2023, except that...
When the end of OUMMI MUSLIM was announced and I was about to stop everything, I received dozens and dozens of messages. I was SHOCKED.
I never expected so many of my clients to be affected by my decision...
What I wanted above all was to offer my customers pieces made ethically in my workshop in Egypt, I no longer wanted to have to deal with wholesalers or external suppliers, and I had not realized to what extent this could also be feasible with OM,
It was a loyal customer who said to me, "But why don't you continue by keeping only the creations collection? Of course, there will be fewer items, but in any case, they are the ones we prefer!"
As you will have understood, I didn't need any more to pick up OUMMI MUSLIM where I left off and I am happy to be able to continue writing the OM story with you!
May Allah preserve us and grant us a good and lawful livelihood, forgive our shortcomings, and guide us all to the best of ways.
Looking forward to hearing from you