What matters?

Today was one of those 'rare' meetings, where I was the only girl. 5 engineers, including me. Everyone, in a total of 7, related to the field of IT. Over the last few days I've been evaluating what I want to do about my 'career'. Today I felt the impact of staying current in my field. I would not have been an important part of today's meeting, had it not been for what I am, significantly, a computer engineer, and my experience. I wouldn't be heading such a crucial Islamic project. I feel fortunate that I chose a fast-paced field where if I want to survive, I always need to stay current. I've always considered technology integral to the movement towards an Islamic society. I remember the debate around allowing 'microphones' in Masajid- Is it haram or halal? If it hadn't been for great advances in civil engineering and architecture, Makkah today wouldn't be accommodating so many millions of people, nor would hajj be as comfortable as it is today- And the government is still working on improving the system! Had it not been for technology, a disabled person perhaps would always be confined to his/her home, and rarely see daylight. Or, human intelligence today would not have allowed distance education through e-learning, where you can access scholars of Islam from across the globe. And what this means for us, is making greater effort to study our deen, because everything today is very accessible. You can order everything you want to read online. True that technology has done a lot of harm too- But that applies to anything out there- Anything can be used as a tool for disaster, things do what the human mind creates it to do. So, why then, are we not @ the forefront of technology? In fact, I love what I do @ work more everyday, because its a step towards discovering a cure for a harsh disease, a step towards facilitating the research of thousands of medical investigators, a couple of steps towards making this world a better place for so many. And this is what an engineering degree prepared me for. Shouldn't women be, as much as men, part of this positive process? The Prophet's wife, Allah's peace and blessings upon him and may Allah be pleased with her, was a very successful businesswoman. As Muhammad, peace be upon him, continued his dawah mission, she continued to support him financially, bore his children and his love for her never diminished. She was good @ it, so she continued to do it. Medicine, teaching, and aren't the only important professions in this world- We need people from all backgrounds to keep the system in check. What do medical doctors do, if there were no mechanical and instrumentation engineers to invent their scary-looking testing devices? As today we get better @ what we have, we build our capacity to do more. I see countless examples around me, of women who are making a difference globally and their efforts go unappreciated. Thursday night @ a discussion panel organised by Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, I browsed through an album that had the profiles of a 1000 women chosen for the Nobel Peace Prize.And when we work for the society, we work for it as a whole. Just because we're Muslims doesn't mean we single out Muslim specific issues and hammer them out. Issues relating to humanity as a whole are our issues as well. If we don't learn to do things side-by-side, we're not moving forward in any direction. Leading a complete way of life means you treat everything as a whole- yourself as a whole, your family as a whole, your community as a whole, your society as a whole, and humanity as a whole. And then you do that for these wholes, what you would do for yourself. And use your skills to do what you're cut for, regardless of whether you're a man or a woman- For stopping someone, is only stopping them from fulfilling the command of Allah subhana wa ta'ala.