Remembering Maria Zain: An Online GoFundMe Campaign

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim

This campaign is launched by Maria Zain's sister-writers at SISTERS Magazine by Editor, Na'ima B.Robert, with the support of Muslimah Writers Alliance (MWA), of which Maria was also a member.

Originally from Malaysia, but a resident of Nottingham, UK where her husband is attending University as a PhD candidate, Maria Zain was a phenomenal Muslimah, mother, wife and writer who returned to her Lord on December 28, 2014 while giving birth to her sixth child; a surviving son named Muhammad Eesa.

http://www.gofundme.com/mariazain

The GoFundMe campaign is dedicated to raising money in support of Maria's husband being able to continue raising their surviving six children, five boys and a girl, ages 9 and under, in the way Maria would have intended.

"I was privileged to be one of her first editors when she made the bold move away from a corporate job to devote herself to her young family and pursue her dream of writing. Over the years, we saw her writing mature and her ideas about natural childbirth and attachment parenting deepen and start to inspire others. She was a passionate and devoted Muslimah, family woman and writer and we will miss her so. May Allah have mercy on her and make it easy for her family to carry on without her." ~Na'ima B. Robert

From one of her many editors and a 'sister in arms' at SISTERS Magazine, Brooke Benoit shared, "Reading through the memorials posted online for Maria, I am well aware of the legacy she has left behind in her writing having already read so many of her writings as an editor, a peer, a person of shared interests and a friend, but seeing them anew - knowing that there will be no more follow ups, no more branching into new subjects, no more behind the scenes chats - I now know what a privilege and blessing it was to have known Maria Zain, to have had my hand held, to have been given both echoed reassurances of my own feelings and even new insights into many issues from a truly special sister. I regret that I do not recall ever once thanking Maria for all she did for me and my family."

We pray that Maria’s husband is given the support and strength to carry on raising his family with a deen-centered focus, and that their children know even a glimpse of the sacrifices both their parents made to protect and nurture them as Allah (SWT) guided them to do so. Aamiin.

From the membership of Muslimah Writers Alliance (MWA) we offer this dua:

"O Allaah, forgive and have mercy upon our sister, excuse her and pardon her, and make honorable her reception. Expand her entry, and cleanse her with water, snow, and ice, and purify her of sins as a white robe is purified of filth. Exchange her home for a better home, and her family for a better family. Admit her into the Garden, protect her from the punishment of the grave and the torment of the Fire." (Muslim)

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RELATED: 

MWA Mourns Passing of Member, Maria Zain

Maria Zain Family Fundraising Campaigns - Learn How You Can Help 
(includes instructions for receiving direct bank wire details) 

Inside the Mind of a Prankster by MWA's Maria Zain
(Maria's last article, a cute little story about her second eldest son, published exclusively at MWA) 

OnIslam Mourns Muslim Writer Maria Zain

ONISLAM.NET SPECIAL FOLDER:

In Memory of Maria Zain

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IN MARIA'S WORDS: 

Maria's FB Bitstrip Character

"In dealing with a difficult pregnancy, a challenging birth environment, lack of parenting support, an environment full of judgment – recall the du’a of Maryam when she was giving birth all on her own, without the knowledge of her family and people for fear of exile." –Maria Zain

"If you are concerned for your children, think of Hajar’s heart-wrenched soul, while running to and fro in the middle of the barren desert in search of water for her crying infant son." –Maria Zain

"The Quran provides us solace with our own stories, only magnified through the histories of the most pious who came before us, to also act as a guide and remedy for our own problems. This makes the Quran alone a great resource for the grieving, the oppressed, the abandoned, the bereft, the struggling and those who cry in their humanness." –Maria Zain

"[My byline] is a reminder to myself of how much hard work it takes to be a writer and homeschooling mother and wife all at once, and how I am always in complete awe with other mothers who make it look so easy." –Maria Zain

"I love childbirth education, but it’s awful to see mothers feeling like train wrecks and failures after a bad experience, and it’s time for society to step up, and provide the love and support they need, without the judgment, without the prejudice, without the superstition, and without the ignorance." –Maria Zain