It made me feel helpless.” “It was as if I was a newborn baby, seeing the world for the first time. I was being mesmerized by the intricacy and depth of the tradition when ISIS, a terrorsit organization that does not follow the tenets of Islam, came along claiming this love-based tradition through acts of violence, hatred, and bigotry. It was as if I was a newborn baby, seeing the world for the first time. “At the time, I was experiencing Islam in a beautiful way.

“I was on my own journey, studying books, seeking teachers, and travelling around the world in pursuit of knowledge, and in the midst of all this happening there was a big uprising of ISIS attacks,” she explains. Ironically, however, it was an entirely negative circumstance that catapulted her into the public eye with her Instagram account Quran Quotes Daily. As she emerged from under the spiritual wings of her parents to search for her own connection with Islam during her late teens and early 20s, she travelled across the Muslim world to seek out and learn from teachers who could help her cultivate her fatih unlocking her relationship with Allah, the Qur’an, and Prophet Mohammed (Peace And Blessings Upon Him). It’s a journey that’s rooted in her upbringing - both as the daughter of deeply devout, service-based Muslim parents, and a student at a Christian private school in California, which, in the absence of Islamic schools in the area at the time, gave a strong foundation of faith in an academic setting. Her work has become a beacon for spiritual seekers looking to connect with their hearts and their faith – helping readers to access “divine love in everyday life” in an intimate and inspiring way. Helwa is telling me about some of the biggest learnings of her creative and spiritual journey over the past few years: A journey that has seen her author the beautiful, successful and impactful book Secrets of Divine Love, as well as the subsequent Secrets of Divine Love Journal, and the recent collection of her poetry entitled From Darkness Into Light. This is why it is important to be present with the question on your heart, because the answer is going to find you, but you’ll miss it if you don’t know what your real question is. However, just like every colour belongs to the light, behind all the colorful questions we ask we are ultimately seeking for the one light of Allah. We are often asking questions with the longing to rectify a doubt or create certainty. What are you really asking? Really deeply asking? Often the questions we ask aren’t the ones on our heart. “A lot of the time we’re seeking answers, but one of the most powerful teachings I’ve learned is actually to much more deeply seek your question. Helwa as we discuss the importance of finding your ‘real’ question – what she calls the “question on your heart”. “Questions and answers have a dance,” says A.

From Darkness Into Light by A. Helwa