Even broken wings can fly
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What does strength look like to you?
A raised voice? A perfect score? A fearless face? Or... a soul who holds it quietly through trembling hands and tear-stained دعاء ?
In Islam, true strength takes on a different, one that is rooted in patience, and gentleness.
As the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ beautifully said,
“The strong man is not the one who can overpower others. Rather, the strong man is the one who controls himself when he is angry.”
(Bukhari & Muslim)
This reminds us that strength is not always visible, but it is always powerful.
This is a letter to the girls who are emotional but strong, To the girls who are quiet but unshakeable. To the girl who walks into her exam hall after failing once, twice—but doesn't give up. To the girl who cries in her room and then gets up for تَهَجُّد, hoping God still listens.To the girls scared of what society might say… I hear you. I see you.
This is about the strength of a girl who chose modesty in a world that called her outdated. It’s about the strength of a girl who studied with a trembling heart, carrying the weight of doubt, hers and everyone else's. This is not just strength. This is إيمان (faith) in motion. What you read here may seem gentle, but behind every line are years of aching wounds, prayers that carried me, and the fire that shaped me.
فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرً “Indeed, with hardship comes ease.”
(Qur’an 94:6)
This world often misunderstands softness. The softness of a woman is not her flaw. It is her most beautiful strength. The kind that gets up after being knocked down, again and again, not with noise, but with النور.
Being emotional doesn’t make you fragile. It means you’re alive. It means you care. It means you are a human. They think gentle means weak. They think quiet means incapable. But Allah doesn’t see us the way people do.
وَعِبَادُ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ هَوْنًۭا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ ٱلْجَـٰهِلُونَ قَالُوا۟ سَلَـٰمًۭا The ˹true˺ servants of the Most Compassionate are those who walk on the earth humbly, and when the foolish address them ˹improperly˺, they only respond with peace
(Qur’an 25:63)
The last few years were quiet wars, when your creed, your silence becomes reason enough for people to question your worth. where my only weapons were patience, prayers, and the belief that God sees me even when the world refuses to.
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِۦ نَفْسُهُۥ ۖ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ ٱلْوَرِيدِ “And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein.”
(Quran 50: 16)
I didn’t make it the first time. And with that loss, People who once clapped for me quietly stepped back like they had already written me off as the girl who showed dreams… and then gave them up. They didn’t see the strength it took to wake up every day and try again. To speak softly even when I wanted to scream. To stay graceful when I was hurt. To choose صَبْر when I could’ve chosen revenge.
ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِى ٱلسَّرَّآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَٱلْكَـٰظِمِينَ ٱلْغَيْظَ وَٱلْعَافِينَ عَنِ ٱلنَّاسِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ "Who spend [in the cause of Allah] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and pardon the people—and Allah loves the doers of good."
(Quran 3:134)
I was tired of trying. Tired of failing. Tired of smiling when my heart just wanted to scream. I’ve had nights where I stared at my books through blurry eyes, not because the content was hard, but because my life was heavy.In the quietest storms, some hearts never let go — My family, my closest ones—may their love echo into every ease God sends me.
My God didn’t just give me another shot at my dream—He gave me more than I ever asked for from a journey that looked like failure? He gave me purpose, healing, and insight most people don’t find even after decades.
وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّهُ ۖ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ. “But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners.”
(Qur’an 8:30)
As I press my forehead to the earth, I am reminded—this pain, this journey, this prayer... I am not the first. And I won’t be the last.
Maryam (AS) faced the worst accusations a woman could hear, alone. But what did she do? She didn’t scream; she didn’t fight—she let her silence speak for her. And Allah made her story eternal.
فَنَادَىٰهَا مِن تَحْتِهَآ أَلَّا تَحْزَنِى قَدْ جَعَلَ رَبُّكِ تَحْتَكِ سَرِيًّۭا “But he (the angel) called her from below her, ‘Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream.’”
(Surah Maryam 19:24)
Fatimah (RA). سَيِّدَة نِسَاءِ الْجَنَّةِ (Leader of the women of Paradise) The one whose footsteps resembled the Prophet ﷺ. Fatimah (RA) taught me that strength doesn’t need to shout. That you can lead without loudness and rise without noise. She was a garden of humility, a flame of faith, and the woman whose silence made angels bow.
And then—there was Sumaiya (RA) The first martyr in Islam. The first woman to give her life for Allah. They tried to destroy her with pain, but she became a symbol of power.
The Prophet ﷺ would pass by her as she was being tortured and say, “Patience, O family of Yasir! Indeed, your place is in Paradise.”
(Ibn Hisham, Sirah)
We are the daughters of this legacy. Quiet. Brave. Soft. Powerful.
We cry. We break. We pause. We question ourselves. But we’re not weak.
Islam doesn’t ask women to be invisible. It asks them to shine differently. To have هَيَا, not silence. To have dignity, not erasure. To lead with تقوى, not ego.
A woman’s strength is soft. And in her softness, الله has placed the power to heal, to nurture, and to rise. And that’s her superpower.
To every little sister out there reading this: There are no shortcuts to the life you want. Only this: education, hard work, صَبْر (patience) and إيمان ( faith)
وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ ۚ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بَـٰلِغُ أَمْرِهِۦ ۚ قَدْ جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدْرًۭا “And whoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him.”
(Qur’an 65:3)
You may fail once. Maybe twice. But that doesn’t make you a failure. It makes you a fighter. And your softness, your tears, your strength in silence—it's all part of something greater. No one talks about how many toppers failed before they passed. No one shares how many strong women once cried on their prayer mats, begging for a way out.
You are not late. You are exactly where الله wrote for you to be. And if you keep moving with Him, you’re always on time.
ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ “Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.”
(Qur’an 13:28)
Your tears are seen. Your dreams are valid. Your voice—though quiet—is enough. You were made with purpose. And the path you’re walking now? It might be the very bridge other girls will one day cross.
وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَىٰٓ “And your Lord is going to give you, and you will be satisfied.”
(Qur’an 93:5)
Keep pushing. Keep building Because the real deadline is death. And one day, you’ll look back and say: “I didn’t just survive. I built a life I’m proud of."
“Know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship.”
(Tirmidhi)
So cry if you must. Fall if you must. But never stop walking. All you need is faith that whispers: “Even now, God is with me.” And that is enough.
Author- Binth Rifan
