Recently, Haute Muslim set aside reading L. A. Bank VHS, to read something that could truly help us in our quest to personify all that is haute, Inside A MGT Home ~ How to Keep House, by Sister Randi Muhammad.
Inside A MGT Home arrived last week in an understated US postal service envelope, which was so unlike the Sister Randi, I have come to know and love via our interaction on this site…(I don’t know, I guess I was expecting a zebra print envelope with red tissue paper inside…)(-: As I opened my latest gift to self, I was further surprised to see that the book had an almost magazine like structure to it. My first thought was, what a good idea! You know how, when you open a new book and you can’t really get your comfort on because it is not really user friendly. It keeps closing on you when you try to read it… oh, ok, I guess that’s just me. But, I’ma tell y’all, when I started reading the book, I got half way through it within my first sitting. Not skipping stuff either. I really read it! The user friendly design was what was up! That was the first of many indicators that Sister Randi knows what she is doing! The font, the colors, the lack of filler photos! Sister Randi’s book is chock full of information that stems from an evident desire to help her sisters with unadulterated truth. During a conversation with HauteMuslim.com, Sister Randi explained her intention as such, “it was in the spirit of sharing truth and knowledge with my sisters that this book was created.” She further states that, “We have an open enemy that is poisoning us through the very dishes that we eat from every single day, and even killing us with Polymer Fume Fever through our cookware. All while we are working hard to provide the very best and nutritious foods for our families. Some of our finest dishes contain the calcined remains of various animals; and we didn’t even know it.”
She brings to our attention that, “For many of us, things like thread count, towel classification, and furniture construction is a mystery; but it doesn’t need to be. We walk into stores everyday and make purchases based on something that a salesperson told us, instead of walking through the door armed with knowledge of the products that we need. We need to know the difference between a standard king and California king mattress (or the dimensions for the bed that you sleep in), what anodized cookware is, how to select our cutlery, the difference between Egyptian, Peruvian, Sea Island, and Supima Cotton fabrics, how many items we need on hand per person, and much more.” Sister Randi so thoroughly, yet humbly breaks it all down for us in this quaint lil’ book giving love to Sisters who helped her along the way and Praise to God! She sticks to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, tells us where to look for it, what it looks like, how to avoid it, and what to use instead; all while remembering to soften it with appropriate humor and the aesthetic of design!
Reading Sister Randi’s book is like talking with your girl. Her laid back prose makes this a definitely easy read. She had me cracking up! One of the things I admire about her style of writing, and apparently her decorating sense, is she aims to remain true to self, despite obstacles of finance, others opinions, and even what she deems as personal flaws. In Inside A MGT Home, she humbly takes us from her modest upbringing with her style mentor mom to finding our own inner designer, without compromising our health or personal style. Sister Randi, states, “Inside A MGT Home also includes information that will help you to understand your own personal style and guide you through creating a home that reflects YOU. You’ll also get ideas on controlling clutter, organizing closets, creating your own private sanctuary, entertaining, safety, survival, and more.”
Sister Randi’s empathy reaches to the mother with several children, but also caters to the bachelor or cosmopolitan sister with caviar taste. A mere glance at her websites, show her ability to reach a diverse audience with apparent ease. She is simply put, an inspiration! Her wide breadth and ability to move out prompted HauteMuslim.com to ask Sister Randi what does she think holds most of us back from taking that step (to move out on an idea)? She answered, “I think we get in our own way… second guessing ourselves. I know that I hold back with a lot of things because I always feel that what I’ve done isn’t good enough. Fear also plays a big part in it. We know that we should fear nothing and no one but Allah, but we don’t really consider sitting on our gifts/talents to be real fear. We just say we don’t want to show off or we keep it to ourselves and hide it from the world–it’s safer that way. We have a fear of what others will think or say about us, so it’s safer to just sit down, shut up, and do nothing. In most things we wait for someone else to get up first, and then we’ll follow. We don’t want to be the first in line, or the first one through the door….unless there’s food or some kinda freebie waiting for us.
I think we also hear and recognize the voice of God but just like prayer…we think it comes at inopportune times. We want to obey, but we’re waiting for the commercial to come on first.” When asked what prompted her to take the step to publish, Sister Randi related, “Sis, the truth is that this book was written in roughly 2 weeks. Once I started writing, I really couldn’t stop. When I realized that I had actually written a book and not just a few notes for class. I decided to follow through and have it printed. In my heart and mind that was purely Allah. If it was just me, I’d still be puttin’ around with just the notion of doing it. I don’t know why I suddenly have it in my mind to write books and things, but that seems to be the road that I’m being lead to.” Sister Randi is in the process of penning her next book and honestly, I can not wait! Her current book can be purchased via her website. For more information regarding Inside A MGT Home ~ How to Keep House Click here.
