{{ Niqaabi sister that I know got dissed.. HELP! }}

[iss ME! zahweee!]

bismillah
as-salaamu 'alaykum

firstly, i'm really excited to be typing in this new folder.. hopefully it will encourage others to follow suit as we all have many issues pertaining to both food and clothing...

ok i wanted to go straight to the point.. i know this sister PERSONALLY and here's what happened to her the other day.......

she goes to an all women's gym regularly by the name of lucille roberts and due to the fact that it's an all women's gym, she removes her niqaab and works out in tshirt/jogging pants and a loose hijaab.... on a few RARE occasions she's seen men there, once it was a family member waiting, another time or two it was maintenance workers

just the other day she was exercising when suddenly out of the corner of her eye she saw a maintenance worker man fixing a treadmill.. the poor thing jumped off her machine and ran into the locker room crying.. she collected all of her things, put on her niqaab and walked out of the room and then approached the front desk where the woman in charge was standing..

she politely asked her if anything could be done about the situation that men come in suddenly (our sis was VERY nice to her).. she asked if maybe an announcement can be made on the P.A. or if a notice can be placed by the front desk if someone is expected to come or even if she calls in advance, can she be told?

that woman (ooooh she makes my blood boil) "seemed" to be really kind and kept apologizing saying this was not their way and men can come in any time... and our sis politely said that she knows of places that do the things she's requested

the woman went into how there are even gym members who are male (from back when lucille roberts was for both men and women) and you can't predict when they come in.. but the sis had already gotten info from a nicer worker who said that's only in the morning and evening and she's safe in the afternoon, so she was only asking about the maintenance workers... but this woman, who kept apologizing as she was talking wouldn't even relent and even had the audacity to say "i'm so sorry, but this is not how things are in the united states" (!!!!)

now let me just tell you, that made the sis upset, not only was she BORN here but she has a degree in political science.. i think she KNOWS what the united states is........ can you imagine this blatant racism? because the woman was soft spoken and kept apologizing, our sis just gave up and politely thanked her for being kind and for explaining and she left.. she doesn't want to go back again now even though that's the nearest gym to her and the further one is soooo far...

now, my question is, what, if anything, can be done about this situation? any advice?

she doesn't want to sue or anything, lol, but i'm thinking, can she? keep in mind this IS a private business and they are entitled to have their own laws.. and can you even imagine the media coverage.. people being interviewed saying "if she wants to come to an AMERICAN gym, she has to do things the AMERICAN way or she can go back to her own country"

but is it too much to request these businesses to have female maintenance workers? or to only have them come in during certain hours (this is a huge gym with a LOT of machines, so even if a few are out of order, it's not a huge deal)

what's a muslim sister to do? it can be really hard sometimes dealing with people who have no idea about us.....

any advice and encouragement will be appreciated.. i'll show her this thread

[ilmseeker]

walaykum salaam,
hmm, subhanAllah sad story. what if she bought equipment and worked out at home? i actually stopped going to the gym b/c of fitnah, and started working out in the garage, but that didn't last long b/c it wasn't the easiest thing to do. I just go at times when the gym is dead and alhumdulillah it works out, also the section where I workout, its all guys. alhumdulillah.

[iss ME! zahweee!]

i think she does have a treadmill at home but let's be serious.. who works out at home? most get distracted! more importantly, she paid like over $300 for a two-year membership only a couple of months ago.. i'm pretty sure those things are contracts and i doubt they give money back

but is that the only solution? stay at home and pretend there's no problem? leave it for other poor niqaabi sisters to suffer?

i feel so bad.. something HAS to be done....

[ilmseeker]

I wouldn't say working out at home is suffering

Can she talk to the manager?

[mahmoudm]

If when she signed the contract was strictly written that it is only for women at all times or so then she can bring this paper to them and point that out. I realized here in North America that once you got documents to support your side against someone else they started getting nervous and fear. I really recommend having her husband or older brother with her, an older mahram with good English to talk. If they still insisted in doing nothing then I would be stubborn but not very loud and ask to talk to the manager. However, if in the form which she filled while registering was written that in rare cases maintenance will enter or so then we cannot do much. Which of the following is the branch she used to go to?
Bohemia, Commack, Massapequa, Plainview, Rockville Center, Shirley, Stony Brook, Valley Stream or Westbury

nintendo wii

its fun and keeps you healthy


on a real note though. some muslim sisters should start a muslim women gym owned and operated by muslim sisters. i think our community has money for this.

this is america, "land of the free". so be free and do it.

[Nadeem R]

I think I'm mentioning this again, but isn't there an all sisters gym next to the Masjid in Melville long island?

Regarding the incident: sometimes its hard to even get ones family to understand the culture they are trying to establish, or the level of haya they are trying to uphold. What to speak of an American corporation? As ilmseeker mentioned there is much fitnah at a gym and this is true even if its women's only or men's only gym. One simply has to be aware of the enviornment they are putting themselves in and work around it until they reach a comfort level not expecting others to understand their needs or sensitivies. I hope I don't come off as harsh, pardon me if I do.

[ilmseeker]

Originally Posted by mujahideenryder

nintendo wii

its fun and keeps you healthy


on a real note though. some muslim sisters should start a muslim women gym owned and operated by muslim sisters. i think our community has money for this.

this is america, "land of the free". so be free and do it.

Wii is fun, the Muslim women gym idea is good for the future. But in her case mahmoudm's idea is good.

[ilmseeker]

I asked Sh Yaser Birjas once about, what do I do if I go to the gym and encounter fitnah there? Question was something like that. Anyways his response was basically go out and buy some equipment for your home and workout at home.

We have excellent equipment at home but its stored away, once I move out insha'Allah I'm taking it with me and gonna workout at home -- its the best, you don't have to leave home and you can get a good workout too -- fitnah free!

[mahmoudm]

I just called one of the branches in NY and I asked her whether it would be possible to have some random maintenance man entering the gym to fix something, then she said it would happen very rarely by only the people that work there and not any random man. So I asked if they would give announcements or a warning ahead of time and she said no. However, she said they do page the women if a man is coming only if he was going to go to the locker room, but no paging if he is going to a public place. So I guess that’s their policy. May Allah reward her and hold her patient, AND tell her that if Allah loves his servant he tests them.
She still should check the contract the signed and read through, you never know they might give her the money. Or she can just be aware next time and continue going to the gym.