3 Journal Prompts for Muslimas on Self Discovery

The journal prompts in this article are inspired by my thoughts on names after this week’s khtuba at my local masjid. The imam opened the khtuba with a section on the importance of name meanings. He emphasized how it’s important in Islam to give your child a name with a good meaning, so they have something or someone positive to serve as an example and inspiration. I’ve always believed in nominative determinism, so this really resonated with me.

After returning home, I looked up the meaning of each part of my name. In Mormon culture, it’s pretty normal to name your child after an ancestor (especially a pioneer), and my first name was after my dad’s great-great-grandmother, Eliza Elizabeth Hancock Palmer Motes; my second name was after my grandmother Helena. While I know who these two people are and am definitely inspired by them, I was curious as to the origins of the name. I googled it, and it turns out Elizabeth is an ancient Semitic name meaning "God's Promise" or "God is my oath", while Helena has Greek origins and means "shining light". 

Learning more about my name was interesting and helped me connect with myself, and the following journal prompts will help you do the same!

Prompt 1

Who am I named after? What are things about this person I find inspirational? If you’re not named after a specific person, write about someone with the same name as you who has had a positive impact on the world.

Prompt 2

What are the literal meanings of my first and last name? You should be able to find this easily on Google.

Prompt 3

Why did your parents (or whoever named you) choose the name they did for you? Send a text or call them to ask!

I hope these journal prompts help you learn a bit more about yourself. If you enjoyed this article, please leave a comment letting me know what your name means and subscribe to my email list for a weekly newsletter!