"With Hardship Comes Ease" Khutbah by Dr. Laila Al-Marayati (4/26/19)

Returning Khateebah Dr. Laila Al-Marayati gives insightful commentary on the famous verses 94:5-6 in the Qur'an that repeat, "Verily, with every hardship comes ease." Dr. Laila provides compelling examples from a medical perspective of how our bodies generate ease and healing in the midst of physical pain and injury. She explores the issue of how this same phenomenon can manifest at the mental, emotional, and social levels, and how we can use these lessons to draw on faith during difficult times.

Bio:
Dr. Laila Al-Marayati has been an activist in the American Muslim community for many years, having co-founded the Muslim Women’s League (MWL), an organization dedicated to strengthening the role of Muslim women in society. She spearheaded the MWL’s efforts on behalf of rape survivors from the war in Bosnia and was a member of the official US Delegation to the UN Conference on Women in Beijing. She also served as a Presidential Appointee to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Her activism is centered around women’s rights in Islam, reproductive health and sexuality, and violence against women. As the chairperson of KinderUSA, Dr. Al-Marayati helps provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinian children in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. Currently, she is the Medical Director of Women’s Health at a community clinic in Los Angeles and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.