Beauty belongs to the possessor of the 99 Beautiful Names

Bismillah.

My mother keeps mocking me lately.

She was peeping behind my back as I blog. Then she saw my new profile picture and asked naively: "Who is that?" 

"Hah hah, that's your daughter," I said. 

"Oh, that's a very nice photo of you," she said, "but in person you are so normal looking!"

LOL

That's very true! But if I could give a "haqiqat" answer to her I'd say this: Yes mom, I am not one of those who look pretty all the time, but if you see a beautiful photo of mine or anyone, all you should see is His Beauty manifested on that person in that particular moment/instant. Her/his beauty if you do behold, belongs to the possessor of the 99 Most Beautiful Names. Any kind of beauty you see is His Beauty, albeit a small ray from Him.

But of course my mother won't listen, she keeps on mocking me! God bless my witty mom.

"He is the One who shapes you in the womb, as He likes."
- Surah Al Imran

Yes, and we must strive to do all things beautifully. One articulate visitor/reader from Oxford said to me: "I have always been told to write and dress elegantly. To do anything, elegantly." Indeed, we have to portray a positive image of our faith because Allah is Jameel and He loves beauty. Shaykh Hamza Yusuf was quoted as saying: "If we are not concerned with making things beautiful, then something is wrong with our Islam."

May Allah manifest His Beauty on us and our actions, zahir and batin. Ameen.