Had lunch with a very dear friend over the weekend and during the course of the conversation I told her something, just in a matter of fact way, and afterwards I was struck with how true the statement was. I was telling her how the more successful I’ve become, how certain friends and family members […]

Subhan Allah, the physical beauty of the country I call home, takes my breath away at times. A few days after the whirlwind that was Eid, I left on a week vacation with my son. We went on a bus tour of the Maritimes. The Maritimes is the far eastern region of Canada with a […]

I can’t believe Ramadan is almost over. In about four hours we will begin celebrating Eid ul Fitr (the celebration of charity (fitr)) I’ve been working for weeks getting the house and all the FOOD ready! Omigosh, the freezer is bursting at the seams, and I had to remove the vegetable drawer to make room […]

It’s so weird to have something so consume your daily attention and be so completely oblivious to the world at large. Here I am, in the midst of preparations, this year it’s our turn to host Eid and the logistics of doing that are tough to say the least! But one day at a time, […]

I finished reading this little gem of a book a little while ago, and some of the themes are still reverberating within me. It’s about 9/11 from the perspective of a boy named Jake who lives in Florida. His best friend is Sam. And I thought the story evoked a lot of nuances between the […]

Subhan Allah how quickly the time flies when you’re not eating, you’re not drinking and you’re not having much fun, and yet you’re sublimely immersed in the calm and the peace that is Ramadan. The first few days are not easy, but even now, when Ramadan is falling during the longest days of the year, […]

It’s weird what happens when you start getting successful. Within the Muslim community I’ve had lots of people come up to me and tell me how they want to get published. I’ve had a relative blatantly ask me for one of my editor’s names and phone number because his daughter had written something ‘brilliant’ and […]

And alhamdu lillah it feels so good! Getting up at a reasonable time (around 9 am) not having to rush to shower and have breakfast, even pottering around a bit before having breakfast and starting the day’s writing. It’s been so tricky working on this project. I’ve had to stop and start so many times, […]

Like, don’t lose control of your temper! Even when a student does something silly! It was a grade three class, and I was entertaining questions. It was stifling hot in the library! And I was tired and I was frazzled, many of the teachers had been totally rude, conducting animated conversations during my presentation but […]

It’s a really good idea to keep yourself open to all opportunities to promote  your work. When I met Dennis Abrams at the Sharjah Reading Festival and he asked me to write a guest post in his online magazine and I agreed, I had no idea he had thousands of followers. It just seemed like […]