Saints and Misfits is one of those fun reads that comes along every once in a while that is just so well written and insightful it can make you gasp at times! Written by S.K. Ali, it deals with sexual assault within the Muslim community and the way Janna main character handles the situation with […]

I recently got back from my first Highlights Foundation workshop. Highlights Foundation is located on a family homestead in eastern Pennsylvania, a small town called Honesdale. For years they’ve been running writing workshops, retreats, that are lauded as some of the best writing intensives around. They’re affiliated with Boyds Mills Press, a publisher that has […]

That terrorist attacks have become less shocking recently? When I heard about the Berlin Christmas market attack on Monday, the first thing I thought was ‘Oh no!’, the second think I thought was ironically, it had been a while. Like it was almost expected one would come. And the third thing I wondered was how […]

I remember hearing on Dr. Phil that when a person shows anger they’re actually at their weakest. And that anger and sadness are often symptoms of a more basic emotion: fear. I don’t know about all that, I just know that I often have to balance how much news of the world’s events I take […]

I don’t usually get very ‘religious’ on my blog, ironically it seems to be ‘bad form’, but I think I want to talk about what faith is actually good for. Yesterday was July 7th and I happened across a very infamous video of Philando Castile’s girlfriend documenting his shooting and eventual death as her four […]

take a deep breath and carry on, and remember that all this too is within God’s plan. It has been confirmed that Eid will be on Wednesday July 6th insha Allah, so a few hours of this fast and one more to go. Just heard the news that there was a suicide bomber at the […]

are upon me, and although I haven’t done much ‘writing’, not physically anyway, I’ve been rereading the Quran, immersing myself in the language that has basically defined my life. It was first revealed in Ramadan, and Ramadan is always a good time to recharge, reacquaint myself with its message. I’ve realized that much of my […]

Just days after they laid Muhammad Ali to rest, a 29 year old American named Omar Mateen shot up a gay nightclub killing 49 people. How could anyone do such a thing??? Just when things are getting calm, something like this happens. I try not to think of it because whenever I do, tears well […]

The Prophet (peace be upon him) had encouraged Muslims to welcome this sacred ninth month of the Muslim calendar! Welcome it because during this month the doors of heaven are opened and the doors of hell are closed and all the shayateen (devils) are chained up and have no power to influence us. It is […]

February 18th, A private school and the High Commissioner of Canada! I’ll never forget the presentations on this day! These kids were a lot older, I’d say close to fourteen and fifteen, and they understood English!!! You could see it on their faces! I first met this girl, so pretty masha Allah, with such a […]