I know I promised more posts about my trip to Spain and Portugal. I had it all planned out, I’d write about Don Quixote, that most famous of Spanish heroes and his faithful sidekick Sancho Panza, but life interrupted. It was funny. All during my time in Spain and Portugal, I was having such 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, […]

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 […]

I know it’s been a while since my last post. Been thinking of things to blog about but I’ve often been too busy to blog. And then something really sent me for a loop. Every once in a while that will happen. You’ll be coasting along and something impacts you with enough force to change […]

with all the new stuff I’ve been learning! But of course it’s been a very *uncomfortable* process. You know that feeling when you’re in the midst of the learning curve,  you’re not proficient yet, you’re still struggling… Well that’s where I am right now. And it’s funny but with this artist residency, I’m dealing with […]

Last Saturday I was presenting at a one day workshop at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, called Muslim Journeys. It was a great opportunity and I had a wonderful time! It was well attended by educators from all over Wisconsin and even other states nearby! And one of the ladies exclaimed to me afterwards that she […]

Have to laugh at myself here. I should be working on the teacher guide for King for a Day, but instead, I’m writing about how I’m procrastinating on it. Got me to thinking of that hadith that I love so much. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Make use of five things before five […]

So this year I went back to my favourite version of the Quran–the A. Yusuf Ali translation. It’s the translation I grew up with, with the Arabic Quran (the actual Quran is in Arabic–the English is always a translation!) on the right side of the page and the English translation with its attempts at Olde […]