and feeling rundown. Must be that I’m simply doing too much. On Saturday night I couldn’t sleep because I was running a list of all the things I needed to do in the morning in my head. Sunday was Eid and I was expecting up to a hundred guests. I guess that would freak anyone […]

I saw the moon from one of the upstairs windows last night. It’s waning. Reached full last weekend I think, and now it’s getting smaller and smaller and soon it will disappear for a few nights to be reborn. Kind of like how life goes. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the month […]

Tonight is the first night of Ramadan and my heart is swelled with joy. Oh it’s going to be hard, I know. The fast starts at dawn, about 4:15 am and ends at sunset about 8:53 pm, that’s 16 hours and 38 minutes without eating or drinking or marital relations in the height of summer. Did it […]

Now that jury deliberations are over, I think it’s safe to say that I was on my first award jury. It was for an international award called the NSK Neustadt award given by the University of Oklahoma! The prize is $25000.00 for a living writer who’s contributed to the quality of children’s literature. What a […]

There are two Muslim women in the media/arts field that I really admire! Whenever I think of them, and it’s often, I do so with a smile on my face. The first has the same last name as myself, but as far as I know she’s no relation. Her name is Sheema Khan. She is […]

Frankly I never thought this would be a problem. Never anticipated that there’d come a time when people who have little to no affinity for my faith would write stories about it just to get their foot in the door of children’s publishing. And to have come across the phrase ‘professional Muslims’ in a wonderful […]

I went out of town yesterday and just got back. It was a Muslim community who’ve been such great supporters of my work that it’s always a pleasure to visit, even if it does mean a five hour drive. One of the ladies in particular has such an aura about her. I’ve heard it called […]

It’s funny, ever since I got back from Hajj, my prayers have changed. Before, I would often go into autopilot when I’d be praying. It’s hard not to. We memorize the whole prayer, it’s formal and prescribed as such, there’s only a few spots for spontaneity. I used to wonder why. But over the years […]

until they change what is in themselves. I’ve read this phrase in the Quran a number of times and it’s funny but I always thought it only referred to the oppressed and downtrodden. But I attended a lecture a while back and a scholar made a good point. He said that no, this phrase applies […]

I started writing this on Sunday night. Tonight on Oprah’s visionaries Will.i.am was talking. If you’re not sure who he is, you’re not alone. I’d heard his name, but didn’t realize he’s one of the co-founders of the group Black-eyed Peas. The first half of the show was just him spouting off about how tickled […]