When the going gets tough, it means you are on the right path…
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ Perhaps you have been wondering where/how I am? And, maybe why/to where I seem to have disappeared? Why you are seeing less of me? Yes, I will admit, things in my life are different now. However, this change did not happen overnight. Life has a way of throwing surprises at you. … Continue reading Standing on a Bridge, Aspiring to New Vistas
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ What does being a niqabi, an unschooling parent, living in culturally-rigid Pakistan, not being able to people-please and sweet-talk my way into and out of superficial, culturally-enforced social conversations, and being a work-from-home, freelancing housewife make a woman? Answer: a Majorly Misunderstood Misfit. But, in order to answer this question in … Continue reading The Fruits of Unschooling: Better a Misunderstood Misfit, Than a Cultural Conformist
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ Many, if not most of us, try to 'get it right' in life. We want the right mix of blessings, experiences, relationships, and possessions, which will grant us a happy life in this world and the next. Yet, the delusive nature of the life of this world sometimes make us live … Continue reading Getting it “Just Right”: The Components of Wisdom
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ Ever since I discovered the hadith below, I have prayed to Allah to always bless me with the 'upper hand' - الْيَدَ الْعُلْيَا - in the life of this world: لأَنْ يَغْدُوَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَيَحْتَطِبَ عَلَى ظَهْرِهِ فَيَتَصَدَّقَ مِنْهُ فَيَسْتَغْنِيَ بِهِ عَنِ النَّاسِ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَسْأَلَ رَجُلاً أَعْطَاهُ أَوْ مَنَعَهُ … Continue reading Become a Giver: Have the “Upper Hand”
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ Success: a lot is said, written, and taught today about how to achieve it in life. For most if not all human beings, becoming successful in life is a top priority. But before I begin talking about it too, first I would like to wonder out loud what exactly success means … Continue reading 4 Childhood Indicators of Future Success
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ Misunderstood. Put on the spot. Challenged. Quizzed in public. That is how I find myself feeling more and more often as an homeschooling unschooling parent, now that my children are older and meeting more people in social settings. People are usually all praise for their demeanor and behavior, until the bomb … Continue reading Parents, Can We Stop Judging Each Other?
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ
I was recently interviewed at WordMothers.com, a blog that showcases female authors, word artists, and book industry professionals.
Interview by Nicole Melanson ~
Sadaf Farooqi is a freelance writer of Islamic non-fiction and a homeschooling mother of 3, based in Karachi, Pakistan. She has a postgraduate Masters degree in Computer Science and a diploma in Islamic education.
Sadaf runs a personal blog called Sadaf’s Space, and currently writes professionally for OnIslam.net. In the past, she has written for Hiba Magazine, SISTERS Magazine, Saudi Gazette and MuslimMatters.org. Some of Sadaf’s articles on marriage have been published as a book titled Traversing the Highs and Lows of Muslim Marriage.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED AS A WRITER?
In 2006, I found myself staying at home with my first baby. Often, I’d Google solutions to first-time-mommy-related challenges and problems, only to land on and read personal blogs penned by experienced mothers. So I ended up reading many articles and blogs in my spare…
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ A group of young women makes its way inside a bustling cafe. They choose a table and make themselves comfortable on the cushioned chairs around it, chattering. When the time for placing their order comes, one of the young women orders a grilled chicken sandwich with a garden salad on the … Continue reading Homeschooling Children: Accepting Their Individuality, Letting Them Grow
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ Every human being is unique. What a precious gift of Allah this uniqueness is! It enables each one of us to use our exclusive set of talents and abilities, to acquire our own little pool of knowledge, through our own distinct style of learning, and to weave our own "one-of-a-kind yarn" … Continue reading Define the “Qur’an Vision” For Your Family
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ To continue from where I left off last month at the end of Part 1 of this post, I want to point out how and why letting your children learn mostly via play and not through structured lessons and classes for the first 10-12 years of their lives is not "crazy". … Continue reading “Unschooling” Update and Frequently Asked Questions – Part 2
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ It has been very long since I blogged about and provided an update on our homeschooling journey. The third addition to our family was a huge blessing in disguise, because the lull it introduced into our till-then, by-and-large structured, curriculum-based, and parent-driven model of homeschooling, paved the way for a smooth … Continue reading “Unschooling” Update and Frequently Asked Questions – Part 1
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ "How do you remember names, places and events that took place decades ago, complete with all the little side details?" "Having a good memory is not always good, you know. It means that you remember the pain of the hurtful aspects of your past. And it also means, that the regret … Continue reading Life Lessons at the Threshold of 35
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ As someone who had no younger sibling; who never in her life babysat any little children for even an hour; who has more than the average penchant for personal privacy, solitude and demarcated boundaries of living space, I often find myself at the receiving end of the following question: How can … Continue reading The Apprentice
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ My daughter is now 6 years old and my son will soon be 4, اِن شَاءَ الله. Since the past 11 months, I have been homeschooling them and, contrary to how I anticipated this journey to be like at the point when I was about to embark upon it, it is I who … Continue reading Happy, Havocked HomeFront: Riding The Home Education Wave and Lovin’ It
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Had someone told me years ago that I'd one day be educating two hyperactive, adorable little mini-me's at home, I would have laughed in their faces and called them the most glib prophesiers ever! Stay at home all day with two naughty little elves always up to something? Never! And here … Continue reading The Adventures of Homeschooling
