ن وَالْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ "Nun. By the pen, and what they are writing." [68:1] I am standing inside a used-bookstore. It is extremely hot. A bracket fan installed up in one corner spews out bursts of humid air. Beads of perspiration slowly roll down my back as my eyes minutely scan the shelves, up … Continue reading Books that Impacted Me as a Teenager: Confessions of a Bibliophage
Tag: Quran
﷽ Assalamu alaikum. Hope all of my readers are doing well! 🙂 I just wanted to drop in here and address (finally) the issue of why I have almost totally stopped mingling freely with the people ("socializing", I think it is called). This post is not an attempt at justification for this change in my … Continue reading Now You See Me, Now You Don’t
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ I am going to admit it. I have an embarrassingly loud laugh. I admit that I do not like it. I have always been the guffawing type. The one who has to bite her lip after letting out a big laugh accidentally. At the wrong time, in front of the wrong … Continue reading The Believer’s “Last Laugh”: The Laugh of Victory
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بسم الله الرحمٰن الرحيم I just love the gradual way I am going grey: it is a uniform scattering of silver emerging all over my head. By now, I think its a well-known fact that I am a very different kind of woman (innit!), so if you spot silver slivers in my hair, please don't … Continue reading This is 40: The Parent of a Child Who is the Offspring of a Parent
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـانِ الرَّحِيمِ السَّلآمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ الله وبَرَكآتُه to all my blog readers and subscribers. Hope you are all doing well. I am sorry that I have been unable to update this blog as often as I would like (monthly). However, the blogging hiatus has not been because of some writer's blogger's block or … Continue reading Into the Qur’an: Let it Enrich Your Soul and Your Life
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بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ I don't know what I would do, if I did not have the Qur'an as my source of guidance and solace in life. As I meander myself, guarding my thoughts and actions, in a turbulent world plunging more and more into confusion & turmoil with the passage of time, I cling … Continue reading Trying to Make Sense of it All
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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
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بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ The complexity of the human mind really fascinates me sometimes. It is even more thought-provoking how the Qur'an mentions human behavior and psychology at many instances. It makes one wonder: do humans always think about this life and its origin, and about "God", the same way, no matter which era of … Continue reading Seeing Things as They are
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ Many people, especially those Muslims who desire to attain higher ranks of faith, want to be sincere. However, sincerity ― of purpose, mind, soul, tongue, action, and heart ― is an elusive blessing that is not easy to acquire, simply because it comes at a price that most people are unable … Continue reading The Nuances of Sincerity
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيمِ In the era during which the Qur'an was revealed, traveling through the lands (or seas) was not an easy task. It was extremely arduous, and the chances of surviving harsh & adverse weather, or the loss of one's luggage or animal, were thin. Journeys took months if not years to cover, … Continue reading “Seeing” Reality With the “Eye” of the Heart
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ One of the most beneficial legacies that a Muslim parent can leave behind for their child, is to facilitate their connection with the Qur'an from early childhood in such a way, that it leads to them having a heart that is steadfastly attached to the Qur'an, a tongue that recites it … Continue reading How to Teach Children the Qur’an
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ "It's not safe here anymore." "Our lives and those of our children are in danger." "There is no security. Security is a basic human need." ********* These were (and still are) the reasons cited by born Muslims who wish to emigrate to Western countries from the war-torn, underdeveloped, unsafe, and politically … Continue reading 3 Lesser Known Dua’s in the Qur’an
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـانِ الرَّحِيمِ So, yeah, here I am. Finally. 😇 You must have noticed that I have been a little missing-in-action on this blog, since many months. Except for the "totally-frustrated-and-fed-up-with-society-as- a-misunderstood-unschooling-mother" rant that was my last post. *Chuckle*. Anyhow, I was actually working hard on my next book project, among other ongoing things, … Continue reading My Latest Book, “True Heroes: The Prophetic Guide to Leadership”
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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
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ Ramadan came and went like a whirlwind. A beautiful whirlwind of blessings and worship; swoons and sighs; soul-stirring Qur'an recitation; parched throats and lovely cold water that slid down those throats at sundown; lovely community taraweeh spirit; and calculations and disbursements of charity. It is gone. And like this time every … Continue reading Changes in My Life, and a New Book: “How to Benefit From the Qur’an”
