It is a Saturday evening and your racing endorphins put you on the edge as you prepare to attend your first ever Qiyam-Al-Layl, a Sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions to stand up in worship all night long. You napped during the day just to get the energy to…
Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story by Alia Ghoneum When I was a child, I used to visit Egypt two to three times a year, so much so that I got an “excessive absence” warning on my first grade report card. As the years went by and…
by Sumaya Bezrati Today I read someone’s status message that was criticizing children’s misbehavior in the mosque (albeit jokingly) but it still struck a nerve with me. This would be the 4th status message about this very topic that I have read this Ramadan. When did the Ummah become this intolerant of children in the…
Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story by Sumaya Bezrati (Special recipe included at the end.) As a fairly new mother with a toddler in tow, I have thought long and hard about Ramadan traditions that will instill a sense of love for the Holy month in my…
Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story When I was a child, my family and I would visit Karachi, Pakistan every other year during November or December and spend a month there (I guess it wasn’t such a big deal if an elementary school kid started winter vacation…
Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story by Samina Mohammad Since I live in a college town in Indiana, Ramadan and Eid is the time when my community comes together to help the college students feel part of a family. The mosque has daily iftars for them and…
Amelia’s story | Samina’s story | Hana’s story | Sumaya’s story | Alia’s story by Amelia Noor I have a dear memory of my post office delivery worker from when I was a child. I lived in an apartment with my family, and my mother would always fry samosas for us before iftar time. Samosas…
My father happily walks into my room handing me a mug of tea, hoping it would make me smile. As I take a whiff, I smell the aroma that teases me from a distance on my desk. Just like the smell of pie teases passerby’s from the kitchen windowsill in Saturday morning cartoons. The aroma…
The grave news from Pakistan emerged last week with the devastating flooding. The death toll has now reached over 1,500. There are shortages of food, water, clothing, shelter, and supplies and, yet, the water continues to rise in the region. In Punjab, 15,000 homes have already been destroyed, leaving what is to be called “a…
Taking a short walk outside this hot, sunny day in Riverside, California exposed to me to one of Allah’s miracles. In my backyard, perched in the tiny space of one of the lamppost’s corners was a tiny nest. Resting on that nest was a mother hummingbird, gracefully feeding her young. As I approached it out…