motherhood

When I nearly scorched my face with an iron: Postpartum depression

Postpartum depression is a terrible but very common condition that becomes lost in our need to make the conversation about a woman’s journey from pregnancy to motherhood positive and sanguine.   Because of these rosy conversations women often assume having a baby will be nothing but joy and cuddles. It should come naturally…

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Raising My Son

Ever since November 7th, I have been struggling with sleepless nights. I toss and turn, thinking of my three-year-old son, worrying what this country has in store for him as an American Muslim. How can I help him navigate the bigotry and sheer ignorance he will surely encounter? How do I prepare…

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The letter

For months, perhaps even for years, I had been composing in my mind the letter I was going to write to my daughter before she left for college.  I wanted to fill it with wonderful memories and maternal wisdom, with practical advice and big doses of encouragement. I wanted to…

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American Muslim Children Struggle in School: Impact of the 2016 Election

This election cycle has been difficult to experience, even for adults.  Civil conversations and respect for diversity have been sidelined, and the loudest voices in politics and on television now are frighteningly extreme. Unsurprisingly the hateful rhetoric has filtered into American schools.  The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has just…

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In the Arms of a Mother

I have died many times, but your breath made me alive again, Should I die thus a hundred more times I happily shall die! A child that dies in mother’s bosom, that’s how I am, my friend… -Rumi Much poetry has been written about the beauty of dying in the…

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