When I walked into the theater to see Wild, I’ll admit I was a little skeptical at first. As someone who had not read the memoir before seeing the movie, I thought the film would be a little too Eat, Pray, Love for my taste, similar to Elizabeth Gilbert’s privileged…
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“I hope you have a BOY,” is a phrase I heard too many times during my pregnancies. I mean…really? I had my children in 2007, 2011, and 2012; and with each pregnancy came those individuals that not only hoped, but prayed that I would have a boy. These ‘hopes’ and…
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The book that Ender wrote was not long…And he signed it, not with his name, but with a title: SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD Most who read it found it interesting; some who read it refused to set it aside. They began to live by it as best they could, and…
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Question: Dear Salma, I was (am) a naive (stupid) Muslim woman. I had a sort-of arranged marriage (not forced) . My husband started sexually brutalizing me immediately. He wanted intercourse multiple times a day and he would not take no for an answer. I tried my best to please him but…
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Breathing is a basic physiological process that is required to sustain life. Gravity is a basic force of nature that gives weight to physical objects and causes them to fall toward the ground when dropped. Economical enterprises unto themselves, our bodies provide a basic polarity that efficiently keeps us standing…
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“Parhe farsi, baicha tail – “studied Persian, selling oil.” That was my dad’s response when I first told him about the idea of drifting away from counseling to venture into social entrepreneurship. I planned to make lotay – portable bidets to help wash oneself with water after urination and defecation….
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I know what you all must be thinking. Ew, no, those are so ugly, my mom literally wore those a million years ago and thought they were totally cool. Well, guess what — like most interestingly old “ugly”trends, this one is back and it’s hot! Real talk: I totally understand…
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#Act4Survivors The recent news of sexual violence in the Muslim community has sparked much conversation around sexual violence, and what we as a community can do to address it and effectively support our survivors. Allegations against an Islamic school teacher in Florida and a substitute teacher in New Jersey along with…
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I fell in love once. It was long ago, and it changed my DNA. His name was Abraham. We met while I was in college. I was a freshman, he was two years older. I was smitten immediately. But I kept my cool. He worked in the dining hall and would…
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From day one, my husband had done almost everything in his power to please me in every way. He was generous, compassionate, and honest to a fault. I loved him dearly and was eager to make him as happy as he made me; I wanted there to be no gap…
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