Muslim – Dear Sister

Half Breed

I once overheard someone proudly calling herself a “halfbreed.” It caught me off guard. I lost my footing for a split of a second. It fogged my brain and made me dizzy for an instant. I tried to convince myself that I must have misunderstood. But I hadn’t. Because she went on to explain that…

Craft Camp #2

As I mentioned here, I’ve come up with the idea to run short and sweet little craft camps at our local mosque to get the kids together doing something fun, with a hint of spiritual growth to it. We were able to get approval for the camp at three mosques, but we are only doing…

Amira

Amira started off as an illustrator of Muslim holiday and special occasion cards, which is what grabbed my attention at first. She and I met in Tripoli, Libya, first on FB (of course), and then in person, when I invited her to be the featured artist at my Caterpillar Café, which she happily did, by…

Craft Camp

This summer I decided to start a small camp for kids between the ages of five and eleven, where they’d learn about some interesting aspect of life (gratitude through Ramadan, kindness through the example of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), humility through Hajj, and being constant through prayer) from a story. We’d discuss it…

Shukr Sale

From Canada Add AFTEREID20 to get an extra 20% the already discounted items in their After Eid Sale (some items are already 58% off!). You can get some real deals! And with Shukr, you can be sure you’re getting the best quality, at the highest ethical standards, with an ecologically minded approach to production. So…

Gratitude

The only way to succeed is to acknowledge what you already have, as little as you might think it is, this step is essential. You won’t be going anywhere until you realize what you’ve got to work with, and with that comes the realization that you’ve got a lot more than you think. You might…

Entitled

Someone in my community just wrote an opinion piece in the paper relating a recent incident that happened to her, in which she became acutely aware of the meaning of the expression “white privilege.” I read the article, and listened to her subsequent radio interview. She has gotten a lot of slack over this, apparently. I’ve…

Why I’m not a Minimalist

Although I grew up wearing hand-me-downs, shopping at thrift-shops, and searching for clearance deals, recycling, reusing and reducing like a pro (a must in most European cities), I have travelled and lived in parts of the world where the requirements and habits were much less rigorous. In North America for example, the cost of living…

To My Sister In Faith

We used to bump into each other in the elevators of our University’s Arts building as we often used the top floor to perform prayers. When I moved to a more central location to be closer to campus, I started bumping into you in my building, and the superintendent rightfully thought he should introduce us,…

Advent Calendar (Gratitude in Ramadan)

Background Inspiration and Purpose As promised, I am going to share with you how I made our Ramadan calendar this year. The inspiration came from three main sources: 1) my childhood Christmas advent calendar; 2) Pinterest ideas on gratitude jars, Ramadan calendars, and prayer booklets; 3) my desire to mark this month in a tangible…