No one celebrates Ramadan with as much festivity as do the Saudis. I lived there for six years. Ramadan is the highlight of the year. The entire focus of the nation shifts and you live it and breathe it. For one thing, day turns into night, and night into day.
Read moreAround The World In Ramadan. Part 1: Pakistan
My earliest memories of Ramadan are in Pakistan. A child of seven, I would plead with my parents, ‘please, please, can I fast?’ It seemed exciting, such a grown-up thing to do. Mummy let me fast for half a day when I turned 10, but just for a day.
Read moreShe Takes The Shahada
I don’t know her.
I had never met her.
I don’t even remember her name. But yesterday, I sat with her, as she uttered the words, and entered the fold of Islam.
Debbie, We Have A Problem
The Borough President of Brooklyn, Eric Adams, had summoned Debbie in his office.
“Debbie, we have a problem.”
She had no idea what was going on, what had happened, or why she had been summoned.
“We have a high turnout, and it’s a security problem.”
Remembering The Holocaust
Last evening, a group of people congregated on the 7th floor community room of an apartment building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. They had assembled to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day. So why am I writing about it? Gatherings were being held all over New York, all over the world for that matter. I am writing about it because this group was exceptional. A Muslim family had hosted it
Read moreIf It Weren't For Moses...
… we’d be praying 50 times a day.
Tonight was the night, 1,400 years ago, when God ordained that Muslims pray five times a day. But it didn’t start out that way.
Mummy Would Have Said: "Stop Bragging"
Dearest Mummy,
There are times when I so wish you were here;
There are times when I am grateful that you are not.
What's Faith Got To Do With It?
Immigrants and refugees, that is. I was asked this question at the BBYO teen conference. “As a Muslim, how does the immigrant and refugee experience connect to your faith? How does your experience as a Muslim Pakistani-American inform the way you think about this issue?’
Read moreWhen My Book Club Bombed
What is your #1 worst bookclub experience? I am sure many of you belong to book clubs, some to more than one. I am sure most of you love your book club, or at least like it, or you wouldn’t be in it. We do have freedom of choice. Its not as if your boss requires ‘mandatory enrollment’ in his or her book club. Right? But I am sure there have been times when a book club meeting bombed.
Read moreToday I Am A Jew
Sadly, now it’s our turn. Only three days ago, on a bright sunny Sunday, I had stood in Times Square among thousands, waving posters, “Today I Am A Muslim Too.” Except, that they were not Muslim. That day, they were proclaiming their solidarity with Muslims.
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