I am taking a break from my habits; habits that uplift me and habits that pull me down. Where is that going to take me as I enter the mode of fasting.
Read moreAh Notre Dame!
Last night I watched Notre Dame go up in flames. I watched the towering steeple fall. Could Notre Dame really burn! Could a steeple fall and be gone forever! I had so much wanted to go back there one day. I will never keep my promise. It was the year 1990 and we were in Paris.
Read moreDo All Muslims Have Good Knees?
Can you guess the context?
I have been asked many questions about Muslims, the Muslim faith, the Muslim whatever, but this had to be the sweetest and most endearing. If you haven’t already guessed, we were in a mosque, in a prayer hall, in the women’s section, settling down for Friday Jumma prayers. My Jewish friend Bernice and I had just sat down on the red prayer rug.
Can Love Be Banned?
They tried and they failed.
In 2017, Pakistan High Court ruled that Valentines Day was un-Islamic and is not to be celebrated in public places or government offices. An individual had petitioned the court with the plea that it was a cultural import from the West and against the teachings of Islam.
Nuns and Little Boys
Doctor amputated right leg instead of the left.
Patient dies after nurse gives wrong meds.
Doctor operated on wrong side of brain.
You have heard of these horrific incidents.
You have wondered ‘how on earth could this have happened.’ I did too, not as an innocent bystander, but as a hospital executive who was responsible to see to it that these occurrences never took place.
Is New Year Greeting Haram?
“Happy New Year,” said one person to another on one New Year morning, January 1, 2019.
Nothing unusual about that, right? Well, one of them didn’t think so. Actually, he took offense. I am not kidding. “It is not our new year. Our new year starts in Muharram. For one Muslim to greet another Muslim with a Happy New Year greeting on January 1 is haram,” …
Me and My Money
Once upon a time, I was broke.
The first time I had to manage money was when I went away to college—September 1966. I was barely 15. Until then, Daddy would give me pocket money every month—I don’t recall how much—and I would save it to buy a birthday gift for my sister or brother. I had no other use for money.
My Blind Dates
I had never dated. Not once in my life. But that’s another story. If you want to know more about my date-less life, you will have to read my memoir. For the last two years, I have been back-to-back in blind dates. Sometimes I meet them for coffee, sometimes for dinner, and sometimes I meet up in their homes, staying overnight. Separate bedrooms.
My Muslim Christmas
Lets start with some Islamic trivia, which, by the way is not trivial. Not by a long shot. Here is the question: In the Quran, only one woman is mentioned by name. Who is it?
The answer: Mary. Mother of Jesus
Did you know that? Here is more: The 19th chapter of the Quran is titled: Maryam—Arabic for Mary
A Thanksgiving You May Want To Skip
“Lets go around and say what we are grateful for,” Dad said, invoking our tradition.
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