“When I am gone, you can publish them,” Daddy said to me.
“I want to publish them in your lifetime….There is no benefit to you if they are published afterwards.” I choked on the word ‘afterwards.’ So began the work of organizing Daddy’s memoirs
The Craziest Thing That Happened to Me
Have you ever used a ouija board? When I was 8 or 9 years old, I walked in my uncle’s room and saw him, my aunt, and Khala Ji, my grand aunt sitting around a glass table, talking to a metal piece on the table.
Read moreHappy Birthday Omar. Happy Birthday Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Omar with Khalid
Today is our grandson Omar’s birthday. While I reminisce over the last 20 years, how far Omar has brought us, the places he has taken us, how he changed our lives. . . I am also looking forward to another birthday. A birthday that changed the world forever.
Read moreFrom January 6 to July 4th
What we had won
We almost lost
Democracy we gained
Three centuries past
Almost slipped
Through the faults
The Day I Became a Mother
This morning Saqib, my firstborn, sent me flowers for Mother’s Day. My thoughts went back to the day he was born. I went through my treasure chest and found the letter I had written to my mother in Pakistan when I had been a mother for just 4 days, telling her what it felt like to become a mom, to give birth far away from home
Read moreLove Letter to Omar
I remember the day you were born. My first grandchild. What a novelty! You were beautiful and cuddly. At age one, you were a happy child. At two, you were witty, expressive and as loving as a two-year-old could be. At three, you changed. The doctor said it was autism.
Read moreRamadan During Retirement
I started fasting in my teens. As I approach seventy, I have experienced fasting during exams, raising children, working full-time, and now in retirement. This has to be the easiest phase of my fasting career. A lot changes when one is no longer on active duty.
Read moreRamadan In The Age of COVID: A Personal Snapshot
Read my piece in the New York Daily News, published on April 22, 2021
Read moreWhere Did I Come From?
If you were an adopted child, you would have wondered about it. Probably still are.
Read moreIf I Were President
Muslim women heads of state in Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Singapore
Not me. My granddaughters.
March 27 was Muslim Women’s Day. I posed this question to my three granddaughters:
If you were the first Muslim woman president of the US, what would you….?