I’ve mentioned before that I am a hopeless romantic and write often about relationships, marriage, and “love”. However, we often associate the word “love” with romance, while forgetting that love comes in many different forms. Today, I want to talk about the admiration and, most of all, the love that I have for my sisters. These are the true sistaqueens in my life. Now, I want you to keep in mind this is not a word I use sparingly; it... Read more
Last week it was AbuEesagate. This week it was the #AliceinArabia controversy (which you can read about in Time, The Guardian, and Buzzfeed. And today’s revelation – surprise! – the script is just as awful as we feared). After all that bakwaas we wanted to end the week on a high note, with this: A nun — 25-year-old Sister Cristina Scuccia — auditioned for The Voice Italy, with an Alicia Keys track and made everyone watching & listening fall in love with her. Diversity,... Read more
One of the most common nightmares in the world – alongside falling or drowning, performing poorly on a test, and being chased – is the one where you’re naked in front of a room full of strangers. This fear always seemed odd to me. Being naked in front of a roomful of strangers I can handle. Being naked in front of friends and peers is a different story. I’m speaking metaphorically, of course. So when I decided to read my... Read more
North African-Dutch musician and creative artist, Rajae El Mouhandiz, gave a stunning TEdxBreda talk a few months ago on claiming her Islamic North African heritage as her own, the legacy of postcolonialism, and the importance of telling your own story through the arts. As #EmpoweredMuslimWomen are blazing up the stratosphere while talking back to misogynist metanarratives to claim new cultural space, we are proud to showcase Rajae as our Friday Love! Rajae is working on several awesome projects, such as... Read more
First love can be a bittersweet and intense experience, especially if it is unrequited. It can also change us in ways we may not grasp until much later. I discovered love for the first time when I was seven years old. He was a distant cousin — one amongst many thanks to my large close-knit family in Lahore, Pakistan. We gravitated towards each other, despite the fact that I was the younger, studious little girl while he was a rambunctious... Read more
The Ides of March –-(or how girl can write her way to a new life) Last week, snow and ice kept me housebound for the third, and hopefully final time, this winter. This snowfall felt different than the previous ones. It arrived glutinous and sticky and carried a surreal sheen of pristine clean. It seemed that nature had saved the most beautiful display for the last seasonal flurry. I felt that it was sent just for me. The ice weighed... Read more
Return of the Friend I had not expected love but it surprised, like the slip of arm around my waist I had expected chiding, but your eyes spoke only kindness, like your face Tulips by the road, the burst of red— I drew my breath as your bus rounded the bend Pink rose in lime green tissue, then your tread, and the slip of arm around my waist Years dissolve between us in this place, and I exhale. I had... Read more
Sometimes, you run into a good thing and you want to share it with everyone. Deonna Kelli Sayed recently attended the Southern Entrepreneurship in the Arts Conference, and kept noticing one attendee who drew during all the sessions. “Hey,” she said, “Your stuff is good. Would you like to create some original work for Love, Inshallah?” Alex Irish, an aspiring and talented media artist, agreed to gift LoveInshallah with original art. In homage to resident Geek girl Zainab Chaudary and wonderful posts... Read more
For an hour in the morning and another in the evening, I have the distinct honor of riding the BART to work. I wisely spend that time answering work emails, reading food blogs, and scrolling through Instagram. Oh, and I people watch because golly, the most “interesting” things happen on BART. Like the time a Paris Hilton look-alike demanded a separate seat for her tiny chihuahua on the crushingly crowded morning commute where people have lost limbs trying to score... Read more
My son loves running around in circles. I mean that literally. He’ll grab a favorite hat or bear and sing and dance while running in circles through the house. As great as he finds it, I personally do not like running around in circles. And yet this is exactly what I’ve been doing for the past three months with my insurance company. Due to an error on their end, my son’s claim did not get processed properly, leaving us to... Read more
Love, InshAllah
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