I’m in the middle of work. Blogging has to take a back seat to paying the mortgage, and packages have to be set out for the post office or Bob in Omaha will be sending me an irate email asking me why he hasn’t received his widget yet. So here I am, in my office, plugging away distractedly at work while watching CNN and obsessively checking Facebook every five minutes. My husband is across the room packing and listening, too. ... Read more
On September 11, Welsh actor Andy Whitfield died of lymphoma. He was survived by his wife, Vashti, and their two children. He didn’t die when a plane crashed or when a building collapsed. He passed away at a hospice care facility after chemotherapy efforts proved unsuccessful against a very aggressive non-Hodgkins lymphoma. I know about his death, and a tiny bit about his life, because I googled around to find out who, besides those in New York and DC and... Read more
Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah. So Ramadan is almost at an end and I’m planning my Eid party. We decided last year that in order to make the Muslim Holy Days / holidays special, we’d have a big get-together with a bounce house, snacks, crafts, and lots of friends. Our first Eid party was small but fun with several families and the neighborhood kids. The bounce house was a major success. I just made my reservation for a large Dora /... Read more
Salaam Alaikum! Yes, I know, the silence from this little corner of the Patheos world has been deafening. My poor little overwhelmed brain has been struggling to make my hands type out topical, fun, clever, and oh-so-inspiring articles for my blog. Allah knows there’s plenty to write about. Maybe that is the problem. I am so overwhelmed by what is going on in the world that I am paralyzed, like a deer caught in the headlights of an onrushing vehicle. ... Read more
I was going to put this on my Facebook page, but then I realized that this true story is another way to show that Muslims are just like everyone else, only moreso. We have the same challenges and issues as any other family, and sometimes those challenges can be, well, like this: The Great Sriracha Sauce Massacre of 2012 It was a quiet afternoon in the Shehata household – too quiet, as it turned out. We had recently left... Read more
Thirteen years ago, I married a tall, handsome, shambling, funny, religious Egyptian man. Since then, this ancient land of pharaohs and pyramids has never been far from my thoughts. I’ve visited the country twice. Most of my husband’s family still lives there. We are far away from the turmoil here in the United States, but we’re only one Skype call away from his brother, his cousins, his uncles and aunts, his nieces and nephews. So many of them have... Read more
Okay, so there’s this book out. It has caused quite an uproar in some circles, making the rounds not only of the bestseller lists but of the morning talk shows. Have you heard of it? It’s titled Fifty Shades of Grey by some author who is pretentious enough to only go by her (his?) initials. What’s the name? E L (space but no periods please) James. What is it with British authors and initials? J.K. Rowling? D.H. Lawrence? H.G. Wells?... Read more
It’s been quite a weekend in our house. I’m recovering from a nasty sinus infection, trying to remember to take my antibiotics at the right time and still getting another head cold on top of that. I hate dosing myself with medicine because then all I want to do is sleep. Sleep or sniffle, sniffle or sleep. Finally, alhamdulillah, I’m getting over the worst of it. I can feel the phlegm in my chest wanting to come out and all... Read more
What do you do when you can’t do anything? I have so many friends who are watching the horrendous violence unfold in Syria. We feel helpless, voyeurs to massacre on the other side of the world, but as close as our hi-def big-screen TVs. What can we do? What can I do? What can anyone do? This is always the question. I saw hungry children in Africa. What can I do? I watched a story about child prostitutes in Thailand. ... Read more
Today a Canadian court delivered a guilty verdict in the prosecution of Mohammed Shafia for the “honor murders” of his three teenage daughters and first wife. Once again Islam is in the spotlight as the acts of three ignorant people cast a horrible light on the religion they profess, Islam. Okay, just so we’re clear here. There is NO place in Islam for so-called “honor killings”. Honor killings are murder, plain and simple, and anyone who tries to claim that... Read more
Muslimah in Progress
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