The marital ideal in the West is to meet someone who makes you happy; maybe even someone who takes your breath away (if you’re lucky). To court for a while, and then have a relationship proposal. To do romantic things together. To share friends. To share experiences; travel. To integrate with one another’s families and then after some years, more...
Umm `Atiyyah (may Allah be please with her) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) commanded: “Let the free women, the virgins, and the menstruating women go out to attend the Eid prayer, and witness the good and the supplications of the believers. As for the menstruating women, they should stay away from the musalla. (i.e., should not more...
As the month of Ramadan approaches I am filled with anxiety and tension. I feel excited and spiritually “high” but anxious nonetheless. I want to fast, but it scares me. In an off-guard moment I am inevitably transported back to high school, and afternoon drives between Stellenbosch and Cape Town; to the root of my unease. The untold neuroses – more...
It’s been two weeks since I wrote about Jehaan and her struggle, and while the comments were overwhelming (to say the least) most of the feedback I received was not made public. Some of it was not even said outright or to me directly, and a lot of it was snide. I want to say very unambiguously that I don’t apologise for a word of it. Domestic more...
Jehaan was the first Muslim woman I met. I mean really met. I met her to ask her about Islam; about her life as a Muslimah. Probably most importantly, I met her to ask why she embraced Islam almost a decade ago, because I could no longer contain and ignore my own questions. We met in the early days of the new year in 2009; I visited her home one evening. more...
I can’t sleep. I have a book to write it’s pouring out of my soul. I have huge canvasses to paint with angry colours. I have pictures to take and roads to run. There are gardens waiting for me. Roses that need planting! Beautiful, over red tomatoes awaiting my bite. Trees to climb wild lakes to swim. Pine-needles to roll in How can I possibly more...
it rained tonight and my hair fell out in bunches and in the mirror my eyes betrayed a fear too deep to hold and outside it was dark the water struck the roof with wild indifference and i sat on the floor staring at my scalp it rained tonight and my hair fell out in my hands and the solitude was inconsolable as i threw away the black strands of my womanhood more...
