(Reposted from 2012.) “Oracle” is what another calls me, while Blue calls me “Vivid Dreamer.” Let me start with the women in my mum’s family; we dream. I learnt very…

I first wrote and published this piece in 2011, and it is my favourite one to recycle annually, so welcome this 2022 edition. The driver behind this piece is simply…

Hello – It has been a minute! Thank you for all of your gracious messages that continue to filter in, and for your kind words asking after me. I am…

My first boyfriend was Libyan.  Here we are at Jabal al-Akhdar (Green Mountain) picnicking with our families.  Ever arguing over his fetish for jogging pants and how he soiled himself publically, we were…

Last week, I was discussing the challenges of being a single woman in today’s world. We talked about what lessons should be taught to daughters and to sons and from…

For those who have lived here long enough, you remember him from the original post of 2008, because – oddly – I receive references about ‘the stand-up guy’ regularly from…

  And I responded with a variation of the following. Because I talk too much. ‘Ramadan’ is the name of the month (like October or November) and the Muslim calendar,…

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” -Albert…

Editorial Note #1: This article was originally published in 2011. I am currently on holiday and unless titled Dispatches, then what you are reading was scheduled for publication in advance…

Editorial Note: Originally published on 2012/11/19. ——————– “Since masculinity is defined through separation while femininity is defined through attachment, male gender identity is threatened by intimacy while female gender identity…

I asked, “Why have I received only this?” A voice replied, “‘Only this’ will lead you to That. -Rumi Once upon a mid June’s eve, I received an email which…

“Terrorism is not the weapon of the weak. It is the weapon of the morally bankrupt and mentally depraved. As Muslims, we should join all civilized human beings in condemning…

If you are unfamiliar with this beautiful man’s story, please take the necessary 11 minutes to watch this and learn from it. Love and light to you each and all…

There is a very strange inclination in the human situation; we default to exclusivity. Building bridges, mending gaps, shortening distances between ourselves is not an act most of us perform…

Marasmus is a condition by which babies will die if they are not touched. If you feed them, and keep them clean and sheltered, and fill a bank account in…

This is the first photo taken when in 2008 we landed in Tunisia for Nizar and Sissina’s wedding. It is with my aunt, over the moon was she that her…

I have already mentioned to you my Nutmeg Days, but have not sat down to write about the days which leave me feeling like the woman in this photo, without…

This original post has been updated, and can now be found right this way –> The Altruist.

For a variety of reasons, some rooted within my messy relationship with baba during my teenage years, others rooted in painfully challenging situations with men, I often struggled with trust….

The early years after my parents fell out of love with one another and divorced, I didn’t much act out against my mother. One way I did act out is…

I have recently been struggling with something I have never before dealt with. It is a very deep, visceral, and unkind reaction to someone I don’t know. This is a…

“Charity. To love human beings in so far as they are nothing. That is to love them as God does.” “A hurtful act is the transference to others of the…

The most important lesson I took from 2011, and which I have taken from every single year past is that life really and truly is precious cargo. I am not…

In The Hands of God from Mustafa Davis on Vimeo. At a time when y’all are preppin’ to throw down some cash in the name of Baby Jesus (♥ +…

This is one of the most amazing things I have seen in a very very long time. I just can not tell you how hard I love this, or the…

To Mothers By Baraka Blue To those mothers who buttered sandwiches and lit loves lanterns when sweet dreams turned into nightmares- and cloaked us in radiant safety net bear hugs…

If you are Muslim, I need you to today please read Al-Fatiha for a little baby named Youssif, only three months, flown up to heaven this early morning. If you…

A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, “where mother is.” ~Keith L. Brooks Often, I have teased my mum about the weird seeds she saves in her fridge….

I recently wrote something, of which the following is a small bit. I never made it public because it felt too raw and because I was arguing with myself while…

I box twice a week and do my absolute best to make every single class. Short of there being a natural disaster like a flat tire or exhaustion from the…

I was at a stop light watching a child who couldn’t have been older than four years old. She was holding on to her father’s hand and hanging, legs and…

Editorial note: The following has been drafted on the fly via berry. Pardon the mistakes and the non-coherency if I am a little all over the place…it is an inspired…

As with the months of Ramadan past, I usually take this time to focus on faith matters. To present a slight logic to the ordering of what I will post, I…

The saying “Paradise is at the feet of mothers” is rooted in the following: A man asked the Prophet Mohammed whether he should fight in a war. To this, the…

Dear Kirk Cameron, My infantile crush was on the cartoon character Orion Quest of Grendizer. On occasion, I find myself still humming the show’s tune, and would today argue that…

As hard as I tried, I never saw beyond the squiggles of an austereogram and for a while was convinced — like a die-hard conspiracy theorist — that no one…

I am pretty sure I am in love with this man. Please watch and learn and think and share… Comments closed.

Last night, my cousin’s girlfriend – Mingchao, who resides in Hong Kong – and I tumbled through the SoHo district, though it was only I who on several occasions nearly…

I can count the number of times I have posted emails from readers, but this is one well worth it. “Hi Maha, I am Ri7am and I always read your…

For those of you asking after comprehensive information rather than mere reporting of current events, please take a poke through the Stratfor Global Intelligence website here. In order to read…