This is Rana, to whom I often refer as Ranoosh. She is a golden pepper, this little slice of family. The world over, Muslim families donate food and drink (or…

She arrived in the mail today and I stared at her stunned and in silence for a while. She is so tiny, and pink! Which I’m certain is what Jilly…

That’s Yohan, about whom I have written previously. I haven’t broken fast with anyone but family until tonight with him. This is how important he and his family (who are…

That’s momma. She is such a bright light, isn’t she? I mean. Look at that smile. Wow. [I am the little potato sat on the lower left-hand side on my…

Momma and me have always kept Ramadan as ascetic as possible. It is, after all, the month of fasting. We don’t make special deserts, which is now – culturally, not…

Shortly after completing my Masters degree, I was standing in front of the lecture hall in Southam, speaking to one of my former academic advisors, one of my favourites. A…

This is my Qur’an. Tonight, my mother told me that from birth, she used to place it beneath my pillow. I wish I could remember when I decided to no…

Rizq is defined as sustenance / livelihood. Muslim scholars differ on whether rizq only refers to that which benefits us, or everything which sustains us. I am more inclined to…

Seedo gave me my prayer mat when I was very young, and it is one of the few possessions the loss of which would break my heart. It’s small, and…

Already one day over during this blessed month. Before we know it, I’ll be having my morning coffees as though no time has passed. Again, who can actually understand the…

PSA: The pieces over the next 30 days will primarily be reflections on Islam. At a time when this deen which I love so much is so vilified, I hope that you…

A while back, (having the ridiculous privilege of staring into my navel) I asked momma if she knew what her purpose is. If she knew what it was that she…

It was a long day, due to a few family-related matters, so I’ll only offer that tonight I attended a short speaking engagement by Yousef Bashir, author of ‘The Words…

While I was in Geneva, he asked What are you looking for? It was a celebratory night out, and all conversations crept deeper as the night pulled us toward dawn….

I’m slowly seeing all of my girls. Today began with a near six hour catch-up with J over far too much coffee and too little food, and ended with three…

How short would you date? I’m 5’5 and 3 quarters. I’ve always liked taller men, but having also dated at around the 5’10” mark, I appreciate the benefits of not…

He was so pleased with his Albufeira mug that when we went to take a photo, he placed it directly in front of my face and waited for me to…

It’s the little things that make returning home feel like an actual homecoming. Like this morning, when I walked into my favourite coffee shop, Cafe Morala (734 Bank St), one…

It’s a homemade macaron, raspberry flavoured. Beautiful, isn’t it? It tasted as good as it looks (even with reduced sugar), thank you to my little Ranoosh. It’s odd to be…

It was a manic evening yesterday, starting around 9pm, and carrying into today. Thank God I had a 23.5 kg bag to unload, and organize last night. I woke up…

Since December 1st, 2018, I have slept in 20 beds, and taken 16 flights, and 13 trains. I am exhausted, and I am so happy to be home tonight. These…

That’s me in the corner. Neither in the spotlight, nor losing my religion. The only person with whom I am trying to keep up? Myself. Yesterday was hijacked by my…

“These poems have an impressive simplicity of style devoid of archaic and artificial diction. The chief interest of these poems is the employment of imagery with extraordinary effectiveness.“ Today, this…

I spent about 30 minutes perched on this thing, and not because my feet couldn’t touch the ground and I couldn’t pop off with any kind of grace. Rather, because…

She was on her balcony with a full bag of rice, which she eventually emptied out entirely onto the ground. There were around 100 pigeons in her corner. If I…

It stopped raining in Albufeira, which means I must have been leaving. I took my last coffee to the beach and said goodbye before somehow making my way to the…

That’s one of the two entrances to the renowned Benagil Cave. It’s a beach inside of a cave, over top of which is a hole that lets in the sunshine….

It stormed in the morning so I opened the balcony door and snuggled back to bed, to better hear the rain and thunder. Slow rolling my day, the sun finally…

I am loathe to quote him, so will not mention his name but rather only what he said, which is: ‘If you want to make God laugh, tell him about…

I have only heard British and Irish accents since arriving in Albufeira. Which means that the coastline is covered in burnt gingers. It’s great. Because that means that there will…

Rather than a photo which I took, I am sharing with you what my family in Gaza tried to send with my mum. Unfortunately, because it is such an obviously…

Azza. It means the dear one. We had met only once before, in 2014, sat next to one another on a panel for Min Fami in Toronto. We’ve been communicating…

That’s Darwin. He had rabbits in his lap, and he was watching several screens about science things. I can’t tell you what, precisely, because I was too busy taking selfies…

Because I don’t know how photography happens, here I am waving at you from one of the oldest bookstores in the world. Livraria Lello (R. das Carmelitas 144) is said…

There is no bidet culture in Porto. Now that that’s out of the way, I can tell you about our day. We opted for a super slow roll, leaving the…

Porto stole the most beautiful men from Lisbon and transplanted them here. This might cause a situation for both Azza and me on the day that we are meant to…

In the English language, a dog’s language is translated to either ‘ruf ruf‘ or ‘woof woof‘. In Arabic, it’s ‘3aw‘. Which is what I thought the Spanish speakers were doing…

Azza has now noticed it, too. That Portuguese men appear to have on fake eyelashes. I would be lying if I told you this doesn’t lead to a lot of…

We decided to slow our roll today, and had another cozy pyjamas day, watching television, reading and writing. While traveling, and especially because I’m writing daily, I feel obligated to…

Our early afternoon was spent at the majour flea market held every Saturday. Azooza caught a scarf, while I caught caffeine. In Portugal, they might not recognize the request for…