29 December 2005 – Went for ziyarah (tour) of Makkah today. Went to Mount Noor where the Prophet (PBUH) and Abu Bakr (RA) hid for three days from the mushrikeen whilst journeying from Makkah to Madinah. Stopped awhile and watched people climbing up, didn’t have the nerve to do it myself. Then went to Mount […]

I have been so busy this week which has left me exhausted and craving some down time. My in-laws have been here since June and have been helping with my children during the summer holidays and whilst I and hubby are at work. In the past I have struggled to get on with my mum-in-law […]

Had an exhausting weekend. Have been tired and stressed from not knowing if we’ll go Pakistan, from all the kids being under the weather, from running out of money, from lack of sleep, from the house being in a state of transit and from too much to do at work. I really need all the […]

I have been at my new job a week and a half and I am thoroughly enjoying it alhamdulillah.  The day goes by in a flash, I am learning so much and there is lots of opportunity to be creative and throw around ideas. One of the areas I am doing a lot of work […]

Everyone who wears hijab has a story of how they came to do so, whether through long introspection and spiritual growth or whether they just decided one day to start covering their hair. My youngest sister Kooky has written about hers recently at her blog Harlequin Tea Set: “My turning point came after three years […]

I came across this book by chance through a friend and it piqued my interest.  There are lots of these types of books on home making and spirituality by Christian writers but I had not seen one written by a Muslimah, so I was keen to see what it was about. The book is written […]

I often hear sisters whinging about their husband’s. It’s very rare for women to say their husband is wonderful, is enough for them and does enough. Sometimes, I think they just like to moan and sometimes I’ve met their husband and I can’t blame them for complaining.To be fair, the standard set for Muslim men […]

Every year we go through the same  routine with our garden.  I ask hubby to get rid of the spare timber, paint pots and metal, he doesn’t get time.  I get rid of what I can manage and work round the rest.  Through the year various junk gets dumped in the garden again and it […]

After a quiet day, we had lots of cousins and friends for dinner and lots of children dressed in their best high on sweets and careering round the house, fighting, complaining and laughing. Little Man had his friend round too and the two took turns shoving each other off of his bike. In the end […]

I spent yesterday evening hanging out with my sisters, talking, laughing, eating and nagging kids.  As it was World Chocolate Day, we bought some of our fave chocs to share.  I’m not sure who’s idea it was to hold World Chocolate Day during July, but chocolate and hot weather are not the best mix.  We […]

I came across this wonderful piece by Danusha Laméris (Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, California). Small Kindnesses by Danusha Laméris I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you” when someone sneezes, a leftover […]

The title of this book piqued my curiosity when I swapped it for another book with a friend. I had never heard of it although it is described as a classic.The pair of the title are Ali Khan Shirvanshir a young Muslim aristocrat and Nino Kipiani, a Georgian Christian living in the old-fashioned yet strangely […]

Abu Ayyoob (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever fasts Ramadaan and follows it with six days of Shawwaal, it will be as if he fasted for a lifetime.” (Narrated by Muslim, Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa’i and Ibn Maajah). image […]

I have had the sincerest intention every day for many days – to write, to blog, to answer e-mails to catch up with the various things that go with running a blog (like broken links, editorial calendars and queries about reviews and advertising). But life seems to conspire to distract and obstruct me. We are […]