In-Law Interference

Part I | Part II Ask a Muslim couple to give you a challenge in their relationship and many will say “family interference.”  The stress that family and in-law interference brings to a marriage can be so overwhelming that for some couples it can lead to divorce.  In a recent study by Sound Vision, it [...]

Treasure Your Parents

It’s a classic movie scene, almost cliché: a grown child leaving home as his parents standby watching. The mother, usually weeping, is being consoled by her husband. I used to think that it was the parents who were losing in these situations. Typically the child is beaming, excited at the new prospects that await, while [...]

Hurt by Others: How to Cope and Heal

When I was growing up, the world was a perfect place. The only problem was, that it wasn’t. I used to believe that everything could always be ‘fair’. To me that meant no one should ever be wronged, and if they were, justice must be served. I fought hard for the way I believed things [...]

“Baba! I want a GPS!” Parental Growing Pains in the Trenches of Childhood

Asalamu alaykum, A few months ago, while speaking to my 6 year old, the following transpired: Six Year Old: “Bob [Short for Baba]: can you bring me something from America?” Suhaib: “Sure, insha’Allah. What is it?” Six Year Old: “I [makes that cool six year old breathing sound between thoughts], I wanna GPS?” Suhaib:  Thinking [...]

GrowMamaGrow: A Great New Blog of Muslim Mothers!

Appreciate your Parents

Bismillah وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ إِلاَّ إِيَّـهُ وَبِالْوَلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـناً إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ الْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَا أَوْ كِلاَهُمَا فَلاَ تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّ وَلاَ تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوْلاً كَرِيمًا وَاخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ الذُّلِّ مِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًا And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be excellent to [...]

Should we Celebrate Mother’s/Father’s Day?

There is a legitimate scholarly difference surrounding this issue. Those who hold such celebrations as forbidden do so contending that such celebrations are “religious in nature” and amount to imitating the religious rites of others. Those who contented that such celebrations are permissible, do so contending the opposite: such celebrations are not religious in nature [...]

PARENTS: WAKE UP!

It was the first night of Ramadan. I was so excited about going to the masjid for taraweeh and enjoying every moment of this month of forgiveness. But no matter how hard I tried to do that, my thoughts were continually disrupted. While I sat and followed the Shaykh’s recitation of surah al Baqarah, I [...]