I only recently learned the term passive bilingualist - ‘a person who can understand a language fluently, but cannot speak it.’ It describes me and my experiences to the T. Belonging to the Dawoodi Bohra community (a Shia Islamic community with origins from India/Pakistan) and going to the Bohra mosque has never been easy for me for a variety of reasons, a major reason being I’m a passive bilingualist. I understand the languages being spoken at the mosque - Gujarati, Urdu, Lisan al-Dawat (well,

I heard the ticking that so many of us women hear when it comes to our biological clock and mother nature telling our bodies time is running out. So at 36, single, and not anywhere close to being in a serious relationship, I decided to freeze my eggs.

I have this memory of being in India when I was 15 years old, my hair dyed in auburn highlights, because as someone who had finished her freshman year in high school, I wanted to look cool, older …

Today, I work towards raising awareness on the issue of gender inequality, I look towards solutions that can end all forms of gender violence, I think of peaceful intervention. I think of generosity. I think of my father.

In light of the #metoo campaign, in which issues of sexaul harrassment, assault, and overall violence against women were being elevated, I hoped that the article would spark a conversation on how Nouman Ali Khan should be held accountable for his inappropriate and harmful actions. I was wrong.

I grew up in a Muslim household, but call myself agnostic today. Nonetheless, I cannot deny my Muslim heritage. Tasneem Nanji cannot either; perhaps, this

My parents told me that I had to undergo it, but I begged them to delay it. I'm talking about my Misaq; the initiation ceremony.

The fatwa given during the Zikra majlis by Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin in favor of female genital cutting dug up the wound that exists in my heart which make

And, I learned how often a language was spoken to you, specifically, how patient and caring the person(s) was, affects your ability to become bilingual.

I work at W.O.M.A.N. Inc., an anti-domestic violence agency in San Francisco. The other week, a woman in an abusive…

My mind was set on doing what it takes to help survivors of domestic violence I did what I do best I ran