Fig & Olive

We often get it confused. We fear empathy because we fear it will move us to incorrect action. We assume that if we empathize with the ‘abuser’ our pity will overwhelm us and cause us to have mercy on him in his actions. But the ‘why’ never has to affect our ’what’ though it can […]

This is the post I wanted to post in December 2019 but I started to doubt myself and wonder if a true goodbye is necessary for this little blog. Whether it is or isn’t I’ve decided to share it anyway. Thank you, out there, for your support over the years. I am eternally grateful. Original […]

In the fight for women’s rights, our bodies have been a missing part of the conversation. Women marched their way into the workforce and demanded equal pay and equal opportunity but as we pushed our way into the top positions in the workforce —as we fought for equality, we left our bodies behind. How did […]

Modesty and faith come together. If one of the two is missing, so is the other. [Hadith] My dad used to repeat this Hadith a lot when I was growing up —especially as a teenager. It frustrated me because I didn’t want to believe it (I also just wanted to fit in and wear the […]

Maybe because I often buy into a “rugged individualism” approach to life I’ve found it hard to completely comprehend what people mean when they say it’s hard to get married. I know that our culture doesn’t make it easy to get married but it is, after all, our culture and everyone born into it knows that there will likely be […]

Hijab is Not Simply a Choice: It’s very difficult to have an honest conversation about Hijab. Muslims go into defense mode and non-Muslims go in to attack mode. The basic question that surrounds the tension -is hijab a choice or a form of oppression? As Muslims we’ve been trained to say of course it’s a […]

Some years ago, while I was studying at Azhar, a young sister wanting to practice her faith asked me to clarify the spiritual dimensions of modesty. This was my reply. Alhamdulillah, I believe it had a great impact on her back then, so I want to share it so you could also benefit insha Allah.  […]

Nation’s Impact Needless to say, the heyday of the Nation of Islam was before my time. My parents weren’t involved in the Nation and it was never a part of my religious upbringing. Nevertheless, its impact is still felt in the black Muslim community and the larger black community. Malcolm X was and is a […]

You can’t attach to the goal and remain attached to God. I’ll share a bit about myself, which I try not to do too often, and that is that I was attached to a goal. Maybe not much to say, aren’t we all? But it only recently dawned on me just how deeply attached I […]

Alienation is the state of being withdrawn or separated from a group, person, or situation to which one was formerly attached. There are quite a few definitions of alienation, including those specific to Marxism and psychiatry. The best definition, for our purpose, in the one above. Alienation in some ways isn’t particularly special or interesting. […]