Mothers

Grandmothers are a blessing. Grammy, Meemaw, Nani/Dadi, Abuela, Bibi, or Babushka, come in all shapes and forms. They babysit for working parents, help new parents, and sometimes become sole providers for their grandchildren.

My mother didn’t like organized religion. She was raised a Catholic but as a young adult moved away from many things that were scripted by her religion and others. When I chose to convert to Islam, she struggled for a long time to understand my choice and support me in it.

Islam is the perfected way of life revealed to a perfected man so that he could deliver its message to a less-than-perfect world in need of divinely perfect guidance. Embedded within this guidance are descriptions of how we as worshippers of Allah can live our best lives.

One of the challenges that come forth immediately after childbirth is breastfeeding. More so, if you are a first-time mom. And, even though breastfeeding is often described as a natural phenomenon, it has an art that needs to be learned by both, the mother as well as the newborn child.

Being entrusted with another woman's baby is a noble station in life. It is a position of trust because children are most impressionable during their first years. During that period, the child’s basic character and self-image are formed.

I recently weaned my fifth child. Like all of her siblings before her, I breastfed her from birth until two years old, Alhamdulilah. Weaning her was an emotional time for me.