Navigating Emotional Abuse
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Each person brings with them a distinct flavour, or perhaps we say, their unique scent into conversations, group work, or anywhere they be. It spreads naturally, makes its mark and belongs uniquely to them. It is what makes them who they are. And when that scent is founded on iman and khair, it is beautiful.…
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Dear Light They Needed Dimmed, As you grow older, you see a lot. And you also see the brilliant ideas you had and did manage to let a sentence out of, only to be dashed out just as fast. In a grave need for security, to tuck it inside your heart, never to be spoken…
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I remember in my late teens, there was a message conveyed, in the most subtle yet sometimes very clear ways, that these are the years. All up to just early twenties. These are the years, and your worth is solely tied to a handful of specific things. And of course we believed this–I believed it.…
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Targets and goals. But none her own. A stranger to her own labour. In a race that never seems to stop, because the finishing line keeps moving. Childhood and youth are times of skill-building, then identity building too. Where fitrah comes out to be refined, polished, and directed and when it begins to take various…
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In trying to build a safe world for a child, you may gently repair the world that once broke you. It’s amazing how it works. But Allah works in wondrous ways. We were taught that to love is to endure. But what happens when we realize that to love is, in fact, to protect? To…
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When battles needed to be fought, and adults needed to be baby-ed, the child missed out heavily. On growing, learning, and understanding life. On knowing who and what was acceptable, and who and what was dangerous. A child abused or neglected missed out. By all means. On parts that were integral for his wholesome growth…
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Being involved in a legal case as a Muslim woman in a country where Muslims are a minority can be an extremely isolating experience. Whether the case involves marital law or children’s rights, it can pull you into a dark place if you do not approach it with the right mindset. However, I want to…
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Somewhere early on, this idea was instilled in us through what we saw, heard, and read: that there is a premade mould, and we need to fit into it. This mould was mostly good. Usually, it was built around tried and tested methods for living. Perhaps we can call it a societal “norm.” It provided…
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When we speak about the fantasies of invisible children, there are several psychological mechanisms at play. An invisible child is exactly that: unseen. If you ask them what they felt like growing up, they often describe themselves as background objects: “like a piece of furniture,” “living in the shadows,” or “present, but not noticed.” Validation…