Learning how to say the right things starts with learning what the wrong things are. I was about to start with, “It blows my mind…”, but I realize it’s actually not much of a surprise to be compiling this list. As a psychiatry resident, I have started to become acutely…
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Dear M, I converted to Islam when I was very young, and feel that I chose my spouse only on the criteria of piety, without really considering other compatibility traits like common interests. We have been married for over a decade, and although he is a kind man and a…
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I tried to make a home out of you but doors lead to trap doors, a stairway leads to nothing. Unknown women wander the hallways at night. Where do you go when you go quiet? I finally watched Beyonce’s latest work, Lemonade, a staggering and vivid “visual album”, and was…
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We are told that the word “beat” in this verse (4:34) is a transitive verb. That means it can only take a direct object. As this verb is transitive it can only mean “beat.” When it is in its intransitive form, it means “go away from them,” making “them” an…
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from the altM archives
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Question: Dear Salma, I was (am) a naive (stupid) Muslim woman. I had a sort-of arranged marriage (not forced) . My husband started sexually brutalizing me immediately. He wanted intercourse multiple times a day and he would not take no for an answer. I tried my best to please him but…
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I spent my time at a recent wedding listening to people’s marriage problems. As the guests danced the night away in celebration, I sat in the back of the hall talking about shattered dreams and unfulfilled expectations. Sometimes, we had to scream to hear each other over the music. There was the young woman whose husband wouldn’t let her finish her education. Then, a friend wanted advice about dealing with her in-laws. And a mother cried as she shared her worries about welcoming her daughter home as a divorcee.
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“Divorce is on the rise in the Muslim community,” said Imam Mohamed Magid. “We have seen an increase in divorce from people married for a while and those married for a short time,” he said, adding that Muslims across the board are getting divorced in higher numbers.
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