Episodes

Kaitlin Abdelrahman joins us today to talk about how and why she launched On-Call Halal, delivering halal meals at suhoor AND iftar to Muslim healthcare workers in Kansas City. When all things are tough and we have to juggle so much. Kaitlin added one more thing to her amazing repertoire in order to turn lemons into lemonade. Of course, she’s sparked a conversation and movement that we hope will continue and span the breadth of our nation’s front line workers. What a power mom mashaAllah! Whene...

A mother who adopted her child thought she would walk away and enjoy her life with her new family, but she was never more wrong. In this episode of Mommying While Muslim, find out what happened that changed this mother's life forever, what she's doing now to help future generations, and how her son's adoption 3-years ago will have a lasting impact for generations to come. You will also discover how you can help in her quest to make life better for hundreds, if not thousands, or orphans. Links:...

A newly converted Muslimah and a new immigrant Muslimah met 40 years ago in Chitown and discovered they had more in common than they thought. Darlene Hussain and Qurrat “Annie” Jafri join us today to spill the beans on what happened when they became Muslim moms in America! We talk about the painful things: mom guilt, reverse Muslim discrimination, postpartum depression, social isolation, first generation woes, kids being bullied….and let’s not forget the fun stuff, like how Zaiba and Uzma are ea...

Durdana Razvi Rahman, mom of the first Muslim American news reporter to don hijab on the air, joins Zaiba and Uzma today to discuss how moms help kids face adversity, even if it comes from an unjust source. While quick to downplay her wisdom, Durdana shares some excellent parenting tips, from kids friends, their personal and professional choices, and how the thread of Islam brings it all together seamlessly. This is a terrific launch to our Power Moms theme this month, so stay tuned for moms who...

Yasmin El Hady, or the comedienne and social media sensation known as Yasguru, joins us today to help make sense of how to juggle mommying, work, and the kids this quarantined Ramadan. What is timeboxing, what does it look like, and how can it help make sense of the new mom juggle we all have to do? Find out how we can manage our tasks better if we can determine what activities cause high stress vs low stress. Best of all, it’s FREE! The live on this episode left us in tears laughing, our cheeks...

Eissa Albinali joins us today to discuss life in lockdown in Spain and what we are taking for granted here in the States. He’s a super creative expat with some amazing ideas to share, and projects he’s got started on YouTube we can bring right into our living rooms. He’s also got great advice for teens to utilize their time, get their creative juices flowing, and advice for moms on how to support our kids this quarantined Ramadan. Remarkable kids come from remarkable moms, so let’s not forget t...

Shownotes: Senator Ghazala Hashmi representing Virginia District 10, the first Muslim elected to the Virginia State Senate, represents historic political change and joins us today to discuss how 2017 rhetoric propelled her from education to politics. How does a normal Muslim American mom make change like this and why is it important for Muslim immigrants and their kids to be actively engaged in American politics? This lifelong educator also gives us tips on success within the world of online lea...

Uzma’s son and daughter guest on our episode today while they explain their worries and excitement about a Ramadan without the socialization and masjid influences we’ve been used to. Hear some dirty laundry about our co-hosts and their experiences of Ramadans past, and how we plan to make the best of Ramadan 2020, especially for the young ones who are looking forward to it so much. There’s also a very important correction to what we stated about praying taraweeh with a live stream at home, so pl...

Join expert homeschooling mom and community volunteer extraordinaire, Priscilla Martinez, as she shares what Ramadan entirely at home can look like. What are the traditions we will be grieving, but what can we look forward to? Seriously, some of us are missing the forest for the trees here, so let’s shift mindsets and make the best of what we’ve been dealt! Ramadan 2020 will definitely be one for the history books, and as the makers of festivities and home comforts, let’s make it happen together...

Get real news on the pandemic from a scientist rather than a politician or your neighbor who swears by elderberry or summer heat to kill coronavirus, or your Amo Sami who swears it’s all a conspiracy to rig an election year. Doctor Syra Madad is not just a novel infection chaser and someone who maintains readiness to fight them, she headed for Ebola on US soil when the rest of us were running away from it. From bioterrorism to now hunkering down in New York City to stem the spread of infection i...

Saira Sufi joins us today to share the story of her son, Hadi, and how he remains her guide today. She has weathered innumerable losses in the last couple of years, and still holds her chin up as she advocates for her son’s disease and mom resilience. This may be a triggering episode for anyone who has suffered immense loss and grief, so maybe listen in a group so you can support each other through this episode. Also, let’s never forget to support medical research and to join minority blood regi...

Dr. Saba Maroof joins Zaiba and Uzma on their quest to provide a one-stop-shop for mom answers while we navigate our Muslim American families. As a mental health resource brought to our audience by MWM, Dr. Saba will be able to offer professional insight into some of our families’ most concerning issues and questions. We look forward to exciting offerings online for our audience with her and having one more on this team to help us expand what we can do for our Muslim American mom sisters! Links:...

Maryam Munir, the founder of The Parent Empowerment Project, joins the Mommying While Muslim team in order to bring positive parenting expertise to our repertoire. Even though out on a family emergency, Maryam kindly joins us from overseas today to talk about key buzz words in the parenting field today. Links:https://youtu.be/NrB8Iamo0OA The Parent Empowerment Project: https://teepep.com/ Mommying While Muslim doesn’t have any financial relationship with Life360, and Zaiba is glad they’re takin...

Do we hang up our womanhood, our God given sensual selves, once we have kids? And if we do, WHY? The Village Auntie spills it all, as she does best, to help us reclaim our feminine histories in order to be better mothers. Part of that reclamation includes restoring the fundamentals about what Islam teaches regarding feminine sexuality, and how critics are quick to forget or minimize those religious truths in order to feed cultural taboos and shame culture. Find out about her journey, her book, a...

Do you know if you have a “loosey goosey” or a “tight pelvis?” Let’s talk wetting our pants while we wet our pants (it’s on the video if you missed it), as well as pelvic pain, its causes, the physical and sexual dysfunction that results, and treatments. You may not have heard about vaginal massage before, but here’s where you can find out how terms like that and valium suppositories are actual medical interventions for real women’s problems. Links: Dr. Tayyaba Ahmed on IG @drtayahmed Dr. Tayya...

Zaiba & Uzma learn how prophetic sexual tradition is really female-centric. Saba explains the effects of Eurocentric and colonial influences on Islamic sexual beliefs and practices. Normalizing sex again, and normalizing our need to be fulfilled, especially in this aspect of our God-given nature, is our right and we need to learn to exercise. We also need to teach that to our kids, who are often wondering about orgasm, masturbation, and other sexual practices we were taught as “deviant,” but it ...

Three Muslim moms take on the glass ceiling of sexuality, exploring taboos on Muslim women’s sexuality and addressing the truths and half truths about it. Rather than have sex happen TO them, moms deserve to experience sex as active and important recipients of sex as a God given right. Hear Zaiba and Uzma channel their inner adolescent as they learn to talk about sex, baby, just like grown ups! Aalia truly brings on the blush by discussing sexual paraphernalia by Pure Romance that you won’t tal...

Rubina Cohen, our recurring contributor, joins us today to give insight into her unique experience with PPD. We compare notes, commiserate, provide some more facts, and talk about resources available to mom sisters. It’s just not talked about enough in our regular circles and we don’t want to see another mom go through this. So let us remove the multicultural stigma Muslim American moms face for our community. Rubina's experience inspired her to create a product for postpartum moms as well as a...

Dr. Fareeha Malik, DDS, and mom of 2 joins Zaiba & Uzma to describe how she felt after delivering her children, how it impacted her relationships, and how she found healing. Bringing home a baby doesn’t always mean mom’s eternal happiness. Not all mothers feel “the way they should” after the baby is born, and may feel lost if they don’t know where to turn for resources. This endangers not only mom but also a newborn. Our audio sounds different on this episode, so bear with us. We were also so in...

Zaiba and Uzma review how they fed their babies, what led to those decisions, and the social backlash they received for their choices. What’s normal, what’s real, and what’s the Islamic perspective on our Muslim American boobs and bottles? Links: Find Senators up for re-election in 2020: https://www.270towin.com/2020-senate-election/ Breastfeeding duration recommendations: https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/breastfeeding/conditioninfo/recommendations La Leche League on Muslim perspectives ...

Join your co-hosts today as they discuss their personal journeys of pregnancy and delivery, sprinkled with the Islamic tenets by which they tried to conceive and receive their little blessings from Allah. It may not always be rosy or even healthy, but it always happens when the time and His plan is right. Links: Our Precious Sprouts by Muhammad Jibaly What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff Quran Weekly video by Omar Suleiman on pregnancy loss: https://youtu.be/98e-lm6wLj4 Muslim ...

Fact check! Uzma misstated the TLC show as "Arranged Marriage," but it's actually "Married at First Sight." Neither is a very good reflection of the arranged marriages discussed today, but of the two shows, the first is a closer version, but we never got around to talking about it! We focused on the absurdity of never talking to someone before you marry them. Some people (Muslim and non Muslim) think Muslims get hit over the head and dragged to the mimbar to get married on their big days. That'...

In this first episode of the Mommying While Muslim of 2020 we discuss the rebirth of our popular podcast, changes that both Uzma and Zaiba are making in 2020, plus we will be talking giveaways. We have researched and have aligned ourselves with some extraordinary products. Now, we want to share what we have discovered. And, wait until you hear the promise that Zaiba makes to Uzma. 1) Web: http://www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com 2) Email: mailto:mommyingwhilemuslim@gmail.com 3) FB: Mommying While Mus...

Is it still a dilemma? When does assimilation cross the line into imitation? And what happens when you have a non-Muslim family that observes Christmas? These and many other questions, including above all, how to maintain our kids’ Muslim American identity are on today’s show. Fun fact: This episode was recorded fall 2018 as we started planning the podcast, edited ourselves, but it hasn’t aired until now, so we’re especially nostalgic about our intentions in this episode. All the feels! Please...