“Abusers often operate by manipulating you with what they’ve done for you. Someone’s good deeds to you NEVER gives them the excuse to abuse you. So do not allow them to make you feel bad for removing yourself from their presence due to what they’ve done for you. All good ultimately is from God and people are simply the vector. …
“Emotional abusers are masters at turning their sins into your wrongs. Your every complaint, disagreement, or expression of concern is now about you not showing them enough love, compassion, or respect. And as soon as they fear that others will see their wrongdoing for what it is, they play victim and accuse you of hurting them in some way. These …
prayer. my lord, forgive me my lord, forgive me my heart sometimes goes numb from the pain of the little girl who lost her home because she took refuge in you —even if. The following is an excerpt of I Almost Left Islam: How I Reclaimed My Faith by Umm Zakiyyah: It takes only one shot to kill a person. …
sore throat. I’m losing my voice to laryngitis of the heart. —from the journal of Umm Zakiyyah Dear daughter and young sister in faith, I wish I could wrap the words I say to you in the language of love, in the power of experience, and in the calm solemnness of pain, then release them directly into your heart. Because …
Who’s going to listen to you? When I was asked this question for the first time, it wasn’t really a question. It was a taunt. And I didn’t really have an answer. The man taunting me was a community leader, a respected imam, who was bragging about how he was going to drag my name through the dirt. He listed …
NEW! CLICK HERE for eBook Her mother was raped. This is how Melanie was born. For years, the sight of Melanie’s face reminded her mother of the sexual assault, so Melanie herself was verbally and physically abused through childhood. But Melanie’s obligation was to love and honor her mother, she told herself. This is what Melanie believed as a Christian, …
“The loneliest place to be is on a pedestal. No mercy lives there. No understanding. No compassion. Only the expectation of perfection. Your humanness is not accepted on a pedestal—let alone celebrated. The most precious people in my life are the ones who see all of me. The sensitive, emotional side, along with the fighter. The teacher, but also the crazy …
Why I Wrote Pain. From the Journal of Umm Zakiyyah “Well,” I said, a bit exhausted from all the back and forth, “we all have to do what we believe will earn us Paradise.” It was my final attempt at a resolution. I was visiting a friend I’d known since childhood and whom I hadn’t seen for several years, and …
“But I don’t trust God,” the man said. He was a neighbor of ours and had just learned that his wife was terminally ill. Though the man was Christian, my husband had advised him to turn to God in prayer and to place his trust in Him… “You cannot even begin to understand the depths of confusion caused by believing …
Originally published via MuslimMatters.org “I’m just calling to let you know I’m not Muslim anymore,” the woman said to me after I picked up the phone, “and I’m cutting off contact with all Muslims except you.” This was one of the most difficult conversations I’ve ever had. My heart ached for this woman; I knew her story all too well. …
