Rabata

Today we received an apology message from a vendor who is late in shipping some books to the Rabata bookshop.
“سامحونا يا أهل الرباط…”, he said: “Forgive us, O people of ‘ribaat’”. The phrase gave me pause, and I felt a deep sense of appreciation and connection that spans centuries.

Ida Nitter grew up in a town on the western coast of Norway but has spent most of her adult life in the United States. She moved to the Twin Cities back in 2009 for college and has done some travels for further studies including overseas to Cairo, Egypt. Currently, Ida is a full-time doctorate student in modern Islamic history, so writing is her main priority right now.

There are people on this Earth who are shining lights, carrying in their minds bits of information and volumes of knowledge, and by nature share what they know everywhere they go. Three weeks ago the world lost one of its lights. He passed away, as life by nature sweeps us all down this same road, but in his case, he left much behind to benefit the world and make it a brighter place.

Hanisah Lia Muhammad Salleh is a 38-year-old mom from Brunei Darussalam. She has two boys and works as a social media manager and content creator. She is also an Islamic parenting coach. Hanisah lived in Oman for 6 years but has been back in Brunei since 2020. Aside from her work and family commitments, Hanisah hosts workshops for parents and halaqaat for members of her local expat community.

A mixed medium piece which represents the lessons of Rasulallah (s). The putting together of the puzzle pieces expresses the importance of community and being open to work together despite our differences, just like the Muhajireen and Ansar balanced each other out. The dots vet colors to represent all the different degrees of faith in Muslims and non-Muslims.  Notice some dots are fully in the rays of light, some fully in the dark and some a little in both.

Of course, we should attribute our success to the grace of Allah (swt), and know that all that is good within ourselves comes from Him.
But this becomes a problem when we decide to sit back and hand the reins to others when it is time to take action.

With weekly lessons that help strengthen the heart and rediscover the joy of life, Joy Jots: Exercises for a Happy Heart by Tamara Gray is a wonderful guide to keeping on the path of Islam and establishing a closer relationship to Allah swt. Made up of 52 practical lessons and exercises, the book helps the reader not only learn how to adopt good practices, but assists them with putting the knowledge to use by keeping track and holding accountability for oneself.

Dorene Alama was born in Minnesota, but has spent most of her life living on the East Coast. She has been in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the past 14 years with her husband and three grown children. She works part time as a high school English teacher and as a registered nurse. Dorene has also