Mommying While Muslim

Dr. Hodon joins us today to talk about how to maintain pregnancy health during a pandemic when most of us are barraged with conflicting medical advice and everyone and their president wants to be the doctor giving it.

While providing her personal story of losses after surviving COVID TWICE this year and losing her dad unexpectedly (to Him we belong and to Him we return), Dr. Hodon emphasizes that what worked for her is not medical advice to listeners; it’s her experience on how she recovered and continues to fight back against this disease and its after-effects. Bottom line: COVID isn’t without consequence so stop saying that. We still don’t know the extent to which it can harm us.

This episode is a quickfire of the special considerations COVID pregnancies require and guess what: it involves Zoom, too! We also go through the various decades of women’s lives to emphasize which preventive steps they need to maintain good health for life. Gardasil, PAP smears, mammograms, and vaccines are all here!

Links:

1. Submit your Momstory to Mommying While Muslim this week: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdM7vejV0_M2wNMMGeIreJZjFFzuO5TiaFLiPJnN0IfZfzGBQ/viewform 
2. Dr. Hodon Mohamed’s website: https://www.drhodon.com/
3. Dr. Hodon Mohamed FB group: https://www.facebook.com/DrHodon
4. Dr. Hodon Mohamed on IG: www.instagram.com/drhodon/
5. Hooyo's Chat with Dr. Hodon: https://www.facebook.com/groups/443058729615505
6. Transform Your Life With Dr. Hodon: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1206638969699648/
7. Dr. Hodon Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGci...
8. Dr. Hodon Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dr_Hodon
9. Dr. Hodon LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drhodon/
10. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com
11. Email: [email protected]
12. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group
13. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

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Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w

Zaiba and Uzma ended up having to have a conversation about abortion, as well as their religious and feminist views on the topic. This is not a scholarly episode, rather a discourse between friends on personal, very individualized choices they would or would not make if they were faced with an unplanned pregnancy as Muslim American moms. 

To get an Islamic opinion on abortion, please talk to your favorite Islamic scholar. You can refer to our September episodes on female Islamic scholarship available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify. For more information on abortion in Islam, take a look at the links for resources.

Links: 

1. Summary of Islamic Opinions by SCHOLARS on abortion: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1haB1QyE1JeUpuJy_EEqC_hvaHXqUO7Fyx3AHFbjMfY0/edit
2. Islam and the Abortion Debate from Yaqeen Institute: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/islam-and-the-abortion-debate
3. Abortion in Islami animated information from Yaqeen Institute: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/omar-suleiman/abortion-in-islam-animated-video 
4. For parenting courses on how to talk to Muslim kids about sex: @thehalalsexpert
5. State by state restrictions on abortion at Planned Parenthood: https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion 
6. Muslim Kids and Sexual Activity: https://muslimmentalhealth.com/lets-talk-about-sex-and-muslim-mental-health/ 
7. Sex Education Reduces Unplanned Pregnancy: https://www.aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/study-finds-comprehensive-sex-education-reduces-teen-pregnancy 
8. Who is Alex P. Keaton? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_P._Keaton 
9. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com
10. Email: [email protected]
11. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group
12. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

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Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w

Zaiba and Uzma talk about expected symptoms of “the change,” and what exactly that is and is NOT. Menopause and genitourinary syndrome of menopause are the topics of the day. Super exciting, right? It IS! If we aren’t in the neighborhood of these things happening to us, we can at least walk our moms through it for sure, and they certainly deserve it. If you love an older mom out there, share this episode with her! God knows she won’t talk to her doctor or to us about it! Don’t forget to listen to our public service announcements for preventive health during the last third of this episode.

We brush on vaginal rejuvenation do’s/don’ts and “should we even”…..but mostly: hormones, cancer and osteoporosis risk, and treatments for symptoms are also discussed, so not to worry: there’s hope! 

Links: 

1.    Genitourinary syndrome of menopause: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/vulvovaginal-health

2.    Vaginal symptoms to know about: https://www.aafp.org/afp/2018/0301/p321.html

3.    Treating Menopausal Symptoms: https://www.aafp.org/afp/2016/1201/p884.html 

4.    Purchase a copy of Love Meets Life: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

5.    Email: [email protected]

6.    FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

7.    IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

Did you know you can send us a text? Feedback, questions, or recommendations welcomed!

Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w

We continue our Women’s Health series by focusing on our spiritual health today with Zahra Aljabri, founder of Practical Muslim. She joins us on the podcast today to discuss developing our relationships with Allah SWT in order to strengthen what we have with our kids. She is a spiritual coach who reminds that motherhood is an act of worship and in itself is a way to gain closeness to Allah SWT. 

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One of our biggest complaints is often feeling disconnected from God because of our daily human work of raising kids: laundry, school, meal prep, working outside the home, etc and not being able to experience extra acts of worship. This happens to ALL of us, Ummi/Ammi/Hooyos! This conversation helps unburden us from feelings of inadequacy and shame that undermine our motherhood/personhood, and helps us break unhealthy cycles of spiritual and emotional trauma before we pass them onto the next generation. This is a rainy day, sit by a window with a cup of tea and slippers episode you don’t want to miss. Zahra’s perspective, practice, direction right back to our fitrah (original nature) and enthusiasm for Allah SWT are enough to listen and replay.

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You [Prophet] cannot guide everyone you love to the truth; it is God who guides whomever He will. He knows best those who will follow guidance. (Surah 28:56)

Links: 

1. Find Practical Muslim on IG: @practicalmuslim
2. Practical Muslim website and blog www.practicalmuslim.com 
3. Email Zahra: [email protected]
4. The Thought Model that is key to resetting mindframe (and personal coaching can help you do this see 1-3 above): https://smbwell.com/the-thought-model/ 
5. Zinn Education Project: https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials
6. This Week Junior current magazine for kids: https://theweekjunior.com/
7. Indy Kids newspaper for kids: https://indykids.org/
8. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com
9. Email: [email protected]

Did you know you can send us a text? Feedback, questions, or recommendations welcomed!

Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w

Dr. Tayyaba rejoins us today on the podcast to talk about endometriosis, a condition that can cause pelvic pain in 10% of women in the WORLD, regardless of whether or not they still have periods. This affects quality of life and sometimes fertility, so it’s important to ALL of us.

Special cohost Solat Zaidi shares her personal experiences with this condition and Dr. Ahmed gives us LOTS of facts, differentiating endometriosis from painful periods, which we are more familiar with. Sadly, we will find out that the medical system doesn’t encourage diagnosis or all treatments equitably, and as many Muslim American women are of color, they will have to advocate for both. We end with a #believeher, and Dr. Ahmed wants listeners to know that treatment options are available, although we didn’t get to all of them in this episode. They include pelvic therapy, oral NSAIDS (anti inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen), neuropathic drugs, suppositories, pelvic floor injections, supplements (Semain health, magnesium, vitamin D), acupuncture, yoga, and meditation. Go to those annual health exams and tell your doctor what’s happening so we can stop normalizing pain in women’s health. Also, ASK QUESTIONS of your doctor.

Links:

1.    Dr. Tayyaba Ahmed on IG @drtayahmed

2.    Dr. Tayyaba’s IMANA webinar on endometriosis and vaginosis: https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/5925176206548162050

3.    Dr. Tayyaba’s practice Pelvic Rehabilitation Medicine clinic in Manhattan and Long Island New York 

https://www.pelvicrehabilitation.com/

4.    Book recommendation by Dr. Ahmed: Beating Endo By Dr Iris Orbuch and Amy Stein DPT

5.    Dr. Ahmed’s recommended education on FB: 

a.    Nancy’s Nook for Endometriosis Education

b.    The Endometriosis Summit (also on IG)

Did you know you can send us a text? Feedback, questions, or recommendations welcomed!

Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w

Let’s grieve Ruth Bader Ginsburg this week and talk about feminism as we end our month of Female Islamic Scholarship with Reem Shaikh. Reem is a graduate student at the Harvard School of Divinity who speaks to us about her singular path toward earning her position as a shaykha. Her goal is to provide the ummah with diverse voices in scholarship so that Muslim women don’t have their religion mansplained to them anymore. When women get and give information to each other, especially our most sacred knowledge, we protect our authentic traditions as well as the role of women scholars in Islam. Reem is #daughtergoals so say a mashaAllah during your listen.

How we ensure the preservation of Islamic American scholarship, particularly female scholarship, is explained and exemplified by Reem, who is inshaAllah one of many hopes and plans we have toward that future. Her pearls humbled your cohosts today, who have a new and much needed parenting perspective as a result of this conversation.

Links: 

1. Find Reem on LinkedIn:
2. Find Reem on IG: @daysofreem
3. Find Reem on Twitter: @reemoshaikh
4. On Boys podcast on Helping Boys Listen: https://on-boys.blubrry.net/helping-boys-listen-learn/ 
5. Authentic & Unfiltered podcast IG: https://www.instagram.com/authentic.unfiltered/ 
6. Reem’s mom Saba Syed: https://muslimmatters.org/author/umm-reem/page/7/ 
7. Saba Syed on our most popular episode to date Islamic Perspectives on Sexual Intimacy: https://www.buzzsprout.com/271577/2735836-islamic-perspectives-on-sexual-intimacy 
8. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com
9. Email: [email protected]
10. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group
11. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

Did you know you can send us a text? Feedback, questions, or recommendations welcomed!

Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w

Dr. Saadia Mian joins us today to discuss her unexpected journey toward memorization of the Quran, and love for it. As moms, we generally have the primary burden of Quranic study for our kids, but we lose our own relationship with it. Let’s talk about making it a daily practice using baby steps, and touch on how to make the Quran beloved to our kids as well. Dr. Mian’s 4 tips to get closer to the Quran are golden.

Today we answer the relevancy and blessing of the Quran in Muslim American life. It’s not just a mom goal to teach our kids the word of Allah SWT; it’s a mom goal to learn it ourselves.

Links:

1. Find out more about Dr. Saadia Mian and shop The Crowning Venture: https://saadiamianmd.com/
2. Find Dr. Saadia Mian on IG: @saadiamianmd
3. Pursue Quranic study online at your pace: http://ribaat.rabata.org/ 
4. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com
5. Email: [email protected]
6. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group
7. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

Did you know you can send us a text? Feedback, questions, or recommendations welcomed!

Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w

Anse Tamara Gray, founder of Rabata, an online institute for and by Muslim women to educate themselves in Islam. She’s also an experienced mom who has a lot to share with moms about allying with their kids as part of their mothering. 

Mic drop moment 32:36 when Anse Tamara reminds us about the etymological relationship of the words “umm” (mother) and “imam” (one in front of whom we study, or leader), but on a lighter note at 44:15 “Anse Tamara: I am green beans!” Serious butterflies and chills in this episode, so don’t miss it!

Links:

1. Find out more about Rabata: https://www.rabata.org/
2. Rabata on IG: @rabata
3. Find out more about Ribaat programs: https://ribaat.rabata.org/
4. For more information on the teen program “RabaTeens”: rabateens.rabata.org 
5. For more information on the children’s program “Dragonflies”: dragonflies.rabata.org
6. Anse Tamara on IG: @tamaralgray
7. Anse Tamara’s picks for Muslimah American scholars to know
   1. Dr. Ingrid Matteson: http://ingridmattson.org/about/
      1. With reference to Dr. James Jones: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/team/dr-jimmy-jones/ 
   2. Dr. Zainab Alwani: http://www.zainabalwani.com/
   3. Jamillah Karim: https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/people/jamillah-karim 
8. To buy Joy Jots or other titles by Muslimah authors at  Daybreak International Bookstore: https://daybreak-international-bookstore.myshopify.com/collections/all 
9. Women as Religious Authorities: What A Forgotten History Means for the Modern Middle East: 

Did you know you can send us a text? Feedback, questions, or recommendations welcomed!

Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w

The author of the incredibly popular and much loved book Secrets of Divine Love, A. Helwa, joins us today to talk about her book and what it brings to our souls during these turbulent times. Her popular blog @quranquotesdaily inspires and reminds us of Allah SWT daily as we scroll through fashion and makeup on IG. Secrets of Divine Love is a motivational and inspiring guide to help experience the Qur’an and the Islamic tradition from a place of love, passion, and joy. 

She explains the anonymity of her persona, as well as the importance of authentic connection with each other. She also candidly reminds us that Allah is in control during a time when we all live under delusions of control. More pearls are in this episode than we document here, so take a listen and get the book!

Note: ‘namaz’ is Islamic ritual prayer in the Urdu language; the traditional word for ritual prayer is ‘salah’ in the Arabic language. 

Links:https://youtu.be/NrB8Iamo0OA

1. Purchase Secrets of Divine Love: www.secretsofdivinelove.com
2. Find inspiration: @quranquotesdaily
3. Find the Jeem Journal: https://jeem.life/
4. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com
5. Email: [email protected]
6. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group
7. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast
8. Purchase Jeem journal (journaling) https://jeem.life/

Did you know you can send us a text? Feedback, questions, or recommendations welcomed!

Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w

Hurunnessa Fariad of Sister Act podcast joins Zaiba and Uzma today to discuss how her marriage abruptly ended and under the most unique of circumstances. The video on this one is a must watch, so we’ve linked it below (YouTube) so you can see Uzma’s blooper. Poker face much?

We talk about abandonment, women led households as a more common situation worldwide and in America, financial stressors, facing and raising resilient daughters alone. Hurunessa is a pillar of her active Muslim community and a poster child for what true freedom of body and faith look like. Define “broken home,” do better for our single mom sisters who’ve been with their kids all the time way before this pandemic was a thing, get our divorced sisters remarried (in the manner of the sunnah that Muslim men don’t want to follow), and stop identifying ourselves by our marriage status! Our jobs are to not only break the cycles of trauma that lead to divorce but also to prevent the further traumatization of single moms after the fact.

For any single moms or moms in the middle of a divorce out there, let us know what you think and how we can help do better for you. Check out our links below for Muslim centered resources.

Links:https://youtu.be/NrB8Iamo0OA

1.    Listen to Sister Act here: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ytEwMpRfrZzVaGrM1o2qW 

2.    The Family & Youth Institute Divorce Support Toolkit: https://youtu.be/NDk0Y7AMovw 

3.    CDC FastStats on Marriage and Divorce: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/marriage-divorce.htm#:~:text=Number%20of%20divorces%3A%20782%2C038%20(45,45%20reporting%20States%20and%20D.C.) 

4.    Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

5.    Email: [email protected]

6.    FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

7.    IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

8.    Youtube: https://youtu.be/NDk0Y7AMovw 

Did you know you can send us a text? Feedback, questions, or recommendations welcomed!

Support the show

1. Web: www.mommyingwhilemuslim.com

2. Email: [email protected]

3. FB: Mommying While Muslim page and Mommyingwhilemuslim group

4. IG: @mommyingwhilemuslimpodcast

5. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrrdKxpBdBO4ZLwB1kTmz1w