A Letter to Myself on my 20th Birthday
Dear Sobia, Happy 20 vulnerable years of your birth and sigh for Sylvia Plath isn't alive, she would had turned 88 today. Sigh! again. First off, let me start by saying that it's okay to
Ćejf: The Intangible Art of Enjoying Coffee in Sarajevo
You cannot know Islam until you know its edges. Unburdened by historical determinism that is often present at the heart of Islam, Muslims who live on the edges are capable of unleashing the type of
The Capacity of Language
Although I mostly write about linguistics, I’ve recently wanted to and had the pleasure to write about my relationship with language and language’s relationship with the identity of its speakers. This has left me conscious
My Failed Attempt at Explaining Islam to Non-Muslims
I was eating ice cream with one of my favourite persons and although I do not like to discuss religious matters with him because “he just wouldn’t understand”, but my ice cream feeling was in
#EndSARS in Nigeria: Some Useful Information
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) is a unit that was set up by the Nigerian police in 1992 after a bloody war between the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police that gave robbers ample opportunities
Urdu Expressions Missing in English
Doosron ko naseehat, khud miyan faseehat (He) gives others advice and he himself is only talk and no action (lit. Mr. Eloquent) This creative Urdu expression (ironically!) describes one of my earliest memories. The head
A Brief History of the Quest for Cowless Milk
At the start of the new year, I made my way into a Manhattan coffee shop, the kind of Greenwich Village establishment frequented by women in white shirts (sans any stains) wearing big earrings and
The Politics of Language
The latest episode of world affairs has divided a complex world into a simplistic Manichean binary. On one side stand a party that poses as vanguards of freedom; and on the other side stands the
Book Review: ‘The Guineveres’ by Sarah Domet
Four girls who share a name and a home at the Sisters of the Supreme Adoration convent after being abandoned by their families are the focus of Sarah Domet’s debut novel. Vere, Gwen, Win and
