I am an author, blogger, public speaker, podcaster, and a Muslim woman, and an American of Pakistani descent.
I was born and raised in Pakistan. I came to New York after a hurried arranged marriage to a Pakistani doctor. When my boys started grade school, I started Grad school. With a Masters in Health Administration, I began my 25-year career as a hospital administrator, vowing to slash the Emergency Room waiting time.
Before I could catch my breath, my two sons were crossing over to the preteen phase, and knew just about nothing about being Muslim. In the absence of a Muslim community, I didn't know where to begin. With time running out, my friends and I began the work of establishing a Muslim community on Staten Island, which culminated in the building of a mosque.
When my grandson Omar was diagnosed with autism, I left my career and co-founded the National Autism Association New York Metro chapter serving as its President from 2008-2011. I talk about the role of grandparents on the podcast Autism Detectives.
I have spent the last several decades engaged in interfaith dialogue, giving talks on Islam and booktalks. Since the publication of my three books, I have had the pleasure to give over 280 talks in over 100 cities in the U.S. including Chautauqua Institution.
In this video interview, I talk about why I wrote Threading My Prayer Rug. I also talk about the impact of the book in part 2 of this video interview.
Concerned about rising Islamophobia and antisemitism in the US, I co-authored my second book with Walter Ruby, titled We Refuse to be Enemies. In this video I tell you what the book is about.
My third book, It’s Not What You Think. An American Woman in Saudi Arabia is about the six years I spent in Saudi Arabia, working in a hospital in Riyadh, and why my time there was so memorable. For a preview, watch my interview at Kinokuniya bookstore in NYC.
Since the outbreak of the war in Israel/Gaza, Walter Ruby and I started a podcast. We are concerned about the impact of the war on Muslim-Jewish relations here at home. Watch our podcasts on YouTube or listen to them on Spotify. You can access them on this website.
I live in New York City with my husband Khalid, a retired Hematologist/Oncologist, who makes sure I keep writing.
