The Afternoon Omar Asked a Question That Changed Everything

Omar was tying his shoes when the question came.

“Baba… why don’t we do what they do?”

His father, Kareem, froze.

They were late. Again.
School pickup traffic. A work call waiting. His phone buzzing in his pocket.

“What do you mean?” Kareem asked, distracted.

Omar shrugged. “My friends don’t pray. They say it’s old. Why do we?”

That was the moment.

Not because the question was hard.

But because Kareem realized something terrifying.

This wasn’t a rebellion.
It was a seed.

And seeds grow. Whether you plant them or not.

Every Parent Is a Farmer. Most Don’t Know What They’re Planting.

Children are not blank slates.

They are soil.

And soil is always receiving seeds.

From school.
From screens.
From friends.
From culture.

If you are not intentionally planting, something else already is.

That’s not fear-mongering.

That’s reality.

Celebrity Comes Before Identity

Between ages 3 and 10, your child does not form belie...

Adam didn’t hear the heartbreak happen. He was too busy typing.

He was sitting at the kitchen table, the "command center" of modern parenting: laptop open, phone buzzing, mind halfway between a stressful email and the dinner dishes clinking in the sink.

Yusuf, his seven-year-old son, stood in the doorway. He was holding a crumpled worksheet. His eyes were bright, waiting for the "Celebrity" of his world to turn around.

"Baba," Yusuf said, stepping closer. "I got something today."

Adam didn’t turn. He nodded at his screen. "Put it on the table, buddy."

Yusuf hesitated. The brightness in his eyes flickered. "It’s about school."

"Yeah, yeah. I’ll look in a minute."

Yusuf walked over. He placed the paper neatly next to the laptop. He waited.

Thirty seconds.

Then a minute.

Adam kept typing.

Eventually, Yusuf picked the paper back up. He folded it carefully—the way children do when they are trying to protect themselves from the pain of being invisible—and walked quietly to his roo...