Shelina Zahra Janmohamed quotes:

Poetry is designed to inspire love, and islam is about falling in love with the creator of the universe.

Aren't the stars beautiful? Thousands of them twinkling so far from us, yet so near. Who knows what it's like in the universe where they are? ... I can't breathe when I look at them. I bet somewhere out there we could understand what life is really about, and find a way to bring a bit more meaning into this world.

An Islamic writer recalls her joy in the clothes she wore as a young girl at a wedding: They were always in beautiful bright colors: crimson, pink, turquoise, purple, and embroidered with sparkling crystals, sequins and beads. ... The older girls and women would wear glamorous heavily-beaded silk blouses and long, princess-like skirts. I wanted to wear those fairy-tale clothes too. I longed even more to wear a sari which the women wore so elegantly and which flattered their curves.