It started with a discussion between Haute Hijab blog writer Nargis Rahman and myself – we should do a series this summer on marriage and family from Muslim perspectives. There are soooooo many topics to cover and angles to explore! We knew articles that centered questions, issues and stories about families, marriages, relationships and parenting were ones you were interested in and that needed more in-depth exploration in our Muslim communities.

From there we mapped out stories we wanted to research, report and write: blended Muslim families, 100 questions Muslim couples should ask each other before (or after) marriage, navigating a post-divorce life, single (Muslim) mom life, the first year of marriage, Prophetic examples of strong marriages, a snapshot of disability parenting and more. My thanks to HH blog writers Nargis, Rowayda Kawji and Layla Abdullah-Poulos for helping me write and produce this series.

Some of these have been tough and difficult topics to cover, like the stigma of divorce in our Muslim communities. And, as we wrap our summer series on "Marriage and Families – A Multifaceted Landscape," we are acutely aware that we have barely scratched the surface of articles and stories centering these topics. 

And so, as this summer and series draws to an end, we wanted to end on a positive, fun and most real note as possible. In my last visit to our New York office, I managed to gather HH team members for an awesome video discussion on marriage in various stages! Joining me in this video are HH writer and author (and my dear friend) Layla, Noor Suleiman (our community manager), Mona Mostafa (our social media specialist) and of course Melanie Elturk (our CEO).

We've been married (some with kids, some without) for 20 years (me), 28 years (Layla), seven years (Noor), a year-and-half (Mona) and 10 years (Melanie).

Check out Part 1 of this rollicking video: "Marriage and Beyond - HH Team Members Get Hilariously Real!" And, check out Part 2 here!