Assalamualaikum and Welcome to Glowing Olive Press!
Our Story began in 2019, when with the Mercy and Guidance of Allah alone, in the face of the viral epidemic, we were inspired to begin homeschooling our boys. At the time, my husband (an electrical engineer) and I (a family medicine physician), were working full-time, and made the decision to reorganize our lives around homeschooling our children. I hesitantly (at first) and whole-heartedly (later) took a step back from my career, and (if you enjoy metaphors), dove into the deep end of the ocean which is homeschooling, no rafts, no floaters, and no life vests (sorry if you aren’t a metaphor person, I promise I’ll do my best to resist my penchant for them).
That journey led to three beautiful years of discovering, engaging, cultivating, and building an Islamic-centered curriculum which we continue to share with our virtual homeschooling community on our Facebook Page @ihsanacademyhomeschool and our website at inspireihsan.org.
As any homeschooling parent will tell you, researching the best resources out there with which to teach your children is more than half the job of educating at home. Alhamdullilah, as a result of the efforts of and inspiration from so many parents and educators around the globe, I started putting together, piece by piece, the materials for our homeschool. But it was in the gaps (as so often is the case), in the resources I couldn’t find, where the magic started to happen. With ability and inspiration that can be attributed to Allah alone, I started designing my own resources, pulling from the skills, experiences, opportunities, and gifts given to us by Allah.
In that same vein, the seed for Glowing Olive Press was planted when our then 8-year-old started to devour books faster than I could hand-pick them for him; soon he had read pretty much everything we could find that was age-appropriate while also fulfilling our requirement for appropriateness and decency. This was also right around the time two important events in my life provided the fertile ground for the seed that was ready to germinate.
First, Alhamdullilah a resource I had designed as part of our homeschooling curriculum was accepted for publication by a well-known publishing house (this publication, tentatively titled ‘Qur’an Stories from Juz Amma’ is scheduled for release at the end of 2023, B’ithnillah). And second, amidst our new home/work balance as a result of the pandemic, I decided to take the plunge and pursue my lifelong propensity and love for writing by enrolling in a Master’s Degree Program in Creative Writing and Literature.
My book contract and the subsequent engagement with the publishing house, along with the classes as part of my program, have provided invaluable insights into the inner workings of the publishing industry. The most important realization I have come to is that in the publishing world of today, there is no better, more effective and more rewarding way to ensure a library of books that inspire faith and deepen the understanding of the Islamic way of life, while also providing the literary enjoyment readers crave, without becoming wholly involved in the very process of writing and publishing such books.
Writing workshops have become the perfect place for me to put my own manuscripts to the test, amidst people who know little or nothing about Islam and the Muslim way of life. My fiction and nonfiction are geared towards teachings of this beautiful religion of ours, and I love nothing more than to discuss my work, its true intent and the potentialities for its widespread representation in literature for the benefit of whomever Allah Wills.
I learned quickly that publishing houses are the gatekeepers between the words and ideas of an author and their eventual deliverance to readers. Unfortunately, all the effort and dedication in the world means nothing if the work cannot get past the gatekeepers. In the publishing world of today, there is a serious disparity between those who wish to produce moral and religious works, and those who have assumed a position of authority on what gets published (if you are an author who knows the book market well or who has attempted to submit your work to a publisher, you are well aware of the resistance I am speaking of). Alhamdullilah there are other small presses with a variety of visions in this niche of religious representation in literature, and we are so grateful for them; however, the quantitative disproportionality between such niche small presses, and authors who wish to write and publish in this genre, necessitates ongoing effort, so that every skilled author can find the representation he/she desires and deserves.
If this vision excites you and stirs up something familiar within you, we want you to be a part of our team in the capacity best suited to your unique gifts and experiences. To get started, InshaAllah navigate to “Join Our Team” and tell us about yourself. We look forward to meeting you!
Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Raheem.