Introduction

Alhamdolillahi rabb al-Alameen wa as-salatu wa as-salam ala rasool Illah wa ash-hadu an-laa ilaaha illa Allah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasooluh. Alhamdolillah, Allah blessed me.

Salaam!

Since I started publicly talking about my experience being in a high control Sufi group for 13 years, several people have asked me to publish a book detailing the story and the lessons I learned. I think one person just wanted to know the details of the story. Another was a therapist who said sharing my story with other people would help them avoid getting in the same situation. Another friend wanted to pass my learnings to his children.

I already wanted to write the story because I thought it would be entertaining for people. I imagined it like a movie in which I had a dramatic escape from a terrible situation, but I tried writing it off and on for about 4 years. It wasn’t working. At first, I would get a stomach ache thinking about everything that happened especially the trauma my wife and kids experienced. I took a class and got passed that. Then I learned there is way more to writing a good memoir than just barfing up a bunch of info. I really wanted the story to be interesting, entertaining and useful.

Last year, I was fortunate to start Stanford’s memoir writing certificate program. (So far it has been GREAT. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in writing a memoir.) But along the way as I kept writing about the high control group for my classes, I got bored of the topic. So many other things now seem fun to write about. But part of me wants to get this book done so I can write other things.

Having taken many writing classes, I now realize there is tremendous joy in the act of writing. It’s the main reason I never use AI tools to write for me. I write because I love writing! I do use AI tools to give me feedback on my writing and correct mistakes.

So here we are. It’s July 2025. My classes start again around August I think. I REALLY want to somehow finish writing the high control group memoir before my classes start so I can use my last year in Stanford’s program to work on a different memoir. Maybe one about my mother’s death. Maybe about technology. Maybe about the year I spent in Damascus. So many interesting topics!

I finished the second complete rewrite of my memoir at the beginning of this summer. I’m revising it now. But I had an idea. I’ll write a little at time and release each piece. Hopefully, I’ll get some feedback and revise. At the end, I should have another complete draft. And hopefully, inshaAllah(!), I’ll have something I can publish.

Okay, let’s do it. Bismillah.