Nothing prepared me for losing my mother. But in Islam, to mourn someone means keeping them alive in our actions

There is something deeply calming in the simplicity of mourning someone in Islam, Shadi Khan Saif writes. Composite: Nenov/Getty Images

Mum was kind and gentle in a way that felt so natural. She raised all five of us pretty much on her own after Dad passed away. Those were not easy years, and there were many moments when life could have pushed us in the wrong direction, but she never let that happen. She taught us to stay kind and honest, even when things were hard.

Her father named her Ţalā, which means gold in Farsi. But she was even more precious than that.