Khadija Charif

Ramadan in Mecca 2025 And so how does Allah love you? “Rahman and rahim both come from the same Arabic root, ra-ha-mim, which means a combination of tenderness, affection, sympathy and compassion. In showing us what this looks like in action, the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) pointed to a scene that was occurring right before the Companions’ eyes: A woman was frantically looking for her child in the aftermath of a battle. Imagine the feeling of a mother who, for one moment, thinks she had lost her child, and in a battlefield. Imagine her feeling when she finally found him, scooped him up as she wept, and then nursed him. After witnessing this scene, the Prophet asked his Companions, ‘Do you think that this woman would throw her child in the fire? And they said, ‘No, by God she would not, if she is able not to.’ He then said, ‘Allah the Exalted is more merciful with His slave than this woman with her child.’ [Bukhari] This type of mercy - from a mother towards her child - is one that most people can understand. Moreover, the Prophet (PBUH) wasn’t general in his example; he could have simply said that God’s mercy is more than the mercy of a mother towards her child. But that would be abstract, and some people may not even enjoy that type of relationship with their mothers. They may relate the flaws in that relationship to Allah. The Prophet (PBUH) rather demonstrated this mercy through a mother faced with the situation of losing her child and finding him again. — The intensity of that mercy, the force of that love, the gentleness in that affection: Allah is more merciful and loving to His creation than all that, and these are the feelings meant to be invoked when we call on Him by these names.” An excerpt from the book Reflecting on the Names of Allah by Jihan Yousef

Khadija Charif 28yr — Local Artist + Extrovert Impersonator, Love Enthusiast. Sometimes a Photographer and Sometimes a Poet. Most times Funny. Nice to e-meet you all again 😉

Audio Journal .009 — A Mouth Full of Water A poem, a story, a laugh and a read. Oop! Just noticed a mistake here 🫣❤️‍🩹I trailed off into a funny memory starting 8:00 to 8:19 — (I witnessed a brief romantic interaction with a passenger and the flight attendant — went off and rambled about how they flirted and I sat between them — I felt like I was interrupting their courtship and wanted to so badly to sink into the floor. )

Audio Journal .008 The Hagstone — Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Some scrambled thoughts from my journal. /Some Scattered images from my eyes. “The soul is much bigger than you.” I’ve always admired people who could write the abstract into existence, shaping the complexities of feelings and novel perspectives into language striking enough to enter a person through skin and bone… in an effort to remind us of our humanity. Soul reading… in other words… to consume a thing and feel a reflection/echo of your soul in it. The book Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, the song “Waters of March” by Antônio Carlos Jobim, or the work of Ocean Vuong, who once wrote about how he envied words… how, in their very existence, they compress heavy meanings into one, stating themselves without shame. In both confession and collapse, at least that’s how I think of it. To collapse into the arms of truth. “Rain.” “Sweet.” “Smoke.” Naturally, these words, as all words do, display themselves fully, with meaning. Unashamed. …a little later into the journal entry… For me, it is a reflection of the internal dialogue found in the arts, the imagining, the weathering of burden, the spacing of song and poem that I find most meaningful. Most honest. Most visible. A few sentences down… In both the big and the small, the tremendous and the treacherous, there is a kind of recovering here, in these jumbled words. The last sentence… Meanwhile, we are invited, labeled, placed like landmarks on a windy road. A label forming and reforming itself, until the question continues to turn over and over… and finally arrives at you, and the unknown.

Tofte Lake, 2025 Recently, I was chosen as an Artist-in-Residence at Tofte Lake Center, where I was also named the 2025 Birch Fellow. But more than titles, I was offered something rarer. Stillness, wilderness, and the kind of silence that remembers your name when you’ve forgotten how to say it. Endless thanks to @toftelakecenter and to Liz, Karina, and Jai for their stewardship of a place where artists can unclench their fists, where breath returns with ease. Thank you to Liz and Karina for your soft welcomes and to the artists I met there: thank you for showing me how to look again. @adeolastudio_art , @sandalwood.wav @charliisananimal @macymoooose @yespicasso My visual diary 1. My walk back to the cabin from the lake. 2. A quiet body of water where I sat at times watching the sky rehearse grief and grace over the world and it’s injustice. 3. A letter from Liz, still warm to the touch — reminding me of what I forget too often: that I am capable. The bear, the night sky and the loons cry (a story I may tell?) 4. A video I took of myself — rare. I almost didn’t. But I’m learning how to exist without performing. To be seen without shapeshifting. To speak as I am. A writer-friend once told me I didn’t use the word “I” until page 18 of my book. Eighteen pages to arrive to myself. I had written myself into absence. I found this so peculiar of me. How did I manage to fill a room with everything except…? 5. My first canoe ride —I asked on my first day there and Liz was kind enough to take me. At one point floating over 70 feet of water and no fear in sight. Just awe. 6. I’ve always loved the in-between — where things are softest. Maybe that’s where life lives when no one’s watching. I took a photograph, looking to capture the gaps between light. The shade. 7. The Visual Arts Cabin — I kept walking past it and towards the performance hall where I would fool around with the piano and sometimes sing alone. 8. My lovely shared abode for the residency. 9. The Northern Lights — I saw them on the walk back after a conversation with Liz. My first time. It reminded me of my grandmother. The first time I met her in person, I met only her voice.

✨ The Field Will Carry Us: A Poetry Workshop & Open Mic Night in Nature In attempt to soften both the soil and the soul 📅 June 14, 2024 🕰 6:30PM–8:30 PM 😅 📍 Tofte Lake Center - 2209 Fernberg Rd Ely, MN 55731 “Against barbarity, poetry can resist only by cultivating an attachment to human fragility like a gardener of the invisible.” — Mahmoud Darwish What does it mean to gather softly in a time of fracture? What might it mean to hold language as a form of care — not to escape what is unbearable, but to name it without reducing it? The Field Will Carry Us is more than a poetry workshop or open mic. It is a space inviting you to listen deeply to land, to memory, to each other. It is a gathering shaped by the belief that poetry is not merely self-expression, but a form of world making and resilience. That speaking together, can be a small act of resistance against the numbing logic of erasure. We will explore with a generative writing session grounded in the textures of the natural world — breath, soil, wind, water — and move into an open mic where each voice, each word, contributes to a collective vocabulary of witness and becoming — of world making. 📖 No formal experience needed, only a willingness to arrive in good faith. Free & open to all. 🫖 Tea + light offerings provided. 🎤 Open mic sign-up at arrival. In the shadow of global violence — especially as we witness the ongoing genocide in Gaza — we gather not to distract ourselves, but to remember. To make space for community. To resist silence by tending to language. To carry each other through story, rhythm, and truth. To undo what confines us and reconstruct what connects us. Hosted by Khadija Charif with the gracious support of the @toftelakecenter See you where the field will carry us ✨

✨ Junauda Petrus, y’all. THE Junauda Petrus is officially our Minneapolis Poet Laureate! Thursday’s celebration was everything we hoped for—poetry, joy, and the kind of community warmth that lingers long after you’ve left. 🔥 A sold-out, standing-room-only crowd packed the Loft to witness her words wrap around us like cozy blankets. Finalists Khadija Charif, Halee Kirkwood, Sagirah Shahid, and Guante brought their fire too, each poem leaving us absolutely breathless in a different way. 🎈 Also, there was cake. And dancing under balloons. As it should be. 🩷 Thank you all for celebrating with us on Black Love Day! Let us all keep cheering Junauda on throughout her tenure. :) 📸 Photo credit: Hlee Lee-Kron @theothermediagroup #loftliterarycenter #junaudapetrus #Minneapolis #poetry #poetlaureate #poetrycommunity #spokenword #creativewriting #poetrylove #twincities #authors #bookstagram #blackauthors #blackwriters #blackhistorymonth #congrats #meetmn #meetminneapolis

As we conclude the Final Event of our UN/Making The World .001 Workshop Project Series with a Virtual Poetry Reading highlighting our cohort as well as an open mic opportunity for poets in the community to share this upcoming Sunday, July 21st. (LINK IN MY BIO!) — @j_osman and I send many flowers to our cohort for creating a space filled with light, curiosity and readiness to explore all that the world of words and images could offer. Thank you for making this an incredibly memorable first chapter! ✨ 2024 Un/Making The World Workshop Cohort Isha Camara @ishatheartistt Amina Abdiaziz @aminaaabdiaziz Abdimalik Ahmed @kindafings Sabrin Nur @sabrsaturn Muna Scekomar @muna_productions Amina Ahmed @skippylaroux Abdi Mohamed @abdistp Aesha Mohamed @aeshapoetry_ Hafso Musse @hafsahmusse Saadia Hassan @diamoor13 ✨ Big Ups to our friend and mentor Kaamil A. Haider! ✨Thank you to the @visualartsfund for Generously Funding this Project and making it possible! ✨ Shout out to Abo Ali for the Workshop space! ✨ And of course a big thank you to @j_osman ! A writer, a poet, an educator, a mentor and a dear friend whom I send much of my respects + appreciations to!

The child will tell God of the Undoing you have made unto the world

I am thrilled to announce my participation in the Hennepin Theatre Trust’s #ItsThePeople project! Now in its sixth year, this initiative showcases a ‘photographer’s choice’ from our community’s rich tapestry of talents and narratives. Look out for my work and some familiar faces 😉 on large-scale banners across Minneapolis in the upcoming months. I am honored to contribute to a project that celebrates the diverse experiences and stories that make our city so vibrant. Thank you to Aesha Mohamed @aeshapoetry_ and Wasima Farah @vvsima for trusting me with their time, their stories and space. You have both influenced a great deal of East African woman creatives within our community like myself and I’m all the more honored to witness you both dedicate yourselves to your passion! Also! Congratulations to my fellow cohort as well! If you’re interested in checking out their work —I’ve included their handles below for you to explore. ✨ James Napoli Instagram: @james.napoli Kayla Hammell Instagram: @khammell Krizia Almoite Instagram: @kriziastudios Roosevelt Mansfield Instagram: @digiemadephoto Sofia Mifsud Instagram: @sofiawritesthings Tom Smouse Instagram: @smousehouse_photography , @smouse_in_the_house Christopher Selleck Instagram: @christophermpls Thank you to the team at Hennepin Theatre Trust + Ari Sweeney, Amy JeanChaiyaphum @eyelivephoto and Lucas Wells @thelucaswells for making the shoot all the more special + memorable! ✨

Unveiling the Photographs + Installing W/ the Team✨ In the meantime, here’s a reminder to RSVP! (Link in my Bio) The Blooming Lotus Flower Exhibition Opening Date + Artist Talk August 19th @soomaalhouse From 6:30PM - 8:30PM Thank you to everyone who was involved in the project and supported me all throughout its making! Thank you to the team at Soomaal for all the love and encouragements! Thank you to my close family and friends for their unrelenting support. Thank you to all the models who reached out and participated and trusted me with their essence. Production Team Audio/Video Producer: Muna Scekomar @muna_productions Set Design Support: Wasima Farah @vvsima Kaamil A. Haider Lighting Assistants: Mohamud Mumin @hundredmp Abdilatif Hussein @abdilatifees Model Assistant: Lokho Kotile @Lokholens Models: Fartun Elmi + Nourah @Tuunelmi Nasteho + Khadra Abdi @Nastehaaaa.xx Ilhan Hashi @ilhvxn Maryan Abdullahi @marian_abdullahi Saria Abubaker @diaspora.story Ayan Warsame @yaaniluv Hodan Salat @hodansalat Xamdi Mohamed @xamdikm Rahma Abdi @rahmallamadingdong_ Jowhara Luula Scekomar @jowhara_luula Installation + Space Soomaal House Team @soomaalhouse + @gja_shire