Sanctuary as Spiritual Practice

Rabia withdrew from worldly distraction to cultivate divine presence, creating inner and outer sanctuaries for spiritual work. For diaspora found families, sanctuary becomes both necessity and sacred practice—physical spaces (a home that welcomes without documentation questions, a gathering place where native languages are spoken) and relational spaces (conversations where racism need not be explained, where survival strategies are understood without judgment). Sanctuary protects members from the constant threat assessment and code-switching required in hostile environments. Within found family sanctuary, the diaspora person can rest from defending their existence, can be sick without losing housing, can practice spirituality without surveillance. This concept reframes found family gathering spaces as more than social: they are sacred infrastructure for collective survival and spiritual integrity. Rabia's devotional spaces functioned similarly—places where the marginalized and exiled could encounter the Divine on their own terms. Found family sanctuary allows diaspora members to access their own spirituality, whatever form it takes, as part of belonging.