Islam
EID-UL-FITR
As a child growing up in ‘70s London, Eid was not a well-known festival outside of the Muslim community, which itself was quite small. 1 However, I remember being extremely excited and always waited with anticipation for the day to arrive. I had observed my parents and older members of my family fasting during the month of Ramadan. The period […]
Leading By Example
What springs to mind when you think of a leader? What qualities define a good leader? and is leadership necessary? These are some of the questions we will be reviewing in this blog. Let us start by having an understanding of the words Leader and Leadership. Leader: a person in control of a group, country, […]
Vaccine hesitancy
The World Health Organization (WHO) regards vaccine hesitancy as one of the biggest threats to global health1. So, when a colleague first told me that she would not be getting the Covid-19 vaccine, I was slightly taken aback. How can someone put other’s lives at risk after knowing that vaccines have successfully decreased transmission rates […]
Grief: Navigating this painful journey
As we travel this journey of life it is inevitable that we will be faced with difficulties. Loss, is often the main issue behind the feelings of grief. That feeling of loss can come from a number of sources, 1 these include estrangement, financial or worldly losses, illness or injury, relinquishment, institutional losses and the […]
Breaking Addictions
As a young adult, I constantly feel the strain of needing to fit into society and for many other young people like me, the effects of this unabating pressure can become quite harmful if we find ourselves giving in. One such form of this problem arises from the ever-prevailing drug and drinking culture. As a […]
Miracles
We have all read about them, some of us may have even seen or experienced a ‘miracle’ but we all have an opinion as to what is a ‘miracle’. This blog will cover our understanding of miracles, whether miracles have occurred in the past and if there is still scope for miracles to occur in […]
Afterlife: is there life after death?
One of the most enduring topics of conversation is whether or not there is life after death. For many of us reading this blog, as we move on in our lives and especially in times of difficulty when our lives are in jeopardy, this thought will arise. As a Muslim, we were taught from a young […]
Family in Modern Society
One of the most striking features of Muslim society is the importance that is given to family life. With changing cultural norms and the development of new personal priorities, I question whether there is still room left for family in modern society. Is the concept of a traditional family unit as relevant today as compared […]
The Role of the Father in Islam
My father was a Giant…OK not literally… He was, however, 6f oot 2 inches tall, broad, muscular with huge hands and feet. So, as a child, for all intents and purposes, he was a giant. With this enormous frame came a quiet, intelligent, introspective, hardworking and humorous man to name a few of his many […]
Genetic Scissors—Snap with caution!
Grocery list Cereal Onions Butter Cheese Bread Tomatoes for controlling blood pressure. What do you find weird about this grocery list? Since when do we add the nutritional benefits of items in the grocery list? Hold on! It’s not to encourage you to eat your five a day but “Tomatoes for controlling blood pressure” is a special type of gene-edited tomatoes that has recently been licensed for […]
Forgiveness
It is safe to say that we have all been there, on both sides of the coin: asking for forgiveness and/or being forgiven. But in situations where one finds themselves having to do both the asking and forgiving is somewhat of a double harvest in the long run. Such was the case last year during the last 10 days […]
Evolution
In the 1980s as part of my O Level in Biology, my school organised a trip to the Natural History Museum. This was a time long before mobile phones, the Internet, computers, Google, You Tube….etc etc. So, for us kids it was an exciting opportunity to see something different. The premise of the trip was […]
Role of Mothers in Islam
As women and girls, we always hear the words “She’s her mothers’ daughter”. Mothers… the people who keep our secrets, our superheroes, our best friends, our biggest support systems, our cheerleaders, our happy place, our comfort zones. Mother’s Day is a day celebrated around the world in appreciation. It was also the day I lost […]
The Essence of Eid ul Fitr
Refraining from food and drink for almost 30 days can seem like an illusion at the end of the journey. Looking beyond this purely physical need allows an individual to be intensely grateful in addition to redirecting one’s attention to the spiritual needs and state of self. Through this execution of self-discipline, one is encouraged to progress […]
To Halal or Not
That indeed is the question. For a Muslim, this refers to the consumption of clean and pure food, as required by Islamic dietary laws. This is trivial if one resides in a primarily Islamic country. However, such was not the case in many Western countries. Only during the latter part of the 20th century, due to increased immigration […]
Status of Women in Islam
“He created you from a single being, then of the same kind made its mate.” (39:7)[1] This verse from chapter 39 of the Holy Quran simplifies the centuries long debate: that men and women were created equally, and that they would have equal status in the society in which they coexist. This teaching, and the […]
Role of Mothers in Islam
As women and girls, we always hear the words “She’s her mothers’ daughter”. Mothers… the people who keep our secrets, our superheroes, our best friends, our biggest support systems, our cheerleaders, our happy place, our comfort zones. Mother’s Day is a day celebrated around the world in appreciation. It was also the day I lost […]
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