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Some years back I asked my family not to spend money on me at Christmas time; if they really had to, I told them, they could give it to charity on my behalf. And sure enough, every year since I have had a card saying a goat was bought on my behalf for a family [...]

but Allah is the best of planners It is our forth day in Medina in the warming heat of Arabia, according to our own grand master plan. Shortly we will depart for Mecca and the wonderous House. Planned months in advance and carefully financed, ihram sourced a month before departure, suitcases packed two weeks before. [...]

“O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, for some suspicions are a sin. Do not spy on one another, nor backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, you would abhor it, [so similarly, avoid backbiting]. And fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [...]

I often make fun of the eating habits of the Eastern Hemşinli people, who reside in Artvin Province, Turkey — the group to which my wife belongs — but I am only joking. I make fun of their taste for Black Sea Cabbage, for every meal seems to involve this pale-leafed brassica, and I am [...]

When I embraced Islam in 1998, one of the first pieces of advice I received from Muslim friends was to learn the names of three people and then stay away from them. They were Abu Hamza, Omar Bakri and Abdullah Faisal. A few months later I received an angry email from my father, demanding to [...]

Is it just me, or is the secret service not what it used to be?

Much ado about nothing, I say. Before we can draw our team brief to a close this morning at work we have to cover preparations for Christmas Dinner. It’s all going swimmingly until the organiser thinks she should inform us of a problem. Apparently a certain employee upstairs cannot attend because it has been booked [...]

From the Amir al-Muminin Abu Hafs ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, radiya’llahu ‘anhu, that he said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, salla’llahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, saying, ‘Actions are only by intentions, and every man has only that which he intended. Whoever’s emigration is for Allah and His Messenger then his emigration is for Allah and His [...]

From Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, radiya’llahu ‘anhu, that he said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, salla’llahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, say: ‘Islam has been built on five: witnessing that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the prayers, paying the zakaah, making the [...]

Also on the Authority of `Umar, radiya’llahu ‘anhu, there is that he said: “While we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah, salla’llahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, one day a man came up to us whose clothes were exceedingly white and whose hair was exceedingly black; no signs of journey were to be seen on him [...]

In British politics today, there is so much talk of identity, of what it means to belong, of shared values. Sometimes it is assumed that we must all trace our values back to Hellenic roots, as if this were the foundation of civilisation. Yet my heart has always felt comfort in the Semitic pathway. As [...]

“This country has gone over the top with political correctness. We as a society feel that Muslims have to have attention otherwise we are not being fair to them. Muslims have protested outsite churches making remarks about Jesus. Could a Christian abuse Muhammed outside a Mosque, without being arrested? NO” – Mr Holden, Northern Ireland [...]