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All of the urgency has left me. I used to think I had to rush to finish the projects that competed for my time and attention, but now I am resigned to a timetable not of my making.

Do al-istikarah in deciding all of your affairs. It works.

What a marvelous creation is the pomegranate.

One lesson that experience teaches me is that sincere repentance must always be followed by vigilance. In Ramadan we have the gift of being able to distinguish between two types of sins: those that come from within, from the nafs, and those that come from outside. When, in the midst of that blessed month, we [...]

A true friend, I have always thought, is the one who will always tell you the truth, even when the truth is something you do not necessarily want to hear. And in this I believe I have been blessed, for amongst my acquaintances there have always been those who would say, pull yourself together, just [...]

My hosting for this website expires in two weeks time and while renewing it will not break the bank, I do wonder whether I ought to let it lapse. An argument once put to me for continuing to publish my thoughts was that the Internet is the one platform of mass communication that Muslims have [...]

I had only just repented for the sins of the previous days and returned to my Lord ashamed when, on my return from a brief saunter in the back garden, a name whispered its way into my mind. I did not need to respond to the surprising murmur, but all of a sudden I was [...]

Those who see only a long and drawn-out process in the preparation to adopt needy children may not fully appreciate the huge blessings that the experience has brought. There are, of course, the children: two angels from heaven, Ramadan’s offspring. But, as if this were not enough, there has been so much more. One such [...]

We learn from the Qur’an that God loves the oft-repenting. So it occurs to me from time to time that in order to be oft-repenting, one would have to be oft-sinning. And if that were the case there would be hope for me yet. But against the declarations of the heart, it is an unconvincing [...]

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “Give charity without delay, for it stands in the way of calamity.” — Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 589 “They ask thee what they should spend (In charity). Say: Whatever wealth ye spend that is good, is for parents and kindred and orphans and those in want and for wayfarers. And whatever ye [...]

As we travel this road, God’s generosity becomes ever more apparent. My year between the two Ramadans was marked with periods of darkness and a great descent, troubling to my mind, and yet God’s mercy has been unending. The days of immense folly still return to the mind, often whilst bowing in prayer, causing an [...]

Sometimes I cannot help being suspicious of Damascene Conversions. Of course God can change all hearts, I remind myself, from the most wicked to the most gentle. And indeed in the story of the Muslim faith there is ample evidence of this. Amongst the greatest personalities of Islam are those who were once its greatest [...]