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In this month of clemency, our Lord sent us a mercy in the form of a man who refused to fly into an unholy rage when his son was torn away from him in the midst of the anarchic disintegration that had seized a nation in the preceding hours. He has become an example for [...]

Random quotations keep on flowing into my mind: ‘they were not wronged, but they wronged themselves’ utmost amongst them. In this tragedy that it is my life — the perpetual oscillation between right and wrong curtailing my spiritual growth — every week seems to bring a new low and senseless despair. There came a sudden [...]

Some of my friends are angry with me, dispatching lengthy emails voicing their dissatisfaction. I know I should be hurt and offended, but instead I find myself thinking that this is just the voice of the Divine, revealing itself through His creation. I could compose great tracts in my defence, but I fear it would [...]

There is a disease that I have harboured for the best part of my life. It accompanied me as a child, an adolescent and an adult; as a Christian, an atheist, an agnostic and a Muslim; and in times of both health and sickness. I would define it as a disease of the soul — [...]

I’m not really sure about this Web 2.0 malarkey. I’ve just deleted my Facebook account again. Last time it was because I imagined a fantastical conspiracy in which key investors were databasing our identities for unspeakable ends. I can’t remember how the account came to be resurrected, but somehow I delved back in and rebuilt [...]

How I wish I had a pure heart. Yesterday I met somebody whose heart was so beautiful and pure, whose faith was so alive and so real. My own journey is difficult as I struggle with my nafs. I take one step forward and almost immediately fall two steps back. My sorrow for missed opportunities. [...]

Here are some words from a great Muslim of the past that describe exactly what is happening with me. Last week I made a resolve and already I have slipped. And that argument with my nafs goes on, each day with another twist. That novel of mine is one of the chains. I know what [...]

These days I am repeatedly having a particular conversation with my nafs. It always goes something like this: Realisation: It’s time to put everything aside, to focus on my deen and on increasing my knowledge. Nafs: But what about your novel? Are you really going to abandon it now after all that work you already [...]

A Quotation: “Still a prey to uncertainty, one day I decided to leave Baghdad and to give up everything; the next day I gave up my resolution. I advanced one step and immediately relapsed. In the morning I was sincerely resolved only to occupy myself with the future life; in the evening a crowd of [...]