I would have to write down 2022 as both the quickest and weirdest year of my life. The speed with which it has passed me by alone perplexes me. But the strangeness: that has been something else. Earlier, I spent some time looking back on what I was writing a year ago. But in truth, …
We have role models of our own. We don’t need those pushing social media pyramid schemes sustained by generating controversy and outrage, taken to ever greater extremes. We have inspirational men and women ahead of us, steeped in learning and wisdom, devoted to truly serving others: these are our role models. Look to those living …
Perhaps this makes me a heretic in these shallow times of communal groupthink, but what I am on is not what Mr Mega Celebrity is preaching, at all. To me, that’s just egocentric hyper capitalism; the complete opposite of the call of faith. It’s true that some Muslims are extremely rich. Good for them, assuming …
Can we say we are worried about our children drifting from their faith, if we ourselves are drifting from it? Where are we mindful of “be patient”? When are we mindful that all of life is a test for us? Where our calm serenity? Where our restraining our anger? Where “a smile is a charity”? …
It is a calamity that in the popular imagination of the modern west, the cradle of western civilisation — Mesopotamia and Persia — is represented as an uncivilized backwater, deserving only of our bombs. Who knows a thing of the spectacular architecture of this region? Who knows of its rich culture, cuisine and poetry? Who …
If only the self-righteousness preachers understood that we were neither born nor raised in the gutter, but were in fact imbibed with piercing morals by Godfearing families, who taught us right from wrong, and bestowed many of the strong ethics that guided us in our lives. Don’t make assumptions about what we were like before …
A positive trait in people with this condition? Some people say we are very kind, and like to be helpful to others. But who knows if this is a trait explicitly linked to that extra chromosome. It’s just as likely that having experienced adversity in our own lives, we feel that other people facing adversity …
Yes, perhaps I am naïve, innocent, optimistic. Thinking the best of people I have no reason to think the best of. Even of one who reportedly once promised to snap my spine and break it into a hundred pieces. Yes, even of one who, according to a friend, yearned to see that threat become reality. …
There’s a saying, “The more I learn, the more I realise how much I don’t know.” This is sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein, sometimes to Aristotle: this in itself proving the point. Regardless, this sentiment summarises the past year for me. In truth, the more I learn about the effects of an anomaly in my …
Try to see struggles as a positive, in that you’ll hopefully come out stronger at the end. The past year was a bit heavy for me, but perhaps all of those introspective reflections will provide a launchpad for change. Inshallah, if God wills, I shall aim higher this year, and try to bring about positive …
My alienation began at Swanland county primary school circa 1983. It’s funny the things you remember, for I remember it well. It was taken to the next level around 1991, when I first earned my nickname, Billy Nomates. There began my era wandering aimlessly around our school, going nowhere at all, with no one to …
