It shouldn’t be the job of women’s support groups to put an end to violence against women and girls. These are messages that should be articulated and promulgated by groups working with men. Instead of focussing on peripheral issues and mere rituals, our khutbahs, halaqas and family conversations ought to be reorientated to address the …
The children of friends we saw growing up are securing their first professional jobs post-graduation. Proper jobs. Real jobs. Jobs, if the Most Merciful wills, at the start of illustrious careers. I’m happy for them. I’m happy too that they get in touch to share their wonderful news.
“Are you well connected with the revert community?” a fellow asked me today.
Alas, difficult times lie ahead. Rising energy prices. Rising food prices. Rising taxes. Stagnated wages. Insecure housing. For the poor, the years to come will be catastrophic.
Those who wield power expect us to have very short attention spans. We are meant to suffer a collective amnesia which renders us blind to anything that happened just months ago. Thus our storytellers spin us new yarns, creating new narratives which counter every account of the world that went before.
In 1995, I went on an Easter tour of northern France with a community orchestra. Midweek, on Wednesday 19 April, just after we had visited the killing fields of World War One, one of our tour leads suddenly announced to our entire coach that Muslims had blown up a huge building in Oklahoma City, USA, …
There’s some nonsense being circulated as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sometimes it is a mistake to publish some things. Hence we withdraw.
Why waste your life in hatred, vengeance and conflict? Amar Das
It’s strange that I write in public, for it occurs to me that I’m just not comfortable with global reach. Momentarily I think: “I must promote myself better.” A moment later, I’m telling myself: “No, be content to be unknown.”
I have started having conversations with our children about life. About the importance of thinking about the future. About making good decisions. About having a vision.
I don’t know why we travel thousands of miles to Yemen, Syria, Turkey and Pakistan to sit at the feet of a sheikh with problems of his own, thinking he will help us master our nafs, when we have the best tariqa right here, before us: marriage and raising children.
I confess that the Desi Pub disappoints me. That’s because, in earlier times, I looked into the traditions of their proprietors. “Even if wine is made from the water of the Ganges, O Saints, do not drink it.” Guru Granth Sahib Before I owned a copy of the Quran a quarter of a century ago, …
Man must forever be vigilant to the diseases of his soul. After years of trying, it seems God enabled me to vanquish one set of sins and bad habits that had plagued and harangued me since my youth. Alhamdulilah. But into their place, unnoticed, settled another set. Rancor, the short temper, that shouting rage. All …
A migratory lifestyle is not easy. We attempted it five years ago. For a time, we had a high standard of living in some respects, but the emotional impact was too great for it to be sustainable in the long term.
