Our main problem is that we have such extremely short memories, incredibly short attention spans and are mostly completely oblivious to what is going on around us, that we have no context for the events of the day at all. No wonder we’re so easily steered by those who set the daily news agenda for …
Every year, the same mistake… capitulating when that plate of baklava is pushed in front of me. This time in a café, offered with the proprietor’s complements, free with a free cup of tea. Generous indeed. But now such sickness. Baklava and I no longer get along.
The past few days, it occurred to me: “Stay in your lane.” Reality check: those who have raced past me, rising through the ranks into senior management did so with ambition, determination, training and earned experience. As for me? I’ve been content pursuing stability: a secure income, a happy home, minimal stress, meaningful work. So …
Years ago, while tidying up our office at work, I came across my own job application. In the top right corner, the recruiting manager had scrawled, “Overqualified??” At interview, they had clearly decided that I wasn’t, but just weeks into the role I realised that I probably was. Still, I stuck with it, thinking of …
I can pinpoint is my mind nearly every moment of complete humiliation in my life. There were many of them. Often I still shudder at the thought of them, even though decades have passed. They occurred at school, college and university, and later even at work. Once, it involved me completely misunderstanding a question and …
The Luton I saw today was not the one described in numerous documentaries and newspaper articles. That is the Luton of all manner of extremisms, from far-right patriots to far-right Muslims to proponents of a hyper-capitalist manosphere. A very different character to the town I interfaced with this afternoon. I’ve just returned from their Eid …
What I find strange about education nowadays — be it school or professional development — is that learners are coached on what they need to pass an exam, as opposed to being imbibed in a broad knowledge of the subject. I suppose their argument would be that we have Google for everything else. But is …
I had forgotten exactly when I was diagnosed. Yesterday I found out it was twenty-years ago this summer. So I was twenty-six, two years married. Though I misremembered the timing, I’ll never forget that appointment. I’d been called by my surgery and asked to make an appointment. My beloved was at work, so I went …
And just like that, my mood crashes. I can’t explain why. Many thoughts are running through my mind. It hits me without warning. All of a sudden: just blue.
Doing the right thing is rarely comfortable. So then: be prepared for discomfort.
I am glad that a man worth £100 million, who lives in a castle, and has recently taken over an estate worth £1 billion, has decided to make it his life’s mission to end homelessness. Well done, that’s almost the spirit of zakat. And establish prayer and give zakat, and whatever good you put forward …
Perhaps the most important question we will ask today is not what, when or how, but why.
Smartphones are definitely rewiring our brains and fixing habits. Not only do I find myself pinching and zooming physical books when the text is too small, but after using my wife’s flip phone for a few minutes, I try to bend my own phone in half to close too.
Giving charity does not diminish your wealth. On the contrary, it multiplies your blessings. Indeed, the men who practice charity and the women who practice charity, who have loaned God a goodly loan — it will be multiplied for them, and they will have a noble reward. Quran 57:18 Never stop giving, regardless of your …
