Most people with my condition, I am told, are never diagnosed. They just go through like with an unsettling feeling that they’re not quite right. Others eventually find out, sometimes as late as at sixty, at which point something clicks and they sigh, “Now everything make sense.” I learnt of the very basics, aged twenty-seven. …
If I lived in the affluent suburbs I was raised in, would I be considered rich or poor? To the outsider, of course, it would seem that I am part of a wealthy elite. But in reality, if I did choose to live that way, then I would in fact be poor. Where we live …
I wander into my local corner shop, in need of supplies to stave off my fever. The proprietor, head wrapped in a turban, smiles at me like he always does. Indeed, this time he grins at me through his neat grey beard. “Long time no see,” he enthuses, welcoming me like a long-lost friend. But …
We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness? Quran 41:53
They commission a graphic designer, but they don’t like what they produced. They have brand guidance they were insistent we adhere to to the letter, but then decided they didn’t like that either. Can we try this? Can we try that? Can we try another version? What about like this? What about like that? Let’s …
For some, everything changed ten years ago, with a singular act of barbarity on British streets. That was the moment, say those who make this claim, that they finally understood what they were up against. Everything changed after that. But for some, everything changed on 13 April 1919 — 104 years ago today — when …
Every year, the same mistake. Not wanting to be rude to the well-meaning family friend who dispatches a meal for us to break our fast, I tuck in. I should know better by now. Deep-fried something-or-other infused with chilly seeds and assorted leaves. Some spicy dumpling salad thing. Piles of pakoras. Spicy rice. Some kind …
As we merge into the last ten days of Ramadan, we’re cut down by a high fever. I guess we must have picked up a bug during our travels last weekend. We’re all aches, pain, shivers, coughs and sneezes. An uncomfortable fast. But all I can think is, “Let it be expiation for our sins.”
After possibly the longest job interview in history, it seems that I am at last on the cusp of a breakthrough with respect to my career, as everything slots neatly into place, alhamdulilah. So grannie was right: patience is a virtue. I pray that these developments are good for me, and provide relief rather than …
When I was young, it used to bother me immensely that nobody had any interest in anything I had to say, whether in person or online. Nowadays, though: no, I consider it a blessing in disguise. The fact that people wander on as if I had never uttered a word, I suppose, offers me some …
For its beautiful fraternity — cosmopolitan and diverse — embracing the community around Cambridge Central Mosque has a real appeal. So too for its intellectual and spiritual tradition. The mosque feels like a real sanctuary; an oasis away from the bustle of the world. But wander beyond its gates and garden, back out into the …
Food for the soul. All the world in one building, spilling out of the doors. Beautiful khutbah too. Cambridge Central Mosque, good Jummah. So glad to have made the journey. First return to the city in over twenty years. Beautiful architecture. Wonderful atmosphere. The people of this locality are very fortunate. Of course, my beloved …
