The power of words is astonishing. Some have the power to stir the emotions, to lighten one’s load. Others strike like a knitting needle pushed through the heart; that piercing pain that arises on receipt of harsh sentiments. Others still just perturb. Last night I could not sleep because words had unsettled me. My chest …
It is Easter weekend and I am staying in the Rectory with my parents. As both of them are vicars responsible for different churches, they are in and out all weekend. The station of the cross on Good Friday after the night vigil on Thursday. My mother has already returned from her service this evening, …
As most people who have been reading this web log for a while will have come to appreciate, I am not one to view the Muslim world through rose-tinted spectacles. Indeed I have never shied away from condemning the violence and depravity emerging from Muslim nations. I dislike the refrain that “The West” is to …
With increasing frequency I suffer from bouts of melancholy. It exhibits itself in periods of unhappiness which come upon me unexpectedly and seemingly for no reason. It also appears – as it has done this afternoon – in the form of heightened emotions. I have written about this in the past, identifying spiritual causes as …
Sometimes I feel like the nomad. I came to Islam towards the end of the twentieth century of the Christian Era, over fourteen hundred years after the Prophet’s migration to Medina, peace be upon him. I came to Islam after the European colonial age which saw the slaughter of Muslim scholars and the “Great Powers” …
“Then He lifted Himself to heaven when it was smoke, and said to it and to the earth, “Come willingly, or unwillingly!” They said, “We come willingly.” From the translation by the non-Muslim, Arthur J. Arberry (1905-69), Verse 10, page 491, The World’s Classics Series: The Koran Intepreted, Oxford Univisity Press, 1964
We have just entered Rabi’ Al-Awwal, the month of the Islamic calendar so intimately connected to significant events in the life of our blessed Prophet – peace be upon him – not least of which were his birth and death. This month will be marked by some with remembrance of Allah and with words of …
Where are the real men? The latest book I have started reading is the Al-Azhar translation of “The men around the Messenger” which I was given several years ago. Naturally it goes without saying that we are like flies beside these great characters, but still it would be nice to think we were not a …
For the first time in seven years, I honoured “Mother’s Day” yesterday. Three or four years ago I sent my mother flowers in September with a note saying, “Everyday should be Mother’s Day.” It wasn’t because of this belief that thanks should be expressed every day, however, that I ignored the celebration on its official …
So another week has passed us by. As our lives hurtle along apace, we wonder what will become of us tomorrow and yet what can be said of our store of good deeds? We are taught that when we are gathered back together on that Revered Day we shall protest that we lived our life …
There a times when I am amazed by the bouties of Allah. The last two days without any effort on my part He has inspired me with good deeds. Such a sudden swing without explanation. Allah has always been generous to me. Sometimes it scares me, for I fear I am being granted all the …
Alas, there are other sides of the legacy. The society in which we are brought up, the education system and the impact of the media all affect one’s outlook. Some aspects which I am acutely aware of include cynicism, scepticism and suspicion. There is a degree to which these aspects can be healthy, but they …
I once knew a fellow who explained that the reason he was not taking his shoes off to pray on the dusty carpet in the basement of his bookshop was that we should differentiate ourselves from the Jews and the Christians. I had heard other justifications for shoes-on-carpet before, but I thought he was confused. …
I think a lot of what I am writing about at the moment must be standing against me. There is a theme running through a lot my pieces, I know. That sense of disillusionment. Without a doubt it plays into those other topics I have written about, particularly the need to express gratitude. More and …
I am grateful to Allah, my Creator and the Creator of all things, that He granted me a home in a small market town in a steep-sided valley. I am grateful to my Lord for granting me this humble dwelling on one side of the valley, overlooking the fields of cows on the other side …
