Saliha Mahmood is a Guest-Writer on Muslimsinengland.com

Old and withered, a broken man
His days of youth no more.
Blow after blow and a heart so ill;
A timid warrior, an internal war.

A tall form, now stooped and worn
A dashing smile gone wilted.
His crippled soul, a chornic pain;
A destiny readily accepted Continue reading "Poem"...

Zainab is a Guest-Writer on Muslimsinengland.com

Slowly but surely a modest smile appears on my face as I sit and remember having innumerable arguments with my mother regarding how my brother and I were treated so differently. ‘Why is he allowed out after dark and I’m not? Why is he allowed to travel to Italy with his friends and I’m not? Why is he allowed to wear what he wants and I’m not?’ It wasn’t fair. My mother’s vague answers didn’t convince me, but it was not long before I began to appreciate that I wasn’t un-equal, but simply different mentally, physically, hormonally, and definitely emotionally.

Ten months ago Allah (swt) bestowed upon me a beautiful baby girl.

I find that for some reason parents are more concerned about the security of their daughters than they are about their sons. This is not something I totally agree with, but fourteen months ago when my husband and I received the news that we would be having a baby girl, reality struck and even before she was born our nights were spent discussing the dos and don’ts of how we would bring her up. One thing that stuck in our minds was the beautiful hadith where the Prophet (saw) said "Whoever takes care of two girls until they reach adulthood - he and I will come (together) on the Day of Resurrection - and he interlaced his fingers (meaning in Paradise)." (Reported by Muslim). However, living in a Western society full of materialism and distraction makes this task a great deal. More difficult for the modern Muslim parent. Continue reading "Daughters"...

Written By: Susan Lucci. Susan Lucci is a guest-writer on Muslimsinengland.com from Chicago

“This isn’t my home, I’ll be leaving soon,” Mary declares as I escort her to the first floor to join the rest of the residents at “Casino Night” the afternoon of October 27th. “I’m just here to recover from the shock treatments they gave me for depression,” she explains matter-of-factly. It didn’t matter to me whether her story was fact or fiction, my goal was simply to entice her to join the afternoon’s socializing in the lobby. “They are serving orange punch and cookies,” I attempt a bribe. “Oh, why not, just for a few minutes, it would be a good break for my eyes,” Mary agrees, “I’m feeling foggy and not quite myself today.” I sympathize with this petite octogenerian. Continue reading "Acting with intentions"...

I looked at her once, and twice, and yet again. I did not smile at her as I did to everybody else, oh no, I wasn’t about to make her the recipient of my affection. Instead, she smiled at me, the cheek of it all, but I merely looked away, ha! A smirk passed over my face and my eyes became cold, devoid of emotion. I crossed my arms and held my chin high. My heart suddenly clenched, what was unseen though was the little green arrow that pierced it. I didn’t realise, but the arrow rapidly spread a vile poison throughout my body and my mind gulped it all, producing all sorts of loathsome thoughts about that girl. Just because she has the beauty, wealth, and authority, just because she has it all, she thinks she’s better than me. I became certain that if I had all that, I would be so much higher in status than her… I became envious. Continue reading "The Green Arrow "...

Fahaad Naveed (14), little cousin of Azeem Mirza, writing from the US.

Islam defined as a religion. I believe that a Muslim should define Islam as a friend. I as a Muslim have always believed that Islam should be treated as a friend. Treat it as one's own parent, that meaning respect Islam as you would respect your own parent. Islam is a religion that should not be ridiculed in front of other Muslims that would be the same as disrespecting the Quran and the same as your parents. I believe that Islam should be on the top of the list in life. For me, reading the Quran is like reading an interesting novel which you can't keep your eyes off. My knowledge of Islam is not too far in deep. We Muslims should encourage Islam around the world not just in our country. I will pray for the world to remain in peace through the ages. Continue reading "Islam is my friend"...

Many of us have over time had to face the storms of life, when times of trial, despair and sadness loom over us. I've heard many people, including myself at some stage, ask why? and wonder about all disasters that can and do strike at anytime and take away everything of worth and things we value. There is evil caused by humans, natural disasters occur, individuals suffer and large numbers of people that suffer. But what about the flip side of the coin? Besides the negative aspects of life, we also see beauty, love, affection, health, life, birth, wisdom, prosperity and growth. We see sincerity, happiness, charity and piety in people. Continue reading "The Sunnah Bag - An ounce of patience is worth a pound of brain"...

Dr Chris Baker and Greg Smith from the William Temple Foundation in Manchester are conducting research for the Leverhulme Trust into the contribution that faith groups make to society in the UK. The aim of this research is to allow faith groups to express both what they do, but also why they make the contributions they do, in their own words. We hope that this research will be a contribution to helping non-faith based partners understand the importance of spiritual values and religious beliefs when it comes to working alongside faith communities in public life. We would really appreciate the participation of the muslimsinengland on-line community in our research. Continue reading "Leverhulme Trust survey into religious and spiritual capital 2009"...

Is Professionalism costing us our Islamic values and beliefs?

Back in the days, when the husband entered his terraced home after a long and weary day at work and sat down with twenty odd members of his family to feast on the curry prepared by his wife, it was probably his first moment of that day when he felt relaxed and comfortable among his own type of people. That is to say, those were the days when Muslims kept themselves to themselves, when we were a restrained and secluded entity. Those were the days when work was strictly work and when a reserved and introvert attitude would be considered by Muslim workers as the right attitude to have among a non-Muslim community. This of course is not true! Continue reading "The Professional Muslim"...

‘England is being invaded by fast breeding hostile Islamists whose barbaric practices will one day sweep our heritage and culture away!’- Statement by the BNP...

This statement is nothing new, we've heard plenty of these in the past, no big deal right?...Wrong. Its statements like this one that poison the minds of the public and manipulate people into hatred and anger. If only those people knew the beauty and intellect of the Islam civilisation. If only they knew how Islamic practises (which by the way are not barbaric in any way) have helped to shape the world in which we live and taught us better ways to survive. Continue reading "How Muslims have helped to shape the world."...

So we all embark our lifeline accompanied by angels appointed by Allah, two of which write down our deeds, both good and bad, minor and major. Do you know what we commit everyday without thinking?...I can tell you that apart from major sins, we commit thousands of minor sins on a daily basis. So you're giving the Angel on your left plenty to write about? Yes? What are we doing to rectify this? What are we doing to keep the Angel on our right busy jotting? What are we doing to tip the scales in our favour on the day of judgement?

Continue reading "The Sunnah Bag"...