Previously on Climbing Mount Everest

We would wake up everyday at 6 am and start trekking by 7:30. Some days would be really long and we wouldn’t get to the next lodge until 5 or 6pm, meaning we would be climbing for some 11 hours a day. I wouldn’t have imagined it but all of a sudden I was in bed by 9pm on most nights because of the early start and the long days we had ahead of us. This was definitely a point of reflection for myself. Back in the UK I genuinely found it difficult to wake up early but it was usually because I slept so late. There in the mountains, I really began to see the barakah of starting the day early and making the most out of it. We would leave just after fajr time, which proved to be a great time for some early morning adkhar and reflection. Seeing the sun rise high above the lofty mountains made it easy to focus on Allah’s wonderful creations; these were the most perfect moments, and it is these times that I miss the most. But that reflection period would be of no use unless I could go from strength to strength when I got back. Continue reading "Climbing Mount Everest"...

So here's a random thought.

I think a lot of Muslim marriages are slapped together on a metaphorical production line. As they whizz down the line, the different parts are primed and trimmed, they get their coat of spray paint and eventually they're stuck together. They mostly work, but maybe for a long time people are not sure if the end product will stand the test of time. Sometimes they only work because they have to. After a while the cheap coat of shiny spray paint peels off revealing the true colours of the constituent parts; they're not always the prettiest underneath.

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"...

A thick blanket of snow fell again last night all over UK. It was thicker than it was ermm 2 weeks ago! As I looked out of my bedroom window, I couldn’t help but think how beautiful, clean and pure the untouched snow looked! Well, that daze didn’t last long, because as soon as reality hit me on the head I realised that despite looking pretty, beneath the beautiful white surface, snow causes chaos for the daily work commuters, parents and kids going to school and in fact for everyone even those not daring to venture outside their homes!

Continue reading "And it snowed And it snowed ..."...

January 1st. As I woke up in the morning and opened the door, I could smell the odour of last night's firework. People were cleaning up the streets, others visited the graveyard, some were preparing to go to the mosque and perform the Friday-pray. In our street, there are always kids who look for unused fire-works, in the hope that they may be able to ignite it and have some fun.

Unfortunately, they're not aware of the danger of these small little things and just light-up every single piece of cracklings they can find. Yesterday, two of our little neighbours were also participating in this group of kids and they found this piece of fire-work named "Nitraat", also known as "The Tank". Nitraat is one of them things that you can only get from places like Belgium and its announced illegal after 2000, since too many people were losing an eye or at least a finger because of these things.

(Younes @ First-Aid 15 minutes after the blast. Got cleaned up a bit) Continue reading "Toy Soldier"...

Big salaams from your sister MOH (Muslim On Holiday). Not to rub it in or anything. I flew on Wednesday to the desert land of Sharjah to spend Eid with my family. Most MIE will have a place abroad which is a 'home from home'... in my case, I have no genetic affiliation to Sharjah, but lived here for a couple of years.

Coming back, for the first time since moving back to England, was a jarring experience. As much as I had wanted to return home whilst I lived here, I never realised how much I'd missed the smell of this place until its sweet sandy waft hit me smack bang in the face. There's so much sky over here. And everything- EVERYTHING- is bigger. Unlike its neighbour Dubai, Sharjah still has most of its Arab country charm intact. Mosques opposite Mosques (as opposed to Starbucks opposite Starbucks...though we fear that day will come), dusty buildings, people actually talking Arabic, insane traffic and cows-I-mistook-for-giant-goats in the car park. Well, the latter was an Eid Al-Adha special... needless to say; I've been sufficiently thawed by the lovely 28 degree winter. Not to rub it in or anything.

Continue reading "My Eidy!"...

Today, a video was sent-in to us by our very own Bilal Hassam!

As I was watching the movie, I saw that a friend of mine, Ian Belcher, embraced Islam by Ta'Leef.

It's not hard to embrace Islam, but what then...? What happens after they've embraced Islam? Let them enter the wild world without guidance, friends, or a destination to reach?

NO! Then we're supposed to do something as Ta'Leef, have a look at the video below and see how people are introduced, settled, and commited to Islam. Continue reading "Ta'Leef! Hearts being united"...

Found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

19th October, 2009.

The 27th Annual Muslim Day Parade took place, and as I was in New York I couldn't miss that.

The participants assembled on Madison Avenue and 41st street. School buses arrived with young Muslim students holding banners representing their schools and others holding flags representing their countries.

I went to the parade with very promising young filmmakers, Musa Syeed and Bassam Tariq. Bassam Tariq works in advertising (and has done several commercials in US) and Musa is the co-producer of A Son's Sacrifice (Best Short Documentary). His most recent film, Bronx Princess, aired nationally in the US last month.

Continue reading "27th New York Muslim Day Parade"...

Ok, I know that the month of Ramadan has departed from us, but I wanted to keep the Ramadan spirit alive or at least share something that I experienced with you.

Right so it goes like this...

On the last Friday of Ramadan, I decided to do iftar for the family... Kind of late in the day, errm a few hours before iftar to be precise (I was at work that day too you know..!). Anyway, my intention as Allah knows was good in the sense that I wanted to provide food for my fasting family and also because I wanted to give my mother a break from cooking! Anyway, in hindsight I can see that I put quite a challenge on my head, providing iftari for the whole family which included 2 cousins who actually eat for three! And only a couple of hours in which to do it...I began cooking nevertheless. Continue reading "Good intentions"...