Nowadays we call everyone our friend. That’s how easily we make friends. Whether they live in the same city or on the other side of the world, we just have a lot of friends.

There’s a saying: Out of sight out of mind.

A friend of mine said that this saying applied to me. That made me think. Am I really that bad and superficial? It is always easy to make friends, but maintaining them is a true art. In my case I have always been the one to maintain friendships but for how long was I to do this? Continue reading "Friendship "...

Al Hidayah 2009:
"The “Muslims in England” team, along with some of the writers, had the privilege and honour of attending this years Al-Hidayah retreat, in the blessed company of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Shaykh Asad Muhammad Saeed as-Sagherji, Shaykh Abdul Rahman Hammami, Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad and others."

Continue reading last years experience of one attendee here.

Al Hidayah 2010:



MuslimsInEngland.com will be there! Join us, and 1200 other students!

Heard about the English Defence League thugs who attacked a George Gallaway meeting in Manchester this Sunday?

No, neither had I, until I’d read a friend’s Facebook status.

On Sunday 27th June, a group of thugs entered Manchester’s Wythenshawe Forum (which I’m ashamed to admit is within my local area, and known for its chav-tastic presence). They scuffled with guards and eyewitness reports state ‘they stormed into the hall, punched several people, poured beer over others, threw chairs at children and screamed "Israel should have killed you all".’
Because THAT’s what the Palestinian cause really need: a herd of unemployed low-life hooligans fighting them.

A video of an attempted attack was uploaded by an EDL member before promptly being withdrawn- but not before an anti-EDL activist reported it. See here the video: Continue reading "EDL Thugs... So cool."...

A couple of days ago our house was broken into by 3 youths. I am sure that many of us have fallen victim to this and so can empathise with the total feeling of invasion.

Thinking that ours was a typical Asian household, they did not bother with anything downstairs, but totally ransacked the upstairs looking for gold, jewellery, and money. None of which we possess. On failing to find anything valuable, they returned downstairs to try and take the flat-screen, which unfortunately for these fools, was bolted solid to the wall. So, in frustration, they decided to punch it instead.

Continue reading "Broke in more than just a house!"...

Ok it’s not SUCH a giant problem but I wanted that title. Now on to the topic of the day… The Hand Shake screams

There’s a lovely lady whose family I work with; upon our first meeting/interview she said, ‘We’d love you to work with us, but I feel like I need to tell you something: we’re a Jewish family. Will that be a problem?’

Which was incredible because until that point I thought there was a chance we may be distant relatives, as she shares the same surname as my Swiss Grandmother. True story readers!

Anyhoo, I’ve loved them ever since. Whilst playing with her son she’ll ask, ‘Would you regard the term ‘Islamist’ to be offensive?’ and our conversations are always random, diverse and relevant. She has an incredible understanding about similarities between Islam and Judaism, and the difficulties religions face in the modern world.

Introduction over, now back to the story.

Continue reading "One small shake for man, one giant problem for Muslim-kind"...

If there’s one place which evokes a flurry of extreme reactions it’s… a i r p o r t s.

I remember the first few times there was nothing more exciting. Lugging our cases around in a perpetual state of nervous anxiety, our eyes couldn’t move fast enough to take it all in. The smell, the whirlwind of people, the chitter-chatter of a hundred languages, laughter, tears, life itself coming and going: all in one little terminal.

Fast forward a few years, I now seem to spend half my time in airports and there’s still nowhere more fascinating. Watching people emerging from arrivals, blinking in the light of their new, albeit temporary abode, on a conveyer belt of happiness- seeing the moment their blank tired faces suddenly transform into the million dollar ‘ding’ smile as they reach their loved ones. Each has their own story to tell. Then there are those on business- and those whose smiles you never get to see. Continue reading "The Airport"...

Previously on Climbing Mount Everest

One of the things I remember fondly was the view at night. As we were high up, there was very little electricity and it was almost complete darkness at night. When we would look up in the skies our eyes would be filled with thousands and thousands of stars shining brightly above the mountains. We saw shooting stars and the view made us wonder about Allah’s creation in our galaxy and beyond it – what is it like in the heavens? His magnificence and the number of His creations just made us increase in His remembrance. When we prayed Maghrib and Isha outside on one of the nights it was so peaceful. We would say salams at the end and when we would look right and left we would have mountains in our direct view on either side. Most times it was a most peaceful prayer and when we prayed we didn’t want to stop.

One verse of the Qur’an that I always remembered throughout the journey was in Surah Hashr where Allah says:



“If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah. And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought” (59:21). Continue reading "Climbing Mount Everest"...

Last Wednesday I was supposed to arrive in Geneva to attend a Media Seminar by FEMYSO. 

So, I was supposed to deliver a presentation on Social Media. It's just Chaos. As I arrived at Manchester Airport, I was exactly six minutes late... SIX! But as Ustadh Usama Canon once said to us "Sometime it's better to miss a party". As I was thinking about that while my ticket got re-booked. I thought, well I could improve my presentation and I'll just go on the next available flight. Shouldn't be a problem at all. I spoke with the FEMYSO people in Geneva, and they said that it shouldn't be a problem for me arriving tomorrow.

Yesterday, as I was getting ready and Vakaas Khan went to drop me off for the second time, I was kind of proud of myself that I'm arriving an hour before departure. As we got to Airport, I had a smile on my face being so happy that I'm on time for today's flight. Untill I went inside and the Airport was filled with like a billion people... It was MAD! 

This happened in Iceland:

It was said to me that the ash is the result of the second eruption in Iceland in less than a month. It happened under a glacier in the Eyjafjallajokull area and there are fears it could erupt again. I'm advised to check with my airline before setting off for the airport. A spokesman of Man Airport said that we could compare this chaos to, or even worse than the chaos after the attacks on 9/11...

So, here I am waiting for my flight (which I think won't happen as I just received a phone-call from Vakaas saying that they're not flying until Monday) and hoping whether I'll still be able to attend the Media Seminar. Also have to fly to Texas on Monday to meet Saad Naveed. It's just chaos!

Yesterday, I met Ustadh Usama Canon in The Hague at the Mawlid Festival 2010. He spoke about The Prophet (pbuh). When I looked him up in google, I came across a very interesting video, in the main Ta'Leef video I saw that a friend of mine, Ian Belcher (LA), embraced Islam with Ta'Leef Collective.

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"...

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"...