THE PROPHET ﷺ WARNED: “Do not ask for authority. If it is given to you at your request, you will be held fully responsible for it. If it is given to you without your request, you will be helped by Allah in it.” (Bukhari) So how do we make sense of this verse in Surah … Continue reading The Yusuf Standard
THERE ARE VERSES in the Qur’an that inform. Others warn. And then there are verses that reorder how you see reality itself. Sūrah Ibrahim, ayah 48, belongs to the last category. يَوْمَ تُبَدَّلُ ٱلْأَرْضُ غَيْرَ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتُ ۖ وَبَرَزُوا۟ لِلَّهِ ٱلْوَٰحِدِ ٱلْقَهَّارِ On the Day when the earth will be changed into another earth, and … Continue reading When the World Falls Away
RIGHT NOW, MANY of us are watching things that are difficult to make sense of. We see oppression, open, documented, and undeniable. We see those responsible not hiding, but appearing confident. Celebrating, even. And we find ourselves asking uncomfortable questions: How is this still happening? And why does it feel like nothing is being done? … Continue reading When Justice Is Delayed
THIS IS AN ayah that every time I come back to it, I find it has more room inside than I remembered. وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ And when your Lord proclaimed: If you are grateful, I will surely increase you; but if you are ungrateful, My punishment … Continue reading If You Are Grateful, I Will Surely Increase You
I AM NO stranger to demonstrations. I have stood in the rain and snow, marched through city centres, and raised my voice at embassies more times than I can count. Yesterday I headed to the Jordanian Embassy in London to join the Hands Off Al-Aqsa protest. I knew why I was going. I cared. I was ready. … Continue reading Hands Off Al-Aqsa
THERE IS A struggle hidden in every post I write. One voice tells me: keep it short, get straight to the point. The other tells me: slow down, explain things properly so the reader truly understands. If I keep things brief, I worry the meaning feels incomplete. If I write too much, I worry the … Continue reading Between Brevity and Detail
THE ISRAELI KNESSET approved a bill instructing military courts to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of ‘acts of terrorism’. No equivalent penalty applies to Jewish Israelis convicted of killing Palestinians. Executions are to be carried out by hanging within 90 days of sentencing, with no right to appeal. Palestinians in the occupied West … Continue reading When Justice Depends on the Majority
THE STRAIT OF Hormuz. The Bab al-Mandeb. The Suez Canal. These are not incidental features of geography. They are arteries through which energy, goods, and wealth flow to sustain the modern world. Every one of these chokepoints runs through or alongside Muslim-majority lands. Add to this the vast energy reserves beneath the ground, the strategic … Continue reading Power Without Agency
LONG QUEUES AT petrol stations. Pump attendants shaking their heads. No octane. The global disruption is real, the war in Iran has sent shockwaves through energy markets, crude oil has risen sharply, and Bangladesh, which imports diesel and gas, has felt that shock. But here is the detail that demands attention: Bangladesh produces most of … Continue reading Who Emptied the Pumps?
SURAH YUSUF MOVES at pace. Betrayal, enslavement, false accusation, imprisonment… the narrative barely pauses. Then comes the dream interpretation, the summons to the king, the vindication, the release, and finally the extraordinary elevation: a young boy once sold for a handful of coins now holds the keys to the storehouses of Egypt. And it is … Continue reading The Pause at the Peak
Living For Islam 