“IF THE QURAYSH buried their daughters alive, wouldn’t there eventually be no women left? And then there wouldn’t be any people left,” my daughter asked after learning about Arabian society before Islam. It was a simple, yet piercing, question. She wasn’t dismissing history; she was engaging with it thoughtfully. And her thinking was sound. Her … Continue reading Challenging What’s Normal
I CAME ACROSS something recently while reviewing parts of the seerah that I hadn’t quite connected before. After the death of Abu Talib, the Prophet ﷺ went to Taif hoping to find support. Instead, the people rejected him brutally—they set their children and servants to chase him from the town, pelting him with stones until … Continue reading They Were Listening
THE YEAR OF Sorrow. We know it as that devastating period when the Messenger ﷺ experienced the loss of his two main supports: his beloved wife Khadijah (ra) and his uncle Abu Talib. We often focus on what the Prophet ﷺ lost in that year. But recently, I found myself reflecting on what Khadijah (ra) … Continue reading She Never Saw Madinah
THEY SAY THAT there are three types of people when it comes to crime. Those who commit it, those who facilitate it and those who turn a blind eye to it. For many people, the Epstein files confirm this very point and what had long been suspected: his crimes were not the actions of a … Continue reading The Pattern of Power: From Empire to Epstein
I’VE BEEN THINKING about investing for some time. Inflation slowly erodes savings, financial instability is a reality, and like many people, I wanted to act responsibly rather than leave money idle. Yet almost every facet of our economic lives is bound up with capitalism, and navigating what is halal and what is haram within it … Continue reading Halal Investing and the Questions We Are Avoiding
THE UNITED KINGDOM is one of the richest countries in the world. Yet the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s UK Poverty 2026 report shows that more than 14 million people, around one in five, live in poverty. Of these, 6.8 million live in very deep poverty, unable to meet basic needs like food, heating, and housing. Poverty … Continue reading Poverty Is Not Inevitable, It Is a Choice
FOR SEVERAL YEARS, I treated Ramadhan like a spiritual performance to perfect. Thirty juz. Taraweeh every night. Charity drives. Colour-coded schedules. I would begin strong, fall behind by week two, and finish the month either sprinting in guilt or quietly disappointed. Outwardly, I was doing a lot. Inwardly, very little changed. Eventually, I realised the … Continue reading The Ramadhan I Planned and the Ramadhan I Actually Needed
WHENEVER THE TOPIC of Islamic governance or the re-establishment of a khilafah arises, a familiar question often emerges: “But who will be the leader?” This may be an honest and responsible question. Yet a closer examination often reveals that this question is not that, but more a way of preventing meaningful discussion. This article aims … Continue reading “Who Will Be the Leader?”: Understanding the Question Behind the Question
“I HAVE TO go home and tell my children it’s not nice to lie,” remarked Rachel Duffy, the most recent winner of the hugely popular BBC series The Traitors. It was said lightly, almost humorously, yet the irony was difficult to miss: a programme built entirely around deception, followed by an instinctive acknowledgement that lying … Continue reading When Entertainment Rewards Deception
I AM AT that stage of life where time feels scarce, and Ramadhan no longer looks the way it once did. Gone are the days when I could stay up all night in Ramadhan, immersed in recitation, reflection, and worship, doing all the things well-meaning speakers often encourage us to do to make our Ramadhan … Continue reading The Ramadhan You Are Given
