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
ON THE 26TH of March, Bangladesh marks its Independence Day; a struggle born of dignity, rights, and self-determination. Fifty-five years later, let us stop speaking in slogans and ask a question that cannot be avoided: What is the value of a human life in Bangladesh today? Because once again, people are dead. A bus has … Continue reading 26 March: Independence or the Failure to Protect Our People?
EVERY YEAR, AS Ramadhan ends, I watch it happen. The sun goes down on that last day, and something shifts. Something grows distant, in a way you can’t quite put your finger on. And then, so gradually nobody notices, the days return to normal. By mid-Shawwal, we just feel… Less connected. For years, I thought … Continue reading After Ramadhan
I WAS FLYING back to London from Istanbul some years ago on a British Airways flight. The back of the plane was full of families returning from holiday, the clamour of children, the negotiating of small needs, the particular exhaustion of parents at the end of a journey. A flight attendant was speaking to a … Continue reading Motherhood Is Not the Trap
THERE ARE MOMENTS in history that expose the true condition of a nation. What we are witnessing today at Masjid al-Aqsa is one such moment. For the first time since the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, and possibly since the liberation by Salahuddin from the Crusaders in 1187CE, the blessed mosque has been closed during … Continue reading Al-Aqsa in Chains
Living For Islam 