IF THE UNITED States intervenes in places like Venezuela or talks about taking control of Greenland, who actually benefits from this? It’s not ordinary Americans who benefit; rather, it’s a small group of powerful people at the top. First, consider money and resources. Venezuela has vast oil reserves, and Greenland has valuable minerals and a strategic … Continue reading Who Really Benefits From U.S. Foreign Interventions?
IN 1823, U.S. President James Monroe announced what became known as the Monroe Doctrine: European powers should no longer colonise or interfere in the Americas, and in return, the United States would avoid involvement in European wars and existing colonies. Publicly, the doctrine was framed as defensive, a shield for newly independent states in the … Continue reading Seeing U.S. Foreign Policy Clearly, and Why Muslims Must Think Beyond It
THE UK GOVERNMENT’S decision to ban fast-food advertising is unlikely to solve the problem of obesity. Reduced exposure may help at the margins, but it does not confront the deeper contradiction: a system that depends on excess while attempting to limit it. Little plasters cannot resolve structural contradictions. Britain’s economic framework still prioritises profit over … Continue reading Obesity Is Not Just a Choice: Rethinking Health Through Islam
YESTERDAY’S US MILITARY operation in Venezuela, culminating in the removal of President Nicolás Maduro to face charges in New York, has exposed a long-standing contradiction at the heart of Western international law. The United States and its allies frequently invoke a so-called “rules-based international order” to discipline weaker states. Yet their own conduct repeatedly violates … Continue reading When Law Follows Power: Lessons from Venezuela
Five days without a phone not by choice, but by decree. A number lost somewhere between renewal and return, a quiet disconnection. I still touch the internet at home, at work but everywhere else there is nothing. And SubḥānAllāh, I didn’t know absence could feel like this. No buzzing pocket. No call pulling me out of my own thoughts. No urge to scroll my way out of stillness. The road is just a road again. The … Continue reading Five Days Without a Phone
MANY MUSLIMS LIVING in the UK feel uneasy about citizenship. On paper, citizenship is described as equal and inclusive. In reality, it is difficult to attain, expensive, slow, and sometimes insecure. Even after naturalisation, there is a feeling that belonging remains conditional and can be taken away at any time. This feeling is not about … Continue reading Belonging, Difference, and Justice: What it Means to be a Citizen
RECENT DISCUSSIONS ABOUT a proposed International Stabilisation Force for Gaza have left many Muslims profoundly betrayed. Muslim-majority countries can coordinate when the framework is “regional security.” They can act when the language is diplomatic management. They can unite when told to by a superpower. But invoke the Qur’anic obligation to defend the ummah? Invoke Islamic … Continue reading Islam Commands Unity. The Nation-State Forbids It
MANY OF US instinctively see wealth as a blessing and poverty as a trial. We admire those with abundance and sympathise with those in need. Yet the Qur’an reminds us that both states are tests, ibtilā, from Allah. How we respond, whether in wealth or need, determines our true success. The Divine Equation of Ibtalā … Continue reading Understanding Wealth: It is a Test
MANY MUSLIMS LIVING in the West experience a quiet but persistent unease. Perhaps you have felt it yourself: a sense that something is fundamentally misaligned in how we are forced to relate to money, property, and economic life. Islam offers guidance for all aspects of life, including wealth and resources, yet the systems we depend … Continue reading Why We Feel Stuck: Insurance, Capitalism, and the Lost Islamic Vision
MY FATHER ONCE asked me to help prepare a surprise gift for my mother. He handed me some money and gave clear instructions. The purpose was fixed: the gift had to be meaningful and reach her hands at the right moment. I had possession of the money, but the decision of how it would be … Continue reading Understanding Wealth: It Belongs to Allah
Living For Islam 