A YOUNG MAN came to my clinic this week with a surprising request: he wanted a vasectomy. He wasn’t married. He didn’t have children. He was just 20 years old. His reason? His partner couldn’t tolerate hormonal contraception, and barrier methods felt unreliable. So he decided that the “sensible” thing was to be sterilised. I … Continue reading The 20-Year-Old Who Wanted a Vasectomy: And What It Says About Society
WHEN THE JEWS of Europe arrived on the shores of Palestine—fleeing the horrors of Nazi persecution—their ships bore signs pleading: “The Germans destroyed our families and homes. Don’t you destroy our hopes.” And it was the Muslims of Palestine who answered that call. They opened their arms and hearts to those in need. Because our … Continue reading The Nakba: It Never Ended
THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY, the disbelievers have united to attack the believers. At the Battle of Ahzab, the polytheists allied with the Yahood in a bid to annihilate the Muslims of Madinah. They failed. Centuries later, during World War I, the Allied powers—Britain, France, and Russia—defeated the Ottoman Khilafah. In the aftermath, they divided the Muslim … Continue reading From Ahzab to Kashmir: The Case for a United Ummah
KNOWING OUR HISTORY is important. It allows us to know how we got to where we are, what mistakes we made and how to hopefully avoid them and move forward. It is as the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘The believer is not stung twice from the same hole.” (Bukhārī) But history can appear complicated. This is … Continue reading Colonial Legacies: How History Shapes Palestine Today
I REMEMBER A conversation I had once with a senior medical consultant. We were having dinner with a group of doctors. The consultant— who is a practising Muslim— believed that lay Muslims don’t have the right to ask scholars how they came to a certain ruling. His view was: “A scholar is a scholar. He’s … Continue reading Can Muslims Ask Scholars For Evidence?
OBSERVING YESTERDAY’S POHELA Boishakh (Bengali New Year) celebrations in Bangladesh, it became increasingly clear that the country is struggling with an identity crisis. On one hand, there’s a secular wave pushing for a revival of pre-Islamic Bengali traditions. On the other, there’s a call from many Muslims to uphold Islamic values in public and private … Continue reading Reflections on Pohela Boishakh: A Crisis of Identity in Bangladesh
I READ A powerful article by Mu’minah al-A’zam, the granddaughter of the late Shaykh Ali al-Tantawi of Egypt, and it really struck a chord with me. It’s a heartfelt caution to those of us who have chosen to raise our children in non-Muslim countries. Her words deserve serious reflection. She shares how her grandfather—may Allah … Continue reading Losing Our Children: A Painful Reality We Must Confront
OUR SCHOLARS, IMAMS and Islamic influencers play a crucial role in helping us understand the world around us through the lens of Islam. Their role is not just to provide comfort or spiritual nourishment, but to guide us toward Islamic solutions. Everyone’s talking about Gaza. The brutality, the injustice, the heartbreaking images. But when the … Continue reading Islam Is the Solution: But Who Is Saying It?
HOW CAN WE be united when we have so many differences? It’s a commonly expressed idea but one that is wrong on so many counts. Who says we need to be united on all matters? This is a strange notion that has entered our minds that to be united we must be united on all … Continue reading Understanding Unity: The Key to a Stronger Ummah
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said that Gaza should come under US control and that it should be rebuilt as the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ whilst its people are permanently relocated to neighbouring countries. His words are both very ignorant and very arrogant. He is ignorant because he does not understand Islam and the … Continue reading Trump’s Plan for Gaza: Ignorant, Arrogant and Why it Will Fail
Living For Islam 