Alhamdulillah for the liberation of Syria from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad. I remember when the revolution started in 2011 and the horrifying pictures coming out of places like Homs and other areas affected by brutal massacres. Women and child were targeted by the Shabiha (Assad’s mercenaries). Places like Madaya were besieged and the population forced […]

Many years ago, I asked an old Shaykh from Saudi who was visiting BMHC last month about advice for people going through hardships. He gave me two du’as – one of which I was aware of and the other I was not, but I found very interesting. The first du’a is one which is well […]

It’s mentioned that al-Hasan al-Basri (ra) was a man who was often sad, whilst Muhammad Ibn Sireen (ra) would laugh and joke (Tabaqaat ibn Sa’ad 6/128). Our teacher mentioned something similar that Al-Hasan used to be fearful and would weep a lot. Makhul (ra) on the other hand used to be cheerful. They were all […]

Many years back, I went to see an old colleague of mine who had been diagnosed with cancer. The doctors said he literally had weeks left as the cancer had spread through his brain. A few brothers were present as we visited him and one of them said to him; “Musheib, are you in pain?” […]

Yesterday, I was in the airport with my son Zakariya travelling back to Cairo, when I saw a new video game kiosk. Zak was looking intently at the F1 game with steering wheels and pedals. Never in a million years would I consider something like this in an airport, but seeing his interest I said, […]

Six points regarding the UK riots 1) Understand the intent of the Far-Right The intent of these people is two. One is to get a reaction from you in order to justify their mayhem. The second is to make you fearful and scared. When you know this, then the intelligent response is to avoid reacting […]

Whilst we celebrate the likes of Belal Muhammad, Khabib and other sports personalities (and rightly so), it’s perhaps important to mention that those deserving of even *more* attention and reverence are two groups: The Scholars and The Mujhaahideen. I think it’s nice for us to welcome and show respect to Muslim sports personalities. I don’t […]

I read a passage in Ibn Khaldun’s ‘Muqaddimah’ that resonated with me about our children. He references how Bedouins are more disposed to courage than sedentary people [or those living in settled, luxurious conditions]. He states how those in luxury; – Are used to laziness and ease – Entrust the defence of their property and […]

I highly recommend the following three things for any beginner student to help understand the words of the Qur’an: 1) An Arabic/English Mushaf This is imperative and now possible with the relatively new Al-Quran Al-Karim series from Karya Bestari. It’s a word for word translation of the Madinah Mushaf, on the same line as the […]

The journey of the hereafter is fascinating. There is one stage however, that as a Muslim is worrying. This is the day of judgement being fifty thousand years as per the verse: تَعْرُجُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ وَٱلرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِى يَوْمٍۢ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُۥ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍۢ “The angels and the holy spirit will ascend to Him on a […]