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Web Summit Lisbon 2023: A Diary and Reflections
The Guardian describes the Web Summit as “Glastonbury for geeks”, while The Financial Times has labelled it as “the world’s largest tech conference”. [1] When initially founded in 2009 by Paddy Cosgrave, David Kelly, and Daire Hickey, the events were held in Dublin, Ireland, albeit on a much smaller scale. As it gained popularity and grew, […]
The World Cup, Qatar and Human Rights
This World Cup of 2022 has engendered much discussion in the area of human rights and criticism of the way Qatar has dealt with its workers. There has also been much debate about wether Qatar should have hosted the World Cup given its view on same sex relationships. In this blog based on the VOI […]
NEW YEAR: What’s it all about?
Another year has just come to an end as as we wave goodbye to 2021 I am again reminded of the many different ways that we all usher in the new year. Being brought up in the west the new year is greeted with great celebration. Many people will party, drink, set off fireworks hold […]
Leading By Example
What springs to mind when you think of a leader? What qualities define a good leader? and is leadership necessary? These are some of the questions we will be reviewing in this blog. Let us start by having an understanding of the words Leader and Leadership. Leader: a person in control of a group, country, […]
HRH Queen Elizabeth II: A life of service.
I distinctly remember the Queens Silver Jubilee in 1977. All the children at my middle school received a silver coloured medallion to commemorate this very special occasion. I still have this little piece of memorabilia. It occurred to me on the day that our Queen passed away that she had been a constant, background presence […]
Fornication and Adultery, should we accept these behaviours as normal?
In the Voice of Islam show 1 that this blog is based on, some of the areas discussed were, has fornication become commonplace in western culture and is adultery seen as a minor failing. What impact is this having on society? what can be done to change it? and what advice does Islam have to […]
Vaccine hesitancy
The World Health Organization (WHO) regards vaccine hesitancy as one of the biggest threats to global health1. So, when a colleague first told me that she would not be getting the Covid-19 vaccine, I was slightly taken aback. How can someone put other’s lives at risk after knowing that vaccines have successfully decreased transmission rates […]
Grief: Navigating this painful journey
As we travel this journey of life it is inevitable that we will be faced with difficulties. Loss, is often the main issue behind the feelings of grief. That feeling of loss can come from a number of sources, 1 these include estrangement, financial or worldly losses, illness or injury, relinquishment, institutional losses and the […]
Breaking Addictions
As a young adult, I constantly feel the strain of needing to fit into society and for many other young people like me, the effects of this unabating pressure can become quite harmful if we find ourselves giving in. One such form of this problem arises from the ever-prevailing drug and drinking culture. As a […]
East and West
The occident and the orient, the west and the east, us against them. Nowhere is this reality better explained than in Edward Said’s Orientalism. Published in 1978, Said paints an incredibly vivid image and brings to life a detailed history whilst drawing on his own life, “a Palestinian going to school in Egypt, with an […]
Social Integration
Like any relation, it is the effort from two or more sides, that results in understanding. One of the most common reasons for opposing migration, a separate topic but very much related to integration, is a difference in culture, religion, and day-to-day practices. Both sides believe that their way of life, their values and morals […]
The Pursuit of Pleasures
My father arrived in the UK in 1962. He left Pakistan, his family and friends, his whole life with an understanding that the UK would provide greater opportunities for himself and his growing family. In the early days he worked 6 or 7 days a week, sending money to my mother and saving money in […]
Miracles
We have all read about them, some of us may have even seen or experienced a ‘miracle’ but we all have an opinion as to what is a ‘miracle’. This blog will cover our understanding of miracles, whether miracles have occurred in the past and if there is still scope for miracles to occur in […]
Trial or Punishment
In this episode of Faith Matters1 one of the questions answered by the panel was: “When do you know if something is a trial or if something is a punishment?” As we move through this blessed life of ours, it is inevitable to come across some difficulties. In my own life I have faced several […]
Engaging Faith Communities: The Need of the Hour
This week, The Voice of Islam’s team brought our listeners live coverage from the G20 Interfaith Forum, taking place in Abu Dhabi on the 12th and 13th of December. The event was based on the theme of “Engaging Faith Communities: G20 Agendas and Beyond” and took place under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad […]
Jalsa Salana
As an advocate of ongoing learning, I have and continue to, attend a number of national and international conferences. These conferences have ranged from professional to personal development as well as spiritual. As a result, I can say without the slightest hesitation that, for me, the most educational, uplifting, enlightening and fulfilling conference of them […]
Dealing With Lower Back Pain
Since graduating as an Osteopath in 1992 I have treated thousands of patients. Many have presented with the common issue of lower back pain (LBP). Osteopathy is a manual form of treatment founded in the late 19th Century by Dr Andrew Taylor Still. 1 It is increasingly becoming the choice of treatment for all types […]
Afterlife: is there life after death?
One of the most enduring topics of conversation is whether or not there is life after death. For many of us reading this blog, as we move on in our lives and especially in times of difficulty when our lives are in jeopardy, this thought will arise. As a Muslim, we were taught from a young […]
Family in Modern Society
One of the most striking features of Muslim society is the importance that is given to family life. With changing cultural norms and the development of new personal priorities, I question whether there is still room left for family in modern society. Is the concept of a traditional family unit as relevant today as compared […]
The Role of the Father in Islam
My father was a Giant…OK not literally… He was, however, 6f oot 2 inches tall, broad, muscular with huge hands and feet. So, as a child, for all intents and purposes, he was a giant. With this enormous frame came a quiet, intelligent, introspective, hardworking and humorous man to name a few of his many […]
Change: What’s it all about?
Change as a topic is extensive and emotive. In this blog, we will briefly explore a few points. Is change optional? Why do so many people struggle with making changes? How can we learn to embrace change? There are many definitions of the word change. Most pertinent for our discussion are: “to […]
Genetic Scissors—Snap with caution!
Grocery list Cereal Onions Butter Cheese Bread Tomatoes for controlling blood pressure. What do you find weird about this grocery list? Since when do we add the nutritional benefits of items in the grocery list? Hold on! It’s not to encourage you to eat your five a day but “Tomatoes for controlling blood pressure” is a special type of gene-edited tomatoes that has recently been licensed for […]
Forgiveness
It is safe to say that we have all been there, on both sides of the coin: asking for forgiveness and/or being forgiven. But in situations where one finds themselves having to do both the asking and forgiving is somewhat of a double harvest in the long run. Such was the case last year during the last 10 days […]
Happiness
As I begin to write this blog, the rather quirky ‘70s/80s comedian Ken Dodd springs to mind. His TV shows would often feature his very catchy song: “Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess I thank the Lord that I’ve been blessed With more than my share of happiness…..” 1 The rest of his […]
Role of Faith in Social Integrations
As a Pakistani Ahmadi Muslim based in South London, the topic at hand is quite personal and close to my heart. To be honest, nine years ago when I moved to London, I did not give it much thought but when my first-born started school, it proved to be a penny drop moment for me and brought me to certain realisations. I grappled with a variety of questions. Will integration come natural to my British, Pakistani son? Would he be […]
Evolution
In the 1980s as part of my O Level in Biology, my school organised a trip to the Natural History Museum. This was a time long before mobile phones, the Internet, computers, Google, You Tube….etc etc. So, for us kids it was an exciting opportunity to see something different. The premise of the trip was […]
Role of Mothers in Islam
As women and girls, we always hear the words “She’s her mothers’ daughter”. Mothers… the people who keep our secrets, our superheroes, our best friends, our biggest support systems, our cheerleaders, our happy place, our comfort zones. Mother’s Day is a day celebrated around the world in appreciation. It was also the day I lost […]
Fasting & Heart Disease
The 15th of July 1993 is not a day that I am likely to forget. It was the day that my beloved father passed away from a sudden heart attack and as a result, became another statistic in the ever-increasing list of those affected by cardiovascular disease. ‘Coronary heart disease (CHD) – Disease that affects […]
Dealing With Problem
As a practitioner, lecturer and Tutor, I have the pleasure of interacting with adults from a variety of backgrounds and ages. In almost 30 years of work, the one thing I have noticed that we all have in common is, we all have, ‘problems’. To better understand how I could serve the people I was […]
Evidence of carbon based life from Quran
Do you fancy participating in a poll? You are made of ———- Stardust Diamonds I won’t keep you in this dilemma of choosing between diamonds and the stars for long because both when narrowed down to their composition are made of carbon and so are we, the human beings. This all makes sense if you […]
The Concept Of Fasting Is Not Just Unique To Islam
Intermittent fasting is one of the latest fads and is a buzzword these days. To remove any religious connotation from it, some people like to call it “Scheduled meals” or a “Pattern of eating.” As a matter of fact, trends such as intermittent fasting, Keto, Atkins diet etc make it evident that fasting is not limited to religions, let alone to just one religion! Fasting is spread across different spectra of trends, cultures and religions albeit in different […]
Eid ul Fitr
As a child growing up in the ‘70s London, Eid was not a well-known festival outside of the Muslim community, which itself was quite small.1 However, I remember being extremely excited and always waited with anticipation for the day to arrive. I had observed my parents and older members of my family fasting during the month of Ramadan. The period […]
The Essence of Eid ul Fitr
Refraining from food and drink for almost 30 days can seem like an illusion at the end of the journey. Looking beyond this purely physical need allows an individual to be intensely grateful in addition to redirecting one’s attention to the spiritual needs and state of self. Through this execution of self-discipline, one is encouraged to progress […]
To Halal or Not
That indeed is the question. For a Muslim, this refers to the consumption of clean and pure food, as required by Islamic dietary laws. This is trivial if one resides in a primarily Islamic country. However, such was not the case in many Western countries. Only during the latter part of the 20th century, due to increased immigration […]
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