Islam
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M Rehman, Cheam Sadly, many Muslim countries are branded as dictatorships by non Islamic nations, meaning they are ruled by a single group or individual who has absolute power. Examples include Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and Afghanistan [1]. This style of leadership is said to be a reason for the internal crises in such…
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Maleeha Mansur, Hayes Religion is a means of attaining nearness to our Creator, to be free from the chains of materialism and to see light in the darkness of the world. What can be said of a religion that strips its followers of purity and takes one far from God by indulging in worldly pursuits…
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Aroosa Akram, Slough The Islamic principle of modesty is an essential part of faith and it concerns a Muslim’s physical and mental state. To fully understand the importance of modesty, ‘haya’ (حیاء) in Arabic, let us look at its meaning in some detail. The word ‘haya’ comes from the Arabic word of ‘hayat’ which means…
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Basma Malik, Roehampton ‘Say, ‘My Prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.’ (6:163) Sacrifice is a concept that is present in religions and cultures from the Hebrews to the Aztecs notably in the form of animal sacrifice. In the religious context, sacrifice is…
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Nooresahar Ahmad, Hartlepool In chapter 20, verse 115 of the Holy Qur’an is a simple prayer: “… O my Lord, increase me in knowledge.” The Arabic is but three words: rabbi zidni ilma. It’s probably the first prayer I ever learnt, the prayer I always recite before an exam (and the prayer I repeat,…
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Iffat Mirza, Raynes Park It’s strange to think that a headline itself can make headlines. On 22nd March 2019 the New Zealand newspaper The Press published the paper with a blank front page, with only the Arabic word Salaam written on it, accompanied with a translation in English: Peace. This was in response to the…
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By Dr Aalia Khan, London God’s existence can be seen anywhere and everywhere, for those who are enabled to look. How can we see God’s existence in our day to day lives? Why is it important that we recognise, appreciate and praise His Being? We know about God, Who we call Allah as Muslims, through…
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Abgina Sohail, Kingston To seclude oneself completely from the world and devote oneself to the remembrance of Allah, the Almighty, and the study of the Holy Qur’an at a mosque for ten days straight is something that many Muslims try to do at least once in their life, if not more. This Islamic practice is…
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Tooba Khokhar, Cambridge I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils… I still remember encountering this poem for the first time, as many of us will have done, in an age its poet deems “apparelled in…
Voice of British Muslim Women 