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Hijacked Agenda
At some point in our history, Islam was hijacked by well-meaning community leaders and turned into a religion of fear and compliance, rather than the balanced lifestyle that it actually propagates. It’s that eternal struggle for balance that was probably lost when people veered from the practices of moderation and sincerity because of a fundamental…
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Trinkets of Distraction
As I walked through the ‘sacred relics’ chamber of the Topkapi Palace, I was mesmerised by the melodious recitation of the Qur’an. At first I thought it was a recording because of the consistency of the tone and pitch of the recitation, until I walked past the booth where the reciter set and continued reciting…
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The Purpose of Life
When seeking purpose it is almost inevitable that the search will at some point prompt us to confront our most personally held beliefs about religion, spirituality, and faith. Strange though that many times this is equated with purpose despite most people not tying that self-proclaimed purpose to the manner in which they wade through life.…
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Simply Complicated
A regular debate that I find myself caught up in is that of the views of interpreted Islam versus what I naively would like to believe is the simple and straight forward way of practicing Islam. I’ve always argued that the views of the scholars, especially the big four, were taken to the extremes by…
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Islam versus Democracy
I’ve seen a number of people suggest that the current state of affairs in Egypt is proof that Islam doesn’t work. I disagree. In fact if anything, it proves that democracy doesn’t work. Then when there is an illegal coup that suits the ones with the physical might over the populace, it’s framed as the…
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When Prayer Becomes Worship
Quite inadvertently I realised this week that we only apply our minds and our hearts to those things from which we hope to acquire good. At first I thought it was just another superfluous thought, but it seemed to resonate in most things I did that day, especially prayer. Being a Muslim, there is never…
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Still The Distracted Ummah
The sad reality of this Ummah is that it is prone to being divisive while crying for unity. We find it so simple to speak disparagingly about the personal perspectives that some adopt, and choose to openly mock them in their absence, thinking that not mentioning names is sufficient to free us of the hypocrisy…
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Reflections on Islam as we know it
The more I learn and experience and the more I witness with my own eyes, the more I realise that Islam is not nearly as monolithic as many would like to believe it is. Far too often I come across many sahih ahadith (authentic narrations) that are seldom quoted when I see the raging debates…
