Introduction ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those who are mindful of Allah — Quran 2:2 The Qur’an is the unaltered word of Allah and the message of Islam is a timeless guidance to all of mankind. A source…

In a sound hadith we learn from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم :  “من يرد الله به خيرًا يفقه في الدين” “When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him correct understanding of the religion.” — Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) Seeking knowledge is a life long journey of…

“قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم :  “من يرد الله به خيرًا يفقه في الدين” The Messenger of Allah said, “When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the understanding of the Deen.” [Sahih] Recently a friend asked me what he can best do to learn more about the faith in his…

I think for all people, even those brought up with faith, there is a moment where they take their faith into their own hands. Something that makes them want to learn further and convinces them that they want to learn/practice their faith more deeply. With so many places to learn and such a wide breadth…

“Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you.” — Ali Ibn Ali Talib As people living in this world we want to be both successful and pious in this life and the next, balancing our worldly loves with our otherworldly loves. Is it better to be rich and successful…

Du’a takes many forms. Beseeching Allah — relying on Him and trusting in His plan — we ask for guidance and goodness. Looking at the dua of istikhara (seeking goodness) we ask Allah to make us happy and content with his plan; even if at the outset it doesn’t seem like what we desired. We…

Patience ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ “Guide us to the straight path – the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favour, not of those who have earned [Your] anger or of those who are astray.” —Qur’an 1:6-7 The opening chapter of the Qur’an Al-Fatiha, is something…

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِى لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ When My servants ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about Me: I am truly near. I respond to one’s prayer when they call upon Me. So let them respond ˹with obedience˺ to Me and believe in Me, perhaps…

This week marked the beginning of the Islamic New Year, Muharram and soon Ashura, but for those of us who aren’t so familiar what do all these terms mean? Muharram — The New Year & The Sacred Months Muharram is simply the first month of the lunar calendar; marking the start of the new year…

In my previous posts for “Ten Tips for Taqwa in Today’s Times” I explored some apps, techniques and extra litanies we can inculcate into our day — all with the aim of improving our quality of life and drawing closer to Allah. In the final post we look at the most important of all of…

Journalling, gratitude, mindfulness, planning & productivity — all these terms may mean different things to different people. Over the past few years my journalling practice, unknowingly to me at the time, has skimmed the surface on each of these topics. This nightly exercise works as my daily download to decompress and reflect on what has…

“There are no days on which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.” [Sahih] These first ten blessed days of Dhul-Hijjah are coming to a close, with Eid al-Adha fast approaching! Over the last few days many of us will have tried to fast and hopefully increase our worship in some…

Ramadan is celebrated world-wide, people all around the world know it as the month of fasting and taqwa (mindfulness) for Muslims. Dhul-Hijjah on the other hand, another month in the Islamic calendar, is less renowned. But what should we know about the month? What does it hold, and how can we benefit from it? In…

Some thoughts and photos on water. “Indeed, the righteous will be among gardens and rivers” 54:54 There is something about water, the sound, the visuals, the refreshing taste, a warm shower on a cold day, the coolness of a refreshing soak in summer. It stirs the soul. The Qur’an contains an abundance of verses talking…

The Qur’an and Sunnah In last week’s continuation of “ten tips for taqwa” series we looked at practical actions we can do throughout our day to help us be mindful of Allah. “And Allah is the Guarding Friend of the mindful.” —Qur’an 45:19 We aim for taqwa and mindfullness of Allah as something that we…

In part-1 of this series we looked at how a positive mindset can affect our well-being and spiritual condition for the better. We looked at 5 tips for cultivating this mindset: In part-2 we’re looking at specific actions that can help to reinforce that mindset and help us to build mindfulness of Allah. As these…

Long Summer Days – Investing – Writing & Eman Long days As we come to the end of Shawwal a friend reminded me that it would have been better to finish the 6 additional fasts of Shawwal earlier as iftar time is getting later and later. With June 21st, the summer solstice, marking the longest…

Top tips for using an iPad for Studying Modern studies – classical texts The modern student might find they have access to a myriad of textbooks, an entire library at their fingertips in the form of PDFs; but how best to actually utilise all of these resources? The simple solution (as you may have guessed…

Too much money, burning a hole in your current account? Not necessarily a common problem, but if you haven’t already invested it somewhere, how do you make your money work for you? You don’t want it just sitting in a current account or savings account losing value to inflation. An obvious first port of call…

What is Taqwa? Taqwa is our ultimate goal and the path to peace in this life and the next. “For those who were aware of God there is supreme fulfilment” —Qur’an 78:31“And Allah is the Guarding Friend of the mindful.” — Qur’an 45:19 Taqwa encompasses being, mindful, conscious and aware of Allah at all times.…

Today I am writing about writing. David Perell’s “The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online” is a great piece, and I really recommend you read it in full; but it’s also very wordy. I’ve taken the bits that stood out to me and aimed to capture all the salient points here. Hopefully providing a quick version…

“Whoever fasts Ramadan then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is as if he fasted for a lifetime.” — Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏”‏ مَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَهُ سِتًّا مِنْ شَوَّالٍ كَانَ كَصِيَامِ الدَّهْرِ ‏”‏ ‏ As the sun has set on Ramadan we’ve moved…

In the UK lockdown guidance has changed constantly over time including moving to a system with different tiers throughout the country. This makes sense in a large country, rural areas would have a much different social and economic landscape to large cities. However many people were happy to move between the different tiers moving from…

Post-Ramadan Blues and fighting negative self-talk. As Ramadan comes to a close it’s a bittersweet feeling as always. On the one hand life returns to normal, we can eat during the day and with lockdown restrictions easing we can start seeing our friends and family more regularly too. On the flip side, things are returning…

Ramadan 2021/1442AH – Juz 30 – Rizq “For those who were aware of God there is supreme fulfilment” —78:31 Some theologians posited that in addition to being physical places, heaven and hell are also metaphors for spiritual and emotional states of wellbeing that we attain in this life. By chasing lower desires we drag ourselves…

Ramadan 2021/1442AH – Juz 29 – Rizq “We have tried them as We tried the owners of a certain garden, who swore that they would harvest its fruits in the morning and made no allowance [for the Will of God]: a disaster from your Lord struck the garden as they slept and by morning it…

Ramadan 2021 / 1442 AH – Juz 28 – Beautiful names “He is God: there is no god other than Him, the Controller, the Holy One, Source of Peace, Granter of Security, Guardian over all, the Almighty, the Compeller, the Truly Great; God is far above anything they consider to be His partner. He is…

Ramadan 2021 / 1442 – Juz 27 – The Qur’an “We have made it easy to learn lessons from the Qur’an will anyone take heed?”—54:32 It’s easy to open up the Qur’an and page through to find something that resonates with us. Some advice when we’re stuck, some reassurance when we’re feeling down, some words…

Ramadan 2021/1442AH — Juz 26 — Parents “We have commanded man to be good to his parents—his mother struggled to carry him and struggled to give birth to him; his bearing and weaning took a full thirty months—and when he has grown to manhood and reached the age of forty to say, “Lord, help me…

Ramadan 2021 / 1442AH – Juz 25 – Celebration “Whenever We are gracious to man, he goes away haughtily, but, as soon as harm touches him, he turns to prolonged prayer.” 41:51 Ramadan has been a month of fasting, abstinence from food, drink and bad deeds throughout the day. Breaking our fast with dates, water…

Ramadan 2021/1442AH – Juz 24 – Gratitude Mindset “We have sent the Scripture down to you with the Truth for people. Whoever follows the guidance does so for his own benefit; whoever strays away from it does so at his own peril.” — Qur’an 39:41 Guidance is only for our own benefit. It provides us…

Ramadan 2021/1442AH – Juz 23 “There is a sign for them in the lifeless earth: We give it life and We produce grain from it for them to eat; We have put gardens of date palms and grapes in the earth, and We have made springs of water gush out of it so that they…