Fulfilling dreams

"Be fearful at night when you are hopeful (of Allah’s mercy),
and be hopeful (of Allah’s mercy) if you wake up fearful.
So often time has brought hardships,
and with them, mercies (from Allah)."
Ibn ^Asakir

A Juz' a day

The odd weekend away without the kids is a rare treat when you become a parent. Especially when that involves attending a special event like a wedding. Just before dinner was served, a brother from our table was called up to the stage, I couldn’t make out his name but I recall the word 'hafidh' being mentioned. A beautiful recitation from the Holy Qur'an followed. At one point the brother paused to close the mus-haf he was following from, and continued reciting with what can only be described as an intense love and connection with the Honourable words. His eyes were focused on what he had committed to memory, his heart unfolding hours of study, dedication and guidance.

Hunger

"Sometimes things happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal with them." A reasonable enough remark perhaps, but not particularly clever. Surprising then that this rather banal piece of prose from the 2008 novel The Hunger Games has been revealed by bookseller Amazon as the most commonly highlighted passage on the Kindle; some eighteen-thousand or so eager readers saw fit to draw attention to it on the bestselling e-reader.

Investing in the future

Economic down-turn. Financial instability. Depressed markets. It’s all over the place nowadays, with garish, leering headlines and faux-concern on the brows of newsreaders. Like most of us I’ve never really understood the ins-and-outs of economics, but now the stories are thick and fast and so relentless they’d make a seven year-old’s...

Flexing your muscles

A pound every five years. That’s what they said. Five years of inertia sitting on the sofa and I’d likely be a pound of muscle lighter. That’s after the age of twenty-five; beyond fifty and allegedly it’s an even sharper drop. I’m feeling scrawnier by the minute. I suppose it’s...

Wisdom in the woods

As the first warm waft of spring floats through the windows, there’s every reason to believe that the fleeting English summer may be on its way before long. It’s not in my character to be too reflective about the changing seasons, but it’s hard not to become a bit ruminative...

Minding one’s own business

If you’re having problems getting things done in life, it may be because there are things on your radar screen that shouldn’t be there. Simply minding your own business can streamline your life.

It's a version of “de-cluttering” - getting rid of things that are clogging up the works. It's related...

The Muslim consumer

Consumerism is in several ways a feature of many of our lives, that is the need and want to buy certain things which we deem to be either necessary for our daily survival or niceties to have. Whether we realise it or not, society- through ever increasingly clever marketing,...

Life as a Muslim surgeon

The question: how does a busy Muslim surgeon working in the NHS maintain perspective on life values and focus on developing a successful career, while being wary of the trappings of modern secular surroundings? Daily exposure to patients and their families being affected by terminal illness, death and bereavement weighs...

Our Shaykh

On Tuesday 2 Ramadan 1429 (September 2 2008), the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects sadly announced the death of Shaykh ^Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al-Harariyy, the great scholar in Tafsir, Hadith and Fiqh.

Support Us

At our Birmingham centre and in our classes around the country, AICP UK continues its efforts to make a positive contribution to the world we share. In our schools children learn the traditional Islamic sciences alongside important lessons in good citizenship.