My Personal Struggle

Islam for me is a beautiful religion and way of life and one of the strongest values that I draw from Islam is compassion. This value is what inspires me the most and I take this value with me in all that I do.

I work to alleviate poverty and Islam is what inspires me to do this. Allah says in the Quran in Chapter 5 verse 32, ‘He who saves a single life, it is as if he has saved all of mankind.’ This is a very important verse for me in that God is telling us in all His wisdom the value of saving a single life and that is not a Muslim life but A LIFE regardless of race, gender or religion. To save the life of a Christian, Jew, Hindu or Sikh is just as important as saving a Muslim life.

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The Great British Ramadan

Yumm

One of the greatest achievements that Islam has had is the ability to adapt to and co-exist in communities that traditionally are not Islamic. The early companions of the Prophet (saw) never imposed a new culture into a community but would bring in the beautiful aspects of Islam and live alongside the cultures they found. Now we are not talking about things that compromise the commandments of the Almighty but about becoming active members of the community we live in, showing that Islam is a way of life that is not difficult or a burden on people but beautiful and flourishing.

The same is true today – we are young British Muslims who have an identity of being British and yet hold dearly our beliefs – nothing can show this more so then the blessed month of Ramadan. As the moon is sighted to signify the beginning of Ramadan, our attitudes change and we make more of an effort to concentrate on our spirituality while continuing to get on with our normal British lives; we must go to work and yet we must try and get the most and best out of this month and we can do this like the companions who migrated to cities far from their original homes.
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Why I Love Being British

Union Jack

It’s the new age question that is all over the media these days – are we British Muslims or Muslims living in Britain? For me the question is completely irrelevant.

Why should we separate the two? Isn’t splitting the nation into Muslims and Non-Muslims more destructive to society? Who cares if I say I am a Muslim first and a Brit second? I wake up every day swearing that Allah is the one true God and Islam is my faith based on the final messenger Muhammad SAW and throughout my day I read about local and national issues, I support my local MP, I help lobby parliament on issues that are important to me. For example right now I’m writing to Prime Minister Gordon Brown to confirm his attendance as he is yet to do for the Copenhagen conference this December where world leaders will discuss the important issues of climate change and how it is affecting the world we live in. All of this in between my job, my prayers and whatever else I can fit in between.

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