islam

A Special Note to a Loved One

Original Writing

It’s my (not so little) cousin’s 14th birthday today!

He’s the closest thing I’ll ever have to a sibling and I’m beyond proud of how far he’s come in life. We’ve had so many obstacles thrown our way over the past few years and he’s overcoming every single one like the miracle he is.

I never knew it was possible to love someone as much as I love him. From helping change his nappies when he was a baby, to teaching him how to read and write, I’m always going to be grateful to God for giving me such a precious gift. There are times in life when God challenges us, but He only does so in order for us to realise and embrace our true potential.

Everything I do, I do for you, pal. One day you’ll see that.  Alhamdulillah, thank you for blessing my life.

“…And If you would count the blessings of Allah you would not be able to count them…” [Surah Ibrahim 14:34]

Anisah x

Racism: in 2015, in Life, in General

Current Affairs

It’s sad to even contemplate that racism is still rife, and I’m noticing it now more than ever.

Living in the countryside, I understood the compromise I was going to have to make everyday; 90% of the citizens in my town are over the age of 40 and definitely not accustomed to seeing brown faces, let’s say. The pushing past me on the roads, pushing in front of me on public transport and the weird looks every single day is something I’ve just had to ignore if I wanted a peaceful life. To a variable extent, I have ignored it and made the most of my wonderful new home and the great views on my doorstep. Every now and then I’ll get a little sassy if someone is explicitly racist but so far, I haven’t had a showdown.

Recently, and interestingly more so after the Paris Attacks of 2015, racism has suddenly escalated to a frighteningly all time high; threats of violence, Trump’s Nazi-like approach to Muslims living in the USA, attacks on the Muslim community etc are never front page news but viral on the internet with people doing nothing about it other than re-posting and sharing the articles. We’re treated like third class citizens primarily due to the ideologies of less than 1% of the Muslim population, because a large majority of ignorant people in the world choose pick what they believe to be true rather than looking at facts and statistics. In other words, they’re blinded by their own racist views to even contemplate the possibility that, hey would you look at that, maybe every single brown person on this planet isn’t a terrorist.

The most frustrating aspect of this is how much I’ve noticed these discriminatory attitudes and been a victim of them at work. I thought working in London would be a walk in the park, with cultural and educated people coming into the store each day but annoyingly, it’s quite the opposite. Customers literally throw clothes at me if they don’t want or need them, even someone I work with racially insulted me and my grandparents, simply because of my skin colour, claiming we’re “stealing all [their] jobs.” It appalls me that these attitudes still exist and are something Muslims must grow accustomed to. No matter how much I have accomplished and achieved in my 19 years on this planet, one look at my skin colour has me judged as inferior to an ignorant and uneducated citizen.

I think it’s high time Muslims, and other ethnic minorities targeted by racism, should stand their ground against discrimination. There’s no excuse for it, and there never was; it was blindly ignored as no one wanted to be the minority standing up against the majority.

This is our country as much as yours. Yes, some of us are not the same colour as you. Yes, some of us are more educated and successful than you.

Get over it.

A x

Paris Attacks: November 2015

Current Affairs

I am once again utterly appalled and disgusted at the tragedy which unfolded in Paris on Friday 13th November.

It’s incomprehensible how humans can kill innocent men, women and children in cold-blooded murder and not flinch. It’s also disgusting to hear reports that one of the attackers cried “Allahu Akbar” before shooting into a crowd of hostages in the Bataclan Concert Hall. Praising God before committing murder is inhumane and delusional to the highest degree; it goes against every principle Islam, and Muslims, stand for. Allah will not reward these terrorists and suicide bombers with paradise in the after life. They will be condemned and punished for unspeakable crimes against humanity.

The harrowing concept of terrorism is ever-increasing in today’s society, an atrocious fact leading to ignorance and fear which, when mixed together, leads to violence such as what we saw unfold on Friday. It’s imperative we understand now that these members of the Islamic State do NOT represent the entire population of Muslims and Islamic values/teachings. As we’ve witnessed a rise in terrorism and racial attacks, we’ve also witnessed a rise in racism and racial ignorance.

I’m a Muslim. I am not a terrorist. In fact, I am avid campaigner for racial equality amongst other humanitarian concerns. My close friend wears a hijab, and she finds herself repeatedly defending our religion for the growing number of imbeciles who associate terrorism with the entire Muslim population. Unfortunately, ignorance has a louder voice than the truth; we need to stop this and stand united against terror, not fragmented by uneducated assumptions.

It’s promising that France are re-evaluating their security systems. It’s been reported that a Syrian passport was found near one of the attackers, allowing one to believe members of the IS attackers were immigrants hiding under the facade of refugees coming into Europe. What a disgusting, cowardice act. The world stands united against the attacks in Paris on Friday. We must remain united in the face of terror from hereon out. We simply cannot ignore terror rising around the world, in Serbia, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India etc.

IS: if you want to kill anyone, kill yourselves and leave it at that.

We continue to stand united against terror, and will continue to do so until the end of terror has been reached.

#PrayforParis #ParisAttacks #Paris2015 #WaronTerror

The Lynching of Farkhunda; The Lynching of Women

Current Affairs

They portrayed her as a woman who suffered from mental illness, and was mentally unstable when all she was doing was standing up against lies being told in the name of religion. She was the voice of truth, of reason, and her voice was suppressed by men who believed their voices were louder, more important and should be listened to instead of hers.

I find it strange and slightly shocking that Farkhunda’s killers did not once question the mullah’s claims of the victim burning the Qur’an; they jumped to attack a woman, innocently defying a man who was selling lies to vulnerable women. I think the real issue here is the fundamental flaw in the Middle Eastern society; the male attitude towards women. Women have always been perceived as inferior in society; in many, they still do.

However, I believe that the despicable attitude towards women in countries such as Afghanistan is predominately due to the cultural conditioning men are exposed to. They know no other way of treating women, this is the attitude they have adopted from their fathers, brothers, grandfathers and uncles. Not all men have this attitude, but the society
cannot move forward unless there is a reformation of this culture.
Afghanistan has suffered at the hands of violence for years, could it be that these men who killed Farkhunda are a product of the violence in which they have been raised – because they know nothing else? Can we find it in ourselves to forgive them because it’s not really their fault?
I think not.
I think it takes a great lack of human nature in order to punch, kick, stand on and jump on a young woman until her face is unrecognisable, only to then SET FIRE to her body at a riverside. I don’t believe for one second that these men have a conscience or humanity.

An educated woman was condemned to death by a group of men who believed the lies of a man who could not bear to be
defied, confronted for manipulating young women. The fact that an official investigator claimed there was no evidence for the mullah’s claims of Farkhunda burning the Qur’an (BBC News, 24th March) reinforces the male perception of women. The mullah, along with the barbaric murders, took it upon themselves to take away a life. The heavy irony of this situation is that Farkhunda was accused of blasphemy, and in the name of Islam, the men killed her. An act of murder is a sin in the Qur’an;

Whoever slays a soul, unless it be for a manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all men;
and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men.(Surah al-Mā’ida 5:32)

Farkhunda was murdered for speaking out.
Her voice was silenced through horrific violence.
A mob of men killed her and showed no mercy or remorse.
It’s time to reform the outdated culture in the Middle East and Asia.
Women should not have to be killed for us to realise that it is time for change.

#JusticeForFarkhunda
#Kabul
#JusticeForWomen

Paris Shootings 2015

Current Affairs

#jesuischarlie

As a Muslim, I am outraged at the attacks that took place in France. There is no justification for murdering innocent men and women, especially not in the name of religion. The intention of these terrorists is to evoke fear and panic, however, they achieved quite the opposite; people across the world publicly united in their condemnation against fanatical extremists. Of course, I do not approve of their blasphemous cartoon: portraying the Prophet as gay is controversially distressing, not to mention disrespectful. Nonetheless, to retaliate against a cartoon from years ago with murdering the cartoonists and other innocent men and women is disgusting and disgraceful.

We will not be isolated in our condemnation of terrorism. We will stand together, united, in our disgust of extremists committing murder on a daily basis. Killing innocent people will achieve nothing other than increased anger. We have had enough, and we will stand against you until you fall.