Week 70 - The British Muslim Context
His actions offered us more than advice: Saadadeen & Sulaiman share a thought from their week
Steadfast
Steadfast. Steadfast. Steadfast.
Last year, I asked a wise teacher to define steadfast.
To explain why God emphasises it so much.
Earlier this month, some friends and I discussed. What does it mean to be more steadfast than others?
This week, I watched a man with grey hair, in a white thobe, named Abdul Hakeem, offer voluntary prayers.
His son Yasin sat by his side and watched as closely as I, how each unit of prayer performed by a servant of the Most Wise, can appear like it exists outside of time. How his actions offered us more than advice.
Luqman the Wise.
Yesterday, I listened to a young girl from Gaza talk about life.
And with her words and her eyes - she taught me more than the meaning of steadfast.
She showed me what it sounds like to not have a dead heart.
She showed me what it looks like for gardens of heaven to exist within.
What is possible when you don’t fear death as much as cowardice.
Steadfast. Steadfast. Steadfast.
The rhythm of a believer’s-beating-alive heart.
Until it stops. Until it’s found sound. Until it returns to Allah.
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Did you know that
Boris Johnson’s Great-Grandfather was a hafiz?
I don’t know much else about Ali Kamal, his name was, but watching a documentary about him, that fact stood out to me, ‘Boris Johnson’s Grandfather Was A Hafiz’. It sounds like the title of a book…
Now I dont know if it is a bonafide fact that he was. But, thinking about it reminded me of something.
This week I have, for the first time in a while, been thinking about purpose and how it has sometimes felt mercurial.
More and more I find myself a part of discussions about the future of Muslims in Britain.
What will The British Muslim context be like in 50 years?
What about 100 years? How will your great-grandchildren feel being Muslim in Britain?
If they aren’t in Britain, where will they be? Why?
What do you think is the most important contribution this generation of Muslims in Britain could make to help future generations? Is it building more educational instiutions? Or Media Institutions? Or is it something else entirely?… a multi-pronged approach?
It was Eid yesterday, and I travelled with my family from Al Manar Mosque in Ladbroke Grove then made the short walk over to Makan Cafe my favourite Malaysian spot in Portabello Market, before getting the tube to Shepards Bush to pick up some groceries.
I think of the rich history of all of these places, Portabello Market, Shepards Bush Market, Uxbridge Road, Westbourne Park and, I wonder when the history books are written on Muslims, in Britain, in the 21st century, how those chapters will read.
Dont you?