PinnedTwo Things You Need On A Spiritual JourneyWhat Going On Reality TV And Pilgrimage Taught Me I was a contestant on the 6th season of the reality show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (IACCGMOOH). It’s the show where 10 celebrities (of varying degrees of fame) are dropped into the Australian jungle to face a…Islam5 min readIslam5 min read
PinnedEngland Lost and I’m Furious — With MyselfA need to fit in blurred my vision about the reality of British culture — England lost on penalties Even before my timeline pinged with videos of post-match violence outside Wembley and inside Leicester Square, my first thought this morning was ‘Never again.’ Never again will I let myself drown in the televised fakery of an idealised England. Grabbing my phone, half asleep, I realised what a fool I…England8 min readEngland8 min read
PinnedGreetings are a minefieldFor some people they can mean exile Let me begin with a disclaimer. I don’t shake hands with men. I prefer not to put my palm into theirs, simple as that. I didn’t like the feeling or the awkward situations this innocent-seeming, socially-loaded, gesture brought me before I accepted Islam…Society5 min readSociety5 min read
Mar 13, 2022How You Respond To Snow Says A Lot About YouIstanbul snow in March is an abomination — And some here insist on seeing the plus side. When I was 11. we had monumental snowfall in London. Not the sleety, slushy, usual, stuff. Giant, magic, fluffing down upon our noses snow, landing in metres not inches. …Turkey5 min readTurkey5 min read
Dec 7, 2020Parental Death Doesn’t Have To ‘Trigger’Dealing with illness and loss as the child of an alcoholic — My 83-year-old mum was given a terminal prognosis just eight weeks ago. A lifetime has passed since then. What floored me at the time wasn’t that cancer was ravaging three of her vital organs. Having smoked for more than sixty years, she had already outlived the risks of a toxic…Parenting6 min readParenting6 min read
Oct 13, 2020How A Black, Muslim Comedian Broke Britain’s Got TalentA lesson in how to survive mainstream life Back from Turkey to the UK for family reasons, I find myself engulfed in a passionate prime time contest for the heart of the British nation. Nabil Abdulrashid, is a Londoner, a Muslim of Nigerian heritage. He has been in comedy for more than 10 years. Before the March Lockdown…Britain6 min readBritain6 min read
Sep 14, 2020I am leaving Covid Britain for my spiritual sanityWhy Istanbul may soon outrank London, New York and Paris as your dream relocation — As I felt the front of the plane lift off the runway at Stansted airport, the breathe I hadn’t noticed I was holding released along with the words ‘Yes. Made it!’ Orhan, the young Turkish professor next to me, looked up from his mobile momentarily and raised a plucked eyebrow. …Covid 19 Crisis8 min readCovid 19 Crisis8 min read
