When I signed up for the Crazy Cycle with Families Relief I knew it would be an event to remember, and thanks to all of you I was able to raise over £2200 towards the orphanage! Don’t believe that we did it? Check out the full gallery here!

If you have pledged money towards the cause, or are yet to sponsor, the justgiving page will be online for a few more weeks so please do get me to my fifth and final target of £2500! J http://justgiving.com/usayd/

And once again thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement – financial and otherwise!

Haven’t written on here for ages. Why? Because I’ve been training for my 60 mile cycle from London to Oxford! Why? Because I want to do what I can to help orphans in Bangladesh!

Okay, well theoretically that’s true. I think I’ve done my psychological training than physical, but hey, I’m doing the cycle next Sunday so wish me luck! Actually, wait, there was something else I wanted to ask for…Oh yea, please sponsor me too!

Sabr, the Islamic term translated commonly as ‘Patience’ is used numerous times in the Qur’an and Hadith. As with other words used in these texts, the meaning has far more depth than the simple closest translation.

This week I learnt about a saying of the second Khalif, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (RA) on sabr. He described it as two*:

- The lesser sabr. This is where one is faced with difficulty, and they are patient. For example, the loss of something dear to you requires patience for you to get through that difficulty.
- The greater sabr. This is where you are being enticed by Shaitan, by your desires and you control yourself. For example the temptation to go out and do something you shouldn’t, but preventing yourself.

This really struck me. I have always thought about the first kind of patience, where you are landed in a situation and you are tested with how you deal with it. Do you throw a punch or do you walk away. Do you put up with the test or do you give up.

But the greater test, as Umar (RA) so rightly said, is the inner test of endurance. That battle between you and your desires. See this test is more difficult to say no to, its that rush of following your heart over your mind, of following your temptations over what you know is right. When your friends are telling you one thing but your conscience another. And I know I fail that test every day.

One of the definitions for being steadfast is ‘an unwavering faith’, that you don’t compromise in what you believe. If I know I should do something, do I do it. And perhaps even harder, if I know I shouldn’t do something, do I do it anyway.

I recently said to someone; “You have to be strong to be patient, You have to be patient to be strong.” Easier said than done, but rest assured, as God says in the Qur’an on numerous occasions; Indeed He is with those who are patient. What more can I ask for?

* I’ll try and find an accurate reference for this, at the moment I’ve just paraphrased off my notes from the circle.

I did this for a show called ‘Pause for Thought’ on BBC Radio 2. It aired around Tuesday 25th March 08.

Transcript:

Ticking away with the day… Sometimes I sit at the computer for hours, I’m sure everyone does it. Just browsing the many websites out there, perhaps see what the latest is on my favourite forums. Then all of a sudden you glance at the clock and think…wow. What did I do with all that time?!

They say time is money so it makes sense that people say ‘stop wasting your time’. The difference is whilst money can be replenished once it has been spent, time can’t. As a Muslim the most precious thing to me is my time. As God says in the Qur’an: “By Time, Indeed mankind is at loss – except those who have faith and do righteous deeds…”

They say ‘life is a series of serious choices’. I often think about my 6th form education – why am I really at school? And can a few exams and essays really determine my future?

I’m at that stage in life where I have to make ‘life changing decisions’. Choosing to go away from home for University was difficult. My parents want me to stay and I want to go. I find myself torn between the wishes of my parents and my own desires. Prioritising things in life seems to have become something of an issue, as maturity sets in you begin to realise not everything is about ‘you’.

Testing times have always made me think and reflect on life. I always end up laughing at my situation when comparing it to the difficulties that so many other young people are going through in the world, whether it be fighting to stay alive another night or being killed in their classroom.

Being a young Muslim is pretty difficult in the current climate. My peers at school might joke about ‘blowing things up’ or the current one is ‘how are your plans to take over the world’. Although these are just young guys joking, I find it hard to comprehend how anyone could see faith as something violent. To me it has always been about seeking peace – both inner and outer. The word Islam is derived from the word salaam which means peace. Surely any human who desires to bring peace would want to alleviate the suffering in the world, not add to it.

Looking to the future always gives me hope. I always have something to work towards. But I mustn’t forget that my future is only what I work for today.

We think we are supreme, we think we own this small planet and yet the truth is we are so weak. You can laugh at me for admitting to the fact that I get pretty quezy with blood, or you can see the point i’m trying to make. When something happens all of a sudden we go from the strongest most ‘self-reliant’ beings to these hopeless people crying out for protection.

This may mean nothing to you, often it takes an accident, illness or just being a witness to something before you find faith you never even realised was there. I don’t need a philosophical argument or a mountain of evidence to see that I am nothing without He who created me. Instead though, our recovery is our cue to forget.

As God says in the Qur’an (S96 A6-8)

No! Verily, man does transgress all bounds.

Because he considers himself self-sufficient.

Surely! Unto your Lord is the return.

Yep, cutting my finger triggered that.

My Rating: 5/5

Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim’s Journey to Guantanamo and Back

Review

When I was in Year 10 in January 2005 I did a presentation to my English class on the indefinite detention of potentially innocent human beings in Gunatanamo Bay. Handing out some of the few pictures actually available from the media and articles describing the horrific events that took place in Guantanamo to the class showed some interest, in particular a cutting from a newspaper highlighting the release of 4 Britons, one of whom I have come to know as Moazzam Begg.

Almost two years later, at ExpoIslamia in Manchester I saw a book which immediately struck me as something of interest. I found it difficult to relate from my initial studies into the crimes in Guantanamo to this book, something that you will only really understand when you read it. The personality enclosed in a book is so much more powerful then any article you could read in the newspaper or any piece on the TV news, and this book does not differ.

I guess a question that could easily be asked is what is there to gain from reading this book? Honestly I think you will gain from reading anything, the amount of knowledge to be gained from books is immense, unfortunately something I know I haven’t really been taking advantage of recently.

The thing about this book is that even though it is completely factual, it portrays the story as something which makes you attached to Moazzam’s ‘journey’. You ultimately feel weak and helpless sat there in your warm sofa reading about someone no different to yourself being taken from his home in Pakistan into 3 years of illegal detention. He is British and lived but an hour away from me. The only real difference was his choice to help his Muslim brothers suffering in other countries, something which we all strive to do.

The journey takes you from England to Bosnia, Pakistan to Afghanistan, Bagram to Cuba and finally back to England. A mixture of emotions run through you as you read about the terrors, the praying, the lack of food, the torture – psychological and physical, the excitement of small acts of kindness. If you don’t cry at least once when reading this book you have a heart of stone or just really didn’t read it.
Ensnared within this steel quagmire,
Our view holds little to admire,
So to the darkness we retire,
Amidst the chime of the razor wire.
I opened the file I kept with the research I did on Guantanamo in year 10 and suddenly I could put a real picture to the faces of the people talked about in the articles. I could put a real image to the few pictures of the camps in Guantanamo. It’s funny how you think you’re well educated on the problems of the world until you really learn just how deep it goes. The example of Moazzam’s father becoming active in campaigning for his son’s release really touched me:

“Old feuds between my father and his siblings had stopped, and they had come together. People who hadn’t spoken to one another for years had turned up to my fathers house and offered him their complete support. I had come home to a united family”

Astonished that out of so much evil has come some good. There are so many things to say about this book, but really – just read it. You will truly see what a mess we are in today, what our governments are doing beyond the laws, how people just like us are suffering for no apparent reason. “You do NOT have the RIGHT to remain silent.” (used by Amnesty protestors against Guantanamo).

Perhaps it is time to starting making a difference.

Well, the summer’s finished. I can’t believe that my 2 month and 20 day holiday finished so quickly! I wrote about how chuffed I was about finishing and probably more importantly my plans for the longest holiday you get in your school life.

Well, let’s analyze my list:

1. Get a job?

   Yes, I got a job. I got the job right at the beginning of the holiday as a customer service agent at Sky, or at least that’s what they told me. Turns out the company I was working for were a bunch of liars and it was actually a sales position. Still it was okay as it was inbound (people calling in) sales. Along with that, I may have gotten the job at the beginning of the summer, but I wasn’t actually allowed to start till the end of July which would’ve been quite annoying had I not planned my summer as well as it turned out.

2. Work on Usayd Network

   I guess I kinda let myself down on this point, the summer just flashed by without me having the chance to do any real website development, partly because I was busy and partly because I couldn’t be bothered. Either way, not much has been done.

3. Expand Projects

   A bit vague, but we do have plans for different projects and I myself have taken on some responsibilities in external projects independent of the Usayd Network, so in that view I have at least initiated something in this field. Definitely more to come on this side of things.

4. Islamic Work

   Alhamdullilah (praise to God) we had quite a successful summer in concern to the YM work planned. The major activities were the two camps, the YM coreworkers camp and the north west camp. I took part in attending the coreworkers camp and in organising the north west one. Both were successful and many lessons have been learnt for future events. Self development is a continual process and more can always be done in that field, you always end up regretting not having spent your free time doing something more productive like reading etc.

5. Revolutionise Humanity

   This was a joke title but there is some essence to it, really the point is that perhaps people need to start looking upon things in a slightly different light. When you spend time with different people (like at work) you find that there is a huge lack of knowledge towards things that are making such a big difference to people’s lives, e.g. the whole islamophobia phase that the west is going through.

6. Chill

   Yeah, I had a good holiday. Unfortunately I’m back at 6th form doing my AS levels now and that word ‘chill’ has just gone out the window. Time for some hard work…(Maths!!!! )

Other things – Well I did okay in my GCSE’s, 2A* 6A 2B, don’t care about those any more. Erm…just got back from a ISB/YM cw camp which was good too. Integration seems to have been this weekends ‘buzz word’. It was interesting…A.S. I’ve chosen Computing, Government & Politics, Maths and Design Technology (Resistant Materials) with the intention of doing something in the field of Computer Science at University. Oh and I got a Sony Errickson W810i, its great

Time to write some politics notes, laters.

“Islamic boy bands like 786 and Mecca 2 Medina are also the subject of the sort of female adulation you expect to see on American Pop Idol or the X-Factor. Surely Islamic events should be promoting restrained and more sedate behavior…”

I got the track sent to me by email and I’ve uploaded it to YSE for those who are interested in downloading it get it here.

Iraq is being struck by suicide bombers in densely populated civilian areas. The media, or more importantly the people carrying out this war (America), of course, made it appear that it is a civil conflict where Iraqi’s (probably toss the words Islamist Extremist Terrorist in there to excite the public) are just killing other Iraqi’s, and the occupying forces (US&UK) are there to help prevent this civil unrest and liberate (do people still fall for that ?) the Iraqi people. Frankly I didn’t believe for a minute that Iraqi’s were killing other Iraqi’s. I know that Iraqi’s are killing more soldiers in Iraq then perhaps we know about, but let’s see what is actually happening in the world of ‘mass suicide’.

Article: Robert Fisk
Source: ICH

The Americans, my interlocutor suspected, are trying to provoke an Iraqi civil war so that Sunni Muslim insurgents spend their energies killing their Shia co-religionists rather than soldiers of the Western occupation forces. “I swear to you that we have very good information,” my source says, finger stabbing the air in front of him. “One young Iraqi man told us that he was trained by the Americans as a policeman in Baghdad and he spent 70 per cent of his time learning to drive and 30 per cent in weapons training. They said to him: ‘Come back in a week.’ When he went back, they gave him a mobile phone and told him to drive into a crowded area near a mosque and phone them. He waited in the car but couldn’t get the right mobile signal. So he got out of the car to where he received a better signal. Then his car blew up.”

Surprised? I’m certainly not. Funny how this story isn’t much of a revelation to me, at all. Why? The minute the war bells chimed I knew this wasn’t going to be a just war. In fact, can you even call it a war? Surely war’s have to have two sides to them? Surely there has to be an enemy to engage? We marched in the streets of London with 1 million others to tell the world that this wasn’t going to be a just war – this wasn’t going to be ‘just a war’.

And if you’re surprised, this is barely scraping the surface.