As the Gregorian calendar turns to January, we naturally find ourselves looking towards the blank canvas of the year ahead with renewed hope and optimism. There is a collective impulse to “start afresh”, and make intentions that will help us be better versions of ourselves. In a few days the month of Sha‘ban will also […]

Last month, the world of letters marked the passing of Dr. Arfa Syeda Zehra, a Pakistani educationist and champion of the Urdu language.For me, this news was not just a public loss, but a very personal one. Arfa Khala, as she was to me, was an enduring friend to my late mother. Their bond was […]

Stepping off the busy London street and through the welcoming threshold of the UK’s oldest Islamic bookshop, and immediately I can breathe. The hurry and hustle of life, of the city, slip off as easily as my coat when I enter the hushed, comforting atmosphere of this literary sanctuary. For the past forty years, Ta-Ha […]