The Mighty Conversion/Reversion Experience

Today I was invited by a good friend of mine to witness and take part in a non-Muslim woman “converting/reverting” (whatever the currently fashionable and acceptable term might be) to Islam.  Despite the scariness of the term, it does not involve any surgery, ritual circumcisions and kissing the sacred chicken’s bottom – although it would [...]

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Reflective Essay: How Do I Write?

All writers are asked this question at least once during their careers, and those of us who make no secret of the fact that we would love to be in their position, feel the need to explain to ourselves why we undertake creative tasks.  Most creative writing books I own encourage this form of blatant [...]

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GCSE Poetry LIVE!

Word of the day: Qualitative.
We’re sitting in the middle, sandwiched between the two main places of unrest.  A no-man’s land of Poetry Live!  And like all good soldiers, we ventured forth into battle, straining to see, to hear through the mists of foggy clouds of noxious gases and crisp packets. 
Armed with booklets and anthologies, we [...]

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On reading Qur’aan after some time…

Belated shock at the number of references to punishment and Hell-fire overtook any initial pleasure, threatening to invade and engulf the tranquillity gained through the logical grammatical constructions of the Holy Qur’aan.  The words curling upwards, forever upwards, pointing to a Heaven unseen.
Flick.  Flick.  Flick.  Mercy.  Fornicators.  Punishment.  Paradise.  Hell-fire.  Forgiveness.  Torment.  Repent.  The [...]

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The Traditonal Way

That is the way of the Muslim woman.  The way that we are all expected to follow; similar to the inevitable life cycle of a plant, the natural order of the universe.  The way the planets are aligned around the sun, orbiting the golden orb endlessly, suspended perpetually in limbo, inevitably turning, turning.  It’s natural.
 
Thus, [...]

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Eternally An Amateur

Ten years
That’s how long it will take you to be a good teacher.
At least that’s what they claim.  They have this obsessive idea that one cannot be good at one’s job until one has grey hair, unsightly wrinkles and have put sufficient number of hours in.  They of course speak about the hoards of teachers [...]

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In School, Silence is a Virtue…

Staff turnover in schools.  A major issue for schools across the country. 
 
Many teachers claim poor behaviour is the cause of their leaving the teaching profession; others speak of rowdy classrooms, violence against teachers, intimidating Year 11 boys, charged with testosterone and looking for a fight.  Sometimes teachers leave the profession over workload, stress and [...]

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Being “Foreign”, Yet A Very “English” teacher…

So, you’re a teacher?
 
 
I never get tired of the questions about teaching; my favourite ones come from my students. When I first started at my current school over a year ago, students went through mixed emotions about being taught English by someone who appeared “foreign.”
 
Firstly, the immediate denial: “No way are you an English teacher [...]

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Chocolate Muffins and A Womanly Pursuit

Work.  Otherwise known as school.  
“What?  You’re still at school?” the auntie-types ask when they meet me.  
“I’m a teacher.” 
Nodding their heads in approval they murmur, “Nice, nice; great profession for a woman,” they applaud, patting me absent-mindedly on the arm as they silently muse over who would be a suitable spouse for me; would Jamila’s son [...]

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Muslims do it Five Times a Day…

 

Haven’t you heard? Muslims do it five times a day. Or at least we’re supposed to.

But how do they find time? Well, many drop everything and get down right there where they’re standing; others prefer to wait until the opportunity arises, after all, they’re at work for goodness sake. For a few, it’s easy, the [...]

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