It was in the winter of 1967 when a young, bespectacled boy named Steven Shepherd left his home and walked in heavy rain to strawberry fields in Newburgh, Lancashire. The fields were important to Steven. Some months prior, Steven had an ...
Read More »Why I am against grammar schools
Meritocratic Society or Politics in Play? On the 12th of September 2016, PM Theresa May unveiled plans to lift the near 20-year ban introduced by Labour in 1998 against opening new grammar schools. Plans not initially present in the 2015 ...
Read More »The Playboy Hijab
Playboy: /ˈplāˌboi/ noun noun: playboy; plural noun: playboys A wealthy man who spends his time enjoying himself, especially one who behaves irresponsibly or is sexually promiscuous. Playboy Magazine: Founded by Hugh Hefner, Chicago 1953. Known primarily for its centerfolds of ...
Read More »Are Refugees More Welcome in Churches than Mosques?
Refugees welcome here! The Guardian newspaper recently ran a story about the Reverend Sally Smith,[i] a vicar from Stoke-on-Trent, hailing her as a present-day Good Samaritan. The vicar is indeed worthy of such praise as she has wholeheartedly welcomed refugees ...
Read More »Rise Above Your Fear
Hands up if you feel like the world is about to end at any minute. Worry not, you are probably not alone. The times we live in are chaotic and the world around us seems to get darker every day. ...
Read More »Five Rules For Beating Procrastination
Procrastination is the result of a “domino effect”. Imagine you wish to build a house. However, you constantly wonder what colour curtains you’ll place over the windows. You start debating with yourself about every prospective problem and every prospective failure: ...
Read More »Finding our ‘tribe’ in a modern world
Finding our tribe in a modern world: Questions on belonging Growing up in London, I felt fairly proud that I knew the neighbour to our right. To this day though, I don’t know the name of the Italian chap to ...
Read More »Getting a hold on obesity
ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) once met a man with a protruding stomach. When he questioned about it he answered that it was a blessing from Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā). ʿUmar (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) corrected him by saying that ...
Read More »Unisex Toilets in Schools – The New LGBT Battleground?
The humble toilet; a place of privacy, a place of personal grooming, and a place to relieve yourself. Well, not for many schools inspired by the LGBT movement. A number of schools that have undergone new build programmes or are ...
Read More »Hillsborough – a story of carnage, cover ups and corruption
Few would have anticipated that a sunny Saturday afternoon in Sheffield in 1989 would have ended in English football’s greatest ever disaster. On the 15 April, thousands of Liverpool fans marched towards the Leppings Lane End of the Hillsborough stadium ...
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