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 day is [...]

When life gets in the way I find I have no time to sit and look at the simple things. Look at the patterns on the prayer mat, so intricately intertwined, after praying; the shadows cast over the garden by the trees, a temporary mark on the face of the world; the look of [...]

Remember Little Jimmy and his comma?  Well, he’s back and this time it’s personal!
As it happens, teachers have fewer rights than I once thought.  It seems that Little Jimmy, not content with questioning the marking of his poorly punctuated piece of prose (and I use the term “prose” loosely) has taken it upon himself [...]

So we had a residential at work this weekend.  The main objective I guess was to complete a lot of work with the new head of department – now known as the CDL (don’t ask what the acronym stands for!  “Ciddle”?)  So the Ciddle, the rest of the English department and I set off for [...]

I guess despite being as “English” as my friends consider me, I still DO see the irony of a ladies only swimming session with MALE lifeguards.Â�
Apparantly, wanting a ladies only session is actually sexual discrimination as it excludes members of the opposite gender.  I would argue it doesn’t under the present circumtances as the local [...]

So to keep you updated; I went, I applied, I conquered.�
 In the same shcool I might add.  Possibly the only way I could get a teaching job in the North East of England is a strange case of nepotism.  Having taught for a year in a school rife with its own problems, I was deemed [...]

So you like to believe there is no such thing as institutionalised racism?  Or even a subtle form of discrimination?
So would I.  In fact, I often defended schools are wholly inclusive institutions, against charges of racism levelled by my brother-in-law - the family Maths teacher.
That was until I applied myself.  Alhamdullilah I have nearly completed [...]

They say revenge is a dish best served cold.  Taken from a French novel, the proverb seems to warn against micro-waving one’s dish before serving; very much like heating tinned sardines, when warmed, revenge begins to stink, the sickly taste exacerbated by the guilt felt upon tasting the fishy feast.
Thus, to remove the cold [...]

In the company of “adults” I always wonder where I belong.Â�
Let me explain.  At a gathering to celebrate a child’s finishing the Qur’aan from start to finish, there were a number of different groups I could have joined.
There was the children’s group, or “bacha party”, as we say in Urdu; obviously this would have been a [...]