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December 22, 2025

Fun, Love, Money.. Or is there more to life?

By Nadeem Ashraf NOTE: This article was based upon a few lectures that I gave at some schools in Faisalabad, including LGS, City School & Educare Academy. The article has purposefully been published in a lecture format so as to be of use to other brothers and sisters that would like to deliver a lecture at a school based upon this. I’m not a preacher. Not a scholar. Not an imam, just your everyday guy. Just another Muslim struggling through this life to achieve the pleasure of our Creator. I am an English language teacher by profession. Born and raised in England, I emigrated to Pakistan in 2011, to live amongst the Muslims (this is the point where people raise eyebrows – crazy eh?). Yes: to those who view the world from a worldly point of view, this choice would be perceived as crazy. However, those with real vision, those with the vision of getting past the hurdles of the Hereafter, would sympathize with this move. I was at one point someone who used to look up to British hooliganism – I was a slave to my desires. I wanted to become a gangster! I used my intelligence for my own selfish, evil needs. But Alhamdolillah, I was guided to the truth. I have since been involved in multiple projects aimed at changing society for the better, and have been with all sorts of organizations that want to make the world a better place. I have had the immense
Yasha Fatima
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December 22, 2025

Dial G for Gossip

“There’s a kind of silence that’s peaceful. And a kind that’s deafening.” –Yasmin Mogahed There’s also a third silence; the kind that is necessary. Here is what happens when you have scandalous news and updates but you are morally bound to keep mum. Only because you know deep down- no- you know anyway that blathering is not the right course of action. Staying silent at the right time can be your strongest asset. Especially when your internal monologue is shooting hyperboles. A transcript at your disposal- of a fleeting moment of conflicting thoughts in my head. *A thumb on the call button* She has a right to know, you know? A right? Really? It was character assassination. HER character slain. She should know what transpired amongst some people. But what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her. There could be some truth in it. And it concerns her. You mean a slanderer’s version of truth? You can’t possibly keep this to yourself forever. I’ll conveniently forget about it. What does your gut say? If instincts say tell her, then do tell her. A woman’s natural instinct is to talk it out. Always. Then talk it out. I repeat, talk it out. *Static* Brain says it’s useless tale-carrying. Copy? Tune out the brain. There’s nothing like bonding over mutual enemies and throwing dirt at them with a bestie. What good would that bring though? It will only make her miserable. She gets to know you have her back. And she would
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December 22, 2025

8 Myths About My Hijab

By Umm Ibrahim I’ve been wearing the hijab for almost 8 years now. There’s no complex rocket science behind it. It’s just that I firmly believe that it is a commandment from Allah. Here are just some of the ideas I’ve heard people expressing about my hijab, explicitly or implicitly, over the years. Without further ado, here come the myth-busters: 1- You have a superiority complex. You think you are a better Muslim than me. Actually, no. I harbor no such thoughts because I know the sins I commit. I know my shortcomings and weaknesses. Allah covers them up through His Mercy.  Therefore, I do not think I (or any random hijabi) is better than any non-hijabi sister. But, I do think that: wearing a Hijab (in obedience to Allah and His Messenger) is better than not wearing a hijab (in disobedience to Allah and His Messenger). There’s a subtle difference. 2- You’re such a perfect Muslim. I wish I could be as good as you. You actually also get these appreciative comment from people who assume that you’re a very good Muslim. Just because I’m obeying Allah in this one obvious aspect doesn’t mean I’m doing the same in the 101 other things too. This is a potentially dangerous myth. Because yes, I do try, but when I slip, (which I often do!) you subconsciously blame the Hijab or generalize Hijabis. Whereas the fault in this case actually lies with the driver, not the car (i.e. with the
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December 22, 2025

Just One Dua Away

The only thing that can make or break us, is us. It is the connection between the mind and the heart. Our decisions. And Allah constantly invites us to make better decisions. -AbdelRahman Mussa She had gone to wake him up, and ended up crashing her world. It was but a blinking text. She should have ignored it and gone about her business. ‘Shoulds’, huh? Funny. Who ignores blinking texts on their brothers’ phones anyways? Irresponsible siblings, that’s who. And especially when the brother in question is a little one. It was quite agonising to be honest. She scrolled up through the conversation and could only try to keep the lid down on her oesophagus as bile threatened to rise. Constricted throat and parched tongue do little to help when one is surrounded by inquisitive family members. And then there’s the ‘sibling dilemma’, the one that talks of having each other’s backs, and honours. What to do, what not to? She found herself in the restroom soon after. Heaving sobs that shuddered through the body. What now? Who do you talk to? What was he thinking? What were THEY thinking? There is no way the situation was going to solve itself. She had to do something, but was quite lost as to the specifics. The day wore on, and no light bulbs appeared atop her head. Struggling with attempts to busy herself, and failing miserably each time, she would question who and what to tell. As the night darkened,
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December 22, 2025

Changing the World Through Imaan

Guest writer Jawwad Ahmed sums up what he gleaned from Hamza Tzortzis’ eye-opening workshop ‘Changing the World through Imaan’ at PC Hotel Rawalpindi. In 2003, poverty claimed the lives of a good part of 10.6 million children under the age of 5 [1]. That is more than the children populations of France, Germany and Italy, combined. The figures have somewhat improved in the last decade, but the statistics are still staggering. 7.6 million children below the age of 5 died in 2010. This is around 21,000 per day, 870 per hour, or 14 children dying every minute [2]. Numbers simply fail to convey emotion. No wonder, then, at what we are told about there being too many needs, and not enough resources. This is lesson number one in all economics textbooks. God, it appears, is pretty cruel. And yet, the poorest 40% of the world’s population account for just 5% of the world’s income; the richest 20% for 75% [3]. The problem of resources, it appears, is not that of insufficient production, but of unequal distribution. The fundamental premise of contemporary economics is nothing more than the delusion of capitalism. It was an eye-opening experience listening to Hamza Tzortzis on the topic ‘Changing the world through Imaan’ at PC hotel Islamabad. Faith is as relevant to modern socio-economics, as five sets of daily prayers. When Allah repeatedly says, “We provide sustenance for you and for them (your children)”, He means it [4] [5]. The world already produces more than 1½
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December 22, 2025

Light of Dawn

This piece of poetry was written on the theme of SIST ’14: Revive the light within; let the change begin I gaze at the moonless sky, covered with black clouds The darkness piercing my eyes, I close them with a frown I hear the cry of jackals, oh what an eerie sound! Rest is as still as death, I sit there as if spellbound Staring at the shadows of trees, hopelessness grips me Innocent eyes brimming with tears, in my memory, I can see Small hands, rough and dirty, plead for just one meal This is not the story of a single child, it’s of millions in my country There are those who talk of change yet their walk remains the same With a fake face, they help society, but their hearts are in plague The ones who persist in evil, corruption and bad fame Are no good either from those who play the game without a name Tired of failing to earn an honest penny is the young man who ends his life Same goes for the pretty damsel, through whose broken heart pierces the knife This depression, is it due to a lack of purpose, among the youth, rife? Is all the education and those degrees really not worth the strife? Thinking such desolate thoughts, with a heavy head, I fall asleep Only to be waken by a ray of light, that through the windows peeped The next day had come and the sun had risen, looking
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December 22, 2025

From Timothy to Yusuf

Guest writer Sara Ahmed pens down the quest of Yusuf Chambers, as heard from him at the WOC 2014 event:’Story Night with the Stars’. A Disturbed Childhood The long-winding tale of Yusuf (previously known as Timothy) Chambers began, when at 4 years of age, he yelled at his Irish father, “You need to go away because my mother does not like you anymore!” His father complied. With such family issues, it is hardly surprising that Tim grew up as a disturbed child – Catholic just by name, least interested in school, never having read a library book. At 15, he ran away from his home. Why are we here? During his new vagabond life, he changed seventeen addresses in the quest to find out the purpose of his yet aimless life, freaking people out with his profound and incessant questions. He claims to have flipped through every -ism and -schism ever founded- the first being ‘social activism’ with its manifestos of ‘love for humanity’. It had not been long since he joined that a member remarked, “Someday we will have to pick up guns”. Tim was ‘vegetarian’, he couldn’t stand the thought of blood so he deserted the group. Brush with Buddhism He then came across Buddhism and started meditating under the guidance of a monk. He enjoyed the practice, but was not totally satisfied. After a while, he finally asked the monk, “Why are we doing this?” He was expecting that this guy here, who had given up everything
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December 22, 2025

Slow and Steady – An Incredible Hifz Journey

The writer is a hafidh (one who has memorized the entire Quran) and has requested anonymity. Youth Club Blog honours the request, and presents to you a journey of Quran memorization (hifdh) and the lessons derived from it. I see my entire life as a testimony of the ayah of the Quran: “And He gave you of all that you asked for. But if you count the favours of Allah, never will you be able to number them….” (Surah Ibrahim, ayah 34) From amongst the innumerable blessings that Allah has showered upon me, there is this special one that makes me smile invariably, every single time. Just the thought of it seems to lighten up the whole world. That one blessing is: Allah chose my heart to preserve the words of the Quran in it. How enormous is this blessing and how momentous is the responsibility that comes along with it! A Hafidh in 5 years For me, the Hifdh journey was an amazing experience. I undertook this journey on my own, in my twenties. There was no institute to attend and no teacher to supervise this journey. It was something I did on my own, along with my studies, my job and all the routine chores of the house. It was a journey that spanned almost 5 years. Let’s do some simple math: If you do 30 juzz in five years, you’re doing 6 juzz a year. That means 1 juzz in 2 months. That means 1 page
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December 22, 2025

The Art of Faith

“Faith is the art of holding onto things inspite of your changing moods and circumstances.” ~ C. S. Lewis  There are times we have an extremely high level of faith. So we are enthusiastically doing our night prayers, daily charity, dawah work – you name it. But then there come times when the level just simply drops down, sometimes it pretty much hits rock bottom. We all experience these faith-level-swings all the time and tell you what, they are actually normal. Yes entirely NORMAL. We are humans and naturally our enthusiasm is not the same through out the year. Sometimes we are down, sometimes we sin, sometimes we are occupied and busy or simply ill. In such situations, many of our virtuous deeds suffer a setback. And that should not worry us too much. What should worry us is our connection with Allah. No matter how many good deeds we are doing, no matter what situation we are in, our connection with Allah should remain constant. Well, pretty much anyway. It should never hit rock bottom. Even if we are busy or sick, we should try to keep up some sort of nearness to Allah. If you can’t do the night prayers for some time, at least carry on with the dua. It’s a bad idea to drop off the connection completely. Because it really takes a lot of time and effort to start all over again. Ustadh Abu Eesa Niamatuallah gives a profound example from Surah Yusuf. He
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December 22, 2025

Theme of the Month: #StayStrong

So the incredible Winds of Change tour has rolled to a halt, and the local da’wah scene isn’t quite as hip-and-happening as it was last month. This time last month, we were all geared up to be brand new people, to transform society and to take the world by storm. Winds of Change infused us with the spirit, the energy, and the conviction that we, the youth, will make a difference. Then came the stillness that prevails after the storm has passed. And now, we still have the spirit and the conviction, but we suddenly don’t know what to do with it, and the energy level seems to be dropping fast. The world is suddenly a different place, one much harder to change than it seemed a few weeks ago. Da’wah isn’t all that easy anymore, or as fun as it was when everyone was doing it. Is it really that important to “change yourself, change the world”? It’s suddenly hard to remember what the hype was all about. What happened here? Well, what happened is that we just discovered two fundamental facts of life: one, that it’s easy to swim with the tide, and very hard to swim against it. Two, that good deeds are easy to start, but incredibly hard to maintain! So the important question is, now what? Well, the good news is, Youth Club won’t abandon you to struggle on alone. We know how hard it is to maintain the spirit after an incredible boost,
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December 22, 2025

11 Ways To Overcome Grief and Worry

By Umm Ibrahim It’s raining. My mind is working on overdrive. It seems to be the perfect time to write! I need to pen down some things- some things I really need to reiterate to myself and that you really need to know too. Let me tell you something: I seem to be stuck in a rut since years. There’s this problem that refuses to solve itself, it gets better for a while- and then returns to just being more complicated. There have been countless nights crying in the pillow or on the musalla, or just pacing around in the bedroom. Think of your own problems- a loved one’s death, a disease, a rift in the family, a divorce, that rishta, that job, that opposition, those cutting remarks, the repeated failures- whatever it is, when we brood on our troubles, we start to feel really down and depressed. I’m going to share some cutting-edge techniques with you to cope with sadness, to fight your depression, to chase away the blues and live a happy and contented life, despite things going wrong as they often will. I’ve tried and tested them all over the years. They work. So here goes: 1- Complain to Allah only: Acknowledge the problem; acknowledge the way you are feeling and describe it to Allah. It’ll make you feel lighter. When you need to complain, turn only to Him, and put your trust and hope in Him. As Prophet Yaqub said in troubled times,   “I
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December 22, 2025

The First Step of My Journey

Guest writer Haleema Sadia shares what she learnt at Hamza Tzortzis’ inspiring workshop ‘Changing the World through Imaan’ at PC Hotel Rawalpindi. For the first time ever, I have started attending live talks by different religious speakers, starting this February. One word – beautiful. I realize now how beautiful my religion is, how completely and utterly free of any oppression, bias and hatred it is, thriving in its original form within the fitnah (tribulation) of this world. Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wasallam) is reported to have said: “The whole duniya (world) is a prison for the believer and paradise for the non-believers.” I heard this Hadith countless times but never really understood its meaning. After attending Brother Hamza Tzortzis’ talk during Winds of Change 2014, I realized how we are enslaved to the world, and how to break the shackles by becoming slaves of Allah. I was inspired even more to change my way of living because I didn’t want to get caught up in the glitz and glamour of this world. I realized with even more determination, my purpose of existence, my other side. Brother Hamza said that this society encourages the celebration of your egos. True, because why else then would we never be satisfied of what we are given and have an eye for the things of others? Why else would we go on doing meaningless things which serve no rightful purpose to us and neglect obligations, such as our daily prayers? Such is the worship
Yasha Fatima
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