Ibadah is one of the most difficult things for a person learning about Islam to grasp. One may translate it to worship- fair enough- it's the closest translation in a single word. But it differs from the normal use of the word, as it is not an act done in its own dedicated time and space, where one momentarily engages in submission to a deity. In Islam, acts of ibadah can be far broader, yet the same acts can come to nought despite being done outwardly in the same manner. 3 Muslims can pray salah behind the same imam, next to one another, and the reward may not be equal. The key to ibadah is that the action is secondary to the intention behind it. In my last blog, I wrote about how to use your time better, and I didn’t mention this topic intentionally, as I felt it was deserving of its own dedicated post; it is one of the most important ways to create a maintainable schedule focused on fulfilling your duties of worship. This is because here we will focus on using the actions you al...

This year’s Discover Islam Week was truly one of the highlights of the year!  For those who don’t know, Discover Islam Week (also known as DIW) is an annual campaign run by the Islamic Society. This campaign aims to show people the true face of Islam and invite them to learn more about our faith. The beauty of this week is that there’s something for everyone, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. DIW is broken down into 4 days: The Path of Truth, The Path of Justice, The Path of Identity and The Path of Revelation. Each day had a different focus, which were: Islam as the true path, activism, culture and the Quran.  Though each day had its own appeal, my favourite was The Path of Identity, also known as Culture Day- I may, however, be biased as I was one of the organisers… It was a day that truly felt like the Muslim community on campus came together. People could come in wearing cultural clothing, try food from around the world, and visit stalls aimed at teaching the history of Islam ...

Medicine is a difficult degree to pursue. It is difficult to earn a place to study the degree, it is difficult to study the degree, and it is a difficult career. That is the reality that must be understood about the degree prior to choosing to study medicine. This is not written to deter you from studying the degree, but to illustrate an important point: resilience is the most important trait to have going into this degree.   It is important to reflect upon why you want to pursue medicine, and if you would be able to work through the difficulties of such a degree. Medicine can be such a fulfilling degree, but if you walk into it blind, stress and burnout will very quickly deplete your passion and ambition. First, any applicant must appreciate the very real difficulties that come along with studying a degree like medicine. All medical students are held to much higher standards than any other university students, whether that be with attendance or even social media presence. Med...

2600. Band 3. Not quite the end of the world, still enough to apply to some Russell group universities, albeit not the best ones. That was my thought process until 3 of my 4 Medicine options, including Birmingham, rejected me outright before the interview stage. And the interview from the remaining option? Its rejection felt like the final nail in the coffin. At this point, if anyone had asked me, I would’ve said that I was a failure. Except what I didn’t know was that The Best of Planners had laid out a path that was better than getting accepted after that interview. Had that happened, I wouldn’t be studying Medicine at UoB right now.  I fell ill towards the end of Year 13. I couldn’t sit the exams that year. I instead sat them a year later. With that came a new round of applications and a 2nd chance at the UCAT. Remember how Birmingham had rejected me before the interview stage? This meant I could apply to them again, since most Med schools have a policy of denying students a 2nd...

  Time and time management are the most important aspects of your daily life. Time imposes a hard limit on what you can achieve and are able to do, and Allah swears by the passage of time in the Qur’an - (وَٱلْعَصْرِ’ (103:1 Every part of one’s conditions, growth, development, movements, actions, and morality take place within time, and time is limited. Applying this to the example of us as Muslim students, we need to use the finite resource of time to study, progress in our degrees, and to pray and engage in worship. Hence, with more time, we can excel in these domains further. So how do you get more time? You take a look at what you already have. The phrase ‘I don’t have enough time’ is something you hear and probably say to yourself all too often, whether it be in response to a piece of advice or as a general venting complaint. The phrase is slightly misleading, however. It implies that we are already operating at maximum efficiency, in fully optimised schedules without white sp...