The holiest month of the Islamic calendar is upon us, with Muslims around the world fasting for a month as part of their personal reflection and devotion to God. Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. For the next thirty days, all healthy Muslims will fast during daylight hours, refraining...
Popular British Turkish Cypriot cleric Cyprus Islamic Association co-founder Hussain Hashim Hoca is running an introductory course on Islam at Shacklewell Lane Mosque, East London, later this month. Titled “An Invitation To Think”, the free one-day course is open to anyone who is “curious and eag...
Tuesday marks the start of Kurban Bayramı, also known as Eid al-Adha and the Feast of Sacrifice. It is one of two important religious holidays in Islam, the other being Ramazan Bayramı after the month-long fast. In Muslim-majority states such as Turkey, the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, Pakis...
A special event featuring poetry, music and dance centred on the life of the 13th century Persian poet Mevlana Celaddiin-i Rumi will be streamed globally later this week. The line-up for this special event are renowned Persian musicians Seyed Ali Jaberi and the Hamdel Ensemble, and British Turkis...
Tuesday marks the start of Ramadan, or Ramazan in Turkish, for most of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims. This holiest of months is when the Ku’ran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammed. Each year, Muslims go through their own spiritual reawakening. For the next thirty days, all healthy Mus...
For the past few weeks Turkish owned mosques in Northeast London, like many others across the British capital, have been calling the faithful to prayer (ezan in Turkish) from their roofs and minarets at sunset every day. Yet in these extraordinary times none have been able to visit Aziziye Mosque...
Our most anticipated and holy time of the year, month of Ramadan (lunar month of the Hijri calendar), commenced at sunset on Thursday, 23 April 2020. Amazingly Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish) has a divine energy that excites most people, even non-Muslims. In Ramadan, all healthy Muslims are supposed...
This Tuesday, 19 May, is the holiest night of the year in the Islamic calendar and occurs during the last ten days of Ramazan. Known in Turkish as Kadir Gecesi and in English as the Night of Power, this is the night when the first verses of the Holy Kuran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammed by...
This week’s London Mevlit programme features a special guest appearance from Imam Muhittin Aydın. The muezzin at Stoke Newington’s Aziziye Mosque will be reciting Koranic prayers alongside programme host Husayn Hashim El Bakayi, the UK’s most prominent Turkish Cypriot hoca (pastor) on Sunday, 17...
My name may not give it away, but I am in fact, a practicing Muslim. I accepted Islam in early 2018, and since then, I have visited mosques all over London. Plenty of these spaces are full of beauty, warmth and spiritual calm, but one of these in particular stands out. Shacklewell Lane Mosque, al...
