Jeremy's monthly Reflections column for emel Magazine

THE BOOK FOUNDATION
About the Book Foundation

Contribute to the Book Foundation

THE EDUCATION PROJECT
Vision and Mission Statement

Education Project Programs

The Directors

Restoring Dignity Through Compassionate Care
Nov. 2007 article from Jeremy's monthly Reflections column in emel Magazine.

Many people will have been deeply shocked by the recent UK Healthcare Commission report Dignity in Care which brought to light the appalling neglect of old people in our hospitals. Less than one in five elderly patients who need help because they cannot easily feed themselves actually receive such help from nursing staff. The statistic was so bizarre it was difficult to digest. Less than 20 per cent of this needy group receive the basic standards of care to ensure human dignity? And this was only one of the many failures of NHS trusts to treat elderly patients with the respect and dignity they deserve. Only five out of 23 trusts are reported as complying with dignity-in-care standards. Help the Aged described the findings as "intolerable"...

Seeing All That We Do

Article #8 from Jeremy's monthly column in emel Magazine.

'...It is mistaken to confuse turning a blind eye to evidence with a wish to abide by the Prophet’s injunction not to try to bare other people’s failings. The merciful concealing of other people’s “nakedness” is one of the major themes of the Sunnah. One of the attributes of God is He who mercifully conceals our faults even to ourselves. But this spiritual imperative does not render anyone immune from upholding the law.'

Reaching beyond Self-Interest: The Power of Altruism
Article #7 from Jeremy's monthly column in emel Magazine.

...In his celebrated letter to Malik al-Ashtar, Imam 'Ali writes: Make your heart a throne of mercy towards your people. Show them perfect love and care. For they are in one of two groups: either your brother in religion or your fellow-human being. This broad view, in total harmony with the Qur'an, embraces all races, all cultures, all tongues. It asserts the unity of the human race and the equality of all human beings, demanding compassion for all and not only to members of one's own group...

Following the Middle Way
Article #6 from Jeremy's monthly column in emel Magazine

...“I just want to be a human being, and not inhabit any intellectual ghetto”, she said. Sometimes it takes a bit of reconciling feminine wisdom to get beyond the interminable clash of competing ideologies, warring tribes, talking heads, wagging fingers, and brandished slogans...

Knowing Where We Are
Article #5 from Jeremy's monthly column in emel Magazine

...A survey carried out in the USA in December 2005 found that six out of ten Americans aged 18 to 24 could not locate Iraq on a map of the world, despite media exposure about the country since the invasion. More than 40 per cent could not locate Pakistan in Asia...

Choosing an Abundant Life
Article #4 from Jeremy's monthly column in emel Magazine

...Muhammad Asad dedicates his Message of the Qur’an, to “people who think”, because the Qur’an is insistent that we should use our reason (‘aql), insight (albab, basirah) and conscious understanding (rushd) to distinguish what is true from what is false...

Taking Responsibility for Others
Article #3 from Jeremy's monthly column in emel Magazine

...As I leaned against the Ka'bah with my hands on the kiswah, it was as if I had come to the very Centre of the universe, paradoxically both utterly unfathomable and yet closer to me than my jugular vein. At that moment, my Creator seemed palpably more close than far, more intimate than remote...

Walking in Nature: A Call to the Heart - New!
Article #2 from Jeremy's monthly column in emel Magazine

...I have always been struck by what has seemed to me to be a reluctance by many, if not all, my Muslim friends to explore the natural world. By this I do not necessarily mean arduous trekking through vast natural wildernesses or scaling the highest mountain peaks but simply the joy of walking amidst virgin nature and contemplating its beauty and majesty.

Listen to the Feminine
Article #1 from Jeremy's monthly column in emel Magazine

It has always seemed presumptuous, even somewhat preposterous, to me for men to pontificate in an authoritarian manner about the role of women in Islam as if the feminine principle is something which needs to be rigidly confined or patronisingly relegated to a narrow domain of activity...