By Alveena Salim & Sajid Iqbal

You mean you can’t eat ANYTHING? Not even drink water? Isn’t that like bad for you?”

Yep, when Muslims fast for the 30 days in the month of Ramadan from dawn till dusk they can’t eat or drink anything throughout Ramadan.
Fasting is not bad for your health, even Celebs occasionally fast (they call it “detox”), abstaining from food and drink cleans out your insides, gives your digestive system a rest and causes harmful chemicals to be flushed out of your system.(1)

30 whole days?! You’d die!

Ermm… No you wouldn’t. Muslims are required to fast from dawn to dusk. The fast begins just before dawn when Muslims eat a light meal (suhoor) and confirm their intention to fast for the day; the fast ends at sunset.

By Shaykh Muhammad Salim Ghisa

A.

In the name of Allah the Most Beneficent and Merciful.

Allah has defined roles for men and women by looking at their strengths and weaknesses and assigning them with certain responsibilities. However, there is no where in the Shariah where there is a point blank refusal for women to work or for men not to do the household chores.
Both these duties are permissible and sometimes recommended depending on each of the situations.

In the name of Allah the most beneficent and Merciful.

There are some acts in Islam which are known as Fard e Kifaaya meaning it is a communal obligation. Therefore if no one from the Muslim community did this then all would be major sinners and if some did do this then all would be relieved of that duty. Washing, shrouding and praying (Janaza prayer) is a communal obligation for a deceased Muslim man or woman.

It is obligatory upon Muslim men to wash the deceased Muslim man and it is obligatory upon Muslim women to wash a deceased Muslim woman.

*Lauren Evans is a nutritionist with BSc (Hons) in Human Nutrition and MSc in Exercise & Nutrition Science

Fasting during Ramadan is already a challenge within itself; however fasting during one of the warmest months of the year not only intensifies this challenge but also requires a true commitment that can only be marvelled. With an average of 14 hours fasting between Suhoor (Sunrise) and Iftar meals (Sunset), nutrition and hydration during meal time are both highly important.

Metabolism

If you stammer or stutter then only YOU know what life is like and what struggles and challenges you have to face. The Revival has spoken to a couple of people who stammer and talk about what life is like.

Jamal Ali, 35, Birmingham:

Here are my words of wisdom for everyone as I am an expert on stammering.

Basically stammerers are a section of society that are totally abandoned and left to suffer without any support and help. What they do not need are useless speech therapists who only serve the purpose of cementing the idea into the stammerers head that they have a problem.

Catherine Heseltine is someone you would have seen on the mainstream media like BBC or Sky News representing Islam and the Muslims. Catherine is the CEO of Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) and she had a good old chat with The Revivals’ Iram Ramzan.

Despite standing on her feet for half a day, Catherine Heseltine’s mission in talking to every single Muslim about the importance of getting active in politics and media did not diminish.
And nor did her trademark smile.

8 – Confirmed media stereotypes

As if Muslims with bushy beards weren’t having a bad time already, what with stereotypes of Muslims terrorists in Hollywood films and Western newspapers. Along comes the biggest terrorist attack in America and its Muslims who are responsible. Not only that, but a Muslim in a big beard and turban praised those who carried out 9/11 and labelled them as martyrs. This totally contradicts Quran and Sunnah and can lead to kufr. To make matters worse, every other word in his speeches was Allah, Quran or Jihad. Not only did Muslims become synonymous with terrorism but so did Islam.

7 – Usurped authority

Apparently, love may be blind but marriage is the real eye-opener. Are you considering getting married or are already married? Wanna know how to keep your other half sweet? Have you been married for many years and wanna know how to put the spark back into your relationship? Check out The Revival’s 10 things that you need to do in order to have a happy marriage.

1. Role Expectation

Women, know your place! Only kidding. Truth is, you DO need to know what’s expected from you and vice versa. Even before you embark upon married life, both partners need to reach an agreement with regards to how the household responsibilities are divided and how they will behave towards each other.

I think I’ve heard it all. People who think that it’s a must and that every female should adhere to it without fail (in a stiff upper lip sort of way).

People who believe that it’s not about what we look on the outside as it is actually undeniably, the inside that counts (Hmm, perhaps). And others still – like me, I must admit, who took a while to articulate an opinion.

A journey towards the Hijaab, here is my story.

The Revival looks at one young mans journey from life on the street to life in prison and then discovering Islam again.

Offence: In possession of drugs with the intent to supply
Time Spent: 6 years

The point in my career which led me to engage in activities of crime was when my mother died. Being only 18 and very close to my mum, it was a huge shock when cancer had swept throughout her entire body and therefore, being unable to cope, I thought taking drugs and alcohol would temporarily ease the pain.