We've all heard of Somalia and most of us will also have heard about the occasional pirate ship hijacking that happens off its coast. Everyone is also united in condemning the pirates for their piracy. Yes people, there are people off the coast of somalia, the pirates hijack the oil tankers and more, but is that the whole of it or is there more to it all?

Why are there are pirates in Somalia? What makes it the type of place where piracy can before rife?

Somalia is a place that has been without a functioning government for the best part of 20 years now and has been locked into almost constant conflict and violence between communities that live there.

By Shaykh Salim Ghisa

1.When I fast I just get headaches and feel really rough; I thought fasting was suppose to make me get closer to God?

Fasting is a virtue which in physical terms means abstaining from food, drink and conjugal relations. As Allah says in the Quran ‘Oh Believers fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed to those before you so that you may become pious’ (Quran - 2,183)

Green Banana Curry

Yes, you heard it right… a BANANA Curry
Why not try a recipe of savoury bananas in a spiced coconut sauce for your Iftari?

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Serves: 4

Ingredients

5 green (under ripe) bananas
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely sliced
1 tbsp curry paste
400 ml coconut milk
3 tbsp chopped coriander

Method

1. Slice the bananas into slices 2.5cm thick.

2. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry the banana slices in batches, until lightly browned on each side. Drain on kitchen paper.

3. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft.

White Chocolate and Berry Pavlova

The crisp meringue has a soft chewy interior and is topped with white chocolate, whipped cream and luscious selection of berries. Will go down a treat after a long hard fast.

Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 6 hrs, to 8 hours, leaving the meringue in the oven overnight
Serves: 8

Ingredients

For the meringue:
6 egg whites
200 g caster sugar
1 tsp corn flour

For the filling:
600 ml double cream
100 g white chocolate
125 g raspberries
50 g strawberries
50 g redcurrants
50 g mixed summer berries
25 g blueberries

There is no other man who has influenced life for all times. There is no other man who is a perfect role model for all humans for all times. There is no other man who has given rights to people of every society for all times.
So who is it then?

Einstein, Darwin, Marx, Socrates, Newton, Plato, Freud… (who?).
OK, is it Jesus, Moses, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, Gandhi, Buddha, Lenin, Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill, Martin Luther King, Shakespeare, Princess Diana or Abraham Lincoln? Or even (God forbid) Ali G, Tu Pac, Michael Jackson or David Beckam?

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.