Al-Motubug is a stuffed pastry with a delicious beef, onion and leek filling. It is a very popular and classic Saudi Arabian dish, yet the ingredients required to make Al-Motubug are easily available. If you are ever visiting Saudi Arabia you should definitely try it there as it’s absolutely delicious!

Serves 10

Ingredients

• 6 cups flour
• 2 eggs beaten with ½ cup of corn oil
• 2 bundles of leeks (medium sized)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 ½ lbs Minced beef
• 3 eggs (beaten)
• 3 onions (finely chopped)
• Flour for rolling
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

Method

In Palestine, a favourite dish made by the locals is Musakhkhan, a dish that is usually eaten using the hands and which literally means something of which is heated.

The dish is seasoned with sumac, a spice made from the ground dried berries and is sold in Middle Eastern shops, it has a slightly sour and tangy taste.

Musakhkhan is made by cooking chicken until tender and succulent with plenty of onions. You can use more spices, such as allspice or saffron, and garnish the top with fried pine nuts. Once the chicken is cooked, it is wrapped in shrak or marquq which is a type of thin Arabic bread.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 whole Halaal chicken (about 3 ½ pounds)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

We all wanna have fun on Eid but rather than getting up to no good or causing havoc in your hired Lambo on Wilmslow Road or Green Street, why not celebrate Eid the Halal way? I don’t mean just visiting your relatives or sitting in the Masjid but enjoying yourself having fun… but keeping it Halal.

Here’s some ideas for you to check out on Eid:

Fancy Surfing?

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The Deep Acquarium

My name's Tim and I am a non Muslim who fasted for a day last Ramadan.

I'm not a religious person, but something I do believe in is cultural integration, and that the best way to understand some one is to walk in their shoes once in a while.

I've been around people who were fasting at work and heard them describe getting up at 4am and eating a huge breakfast, then at the end of the day waiting until the sun goes down before hurrying into the nearest eatery on Wilmslow road. It looked hard, and it was something that someone like me has never had any reason to do. More than anything it was simple curiosity that that set the idea in motion.

So the hordes of hell broke through into Earth for a moment and took over all levels of government. In one day everything went to hell. And now they're after a girl? And not just any girl. The girl. Jabber had always said there was no such thing as coincidences or luck. I guess this is what he meant.

I leapt from rooftop to rooftop, carrying the unconscious Noor wrapped in my long coat. Of course as soon as I’d seen her it had started to rain. Some things never change. It had been almost 3 years since I’d last seen her. I guess I should be thankful to the mask I’m wearing. It would be better for all if she didn’t know who I was… not after our last conversation.

“If that’s what you want” she had said. I remember the look on her face. The pain in her eyes.

I pray but my mind wanders off to things like football, TV, work etc. So is there any point of praying then?

Prayer is judged based on action as this is what a person can control. Of course a person's mind should be focused on what they are doing especially when it is worship.

However, Allah is the most Merciful and is fully aware that Shaitaan will try and discourage you from praying and therefore he will use all types of distraction.

Therefore a person should stick to their actions as this means you are worshipping Allah even though your desires are telling you otherwise, and InshaAllah you will be rewarded for your patience.

Slowly, these distractions will start to go away and one will obtain satisfaction, so one must not give up.

In this first series of 'Back to Basics' we will cover the second pillar of Islam - Salah. Many of us read it without knowing the importance, the benefits and even the rulings of salah. So sit back and relax and increase your knowledge and understanding of salah.

Why pray?

The answer shouldn't be 'because my dad said so!' After believing in the shahada (declaration of faith), the most important worship and also a pillar of Islam is salah. The Prophet (pbuh) said, "The link between a Muslim and disbelief, kufr, is his or her neglect of prayer." [Muslim].

Shaykh Ibrahim was born and raised in Liverpool, England. Initially studying for three years in Syria and Mauritania he then had the opportunity to spend over six years in the city of Tarim, Hadramaut where he studied under the hands of many high calibre teachers of our time.

He was one of the founders of several Islamic initiatives including the Ibn Abbas Institute, Starlatch Press, Badr Language Institute and the Greensville Trust. He currently resides in Liverpool, England with his wife and two children.

The EDL is no ordinary threat - it malice that far out ways even the BNP. This is echoed by the high profile and explosive tactic of marching into Muslim neighbourhoods. Their purpose is simple. To galvanise a vanguard against the Muslims amongst the average British working class population, and polarise the wider community against us.

By creating the conditions for constant clashes, the pot never stops boiling, the ensuing Media headlines do exactly what they were intended to do – divide.

Now what makes the likes of Einstein, Aristotle, Socrates and Plato special? Why does history remember Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Gandhi? What was so great about Muhammad Ali, Pele, Maradona and Imran Khan?

It was down to one thing. TALENT.

It's talent that makes you a great thinker and philosopher. It's talent that makes you a revolutionary leader and great orator. It's talent that makes you the greatest footballer or boxer that every youngster looks up to.