Doctor's Free Time

Site update

2010-12-29T17:59:00.001+01:00

I've started a new blog to discuss various Shia Islam and general Islam issues.
Please visit Truth About Shias

Thanks

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Guess Who's Back V

2010-12-22T16:24:00.002+01:00

You didn't think I would go the entire year, 2010, without a single blog did you? Well you would be right if you did as I wasn't planning on blogging but then something changed my mind!

I've blogged in the past about the importance of Muharrum and with it being Muharrum once more at this time of year, the message of Imam Hussain (a.s.) continues to inspire and motivate and has led me to return to blogging to discuss some important and relevant topics about Islam over the next few weeks inshallah. Having attended some excellent majlises leading up to Ashura last week, I want to build on this feeling rather than let it all fade away as we all have done over the years.

Inshallah, you all will visit once more, (after I let you all know about it!) and together we can discuss some important issues about our great religion, Al-Islam.

Take care all,

Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Changing the rules (slightly)

2009-08-25T14:11:00.002+01:00

DISCLAIMER: What follows are purely tongue-in-cheek suggestions and are meant for discussion purposes only. In no way, shape or form am I trying to suggest that I have the religious knowledge and/or authority to advocate such suggestions on a serious level, so please don't take them that way.

Three days into Ramadhan and it's already proving to be quite tough. Fasting from approximately 4am to 8pm (16 hours) is proving to be quite a challenge. The struggle tends to start just as my afternoon surgery is getting underway, round about now actually (2.30pm), with a general woozy feeling. Then as the surgery progresses, I keep getting head rushes, headaches and the lethargy kicks in. I feel sorry for the last 2-3 patients as I am barely concentrating and just want to finish and get home. After concluding the surgery, I manage to muster the energy to drive home and just collapse on my sofa. Hopefully it will get better as the body adjusts, but judging on past years, I'm not that optimistic, especially as I'm getting older.

With the long hours only going to get worse over the next few years as Ramadhan moves into the peak summer months, I was wondering whether it's fair for us to be fasting for this long. Because the Islamic calendar is based on the moon, it's shorter than the standard Georgian calendar and as a result moves backwards by 10-11 days every year. Ten years ago we were enjoying relatively comfortable fasts during December/January. At the time I was at university and spent most of the time sleeping, woke up at 4pm and broke my fast a few minutes later. Now, the fasts have more than doubled in length and sleep is no longer an option.

Looking back at the origins of Islam and fasting, it's maybe significant to recognise that it was a religion revealed in the Middle East - in Saudi Arabia. Looking at the times for sunrise and sunset times in Mecca and one can see how little variation there is over the course of a standard (non-lunar) year. In December, the gap is approximately 12 hours and in August the gap is about 14 hours, with only a 2 hours or so variation across the year. Here in the UK, the variation is much greater, 10 hours in December and 16 hours in August (18 hours in July).

It just doesn't seem fair. Perhaps the rules of the fast need to be looked at. Islam was brought to a region where the fasting time was stable and maybe we should follow that. Of course as Islam has spread all over the world, people have needed to adapt with the country or region that they live in, but surely it is not a good idea to have muslims fast for so long when our brothers and sisters in the Middle-East are "enjoying" relatively shorter times.

If you think I'm being silly, what about our brothers and sisters who live in Scandanavia? In the northern regions of Scandanavia it is daylight for six months and darkness for the other six months. The rulings seem to vary, but from what I have read it seems to be the general consensus to follow the fasting times of the nearest country with actual sunsets and sunrises. That's not much of a relief as during the daylight months the nearest country will have upto 20 hours of daylight but during the night months, the nearest country will have only a couple of hours of daylight - a huge fluctuation.

In this country as Ramadhan enter July/June over the next few years, the fasting times will get longer. As a doctor I seriously question the health implications of fasting for such a long time. People will obviously want to complete the fasts for the blessings and rewards it brings, but at a cost to their health. Is that a good idea and is that something God would want? And it won't be just the elderly or unhealthy who will be affected. So, instead, how about just a fasting timetable that follows Mecca for everyone, all over the world? 12-14 hours all year round - seems fair to me. What do you think?

Whilst we're on this topic, by extension perhaps we should apply a similarly fair policy to other rules in Islam which perhaps haven't stood the test of time. The shortening of prayers is a classic rule which is often taken advantage of; in Islam, we are allowed to shorten the afternoon and evening prayers if we have travelled over 14 miles in one direction after crossing our home town border.

This ruling was introduced when travelling was a great undertaking at the time of the Prophet in Saudi Arabia. To ease the burden, Muslims we're allowed to shorten their prayers. The travelling rule also applies to fasting, you don't fast when your are travelling, again to ease the burden. Nowadays, travelling is not such a great undertaking - I travel 90 miles on a daily basis just to go to work and back - and so the shortening of prayers is just a time-saver and nothing else, (by the way, I pray the full length prayers at work as it's a regular place that I visit, so the same rules don't apply). Perhaps, this ruling needs to be looked out, it can either be abolished or modified according to difficulty. Of course there will still be people in the world for whom travelling is difficult, but for others particularly in the Western world it isn't such a problem.

However, if the ruling exists, then we should at least stick to it and follow it properly. People will conveniently follow the shortened prayer rule, but not the no-fasting rule when travelling. The shortening prayers saves us time, the no fasting rule causes more inconvenience as it means we have to make up the fast at a later date. As a result people tend to pick and choose what rule to follow and it is something that I have been guilty of in the past. Whilst the rules exist, we should follow them all and not pick and choose at our convenience.

Finally, another one maybe worth looking at are prayer times. Who has decided that Fajr prayer time is 1-1.5 hours before sunrise? Why is the time for Isha up to midnight only? I don't think there was such an accurate concept of time at the time of the Prophet. Surely Fajr should be just before the point of sunrise and the time for Isha should be up until the time for Fajr, just as Asr can be read up to the time for Maghrib? Actually, I'm probably nit-picking here, but for the purpose of this blog, I thought I'd try and find a third rule to discuss before passing out from the hunger!

Like I said at the beginning, this is all meant for discussion only, I am not trying to claim that I know best and that these rules should be passed, but simply typing out a few suggestions. If you can, please comment on what you think.

Take care all,

Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Fed up with Iran

2009-08-21T13:46:00.002+01:00

I am feeling very disillusioned right now. Iran has been getting a lot of press coverage in recent months with the general election and the events following the resutls and frankly I'm getting more and more fed-up with the stories that keep coming out. As one of only two Shia-majority and Shia-governed countries (I am not yet counting Iraq as a third), the values and ideals that the country represents does not go along with the values and ideals of Islam and more specifically Shia Islam.

Let's start with the general election and work our way from there. The election saw a supposedly landslide victory for President Ahmedinajad for a second term. The polls before the voting all indicated it would be a close affair, but Ahmedinajad supposedly won large majorities in both urban and rural towns and even in the towns of his main rivals. It was approved by the Supreme leader Ayatullah Khameni within 24 hours and everyone was meant to accept it as halal.

Clearly this did not go down well with the voters leading to large protests and demonstrations, something which the government found unacceptable. The security forces under orders from the government, employed heavy handed tactics to try and quell the protests leading to the deaths of, officially, 30 people, but perhaps as much as 250 people unofficially. 100's were also arrested and several are currently under trial for crimes against the regime.

As the trials got underway, allegations emerged that the arrested had suffered torture, abuse and even rape whilst held in prison. Many people mysteriously disappeared, whilst others are currently being held without charge. All in all it has been a very messy few months for Iran and the Iranian government.

All this has added to my growing disillusionment about Iran and it's activities. It upsets me to think that this is what a Shia government can do. I am probably being incredibly naive, but I just don't understand why it appears to be so wrong. Ayatullahs are meant to be highly educated, highly spiritual and highly regarded as leading religious authorities, but having political power just seems to change all that. How else can you explain what is going on, the atrocities that are occurring in Iran?

This leads me to ask one big question. What would the 12th Imam do? Right now, if he were the supreme leader of Iran, would it be different, would it be more humane, more correct? The answer has to be yes. As the Imam of our time, as someone who is infallible and closest to God, surely he would lead in a completely different way.

Would the Imam allow heavy handed tactics to deal with protesters leading to their deaths? Would the Imam allow the alleged abuse of prisoners? Would the Imam allow potentially rigged elections? Again, perhaps in my naivety, I can only answer 'no' to all these questions. And yet, if I can see that with my lack of religious knowledge and authority, how can someone as grand as an Ayatullah supposedly not see that?

Perhaps I am mistaken in placing such a great deal of faith in our Ayatullahs, in fact the more I think about it the more certain I become that I am indeed mistaken. That doesn't come as a relief, but just serves to depress me even more. Can it only take a mausoom, an infallible man to make the right choices and decisions? Are us mere humans simply not up to the task? Is having power and control in a government really that corrupting? The more I think about these questions, the more I think that the answer is 'yes'.

This realisation is probably the most depressing, the most upsetting. The one main Shia governed country in this world is a big mess. I realise that I am being terribly simplistic about this all. Trying to criticise and comment on an Ayatullah when I don't have even 0.001% of his knowledge and faith is not the right starting point, but looking from the outside, these recent events just add to the growing disillusionment. What are we meant to do?

Finally, just to add more damage to the faith we may have in Ayatullahs, you may have read of a new ruling passed by a Shia Ayatullah in Afghanistan which permits men to deny basic maintenance towards their wives (i.e. food, clothes, housing etc) if they are denied their sexual demands. This ruling is basically allowing marital rape. If an Ayatullah can permit that then what is the world coming to?

Take care all,

Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

PS. Ramadhan mubarak to all!

Abuse of the NHS

2009-08-19T12:52:00.006+01:00

I see the NHS has been coming under some scrutiny this past week or so, mainly from politicians in the US. This seems to be because Obama's administration is currently trying to pass through new health care reforms aimed at providing medical cover to the entire population and not just those who have private insurance. As the debates rage on, the NHS has been put up as an example of how to do it rightly and wrongly depending on what side of the argument you stand on.

Last week a Tory MEP, Daniel Hannan on US television, much to the delight of Republicans, labelled the NHS as a "60-year mistake" saying that "he wouldn't wish it on anyone." This has understandably and rightly led to criticism from various politicians including the Prime Minister and Health Secretary who has labelled Hannan's words as "unpatriotic" and as "an insult" to the 1.4million workers in the NHS - including me.

Am I insulted? No, not really. I don't agree with Hannan's opinions nor do I find them particularly helpful, but I am not insulted by them. Like all large organisations, especially government funded, the NHS is not perfect, it has some major flaws and issues which need improvement (in some cases drastic improvement), but as a form of health care I believe it is a far better service than what is available in the US.

Interestingly Hannan has previously made some suggestions about how to improve or adjust the NHS, but they have all been ignored and overshadowed by the comments he made in the US. Obviously taking things out of context and being attacked by opposing party politicians is standard fare these days so it's no surprise about the reaction Hannan as recieved in light of these comments, but it does highlight how sensitive a topic the NHS is and will remain to be.

The main issue with the NHS is it's role as a universal health care system for everyone. Everyone is entitled to free health care but the quality of care varies with each condition. Studies have shown how the NHS fares in dealing with certain conditions compared to other Western countries and it seems that it struggles to match the success of other countries. For example in Britian, males have a 51% 5-year cancer survival rate, compared to 57% in Finland and Switzerland. Similarly in care for patients with heart disease or strokes, the figures show that the NHS continues to lag behind our European neighbours.

However, looking at pure statistics ignores the main concept of the NHS - I feel that it is the universal aspect of the NHS which is it's main problem. No other country has a health care similar to the NHS - the idea of it being completely funded by the taxpayer for everyone is unique. I believe that this is the main cause of it's struggles and failures.

In my experience (of 5 long years), people's attitudes towards their health is derived from the NHS. Because care is free, people are more lax and carefree towards their health. The majority of patients I see are so dumb when it comes to their health. I'm not just talking about the un-educated or working class, I'm talking about lawyers, accountants, bankers (although maybe they're just generally dumb) and other professionals. They just appear to have no idea about what to do and what not to do about their general health. Today, the health costs are huge to look after people who have problems related to alcohol, drugs, smoking and diet and most of them do not care. The care is free so they'll carry on abusing themselves.

I have repeatedly asked patients about what they should be doing to improve their health and am repeatedly met with blank expressions, offering no suggestions. People are not interested. Instead of a doctor-patient relationship, it often feels like a parent-child or teacher-student relationship, although in this case the child/student doesn't seem to learn, they just carry on as before. Of course, I am generalising, but the impression that I have built with my experience is that of a population that is not all that bothered about their health. Is it any surprise then that our survival rates are so poor?

In other countries where there is a mixture of government funded and privately funded health care, the care is better. Perhaps it's because people care about themselves. Of course there will be patients who suffer from alcohol abuse, smoking etc, but I don't think it's as bad as it is here in the UK. I've mentioned this before, but offer something free and inevitably it will be abused. The NHS is being abused.

I've discussed the options of charging for health care before and I am not going to head down that path again, but there has to be some repercussions for not looking after yourself after you have been given the necessary and correct advice from your doctor or health professional. It is arguably the most infuriating aspect of my work - seeing patients repeatedly for the same problem mainly because they refuse to help themselves. They keep turning up expecting solutions, when the main solution is to improve themselves and change their practices.

I leave you with an example from this morning's surgery. I saw a 20 year old female who keeps presenting with recurrent abdominal pain for the past 5 months. She is overweight, has a poor diet, takes recreational drugs and is currently unemployed. She has never tried to modify her diet ("it's too difficult") nor has she undertaken any exercise ("I don't have the time"). On her notes are clear documentations of plans other doctors have suggested to her to try and improve her symptoms and she has barely followed any of them. Because health care is free, she has had investigations including an ultrasound scan and various blood tests, all of which have been normal and yet she keeps coming back expecting us to have a quick-fix for her that doesn't require her to make any serious or strenuous modifications. I am afraid it just doesn't work like that.

Before people complain that she probably has psychological issues and can't change herself even though she wants to etc. First of all in this case it isn't true, I've asked, secondly, if that was the case she would still be able to get the psychological help, but I doubt it would make any difference and finally, do you not think there would be a change in attitude if there was some sort of repercussion for not looking after herself, or for not taking the necessary advice? I think there would be.

In the end, many improvements are needed in the NHS, of that there is no doubt, but one of them is to place more onus and responsibility on the patients who the NHS serves. Stop placing all the blame on the NHS itself and perhaps start focusing on the people who continue to take advantage of it - the patients.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

The drugs don't work

2009-08-13T14:33:00.007+01:00

It never ceases to amaze me how much rubbish the media get away with on a daily basis - how much they blow things out of proportion. Actually, "amaze" is the wrong word, "irritate" is more appropriate. However thankfully it's an irritation that doesn't get on top of me as blowing things out of proportion seems to be the main occupation for a lot of journalists and I'd be pulling my hair out if I got irritated every single time.

King of "blowing things out of proportion" is arguably the the Daily Mail and today was no exception. The front page lead with the headline "Tamiflu turned my children into hallucinating, sobbing wrecks" accompanied by a picture of the journailist Richard Price and his family. I'm hoping most if not all of you know what Tamiflu is - the drug used in the management of swine flu.

Apparently, Price's children were prescribed the drug by an on-call GP after they rang NHS Direct seeking advice about their children who had developed a cough and high temperature. They subsequently went on to develop unfortunate side-effects from the drug leading Price to stop the treatment and claim:

"So what happened when we defied government advice and eschewed Tamiflu in favour of Calpol and cuddlies? Within 24 hours both of our children were completely recovered, save for those with runny noses"

Similarly on Monday, there was another article in the Daily Mail about how GMTV presenter Andrew Castle almost lost his daughter to the "swine flu 'danger' drug", when he revealed on TV the side effects of the drug prescribed to his daughter whilst interviewing health secretary Andy Burnham. The drug was apparently handed out at her daughter's school by the Health Protection Agency when a pupil was suspected of having swine flu. The side effects of the drug apparently caused severe breathing difficulties requiring Castle's daughter to be hospitalised for three days.

Before I launch into my main points about these articles, let me quickly describe my own experiences of dealing with swine flu and the prescription of Tamiflu. Before the launch of the National Pandemic Flu Service (0800 1 513 513) a couple of weeks ago, we were being inundated with phone calls from patients with symptoms ranging from runny nose to full blown fever and bodyaches. I was typically taking over 20 calls per day dealing with potential swine flu concerns. To date, I have prescribed Tamiflu a grand total of two times.

As GP's, we are getting weekly updates on the lastest treatment suggestions for swine flu - it has constantly changed, but one piece of advice has remained the same - the use of our clincial knowledge and skill as doctors. In all my phone calls I take a detailed history, ask about close contacts and for me the key is the temperature control. Remember, swine flu in a healthy person is like any other flu. It causes the same symptoms and should resolve in the same amount of time (5-7 days). The important feature is how good is the temperature control. If paracetamol/ibuprofen are controlling the temperature and patients are seeing an improvement then the patient can continue with the treatment without requiring further intervention.

On the two occasions I've prescribed Tamiflu, once has been on a GP's insistence for themselves despite my misgivings and on the second occasion for a person who suffered with other chronic health problems and I felt the Tamiflu could potentially limit the extent of the flu for at least a couple of days and it seemed to help. There are different guidelines for unhealthy people, patients who suffer with chronic illnesses which would make swine flu more damaging, but for this blog, I don't want to get into that since I am assuming that both Price's and Castle's children are otherwise normal, healthy kids.

Sometimes, when consulting with patients, they are not happy when I suggest Tamiflu is not necessary. At that stage, I discuss the risks and benefits of the drug and explain what it is for. So far, all patients have agreed they rather hold off the prescription and wait to see how their symptoms progress. This is why Price's article irritates me. He casually states that the on-call GP "was pretty certain they had [swine flu] and it was better to be safe than sorry,"

I'm sorry, but I struggle to believe that. No doctor (GP or otherwise) will prescribe medication without discussing the benefits and risks of the treatment. I cannot believe that the GP would not have explained all this to Price before recommending the treatment. If he didn't, then Price received sub-standard care which is an exception and not something to blame the government or NHS over. If he did, then Price is omitting information in an attempt to exaggerate his article.

Like all drugs, Tamiflu has side effects. A quick look in the BNF (British National Formulary) reveals the side-effects include: "nausea, vomiting, abdmonial pain, diarrhoea, headache, less commonly rash, visual disturbances and neuropsychiatric disorders in children." These all sound rather alarming but then have a quick read of the side effects of common antibiotics used to treat a variety of infection. For example, amoxicillin's (used for chest infections, tonsillitis, cystitis) side-effects include: "nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes." Or cefalexin (used for cystitis, pneumonia), which can cause "nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal discomfort, rashes, headache, fever, liver damage, hallucinations, confusion, dizziness." All very similar and yet I don't remember reading a report about someone's outrage after suffering from side effects caused by common antibiotics and attacking the government and NHS for prescribing them in the first place.

Among the side-effects of Tamiflu, there is no mention of respiratory problems which is what Castle's daugther suffered with after starting the treatment. It is however, a symptom of swine flu and it's not clear from the article whether Castle's daughter was suffering from flu symptoms prior to starting Tamiflu or not. It seems disingenuous to attribute the symptoms to Tamiflu when there is no evidence that it causes the symptoms that presented. However, to be fair, there is too much information missing from this story and it needs further clarification.

As far as swine flu goes, it is a new strain of virus (H1N1) which usually causes flu symptoms just like other flu viruses in healthy people. It can be more dangerous in patients who are already unwell, and like other flu viruses, there will be occasions when it can cause a lot of damage. It has caused national concern because it appears to be a lot more contagious than other flu viruses but the consequences remain the same. Over 12,000 people die annually in the UK from the flu and so far (as of the end of July) there have been 41 deaths from swine flu related illnesses, the majority in patients who had other chronic illnesses as well.

I come back to my original point, I feel that it has been blown out of proportion by the media. The government and the NHS are doing there best to manage the spread of the virus and reports such as Price's are not helpful in the slightest. There will always be people who suffer from side-effects and to try and blame the NHS is not fair. When Price concludes that:

"Yet the sobbering fact is that today alone, the NHS will hand out Tamiflu to thousands of vulnerable little children who will go through needless suffering as a result of scaremongering about an illness which is no more dangerous than seasonal flu.

Take it from us: it really, truly, is not worth it"

Who does he think is responsible for the scaremongering? How about the Daily Mail for articles such as this, this and this? Maybe Price should've taken advice from the Daily Mail's own GP about the use of Tamiflu:

"Q: Is it better for me to fight swine flu naturally if I am otherwise healthy, or to take Tamiflu if offered?

A:All medications come with potential side effects so, if there is the possibility of treating an illness more conservatively and still making the same recovery, doctors always prefer to do that. If you are otherwise healthy, it appears that swine flu is a mild illness lasting for three to four days with no complications: therefore, many GPs have been advising patients not to take the Tamiflu. So far many of those with confirmed cases of H1N1 have opted out of taking the drug and made a normal recovery."

Take care all,

Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

The cost of not turning up

2009-08-12T14:03:00.002+01:00

There was a news story this morning highlighting the cost of missed appointments in the NHS. Apparently it cost the NHS approximately £650 million between 2007 and 2008 for missed appointments. For every person who failed to turn up for their appointment in hospital or general practice, it cost about £100.

Working in general practice, there is a fair share of missed appointments, on average 5-6 per week. Often no explanation is given and when the patient does turn up at a later date there never seems to be much bother about it. Is it really that surprising? Offer someone a free service and people will take advantage. It's no cost to the patient not to turn up, so if they can't, they won't. When I mention to my patients that they missed previous appointments, it's usually met with a shrug and mumbled excuse about how they couldn't get to the phone cause they dropped it in the toilet or something!

The NHS is attempting to address this by trying to setup a text/email service to remind patients about their appointments. In GP-land, different practices have different policies. For example, in my current practice, we tend to phone the patients who have made emergency appointments to make sure there hasn't been an adverse event preventing them from attending. For standard appointments, it is documented in the system and then for the doctor to discuss the missed appointment at the next consultation.

Although it may sound like I'm complaining about missed appointments, it's actually the opposite. I quite like the chance of free 10 minutes in the middle of my surgery - it's like a free gift. If it's busy it gives me the time to catch up, otherwise I get a 10 minute break to relax and get ready for the next patient. During my hospital time, it was even more valuable as all the clinics would overrun and missed appointments would seem like a blessing and allow valuable catch up time. There's mention of hospitals over-booking, but I hope they're careful about how much they overbook - if there's even 60-70% attendance then it will get chaotic.

There was no surprise to read that the worst offenders were young men in their early 20s. They obviously have better things to do. However, in my experience there doesn't seem to be any particular age group - across the board, people miss appointments without giving a reason.

I believe when it comes to missed appointments, there should be a more ruthless approach. A system needs to be developed where patients pay a fee for missing an appointment without at least 24 hour notification (allowing for certain emergency situations - having the plumber run late at home is not an emergency situation).

How you implement this fee is the difficult part. When it comes to health care - charging for the care of someones health is an extremely alien concept in this country. Refusing to see patients unless they pay their fee for missing a previous appointment won't work, especially if the patient has a serious medical problem. Asking the patients to pay out of their own goodwill won't work - patients don't have goodwill. Perhaps getting the patient to pay a deposit prior to the appointment, which is then returned if they attend could be an option. It will be fiddly to say the least and time-consuming, but if patients know there are repercussions for missing an appointment perhaps they won't miss as much.

Finally, whilst we're on the topic of charging, here's one report last month, which looked very interesting. Charging to see a GP? Don't worry, it's not something I support, access to health care should always be free in this country - after all, what are we paying taxes for? Interesting however to see a think-tank have the courage to display such ideas, don't see it taking off somehow. Can you imagine the political damage it would cause if it was backed by the Tories or the Labour party? They wouldn't survive.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

The long-awaited return

2009-08-11T14:13:00.003+01:00

It's the time of year when I find myself with a lot of spare time and after exhausting all other options I return to the blogging world. Admittedly this wasn't planned and neither is it something I particularly want to do but for some reason, yet again, I'm back for some random ramblings about anything and everything. Once again I find myself in the front of the keyboard with time to kill and thoughts to express so let's see how long this return lasts.

You'll be glad to know that my time as a GP Registrar is over - I have qualified as a fully-fledged GP. Finally let loose onto the general public without any supervision. The qualification brings with it a lot of uncertainty, for the first time since I qualified, I am officially self-employed and currently without a permenant position. As a result for the next few months I am a GP nomad (or locum) working here, there and everywhere. Selling my services for an hourly rate to any surgery that needs a doctor. Thankfully demand is high and as it stands I'm fully booked upto mid-November.

Although it has only been 5 days since I qualified and started working as a locum GP, already I am seeing the benefits and why some doctors remains locums for years. My job is pure service provision, I turn up and just see patients. No paperwork, no prescription signing, no letter signing, no home visits, no telephone calls, just a morning and an afternoon surgery for a total of 5hrs and my work is done. Without going into specifics, 5hrs a day earns me enough to want this locum gig going for as long as possible.

The plan is to eventually get a permenant job as a GP partner, ideally in a practice close to home. Until that opportunity arrives, I'm more than content to carry on as a locum, scouring the job ads in the various medical journals waiting for the right job to turn up. I've already had a couple of interviews for partnerships one near the place where I trained (i.e. miles from home) and the other slightly closer. Although on both occasions I got down to the final 2-3 candidates, I was unsuccessful. Still, good experience etc etc. Good to know that my CV is up to scratch and at least I'm getting the opportunity. What the locums have afforded me is the time to make the right choice as and when it arrives.

Other than that, life remains pretty much unspectacular. Not much has happened in the past 5 months or so since I last blogged. Yet again as I restart blogging, Ramadhan is around the corner. It was 2006 when I first started this blog and Ramadhan was about to start, then again last year when I returned it was the same thing again, and now the third time I'm back just before one of the most important months in the Islamic calendar. No doubt I'll be attempting to type about some religious topics which I hope will prove insightful.

So there we go, a brief introduction back into the blogging world and hopefully there will be a lot more to come. After all, my free time has increased further. Before people start moaning about the amount of time doctors waste, using me as an example, may I remind you all that I am no longer paid for the free time. As a locum GP I am paid an hourly rate for the work I do in the morning and afternoon, no more no less, so this is now a free of charge service I am providing for you readers. Isnt' that thoughtful? How faecious of me!

Take care all,

Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Our search for knowledge

2009-03-20T15:43:00.003+01:00

"The one who seeks knowledge is like a warrior in the cause of religion for the way of Allah." (Imam Ali a.s.)

Do you have enough knowledge to call yourself a warrior for the way of Allah? No, nor do I. No doubt at one point or another we find ourselves motivated to learn, to seek knowledge by way of lectures and reading - more often then not this commonly occurs during the first 10 days of Muharrum but soon enough we find ourselves increasingly distracted and subsequently find it hard to fit in the time to make an effort to seriously learn, revise and spread our knowledge of Islam.

Our basic Islamic understanding tends to come from the education provided by our parents or perhaps the few years spent at the Saturday/Sunday madressa, but how much of that knowledge do we retain today, and how much more have we sought ourselves? The information we have learnt from a lecture or a book is only one step in increasing our knowledge. Studies have shown that knowledge can only stay fresh in the human mind for a short period of 24hrs after which it needs to be revised in order for it to be retained. After listening to lectures, ask me what I learnt the next day and the information is limited.

Either out of laziness or naivety, we don't tend to enhance what we have learnt from lectures with further revision. I often think that when the time comes, I'll be able to seek the knowledge from various books or knowledgeable friends, but rarely make the effort to search for knowledge out of choice. It is important to know about the basic Islamic beliefs. I'm sure like me you find yourself in debates with Sunni's or non-Muslims and often come unstuck when your are unable to identify a viewpoint they have as incorrect. You know it's wrong, but can't back it up. The historical fact or quranic verse or narration of that particular event is missing from your mind and you end up looking foolish.

For us Shias it's even more important. There are several topics that are controversial for Sunnis and it's important to be able to talk about them with the correct information. I've previously touched upon temporary marriage and dissimulation and there are other topics which seem to be unique to the Shias although backed up by the Quran and Ahl-Bayt, and often cause great difficulty for us simply because we don't have the knowledge to back ourselves.

Islamic law and jurisprudence is arguably the most difficult simply because of the level of detail that is needed to have a proper understanding. However, even if we stick to the basics, how much knowledge do we have? Do we know what invalidates our prayers, what breaks our ablution, what needs to be performed after certain events? It is not good enough to simply argue that our intentions are pure and therefore God will accept our mistakes or lapses. When we have the ability to learn and clarify our practices, then there can be no excuse for being lazy - shaitan thrives on this laziness and lures us into a false sense of security.

I remember a hadith as a child (I don't have the authentic source unfortunately) where a man dreams about the shaitan. He sees him in a room lining up some equipment - a rope, a pipe, some string, a tree trunk etc. He asks him what is he doing. The shaitan replies that he's preparing his tools for distracting people during their prayers. Some people's faith and concentration is so strong that only a push with the tree trunk can distract them, for others a rope is sufficient to distract them and others, a piece of string. The man asks what he needs in order to distract the Prophet, the shaitan says that no power on Earth can distract the Prophet during his namaaz. The man confident about his namaaz having learnt it from the Prophet, asked the shaitan what he used to distract him. The shaitan put all his equipment away and said for you I don't need any of this, just a pull on my little finger is enough to distract you.

Ever since I've heard this hadith, I've always thought is shaitan using only his little finger to distract me? Sometimes it is so easy to get distracted. To strengthen our concentration we need more knowledge of what namaaz means and how important it is. We can't just say that our intention was pure, we need to constantly strive to improve our concentration levels at all times. Maybe then the shaitan will need to use something stronger to distract us - we can safely say that he won't give up - but our struggle to defy him can get stronger with more knowledge.

Having identified what we need to do, what is the best way to achieve it? Starting from scratch would be the best bet. Identifying the basics of Islam - the wajab and haram acts and then checking how much of it do we actually know. There are plentiful sources online such as Al-Islam.org and Madressa.net, both have excellent resources of knowledge, easily navigated and easy to read.

After exploring the basics, reading books which go into more depth will make more sense. Al-Islam.org has a vast amount of lectures and literature composed by a variety of scholars, our Imams and the Holy Prophet. There are also quite a few resources for watching lectures online such as ShiaTV.net and AIMIslam.org which again are a useful source of knowledge and information.

Armed with this ever increasing knowledge will not only increase our faith and beliefs and thus bring us closer to God, but also allow us to engage in debate and discussion with confidence and a certain level of authoritativeness. Obviously people will always try to catch us out, but having more and more information can only help. If you get a chance and inshallah have the motivation, check out the above sites and see what you make of it all. I particularly recommend the fact sheets of Shi'ism as a starting point, indeed many of you might recognise them from my blogs which have been based on them in the past and no doubt I'll be referring to them again in the future at some stage.

Before wrapping up, I want to congratulate Liverpool for the sumptuous thrashing of Manchester United last week and then commiserate as once again they face Chelsea in the quarter-final of the Champions League - it's going to be tense once again and I always hate the tension that surrounds these games, being a supporter is not that much fun.

Lastly, the new series of The Apprentice starts next Wednesday. It's always been entertaining for one thing - how dumb the candidates are. No matter what their background, some of the things they try in their tasks are just so inane, you wonder how Sir Alan could hire any of them. Should be entertaining.

Take care all,

Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Mind draws a _____

2009-03-13T14:43:00.003+01:00

I've been sat staring at the screen for the last 15minutes thinking of something to blog about and my mind is completely blank. How sad. It's just been one of those typical mundane weeks where nothing much has really happened. Patients come and go, most are well and don't need my help - it has been a boring week to say the least. What follows now is some random chatter about nothing, so if you're reading then you've probably had a boring week as well.

Actually to start things off, I did have an interesting patient present last week in my surgery. A young Irish lady came complaining of multiple mouth sores/ulcers. Nothing interesting about that you may say, but then as part of my general health screening I asked about her job (as stress can be a cause for mouth ulcers) and she revealed that she was a fire-eater! I don't know how many fire-eaters you have met but she was my first one. As part of her act, she had to hold large quantities of liquid paraffin in her mouth and then spit it out on a naked flame to get a fire-eating effect. She works in the entertainment industry (unsurprisingly) and was part of an event group which organised shows and displays for corporate businesses. Her group appeared on Dragon's Den last year and were signed up by James Caan.

As I had a bit of time to spare before my next patient, I asked her about her experiences of James Caan. You may know that Caan was actually born as Nazim Khan to muslim parents in Pakistan. He changed his name when he saw the actor James Caan in The Godfather because he liked the spelling of 'Caan', plus, no doubt, he wanted a name that wouldn't sound like a muslim! Anyway, the patient described him as a bit of sleaze, always slightly drunk and hitting on the ladies at various parties. She then went on to say that during Ramadan whilst she was fasting, he was happily eating and drinking.

Pause for a moment and read that last sentence again. She was fasting? Immediately I interrupted her (going against all GP principles) to double check what she had just said. Indeed she was muslim, and had converted (re-verted) several years ago whilst living in Egypt. She was married to a son of a sheikh and converted after reading the Quran looking for answers about life. She spoke fluent Arabic andhad previously worn hijab but was currently reflecting on her experiences before hoping to resume the hijab once again. Rather enlightening to say the least. A fire-eating Irish muslim - surely one of a kind!

Anyway, back to the boring stuff. Liverpool's title challenge has lasted longer than most years this season and this weekend sees them face the might of Manchester United at Old Trafford. They need a win to have any chance of challenging for the title. Already 7 points behind, to fall 10 points behind with defeat would spell the end of their challenge this year and would mean that Man Utd would match the record 18 titles that Liverpool have won in their history. I started supporting Liverpool properly in 1994 and at that point Man Utd had won only 8 titles. Fast-forward 15 years and whilst Liverpool haven't budged from 18, Man Utd are about to catch up unless something can be done starting from this weekend.

It's ridiculous the amount of criticism Liverpool get on an almost daily basis for not being good enough to maintain a challenge. Everyone ignores the simple fact that Man Utd simply have far more resources because they have been able to spend a lot more money than Liverpool. At a quick glance, Man Utd have at least 5 players worth over £20 million, (not including Ronaldo) whilst Liverpool have only one (Torres). With that in mind, it's impressive that Liverpool were able to maintain a strong challenge for as long as they did this year.

Moving on briefly to mention 24. The show continues its resurgence with Day 7 this year. It has been a true return to form and I've forgotten about the drab that was Day 6 back in 2007. The last few episodes have been especially good. If you've never watched it, I truly urge you to go out and buy Day 1 NOW! I'm not going to talk about it any further until the season finishes as I don't want to spoil anything until it has completed.

I should conclude now, as I'm sure if you've persevered and read on to this point, you'll be grateful for the finish as well. I leave you with a YouTube clip of Michael McIntyre Live at The Apollo just to cheer you up after that boring read.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Temporary marriage and Dissimulation

2009-03-06T14:34:00.005+01:00

I received a rather disturbing YouTube link to a video by Watford Man. The clip is by a American born Sunni 'scholar' criticising Shia's and Shia beliefs. Normally, this would not cause any concern, there have been many before and there are sure to be many after that will criticise Shias. However, what made this video stand out was the person speaking. "Sheikh" Yasir Qadhi was born and educated in America and then completed further Islamic studies in Saudi Arabia. He is a prominent speaker on the Islam Channel and Peace TV. Rather than the usual Arab nutjobs who rant and rave against Shias, his presentations tend to be calm, reflected and researched with Shia sources - making it sound very convincing. Have a listen, see what you think and then I'll attempt to discuss some of the points he raises.

He recently visited the UK for a Global Peace and Unity event hosted by the Islam Channel and had some Labour politicians as guests. Along with his views about Shias, he has also expressed derogatory opinions about the Jews and the Holocaust - so at least we're not his only targets - and so to have him at a Peace event is rather worrying.

Dealing with the issues he raises in the above clip, he picks on the most often used topics to criticise Shias - namely Muta (Temporary Marriage) and Taqqiyah (Dissimulation). Both of these concepts, he claims, are practiced by Shias and both are against the teachings of God and the Holy Prophet. To support his claims he quotes from Usl-al-Kafi, a collection of sayings from the 6th Holy Imam.

If I get into these two topics in depth, I could be here for hours. However, what I will attempt to do is discuss the two topics using the Quran and also touch upon the history of these practices and then hopefully you can decide how accurate his claims are. As always, the best place to start is the Quran. The concept of Muta revolves around one main verse in the Quran:

"(...Except the forbidden women) the rest are lawful unto you to seek them with gifts from your property (i.e., dowry), provided that you desire protection (from sin), not fornication. So for whatever you have had of pleasure (Istamta'tum) with them by the contract, give unto them their appointed wages as a duty. And there is no sin for you in what you both agree (in extending the contract) after fulfilling the (first) duty. Lo! Allah is ever Knower, Wise." (Surah 4, Verse 24)

The word 'marriage' is specifically not mentioned in this verse, it is instead the word 'istamatatum' which translates to muta (temporary marriage). It was a practice that was allowed during the time of the Prophet and according to many Sunni books was later prohibited by the second caliph, Umar. Referring to the main Sunni book of hadith - Sahih Bukhari, we find a narration stating: "The Verse of Muta was revealed in Allah's Book, so we performed it with Allah's Apostle, and nothing was revealed in Qur'an to make it illegal, nor did the Prophet prohibit it till he died. But the man (who regarded it illegal) just expressed what his own mind suggested." (Sahih Bukhari, Book 60 - Prophetic commentary on the Quran - Hadith #43). The man mentioned was Umar the second caliph.

Furthermore, in Sahih Muslim, the claim that Umar banned the act of Muta is confirmed in the following hadith: "Abu Nadra reported: While I was in the company of Jabir b. Abdullah, a person came to him and said that Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn Zubair differed on the two types of Mut'as (Tamattu' of Hajj 1846 and Tamattu' with women), whereupon Jabir said: We used to do these two during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). Umar then forbade us to do them, and so we did not revert to them." (Sahih Muslim, Book 8 - Book of Marriage - Hadith #3250) So, with the aid of Sunni sources, not mentioned by the "Sheikh", it seems as if Muta is allowed as according to the Quran, practiced during the time of the Prophet and was subsequently forbidden by the second Caliph. As a Muslim, I think it's important to follow the Prophet rather than the second Caliph, don't you?

Having tried to prove the authenticity of Muta, obviously it is a topic that raises much debate because of what it means. I don't want to get into the rights and wrongs of Muta. It was introduced at a time when fornication and prostitution was rife, it was used at a time when men went to war and would be separated from their wives for long periods. Like any other rule or act, it is open to abuse. By all means criticise those who abuse the laws of Islam, but to abuse the act when it is clearly allowed by God and his Prophet is wrong.

Moving on to Taqqiyah and the act of dissimulation - i.e. to hide one's true faith in the face of provocation and risk of life, let me begin again by referring to the Quran:

"Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters Unbelief,- except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful penalty." (Surah 16, Verse 106)
"A believer, a man from among the people of Pharaoh, who had concealed his faith, said: "Will ye slay a man because he says, 'My Lord is Allah'? (Surah 40, Verse 28)
"When Moses came back to his people, angry and grieved, he said: "Evil it is that ye have done in my place in my absence: did ye make haste to bring on the judgment of your Lord?" He put down the tablets, seized his brother by (the hair of) his head, and dragged him to him. Aaron said: "Son of my mother! the people did indeed reckon me as naught, and went near to slaying me! Make not the enemies rejoice over my misfortune, nor count thou me amongst the people of sin." (Surah 7, Verse 150)

The above three verses all go some way to explaining the concept of taqiyyah. The first verse states that taqiyyah is permissible only in the times of need, in the second verse a believer was forced to conceal his faith at the time of the Pharaoh for fear of prosecution and lastly even a Prophet of God had to engage in taqiyyah in order to save his own life. Infact, the Holy Prophet himself had to engage in taqiyyah during the first 3 yrs of the revelation to prevent Islam being obliterated at the very beginning.

The concept of taqiyyah is clearly supported by the Quran and one that is engaged by Muslims at times of persecution. It doesn't mean that we have become liars and cannot be trusted. Qadhi goes on to quote Usul-al-Kafi and the remark from our 6th Holy Imam: ""Nine tenths of religion is Taqiyyah (dissimulation), hence one who does not dissimulate has no religion." (Al-Kafi, Volume 9). From this he has concluded that 90% of the Shia faith is based on lies. Typical Sunni course of action, taking one quote completely out of context.

Ignoring the fact that the Qadhi himself ignores the Quran, let's discuss the above quote. This statement was first made at a time when true Muslims were under severe prosecution. The rulers of the Arab world at the time were extremely corrupt and keen to abolish Islam altogether. To prevent the risk of death and punishment, many Muslims had to engage in taqiyyah. This is supported by Sahih Bukhari: "Anas said, "I do not find (now-a-days) things as they were (practiced) at the time of the Prophet." Somebody said "The prayer (is as it was.)" Anas said, "Have you not done in the prayer what you have done? Narrated Az-Zuhri that he visited Anas bin Malik at Damascus and found him weeping and asked him why he was weeping. He replied, "I do not know anything which I used to know during the life-time of Allah's Apostle except this prayer which is being lost (not offered as it should be)." (Book 10 - Times of the prayers - Hadith#507)

The above hadith testifies that the practices of the Holy Prophet had been changed and even the namaaz was being altered. During this time, where were the true Muslims? If they weren't raising their voice, they remained in hiding to save themselves. When the 6th Holy Imam states that 90% of the religion is taqiyyah, then that is because 90% of the religion being practiced by the rulers was corrupt and not the true religion of Islam. Anyone who wasn't engaging in taqiyyah, but was instead following the rules of the caliphs at that time was not practising true Islam.

More importantly, fast-forwarding to today and post 9/11, Muslims throughout the world are being prosecuted and victimised. In the face of such aggravation what are we meant to do? In some situations people have no choice but to hide their true beliefs. To interpret taqiyyah as a form of lying and not telling the truth as Qadhi accuses Shias of is plain wrong and again extremely convenient for his style of preaching.

I've attempted to touch the surface of these two vast topics. I feel that using the Quran, as the main source would be a good starting point and also provide some clarification about the two practices. There is much more detail to go into about these topics and I finish with some links for further reading if any of you are interested about it.

Muta
Taqqiyah

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Tiredness is killing V

2009-02-27T14:47:00.004+01:00

Friday is not a good day to blog I have decided. I'm just too tired - man I sound like a broken record. The weeks efforts takes its toll on me so from next week I'm going to pick another day to blog instead. In the meantime, not wanting to disappoint my many readers (all five of them), I might as well type about something before the weekend.

First of all, I passed my exams! Boy, what a relief, I have never been stressed out for results before in my life (except perhaps my driving test), but there was real pressure on these results - approximately £1400 worth of pressure to be precise, so to pass was a big, big relief. I can now qualify as a GP this August inshallah - who knows, you may suffer at my hands one day in the near future.

I'm sure many, if not all of you have been following the Oscars earlier this week and the remarkable success of Slumdog Millionaire - a rag to riches story of a boy from the Mumbai slums, explaining through a series of flashbacks, how he came to know the answers to the questions in the gameshow (Who Want's To Be A Millionaire?) whilst growing up in the slums.

I watched the film last week and although entertaining, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. I've seen far better Bollywood films over the years, but because this was a British film made in India with Indians, suddenly it became this huge phenomenon. The actor, Dev Patel is from Harrow and can barely disguise his British accent and Anil Kaoor (the show's host), was the third choice behind Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan - although I bet they regret turning it down now.

Amusingly, have a look at Amitabh Bachchan's blog to see how much the films success seems to irritate him. In his latest blogs this week he's pasted several newspaper clippings all having a go at the film - jealous perhaps? He continues to argue that he is simply inviting debate, but interestingly all the views are negative. Never mind Big B.

Alongside the awards for Best Picture and Best Film was the award of two Oscars for A.R. Rahman for Best Song and Best Score. It was great to seem him perform both songs from the film in the Kodak theatre in front of all the Hollywood superstars. However, the music was not his best work, but again, because it's a British film, it got the recognition that no Bollywood film could get on the international stage. All in all a remarkable success story.

With that, I think I'll give up, I'm too tired to type further. I think I'll quit and grab a nap before my afternoon surgery which starts in one hours time.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

What is the point?

2009-02-20T14:28:00.002+01:00

As always I find myself on a Friday afternoon absolutely shattered. Having a baby is not as easy as I first thought. I think my wife and I had been riding the confidence and excitement wave for the first 3 months, but now things have taken a turn for the worse. My daughter seemingly never wants to settle down. She is forever waking up in the middle of the night, demanding some attention so that she can get some sleep and it's taking its toll.

Last night, for example, she woke both of us up at 4.30am crying her head off. She would not settle until she had a feed and then would only stop crying if she lay between us in bed. At this point we were both half asleep but instead of sleeping, she decided that now would be a good time to start playing, kicking and making noise - she was wide awake! Naturally being the one who has to go to work in the morning I tried to go back to sleep but I just couldn't. The end result meant that I didn't get to sleep at least until 5.30am and I am experiencing the "thrill of feeling tired!"

Anyway, moving on. In the months I've been away from blogging, the months of Muharrum and Safar have just completed in the Islamic Calendar. I have already blogged awhile back about the importance and significance of Muharrum here, here and here, so I'm not about to repeat myself but nonetheless it will always be a very religious and spiritual time for all Shias across the globe.

During these months, as I attend majalises and continue to gain further knowledge about Islam, the Quran, the Prophet and the Imams I always try to make sure that this Muharrum is more fruitful than the last and that the motivation remains for longer after its conclusion. The basic aim is to keep the motivation going through to Safar and then extending towards Ramadan when I get the next injection of motivation.

To help, I like to employ discussion about a variety of topics with my family and friends. I'm extremely lucky in that I have a group of friends all of similar age, with kids etc who are all Shia and all motivated to explore Islam. One such discussion I had was particularly interesting and I wanted to share it on the blog (don't worry, everyone will remain anonymous).

What is your opinion on the meaning of life? Why are we here? I've often thought what is the point of it all? Why did God create us to lead the life that we do? If you think about it from a very pessimistic/negative point of view you can get caught into thinking that our existence is pretty rudimentary. God has created us on this Earth in order to judge us. Everything we do will be judged as right or wrong and then if we are deemed worthy we will be rewarded by being sent to heaven, otherwise the punishment is hell. Would it not be easier if we didn't exist at all? Why go through all this for such reward whilst at the same time running the risk of severe punishment.

These questions led one person to comment that knowing what they know about God, Day of Judgement, heaven and hell etc, they would rather not be human. Why not be an animal or a plant who doesn't have the same 'burdens of life' instead? Another person went further to say why exist at all? They felt it would be better had they not existed at all because then they wouldn't have to face any of this trail of life. An interesting thought, although incredibly flawed because the person could only have that viewpoint because they existed in the first place. However, it got me thinking that hypothetically if I had a choice, would I want to exist? If say, God had me in heaven and showed me the trials and tribulations of mankind, would I want to join it and face those trials?

As we explored this further, we came to realise that this opinion stems from our understanding on the meaning of life. Are we here simply to achieve the reward of heaven or does our reason for existence lie deeper than that? The answer is the latter. God did not create us as a hobby, he did not place us on this Earth simply to blindly follow him so that we can be rewarded and sent to heaven. Our creation serves a much more important purpose.

The one quality we possess that defines us from all of Gods' creations is 'free will.' Us (and jinns) have the ability to make our own decisions with no outside force from God, shaitan or anyone else. We have the ability to do whatever we want, we have to ability to choose to worship God. Our purpose on this Earth quite clearly is too worship God out of our own volition, God puts in clearly in the Quran: "I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me." (Surah 51, Verse 56). This ability to choose is what separates us and elevates us beyond all of God's creations, even the Angels, as they do not have this choice.

God takes our purpose further when he states: "Say: Lo! my worship and my sacrifice and my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds." (Surah 6, Verse 162). It is clear that we have been created to worship God. We're not here to achieve heaven or avoid hell, we have a greater purpose than that. If we think purely about heaven or hell then we are missing the point. Heaven or hell is our reward/punishment depending on how we go about our worship of God.

An analogy would be to compare it to our career. We study for a qualification in order to achieve a successful career. It's not the other way around. We cannot aim for a career without the relevant qualifications. Similarly, we can't just think that we're here to try to get to heaven and forget to worship God. By worshipping God properly we have a chance of achieving a place in heaven.

By worshipping God, it means we are compelled to follow his commands, his Prophets and his Imams. The worship determines our type of life. It is not good enough to just say we worship but then do nothing to qualify that worship. Every action we take as to reflect on our worship, we must constantly be striving to seek God's pleasure and that is what the trial is all about. We are here to be tested for our worship of God. Being possessed with free will ensures that we have that ability to choose and hence when we choose the right worship and follow God as prescribed by him our reward will inshallah be greater.

Thus, we should not become too preoccupied with the punishment in hell or the rewards of heaven. Instead we should focus our energies in elevating ourselves spiritually and following the legal-moral-ethical guidelines of Islam with certitude and conviction and voluntary submit to God because He is worthy of our submission.

I often feel that atheists are who they are because they're lazy. They can't bring themselves to follow God and his commands and therefore deny his existence. I'm sure that many of them know that God does exist, but purely can't be bothered to acknowledge it because it would mean too much work for them. I'm sure God will 'reward' them appropriately for there laziness.

So, to wrap things up, our purpose on this Earth, our creation on this Earth is for us to worship God. Nothing more, nothing less. If you still have doubts about the point of existing, or harbor secrets desires of being a tree or a bird, I leave you with the words of our first Holy Imam: "O God, I do not worship You out of fear of the hell-fire because this would be the worship of a slave. Nor do I worship You out of desire for the pleasures of paradise because this would be the worship of a merchant. Rather I worship You because You are worthy of worship."

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Change of perceptions

2009-02-13T10:15:00.007+01:00

As promised I am back. Who knows whose reading, but frankly I don't care. It's good to back typing, good to be back to the blogging world. Since I last posted over two months ago, a lot has happened and I've made a startling discovery - GP life can be hard! Shocking, I know, but also true - I've experienced it first hand.

Before you get all cynical on me allow me to explain. When I last blogged in December I stated the reason for the pause in blogging was due to my study commitments, however, during the time off my day-to-day work has been extraordinarily busy. This all came about due to a change in practice. Until October my experience of GP-life was cozy to say the least. I was working in a sleepy rural town filled with the "worried well," patients who had too much time on their hands and would often come with problems that were trivial and often non-existant. It was mainly an exercise in reassurance.

However, since October I've seen the (dark) light. My trainer has been off sick since August last year and as a result it was rightly felt that I should switch practices as my training was suffering. My new practice has been the complete opposite. I've been working at a urban, town centre practice which has been absolutely manic.

In the past I have been critical of GP workloads and how they don't really do that much, but that was based purely on my experiences of working in a quiet GP practice. Now I have seen the other side of the coin. Since October my GP work has been busy to say the least. My morning surgery starts at 9am and the schedules appointments finish at 11.30am. However, extra appointments made on the day ensure that I finish at 12.30pm. I then have at least two home visits and after that have to go through a ream of blood results and hospital letters and I finish the morning surgery by 1.30pm. The afternoon surgery starts at 3pm, scheduled to finish at 5pm, but invariably by the time I leave it is nearer to 6pm.

And it doesn't stop there. A lot of the patients have serious health problems and suffer with a variety of chronic diseases, sometimes more than one which require a lot of help and intervention, so inevitably the appointments run over the allocated 10 minutes. It doesn't help when the majority of the patient population are from the poorer end of the social class, meaning a lot of the time they don't have clue about how ill they really are - "the unworried ill."All in all it has been the complete opposite to my experiences in the quiet rural practice.

On top of all that, the workload has been increased further with my continuing use of the ePortfolio and revision for my nMRCGP exams (the results of which I await at the end of the month). It's amazing to see the range of workloads across different practices and different GPs. In my previous practice the GPs would enjoy a leisurely break at the end of the morning surgery, often go home to have lunch with their families and then return refreshed for the afternoon session. At the new practice, it seems the GPs just about have enough time for lunch. But the significant thing out of all of this is that both types of GPs are paid around the same amount - in fact the GPs in my previous rural practice probably earn more as they also dispense drugs which brings in additional income.

So where has this left me? It's been a complete eye-opener. From being critical of GPs, I now find myself at the opposite end - a GP defender! Having experienced life as a busy GP, I no longer will be joining the GP-bashing brigade. The more important question is what type of GP do I want to be in the future? I find myself in a bit of a confused state. I'm sure most of you will expect me to claim that the rural GP is the life for me, but I'm not sure. This new practice has been busy, but along with that it has actually been interesting. I'm not just dealing with the bog-standard "coughs and colds," but also actual medical problems that require my intervention to improve patients quality of life. I'm managing long-term chronic conditions and seeing progress in a patients life and it seems to be surprisingly motivating. Could it be that I'm beginning to appreciate what it means to be a doctor?!

I'm not sure at the moment where this leaves me. This month I have changed practices once again as the busy practice was a temporary solution whilst we had hopes that my original trainer would be returning. As that is not the case, I have been allocated another trainer in a different practice. This practice is actually spread across four different sites and seems to offer a cross between a rural and an urban type patient population. This sounds ideal to me and will probably help decide where I want to be in the future once I qualify inshallah.

Interestingly, during the first meeting with my new trainer, we had the usual "getting to know each other" meeting. In the past, I've been frank and honest and said that medicine wasn't the most interesting thing in my life and I didn't enjoy my work, but it was something I was good at. Although this time I explained all that once again, I actually suggested that perhaps that perception was changing, following my recent experiences in a busy practice. I'll keep you all posted as this new sense of appreciation develops in the next few months!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Goodbye for now II...

2008-12-03T12:39:00.003+01:00

I knew this time would come. As you can tell, the blogs have dried up recently and although I've been keen to type, I just haven't had the time. This ePortfolio and nMRCGP is taking up a lot of my time. I think I better put a pause on the blog for the time being. I have exams at the end of January/beginning of February, so until then I'm going to take a break from the blogging. Inshallah, provided I pass the exams I'll be back to my blogging best sometime in February.

In the meantime if anyone would like to type a blog of their own for this site then please get in touch through the comments section and I'll be glad to post their blog at any time.

So, until February this is me officially signing out.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Jack's back

2008-11-24T16:54:00.002+01:00

Finally tonight after over 18 months, Jack Bauer makes a much welcome, much awaited, much overdue return to our screens for a 2-hour special 24 TV-movie tonight; 24:Redemption. The movie acts as a setup for season 7 which will return in January, 2 years after season 6 started. The delay was due to the writer's strike which crippled Hollywood earlier this year with 24 being the biggest casualty. Thankfully the wait is over: Jack's back.

You may remember in my last blogging stint, I typed at length about the brilliance of 24 and Jack Bauer here and here as I welcomed the start of season 6. That was a big disappointment. Us 24 fans are used to the plot holes, the ridiculous CTU politics or the miraculous abilities of Jack Bauer but season 6 was just a big disappointment, especially following on from the critically acclaimed season 5 (with Logan et al). We last left Jack staring into the distance standing on top of a cliff having said goodbye to his true love Audrey Raines. That was 18 months ago. It's been quite a wait.

The movie, filmed in Africa, is set in a fictional country, Sangala where Jack has gone to seek solace and to just get away from it all. Obviously, trouble follows Jack wherever he goes, regardless of the country and it's not long before things get out of hand. Simultaneously, back in Washington D.C. the new female President (blatantly cast by the producers because they thought Hiliary Clinton was going to be running) is being inaugurated and having to deal with the same crisis in Sangala.

Hopefully the 18 month break means the writers have had plenty of time to make sure the story lines and plots develop properly and we don't have any jumps or twists that make no sense. After the disappointment of season 6 and the long gap between that and season 7, I simply can't wait for the return of our favourite anti-hero - Jack Bauer. Thanks to Sky's affiliation with FOX, UK viewers will be able to watch the movie tonight on Sky 1 at 10pm. Even if you haven't watched 24 before, watch the movie to introduce yourself to Jack Bauer, you don't need any back history to be able to understand what's going on, and hopefully the movie will wet your appetite - there's still plenty of time to watch seasons 1-6 before season 7 starts in January. In fact I envy those who haven't watched 24 and are able to watch 6 seasons back-to-back, I'm definitely going to do that one day.

Before I finish, I just want to say thanks to the person who left a comment on my previous post, providing a link for the list of 100 blog topics - there were certainly a few headings which I will be discussing in due course.

Let me know what you think of the 24 movie tonight. Remember, you don't have to be a die-hard fan. Just watch the movie as an introduction into 24 - I won't be surprised if you're left wanting more.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Random ramblings for the century post

2008-11-19T09:49:00.005+01:00

A milestone has been reached today with this being my 100th post on this blog. Technically not all 100 posts have been by me, but nevertheless, still a significant achievement. As a celebration I think I'm gonna have random ramble, as no specific topic comes to mind today.

The credit crunch disaster continues to show no signs of abating. Interest rates have now fallen to 3%. I took out a mortgage only 18 months ago and was strongly advised to take a fixed-rate mortgage - someone was either having a laugh or was totally clueless about the impending crunch. It seems likely to be the latter, which leads me to ask how were people so clueless about the situation and not have any contingency plans? The interest rate cut smacks of desperation, further supported by reports that the rate will need to be cut further in the coming months - seems all a bit "too little, too late."

Along with that has been the recent coverage of tax-cuts in an attempt to stimulate the economy and get people spending money again. The retail market has taken a big hit, with everyone tightening their purses, spending shoppers have been on the decline. I recently visited the new Westfield shopping centre in London and although it was filled with loads of people, what was noticeable was how short the queues were for paying in the shops. I think many people were there to admire the new store and window shop, rather than actually spend large amounts of money. I include myself in this, as we just used the various vouchers we already had and spent very little cash.

A side-effect of the credit crunch has seen consumer spending increase in the entertainment industry, mainly the cinemas and TV subscriptions. How else can one explain the remarkable box-office success of the new James Bond movie: Quantum Of Solace, which is currently topping both the US and the UK box-office and has already made over $321 million worldwide? It's not even that good - with action scene after action scene and a story that's too complicated to follow, it was like a Jason Bourne movie! There was none of the typical humour, wit and gadgets that make a Bond movie. He didn't even say "the names Bond..., James Bond," surely that should be a guarantee in all Bond movies!

Whilst I'm rambling about movies, I recently saw the Bollywood movie Dostana, and whilst the idea of a couple pretending to be gay in a Hollywood movie would not be something I want to watch, because it was a topic being dealt with in a Bollywood movie it became interesting. It was absolutely hilarious! Go see it now.

Along with the movie industry, there has also been a increase in the number of subscribers to Sky TV with the company announcing a 25% increase in profits this year. People are staying at home more and therefore looking for more in-house entertainment. What better than a new subscription to Sky Sports or Sky Movies or even Sky HD?

Moving away from all the credit crunch talk, how about an update on all things medical? I must say it has been a gentle re-introduction to work after my 3 weeks off in earlier this month. As always I continue to jump through hoops for my ePortfolio and have recently forked out over £1300 for one exam next year (the CSA), but I don't want to bore you with those particular details. As for patient contact, pretty uneventful thus far. I did see one patient who suffered from an extremely rare syndrome that I'd never heard of before - Klippel Trenaunay syndrome, let's just leave it at that - you can click on the link and read all about it if you're interested!

I've sat staring at the screen trying to think of something interesting to type and can't come up with anything. Not a good way to celebrate the 100th posting! I think I better give-up for today. How about someone come up with some topics for me to blog about? I guess that will be difficult as it would require you to leave a comment, and no-one likes doing that it seems. Don't worry, the 101st post is going to be much better - a certain Jack Bauer will be returning...

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Method of prayer

2008-11-14T10:30:00.006+01:00

Another week goes by as we approach the end of 2008. Yet again, another year of my life has flown by in a flash. I look at my baby and think that she didn't even exist at the beginning of the year and now here she is in front of me, increasing my level of responsibility dramatically, how time flies.

This week saw the world commemorate Armistice Day - the end of the first world war 90 years ago on November the 11th. For a definition of futility, look no further than World War I. It took place from 1914-1918 and saw the loss of millions upon millions of men all for little to no gain whatsoever. The military tactics of trench warfare saw millions of soldiers sent "over the top" to their deaths. The tactic seemed to be to send as many people as possible and hope that the sheer numbers would lead to victory. In 1995 I visited the battlefields of Somme, Ypres and Verdun on a school trip, and to this day I vividly remember the rows of trenches and rows upon rows of unnamed tombstones - a complete exercise of futility, and World War II wasn't much better either.

On to bigger and better things. One of the five pillars of Islam is the act of prayer - to pray to God at prescribed times during the day, to remember him and ask him for help. It is the mainstay of Islam and a provision for all Muslims to seek help directly from God. All religions prescribe some form of prayer and Islam is no different.

Unfortunately divisions in Islam, namely the Shia and Sunni sects has led to divisions in the conduct of most practices and the act of prayer is no exception. All Muslims believe in the five daily mandatory prayers and they also agree that these five prayers have set times in which they must be performed.

The first difference arises from whether the prayers can be combined or whether they need to be kept separate. Shia's believe that the afternoon prayers (Zuhr and Asr) and the evening prayer (Maghrib and Isha) can be combined at any time. The four different schools of Sunnism believe differently. Some schools believe prayer can only be combined during travel or periods of danger, other schools believe they cannot be combined at all. For the correct answer, let's start by looking at the Quran. It states: "Establish regular prayers at the Sun's decline till the darkness of the night, and the recital of the Quran in the morning prayer; for the recital of the dawn is Witnessed." (Surah 17, Verse 78). In this verse, three prayer times are mentioned, so that is the first indication of three separate times for prayer, not five. From that, it is sensible to ask what did the Prophet do? Look no further than Sahih Muslim:

"Ibn 'Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed the noon and afternoon prayers together, and the sunset and Isha' prayers together without being in a state of fear or in a state of journey." (Book 4, Chapter 100, Hadith 1515)

And why did the Prophet do this?

"I said to Ibn Abbas: What prompted him to do that? He said: So that his prophet's Ummah should not be put to (unnecessary) hardship." (Book 4, Chapter 100, Hadith 1516)

The next debate is over the method of prayer. All Shias place their forehead on a natural substance when bowing in sajdah, often a piece of rock. Sunnis place their forehead directly on the carpet/rug/mat and then claim that Shias worship the rock. Again, what did the Prophet do? In another famous Sunni book, Sahih Bukhari it narrates hadith which state:

"The Messenger of Allah performed prayer and I (one of the wives of the Holy Prophet) lay opposite to him while I was in menses. Sometimes his clothes touched me when he prostrated, and he used to prostrate on khumra (a piece of rock or dirt)." (Volume 1, Book 6, Hadith 321)

Also, the Prophet is quoted as saying:

"...the earth has been made pure and a place of prostration for me, so whenever the time of prayer comes for any one of you, he should pray wherever he is..." (Volume 1, Book 7, Hadith 323)

Lastly, when Shias stand in prayer, they do so with their arms by their sides. Sunnis can't seem to make up their minds. Some do the same as Shias, others stand with their arms folded, with some folding above the abdomen and other over the waist. Some with the left arm over the right and vicer-versa.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find reliable sources to settle this particular discussion either way, perhaps you know of some. However, with the application of good sense, the answer in my mind is clear. All Shias pray with the arms by their sides. On the other hand, four different schools of Sunnism have four different methods of standing in prayer. If the schools can't agree on a relatively simple task, then I think I'll stick to my method.

Having briefly discussed the difference in the method of prayer, I hope I have been able to clarify some of the myths of Shia prayer and also explain why we do what we do, backed up with Sunni sources only. I will finish rather abruptly now as I am going home to my daughter - looks good just typing it!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Guess who's back IV

2008-11-10T15:13:00.002+01:00

As you can see I've been away for quite a while, almost a month, but I have a very good excuse! My wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on the 19th of October and I have just returned to work after 3 weeks of paternity/annual leave spending time relaxing with my wife and baby (along with plenty of sessions playing the new Pro Evolution 2009 - much to my wife's disdain, but boys will be boys). It's true what they say, having a baby does change your life. Suddenly everything has become about her. A baby who doesn't even respond to us has become the most important thing in our life.

Over the past three weeks numerous family and friends have been visiting, all wanting a cuddle with the baby, receiving a lot of presents and so far it has been really fun and enjoyable. Everything else seems to have taken a backseat. Arguments, concerns, distractions, all have dissolved into nothing and all the focus is on their new grand-daughter, niece, cousin, etc. Along with the attention comes all the advice. What's difficult is deciphering what's important and what isn't. Some of the advice is useful, other stuff is almost pure superstition. Overall, so far, it has been an amazing experience and it was a wrench to get up and come to work this morning.

While I've been away a lot has happened in the world. Most significant was the recent victory by a certain Barack Obama in the US presidential elections. The Americans aren't so stupid after all. However, the optimism has to be tempered somewhat be recent events following his victory. First was the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as his chief-of-staff. A man who is as pro-Israeli as they come - he even volunteered to serve in the Israeli army during the Gulf War in 1991. His appointment led his father to comment: "Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he be? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House." Great! Just what we need.

Secondly was the response Obama gave when asked about the unprecedented congratulatory message he received from his Iranian counterpart (Ahmedinajad): "Iran's development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. We have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening." Never mind the fact that the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (a UN led watchdog) clearly stated that "...the Islamic Republic is still lacking the key components to produce an atomic weapon. They do not have even the nuclear material, the raw unenriched uranium to develop one nuclear weapon if they decide to do so." The President has already seemingly decided that Iran is making a nuclear weapon regardless of the evidence. Ominous signs already, we'll have to wait and see how this plays out.

What else has been happening? Oh yes, how could I forgot Liverpool continuing their fine start to the season, joint top of the Premiership and never have I been this optimistic that they may continue to stay there and challenge for the rest of the season. The optimism breeds from a great victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Their first defeat at home for over four years - I wasn't even married the last time a team beat Chelsea in the Premier League.

With my return to work comes the bad news of exams for my MRCGP around the corner in January/February. The next few months are going to be very busy with my surgeries, tutorials, ePortfolio and studying for my exams. As a result, it is going to be difficult to maintain this blog on a regular basis. Instead, I will strive to blog at least once a week and hope other will contribute and that you all will continue to read albeit at less regular intervals. For now, it's sad to be back at work, and I am missing my daughter!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

The perfect consultation

2008-10-15T10:19:00.003+01:00

During my GP Registrar year, I am constantly getting assessed to determine whether I am progressing well with the skill of GP consultation. Out of all the medical specialties, General Practice requires a unique set of skills for consulting patients - skills that take time to develop and maintain. I previously blogged about various consultation models that we have been taught and how I adapt them for my consultations. The assessments are a way of making sure that we continue to develop our skills, continuing to perfect the art of consultation.

To achieve this, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has set-up two main methods of assessment. The first is called a Clinical Observation Tool assessment (COT). This particular assessment requires me to either film my consultations (with the patients consent of course) and to then review them with my trainer, or to have joint surgeries with my trainer watching as I consult. The other assessment is the Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) exam which involves 13 consultations with actors/actresses to be done in 10 minutes and each is assessed by an examiner. If it sounds tough, that's cause it is!

Assessing my consultation always feels a bit fake. Whenever I video my consultations, there's always an element of acting or over exaggeration in my consultations. I know what needs to be done to achieve the marks, so I always end up putting it on a little bit. I make sure I ask the key questions that I am expected to ask, regardless of their relevance. It's expected that for all consultations GPs should ask a few questions all the time and it all revolves around the patients I.C.E. (Ideas, Concerns & Expectations). So, when all my videos have me asking about what the patient thinks is wrong, what are their concerns, how the problem is affecting them and what expectations they have. To be fair, in most cases these questions are very important, and the more I video myself, the more I find myself doing it without the video. However, for some cases it is not relevant at all and it always feels a bit fake.

The most difficult aspect of videoing my consultations is making sure I cover everything within 10 minutes. I can almost see myself go through a mental checklist as I consult to make sure I ask all the right questions and sometimes my management of the patients problem suffers. I worry so much about asking the right question and covering the right areas, the important part - the medical part, providing a diagnosis or treatment gets forgotten. There have been times when I've gone through the problem, performed the relevant examination (which by the way, are off camera) and then got to the actual doctor part of the consultation and found myself struggling simply because I've been spending too much time on what has gone before, trying to achieve the perfect consultation.

It's irritating that I am being asked to spend so much time focusing on the consultation skills aspect that at times I'm having to think harder than before just to do the medical part of the consultation which is what I've been trained for. I understand the importance of achieving a good consultation, but as these assessments continue to develop and the RCGP continues to place more and more emphasis on it, I wonder if the medical aspect of patient care will begin to suffer?

To be fair, the RCGP place a lot of importance on us continuing to show that we keep up to date with our medical knowledge. We have regular tutorials and have to show evidence of our own private study on a regular basis on our ePortfolio, but the GP consultation is definitely the most important part of my medical training without doubt.

The hardest part of my consultations is getting the time down to 10 minutes, especially for the CSA examination. The consultation then will stop dead on 10 minutes, if anything is left, then that's just tough luck. Yesterday I had a COT assessment on a patient which lasted 14 minutes. My trainer and I discussed how it could have been shortened and we both struggled to come up with any answers. The problem that I was presented with required the 14 minutes and I was even rushing at the end to try and speed the process, but even my trainer agreed that it would be near impossible to get it down to 10 minutes. So, no answers and not good if I get a similar presentation in the CSA. The patient yesterday was a particularly slow talker, and perhaps the actor/actress would talk faster in the CSA. Maybe I wouldn't need to perform such a thorough examination and have the findings given to me. Perhaps that would be the only way I could cut down on my time for the consultation.

Obviously, these assessments are necessary. They are in place to ensure we develop or GP consultation skill properly, to get ready for the big bag world of General Practice at the end of it. I just hope that my medical knowledge or application of that knowledge remains appropriate and that, for the CSA at least, I am able to consult within the 10 minutes properly - the emphasis seems to be on the consultation models and not necessarily on actual medical knowledge. Don't worry, there is also a theory exam as well.

With that all said and done, I sign off for today and the rest of the week most likely. Got too many COTs to do and too little time to do it in! Next time you see a GP, is he/she more concerned about getting the consultation right, or getting you right?

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Credit crunching to disaster

2008-10-13T09:46:00.003+01:00

Almost two weeks without a blog. How have you survived? Extremely well by the looks of it as the hit count has barely moved in that time. A belated Eid Mubarak to everyone, this year I celebrated on 2nd of October and took off the 1st and 3rd for good measure. Last week was extremely busy, so busy that I was unable to blog.

I would like to put it down as a rarity but the signs are ominous - the GP Registrar year is going to be tough and I will have to cut down on the frequency of this blog as a result. Apart from the my surgeries, I'm having to spend a lot of time with my ePortfolio and tutorials in preparation for various assessments, and it is all taking up a lot of time. Take last Thursday for example: I had a 2 hr tutorial in the morning, followed by a video consultation assessment, then a lunchtime lecture, followed by an afternoon surgery and assessment. All in all I had 30 minutes for myself - it was like being back at hospital again, not good. With recent developments in mind, I'll be looking to blog at least once a week and try to do more as and when time allows.

First things first, in response to a comment left on my last blog by "Anonymous" (I think I know who it is - can you even pronounce anonymous?), yet again there was a report about how GPs are overpaid and under worked (blah, blah, blah) and to be quite honest, I am getting fed-up of having to defend GPs and whether they deserve or don't deserve their earnings etc. This time I would like to end this particular discussion with the words of Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners and leave it at that:

"The quality of care provided for patients should always be our main consideration and this demonstrates how GPs have stepped up to the plate to deliver improvements. Robust evidence shows that the QOF has been a success and that it has made a major contribution to raising standards by setting a universal measure of quality for patients, wherever they live. We refute any accusations that the targets are too easy.

The role of the GP is very different even from that of five years ago - we are caring for an ageing population, patients are presenting with complex and multiple conditions and we are providing many services in primary care that were previously carried out in secondary care. GPs are proving every day that they are up to this challenge, although we do acknowledge that PCTS have often lacked the will and capacity to develop local services in partnership with GPs.

The QOF is also helping GPs to shift the emphasis to health promotion and preventing illness in patients, rather than just patching up people when they're ill. By identifying those at risk early enough, we are having a dramatic effect in helping people change their lifestyles and improve their health through earlier access to treatment and specially targeted interventions such as smoking cessation - all of which can only benefit the NHS in the long run."

Moving on, and while I've been away, the so-called "credit crunch" has seemingly turned into a "credit disaster" with banks crashing across the world, the stock market falling and a global economic meltdown in the horizon being predicted. However, what does it all mean for us as individuals? How and when will the banking crisis effect us? For the answers I turned to Watford Man, a man who knows something about anything and everything, and as usual he didn't disappoint.

Since the last recession in the late 1980's, early 1990's, the economy in the UK has enjoyed a massive boom. A steady growth has seen people make loads of money, house prices have grown, consumer spending has increased and unemployment levels have decreased. Everyone was apparently in a win-win situation. Banks were de-regulated, which meant that chief executives and chairmen of British banks were allowed to do what they wanted with peoples investments, savings and pensions. Loans and mortgages were being handed out at record levels, seemingly to anyone, regardless of their credit rating.

In the US, subprime mortgages (mortgages valued at over 5 times peoples income, or in some cases up to 125% of the value of the property) were being handed out in their thousands. Regardless of whether people could actually afford the re-payments, they were able to become homeowners. "Everyone should be a homeowner," became a mantra for the US government. The companies that handed out subprime mortgages would then sell this debt onto bigger and more powerful companies at a certain rate, who would then sell to even more powerful companies and banks.

Everyone in the chain was making money, so all seemed well. Banks were coming up with their own mathematical formulas to justify their investments, and the risks got bigger and bigger. De-regulation meant that there was seemingly no accountability for their actions, as long as they continued to make money, everyone remained happy.

In the UK, as the interest rate began to increase from 2004, slowly but surely, more and more people began to struggle to repay their monthly mortgage payments. This was brought into sharp focus with the collapse and government takeover of Northern Rock last year. It had accumulated too much bad debt and was no longer able to afford charges to cover the debt with a drastic slump in profits. The collapse was the first warning sign for what was to follow.

In the US the situation is even worse. Banks and financial companies have offered thousands of subprime mortgages piling on bad debt on top of bad debt. Companies have sold these debts on to other large investors who have paid over the top for the debt, mainly because it was a US company meaning the investment should be safe! As more and more people have defaulted on their repayments, it has turned into a international crisis. The banks can no longer afford the debts they own and risk collapse and the government has to use taxpayers money to bail them out.

What the bad debt means is that everything is heading for a big bust. Unaffordable mortgages have led to a fall in house prices. Lack of spare cash has led to a downturn in consumer spending. Companies are having to lay of staff so that they can continue to run and pay off their debt and the recession looms closer and closer. The collapse of the economy will have an effect on all aspects of life. Larger number of unemplyed people means more disaffection, which will see an increase in social benefit claims and crime, putting more and more pressure on the welfare state.

The crisis means that banks no longer trust each other and refuse to lend money to each other, unless at extremely extortionate rates, and therefore a cut in the national interest rates will have no difference. For example, if my house is now worth less then what I paid (which is the likely situation at present), when I come to re-mortgage it, I won't be able to because of the drop in value. What will happen instead is that I will be asked to pay more to cover for the drop - and that is a real possibility if the situation remains as it is and worsens as is being predicted across the globe. The situation is even worse for pension owners or child trust fund owners, as their money has probably been used in bad investment and there is every possibility that they have been left with nothing.

The scary part of this crisis, is that no-one is safe. During the boom period, banks invested in each other across the world, it wasn't just limited to UK banks dealing with UK banks, or US banks working with US companies. Banks from the Middle East, China and other nations have all invested heavily and the whole global economy is at risk. I've said in the past that the banks should be allowed to collapse, but it doesn't seem a good idea if all the banks collapse on mass, leaving only a few to leave our savings with - we'll be sent back to the Medieval age and having to wheel and deal for our earnings and savings!

After such a large boom, a huge bust was inevitable. What is shocking is that it wasn't foreseen for so long. Until the banks trust each other again, the situtation won't change and that is where the national governments get involved. The UK government has just announced a £37 billion bailout of taxpayer cash into RBS, Lloyds TSB and HBOS. We, the taxpayers, will own upto 60% of RBS and 40% of Lloyds TSB/HBOS. The banks are being nationalised and the government will have a direct influence on how they are run.

This is just the beginning of the attempt to stage a recovery. It will be useless unless the whole world gets on board, which is why Gordon Brown recently met with 15 European leaders in an attempt to unify and sort out the financial crisis. All in all, even with my basic understanding, there are bleak times ahead and a situation that we will have to endure for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, hopefully the chief executives and chairmen of all these failing banks will be held to account for the recklessness and lack of foresight - but the chances are they will resign with big payouts without repercussion - doesn't seem fair.

What is most depressing as Watford Man pointed out last night, is that our generation will suffer the most. As someone who has recently started earning and developed a career, I won't enjoy the boom of the late 1990's, early 2000's for quite some time. Unfortunately, we missed out and now have to pay for the mistakes of the generation before us. Hopefully, the situation will remain cyclical and after the bust, things will improve once again and we'll be in a position to reap the benefits. Until then we have no choice but to grin and bear it and see how it all plays out.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

(i)L(l)iteral ignorance

2008-09-30T10:36:00.003+01:00

No teaching today which means you guys get a bonus blog from me. How exciting! Actually, although it may not be exciting, what I want to discuss today is certainly interesting. The muslim world is divided on a lot of things, and one of the differences I want to talk about today is to do with the Holy Prophet.

There is a debate going on that concerns the abilities of the Prophet, namely to do with his literacy skills. Certain Muslims, rightly or wrongly, suggest that the Prophet was illiterate, that he was unable to read and write. For some, it is not seen as a criticism, but rather as more proof of the miracle of the Holy Prophet in revealing the Holy Quran and also the message of Islam. For others (namely Wahabbis), it is a way to belittle the Prophet and attempt to reduce his status to that of a common man. Wahabbis would like us to believe that the Prophet was a normal man, whose mission was to bring the Holy Quran and that was it. Some even refer to him as a normal postman. Describing him as illiterate is just another way of downplaying his status.

For Shias, the belief is quite different. We believe that he was in no way illiterate and today I would like to attempt to explain why, using some reliable sources and also a very important tool (not necessarily utilised by others), common sense. Unfortunately, this has become a hot topic of debate because the information available is rather sparse, but a good starting point would the Holy Quran.

When muslims debate whether the Prophet was illiterate, they often quote the following verses:

"And ordain for us good in this world's life and the hereafter, for surely we turn to Thee. He said: (As for) My chastisement, I will afflict with it whom I please, and My mercy encompasses all things; so I will ordain it (specially) for those who guard (against evil) and pay the poor-rate, and those who believe in Our communications. Those who follow the Messenger Prophet, the Ummi, whom they find written down with them in the Taurat and the Injeel (who) enjoins them good and forbids them evil, and makes lawful to them the good things and makes unlawful to them impure things, and removes from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them; so (as for) those who believe in him and honor him and help him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him, these it is that are the successful." (Surah 7, Verses 156-157)

The key word in the above verse is Ummi. Scholars have translated this to mean either "unlettered" or "illiterate" and this is where the confusion seems to arise. Which translation makes more sense? If we take the first meaning, then describing the Prophet as unlettered would mean that he was not formally educated or schooled, which is true, all his knowledge came direct from God and therefore that translation would make sense. If we use the second translation, then it suggests that he was unable to read and write, but does that make sense?

Further tafsir of these verses reveals that Ummi was a term used to describe the Arabs, as they were often illiterate and uneducated. Hence, perhaps God was defining the Prophet as an Arab, which he was. Ummis also refers to the people of Mecca - the Ummul-Qura and God goes on to state that: "It is He who raised among the ummies a messenger from amongst them, who recites His signs to them, reforms them and teaches them the book and the wisdom." (Surah 62, Verse 2). The Prophet was a Meccan, but it is absurd to think that Allah sent an illiterate to teach the illiterates.

Continuing to use the Quran, God clearly states why he sent the Holy Prophet: "And We have not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds." (Surah 21, Verse 107) He was sent for all of mankind. Also, in the Quran, when God talks about Prophet Isa (a.s.) he mentions that Isa was able to speak from the cradle, when he was just a baby: "He said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet." (Surah 19, Verse 30) So, God describes a Prophet who was able to speak from the cradle as a baby, and then for the Prophet who has been sent for all of mankind, to suggest that he unable to read or write is surely a mistake. And lastly, the first verse revealed to the Prophet on the night of Qadr was "Read in the name of your Lord Who created." (Surah 96, Verse 1). Why did God ask the Prophet to read, if he was unable to?

Moving from the Quran and onto events that occured during the Prophet's life, there is the well documented event (Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 4016) that occured near the time of the Prophet's death. He requested a pen and paper from Umar as he wished to write his last will. Umar denied him that request, but nonetheless, why would the Prophet ask for a pen and paper if he was unable to write?

Furthermore, there is another incident which took place in the Prophet's life as quoted by Ibn Ishaq in the book "The Life of Muhammed: Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasulallah." In it he describes a letter exchange between the Holy Prophet and a man named Musaylima bin Habib who was claiming to be a Prophet of God:

"MUSAYLIMA'S LETTER AND THE APOSTLE'S ANSWER THERETO

Musaylima had written to the apostle (Prophet Muhammad):
>From Musaylima the apostle of God to Muhammad the apostle of God. Peace upon you. I have been made partner with you in authority. To us belongs half the land and to Quraysh half, but Quraysh are a hostile people...

Then he (Prophet Muhammad) wrote to Musaylima:
>From Muhammad the apostle of God to Musaylima the liar. Peace be upon him who follows the guidance. The earth is God's. He lets whom He will of His creatures (to) inherit it and the result is to the pious...

This was at the end of the year 10 (after Hijra). There were other instances in the history of early Islam where Prophet Muhammad sent many letters to Kings and other heads of state, inviting them to embrace God's religion. The only plausible conclusion is that he realized the importance of written communication, as God has taught in the earliest revelation. Ibn Ishaq's chronicle on this issue provides a historical evidence to support the fact that Muhammad was indeed a literate prophet."

The above extract confirms that the Prophet engaged in writing and reading in order to spread the message of Islam. Finally, putting on the hat of common sense, is it not nonsensical to think that the Prophet was illiterate? He was sent by God to spread the religion of Islam throughout the world, he was sent to a region rife with problems, including illiteracy, therefore does it make sense that God sent an illiterate Prophet to teach illiterate people? Also, the Prophet was a successful businessman and tradesman, dealing with the finances and wealth of his first wife, Bibi Khadija (a.s.). In order to do so, would he not need to be able to read and write?

For many Muslims, the Prophet's illiteracy is used as a tool to hail his miracle of the Holy Quran even more, but that is not necessary. The Quran is the greatest miracle for mankind and doesn't need any surrounding intervention to make it bigger. For those who claim the Prophet was illiterate in an attempt to belittle him, they are surely mistaken. The Holy Prophet was sent for all of mankind, he was not simply a postman sent to deliver the Quran. Without him there is no Islam. Who else is there to explain the teachings and meanings of the Quran and Islam? I hope this blog has addressed the issue over the Prophets alleged illiteracy although I am sure many people will disagree, if any of you are reading, then please leave a comment and we can discuss this topic further.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Sincerity

2008-09-29T09:33:00.002+01:00

What a hectic morning so far, not helped by the fact that I got to work late. I was stuck behind a tractor on my way to work for over 30 minutes. So annoying. We are now in the final straight, with 3 days left of fasting before Eid (hopefully, as I have a day off booked) on Thursday. As always, there will be big debate over whether Eid will be on Wednesday, Thursday or even Friday (for some people), but this year I am going to follow the Greenwich Royal Observatory who clearly state that the new moon will be visible on the night of the 1st of October, and therefore Eid will be on the 2nd of October.

With this being the last Monday in Ramadan, I conclude my series of religious topics I've been discussing every Monday since Ramadan began, with a blog about Sincerity. Our intentions reflect our practices and actions. Whatever we do, from the mundane to the complex, God's judgement is based on our intentions, our niyyat. Sincerity is a combination, starting with our intentions, leading to our actions and then perseverance of the correct and halal way of life.

The ultimate in sincerity is to achieve a status whereby our actions are dedicated totally to God and reflect his will and command. God states in the Quran "Now, surely, sincere obedience is due to Allah (alone)..." (Surah 39, Verse 3). Our intentions are the building blocks for achieving this status. Everything we do is judged by our intentions. Seemingly good acts can be meaningless if our intentions are not pure and incorrect acts or mistakes can be overlooked by God if our intentions were pure.

I often find that our intentions get lost when dealing with certain actions or thoughts. For example, take the whole debate about when the 1st of Ramadan is, or when Eid is at the end of Ramadan. Everyone seems to get hung up about which Ayatullah to follow, what mosque to follow and as a result the Muslim community ends up divided. If previously it's been difficult to get Shias and Sunnis to agree on a date, now even the Shia community is divided with Shias following different Ayatullahs who have different rulings. However, if we come back to our intention, then it should be simpler.

Even though the Ayatullahs have different rulings, they all agree that their rules should not cause division within the community, but that is often ignored. However, if we focus on the sincerity of the decision, it should be simpler. Surely, everyone can agree to have the event of Eid on the same day in order to ensure that the community is united in celebration and we all get to enjoy Eid at the same time, on the same day. Whatever doubts there maybe about the moon sightings and various rulings, if we all have the same intention then it shouldn't matter as much as it does. I'm obviously not suggesting that we be careless and pick any random day (as the Saudis seem to do), but with the best intentions and common sense, we should be able to agree on one day for Eid and one day for the start of Ramadan. The way it's currently going, we'll soon be commemorating 10th of Muharrum on different days.

Our actions are derived from our intentions and it is how we then conduct ourselves that determines how close we grow towards God. Perseverance in action, is more difficult than the act itself. Sincerity is subsequent to action. This means a good deed without bragging, without showing-off is the better course of action. For example, if one performs a good deed in secret, he/she will receive reward from God, if he/she then declares this good deed, the level of reward decreases to that of an open good deed and if he/she starts to brag about this deed then the reward is cancelled and he/she may be punished for showing off. Once the intention is established, it needs to be maintained throughout.

It is the sincere intention and pure purpose that determines the perfection or lack thereof of our worship towards God. Struggling to get rid of self-love or pride or ego has to be a continuous process to ensure that our intentions are dedicated towards God. Performing acts of worship or in fact any act, for any other reason, takes us away from that purpose. Acts for the pleasure of others or ourselves can be classified as shirk, and that would be a true meaning of the word - not how the Shias are accused of shirk by associating others with God - and is something that needs constant work. Of course there will be acts which make us feel good, make us feel proud, but if these feelings get in the way of seeking God's blessings and reward then the acts have a negative affect on us.

The constant struggle to drive out love for worldly pleasures is what will draw us closer to God and help achieve total sincerity. Vigilance is constantly required because Shaitan is always close by to try and influence our acts. Remaining sincere at all times means resisting the temptations offered by Shaitan and continuing to focus on gaining God's pleasure. Modify our behaviour step-by-step - get rid of ego and pride in our actions stage by stage and inshallah the sincerity will follow. Our intentions may always be right, be pure but to be sincere means getting rid of any distracting thoughts. When God talks to mankind in the Quran, he asks the people who are righteous to "Say. Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds." (Surah 6, Verse 162)

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Random chatter II

2008-09-26T09:29:00.002+01:00

All in all it has been a busy week. Started the week by commemorating the death of our first Holy Imam, then had the amaals of Shab-e-Qadr and to top it all off, I've actually been busy at work! Yesterday I had a meeting with my educational supervisor and we went through a video consultation of myself. It is so weird seeing myself consult patients - almost cringe worthy, although I must add I am rather good - I can put on a good act for the camera.

Being the end of the week and also the last Friday of Ramadan, I don't have much time to blog today before Juma prayers which I have to get to shortly. Just enough time to reflect on the current affairs of the week. The week started with a great tragedy in Pakistan. The Marriot hotel in Islamabad was attacked by a suicide bomber carrying 600kg of explosives in a truck. The devastation caused can be seen here, and resulted in over 50 deaths and counting.

It seems that no week goes by without some report of a suicide attack somewhere in the Middle East or South Asia. It begs the question, how easy is it to recruit a suicide bomber? How are people being so brainwashed that they agree to kill themselves? How do agents of Al-Qaeda or the Taleban convince people it is all in the name of Islam? The people who do the recruiting are not stupid and yet they seem to think that such violent attacks and causing the death of innocent people will lead to reward in the hereafter. All I can say is that God clearly states in the Quran that "...whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all men; and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men." (Surah 5, Verse 32).

Moving on from such tragic events, to something less traumatising. The Labour Party conference this week saw Gordon Brown attempt to stage a recovery for his premiership with a convincing speech discussing how he is going to deal with the various issues facing this country. At the end of the day it comes down to a simple question, who is the least worse option in running the country? Tony Blair won a 3rd successive term in power back in 2005, mainly because the quality of his opponents in the Tory and Lib Dem party were so poor and the same will apply again. This time, it appears that the public are turning against the Labour Party and the Tories will surely benefit. David Cameron must be loving it, he hasn't had to come up with any amazing policy breakthroughs or tax promises, he's just sat back and watch Labour implode. Too little, too late Mr. Brown.

Lastly, the credit crunch shows no signs of abating. This week, President Bush has been trying to convince Congress to cough up $700 billion in an attempt to save the banks who are at threat from going under in the US. A few years ago, when the banks were successful, making huge amounts of money, many chief executives, managers and whoever were making large bonuses on the back of it. At the time, do you remember receiving a letter from your bank, congratulating themselves for the success and rewarding you with a cash donation? I don't. So now that they are in trouble due to their own excesses, why are we, the taxpayers, being asked to foot the bill of recovery? They dug their own grave, now they should suffer the consequences. Obviously, I cannot claim to even begin to understand the complicated world that is the finance sector, but it just doesn't seem fair. If we didn't enjoy the bonuses, why are we being forced to help now. I await someone to explain it to me.

That concludes my brief discussion about the week just gone. The comments seemed to have dried up this week. No-one has yet commented on what personality type they are - c'mon readers leave a comment or two please!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

What's your personality type?

2008-09-25T08:49:00.004+01:00

Apologies to my numerous readers for not typing anything yesterday. I had to endure a GP Registrar Training Day at a posh conference centre in Chesham on Tuesday and then had a day off to recover yesterday (actually, it was because I was up late reading aamals for Shab-e-Qadr). The training day has all the usual touchy-feely, I love being a GP stuff in the morning and then the rather important discussion about the various assessments I'll be having during the next year, including a clinical skills exam. The day included a posh 3-course lunch, but I was fasting - good-timing as always.

Part of the day was spent talking about personalities of GPs. We were made to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment. A psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people percieve the world and make decisions. If that sounds confusing, it's because it is.

The questionnaire was a series of silly psychological questions about what you prefer in certain situations - are you outgoing or introverted, are you easy to get to know or difficult, are you the life of the party or just there to make up the numbers, etc, etc. The aim of the questionnaire is to define four contrasting traits to come up with a full definition of your personal character. The four types divided into Extraversion vs. Introversion, Sensing vs. iNtuition, Thinking vs. Feeling and Judging vs. Perceiving.

The questionnaire would give a result of four letters, one from each type, to describe what are the dominant traits in an individual. It doesn't mean that you display none of the opposing type, but just that the opposing type is less dominant. It means that the particular trait is what one goes to without thinking, whereas the opposing trait requires effort and thought. Putting it practically, fold your arms right now... now fold them the other way and notice how you need to put some thought and effort into it and also how uncomfortable it feels. The same logic applies to these personality types.

For those of you who know me, guess what four letter combination I had. I'll give you a clue - according to my four-letter combination I am "a hands-on learners who lives in the moment, seeking the best in life, wanting to share it with my friends. I am open to situations, able to improvise to bring about desired results. We are active people who want to solve their problems rather than simply discuss them." Anyone agree? Anyone know the four-letter combination? Answers in the comment section please.

What is the point of all this? Actually I don't know. I didn't learn anything new about myself. If I had been told what the four types were, before doing the questionnaire and then before being led through a detailed description of each, I probably would have picked the same four letter combination that my questionnaire revealed. Before I finish, a quick description of the four types:

Extraversion describes people who draw energy from action: they tend to act, then reflect, then act further. For Introversion, it is the opposite, they become less energised as they act: they prefer to reflect, then act, then reflect again. Extraverts are action-orientated, whereas introverts are thought-orientated.
Sensing and iNtution are information gathering functions. Those who prefer Sensing, trust information that is tangible and concrete, they distrust hunches or "gut instincts." Those who prefer iNtuition, trust information that is more abstract or theoretical, they trust their "gut instincts."
Thinking and Feeling are decision making functions, used to make rational decisions, based on the data received from the information gathering functions (see above). Those who prefer Feeling, base their decisions by associating or empathising with the situation, weighing the situation and considering the needs of the people involved. Thinkers decide things from a more detached setpoint: measured by what seems rational, logical and consistent.
The last pair identifies people who have a preference for using either the Judging function (Thinking or Feeling) or the Percieving function (Sensing or iNtuition) when related to the outside world. To avoid the growing confusion, putting this as simply as possible, if you are a Judging person, then your Thinking or Feeling is dominant and if you are a Percieving person, then your Sensing or iNtuition is more dominant. If you are a TJ the world appears more logical, if you are a FJ, you are more empathetic. If you are a SP, the world appears concrete and for NP, the world is more abstract. Judging types prefer to have matters settled, whereas Percieving types prefer to keep decisions open.

The four letter combine to describe your dominant functions. The dominant function (E or I) is supported by the secondary (auxillary) function (S or N) and then the tertiary function (opposite to the auxillary function). The least conscious function is always the opposite of the dominant function. For example, if you are an ESTJ, it means Extraverted function is dominant, and is also a Judging function (because of the J preference). The dominant function is ET (extraverted thinking) and the auxillary funcion is Sensing, which is also a Perceiving function. The tertiary funcition is opposite to the auxillary function, therefore iNtuition. Lastly, the least conscious function is the opposite preference and attitude to the dominant, IF (introverted feeling)

So, after spending enough time confusing you, it is time for deciding which four-letter combination you think you are. Once you have the four letter combo (starting with E or I, then S or N, then T or F and lastly J, or P) have a look here to see what personality type you are and whether you agree and then have a look here to see which celebrity is the same as you. If you're still interested, please let me know your types in the comments section.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Repentance

2008-09-22T09:23:00.002+01:00

After 20 days of fasting I am finally getting used to it. Excellent when you consider that there are only 9-10 days left to go! After a great result last weekend, with critics suggesting that Liverpool are ready to mount a serious title challenge, all the hype came crashing down when they could only draw 0-0 to mighty Stoke City and in a 180 degree turn the critics are back to saying Liverpool won't get anywhere once again. I love football!

During this month, Mondays have become my religious discussion day. So far, I've talked about Patience and last week I discussed Self-struggle. Today I want to type about Repentance. Arguably one of the most important subjects for Muslims - the chance for change, a chance to redeem ourselves and seek forgiveness from God. We all make mistakes from the mundane to the major and seeking forgiveness, repentance allows us to change and earn God's blessings.

When we are born our soul is pure, sinless and clean -like a blank canvas. Sinful acts darkens the soul making it more and more difficult to remain pure and close to God. The act of repentance (tawbah) enables us to clean our souls, inshallah back to its original state (or as close as possible). However, it is not a straight forward process. We cannot simply state "I repent" and move on. Repentance has been described as a six stage process by Imam Ali (a.s.) in his book, Nahjul Balagha:

Remorse over the past - over the mistakes/errors that have been made.
Resolve not to make the same mistake again.
Return what is not yours, so no-one can claim anything against you. To seek forgiveness from those whom you have wronged.
Fulfil every duty that you neglected in order to satisfy your obligation in respect to it.
You cleanse yourself from any sin/mistake that affected your body.
Make your body taste the pain of obedience in the same way as it earlier tasted the pleasure of sins.

The first two stages are the most important. Remorse and resolution. It is not good enough to simply ask for forgiveness and then carry on as normal. That is something we are all guilty of, to ask God for forgiveness for our sins and then fall back into bad habits. Making a resolution to not commit the same error is the hard part, and only when that is achieved are we able to benefit from God's mercy and forgiveness.

There are numerous occasions I can think of when I have asked God for forgiveness and then sooner or later fallen back into old habits. A classic for me and a lot of people is gossiping - or to give it its real name - "backbiting" - we all do it. Numerous occasions I have asked God for forgiveness and shown remorse, but still the resolution is not strong enough. However thanks to God's infinite mercy the chance to repent is always there. Obviously, being all-knowing, means that God will only forgive when we sincerely make a change and achieve resolution, but our purpose is to constantly struggle for that repentance.

The door is always open as Imam Ali (a.s.) states: "I wonder at a man who loses hope of salvation when the door of repentance is open for him." We can never give up hope - each time I ask for forgiveness, the resolution not to commit the same error grows stronger and lasts longer. It is the hope for God's forgiveness that keeps me going - knowing that one day God will inshallah forgive me because my resolution has grown to the point where I don't repeat my mistakes.

Repentance and hope go hand in hand. They co-exist. Hope for God's mercy allows us to continually seek repentance. Repenting gives us the hope and strength to make sure we don't repeat our mistakes. As long as our struggle continues to improve ourselves God's mercy is always on hand to help us. God states in the Quran, "O ye who believe! Turn unto Allah in sincere repentance! It may be that your Lord will remit from you your evil deeds and bring you into Gardens underneath which rivers flow..." (Surah 66, Verse 8) and "Triumphant are those who turn repentant (to Allah), those who serve (Him), those who praise (Him)..." (Surah 9, Verse 112).

Continuing to seek repentance throughout our life is essential in purifying our soul. Errors and sins have removed it from its original state and our objective is to remove the darkness that the sins have caused. Hopefully, by the time it comes to our deaths, the struggle for repentance will have returned our souls to a state worthy of God's blessings and rewards.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Intercession

2008-09-19T08:47:00.006+01:00

Although it's a Friday, a time when I usually have a random ramble and moan about feeling tired, today I'm going to steer clear of that. Instead, I want to discuss an important topic for Shias and Muslims in general. The subject of intercession is often brought up by Sunnis and more importantly Wahhabis as a tool to attack Shias, claiming that we engage in shirk - the act of associating others with God.

For Shias, intercession involves reading duas and invoking the help of the Prophet and the Holy Imams to act on our behalf and seek forgiveness and blessings from God. Wahabbis claim that this is shirk and we should only go straight to God, we don't need anyone else. (As I will mention later, this can have practical complications!) It was discussed earlier this year on the otherwise excellent documentary The Quran, on Channel 4. Shias have rightly criticised the portrayal and description of Shia Muslims in the documentary. The narrator states:

"The God the Sunni worship may not be described in human language, nor represented in any art form, for that would be blasphemous. Yet sometimes the human heart yearns for more. For a faith you can touch and feel, for drama, for music, for ceremony, for great stories of sacrifice, pain, martyrdom and salvation and for someone to pray to who has human form Shia Islam answers these needs ... But the Qur'an makes it so clear that your prayer should only be directed to God."

And then when the programme goes on to describe Shia faith and mentions intercession, the narrator asks:

"But do these specific beliefs have any substance in the Qur'an? The answer is no."

The programme also interviews one Shia Ayatullah and totally misrepresents his views, as he has recently stated in The Independent. With all the criticism Channel 4 received, they held a Right to Reply programme to discuss peoples concerns and the director, Anthony Thomas, remained unmoved, refusing to apologise for the blatant mistakes and misrepresentation of Shias. As it stands, I believe OFCOM are dealing with complaints made about the programme and have yet to make a decision.

This is just a small example of the Shia-bashing that exists across the world and intercession seems to be a favourite topic to criticise. Instead of joining the band-wagon, if Muslims (Sunni, Wahabbi etc) actually took time to read the Quran, they would find numerous verses not only permitting intercession, but also recommending it:

"Who is he that can intercede with Him but by His permission?" (Surah 2, Verse 255)
"None shall have the power of intercession, but such a one as has received permission (or promise) from (Allah) Most Gracious." (Surah 19, Verse 87)
"On that Day shall no intercession avail except for those for whom permission has been granted by (Allah) Most Gracious and whose word is acceptable to Him." (Surah 20, Verse 109)
"There is no intercessor (with Him) save after His permission." (Surah 10, Verse 3)

Who do you think God is referring to when he say "except for who permission has been granted?" It can only be the Holy Prophet and for us Shias, we believe the Holy Imams as well. Now people will argue that there other verses which appear to condone intercession, but again, that's being lazy as the interpretation of those verses are wrong.

"And guard yourselves against a day when no soul will in aught avail another, nor will intercession be accepted from it" (Surah 2, Verse 48)
"We have provided for you, before the Day comes when no bargaining (Will avail), nor friendship nor intercession. Those who reject Faith they are the wrong-doers." Surah 2, Verse 254)
"And warn with it those who fear that they shall be gathered to their Lord-- there is no guardian for them, nor any intercessor besides Him" (Surah 6, Verse 51)

Taken at face value, one could argue that these verses forbid intercession, but firstly that would a contradiction of the verses that permit intercession which is not possible and secondly, the correct interpretation of these verses clearly refers to those who reject God and his Holy Prophet. In those instances, even intercession is useless, they will not be saved.

Being facetious for a moment (it is Friday morning after all), if we take the arguments of Wahabbis literally - we should only go to God directly - why then, does that apply to prayer only? Shouldn't it be part of everyday life? They should be consistent. Therefore, they shouldn't use a car - ask God to transport them directly, if they need to move furniture, they shouldn't ask anyone to help them, ask God to move it for them directly, if they are seeking a promotion at work, don't ask a colleague to put in a good word - no that's shirk - ask God directly. Now I know I'm bordering on ridiculous, but if they can keep saying "shirk, shirk, shirk," I want to tell them not to get help for anything, ask God directly.

It's convenient how they only pick on one thing, and only because of the importance it gives to the Ahlul-Bayt, whom they will try to put down at every opportunity. For those who have been fortunate to have gone on Hajj or Umra, what happens when you try and visit the graves of Bibi Fatima (a.s.) and Imam Hasan (a.s.) in Madina? Wahabbi Saudis come to try and stop any duas or prayers for them and prevent anyone from getting anywhere near the graves. What a travesty - the Ahlul-Bayt for all of mankind, not just Shias, has been disregarded and marginalised by the Saudis and there's nothing we can do about it.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

From Ape to Adam to Me

2008-09-18T16:18:00.008+01:00

There has been quite a bit of coverage recently in the media about Evolution vs. Creationism. For many years scientists have followed the Theory of Evolution, as proposed by Charles Darwin. The concept that all creatures have evolved over time by the process of natural selection has become as good as accepted fact by the majority of scientists, and is used today to disprove the existence of God.

Christianity has repeatedly denied the theory of evolution, instead focusing on Creationism. God created man and the planets and there has been no evolution. However, this outright refusal opens up a lot of problems for Christians. For starters they rigidly believe in what the Bible states; the world was created in 6 days (God then needed a rest on the 7th day) and he created Adam and Eve. All this took place 6,000 years ago - hence they argue that the Earth is 6,000 years old. Unfortunately for them, there is indisputable evidence that the Earth is much older, in fact it's about 4.5 billion years old.

For Christians it appears to be Creationism or Evolution. Both cannot co-exist. Therefore many Christians are happy to deny the Theory of Evolution, claim Creationism as fact and keep their heads buried in the sand. It's not as easy as that. Luckily I'm not a Christian, but what does Islam have to say on the topic? Recently, there have been a couple of blogs left on the Guardian "comment is free " website discussing this very topic (see here and here), and as this is a topic which interests me a great deal, I thought I'd add my own thoughts on the subject.

As far as I can see, following Islam neither contradicts or approves the Theory of Evolution. The idea that creatures, including man, have evolved from different species has sound principals and is not something I am going to debate at this stage. However, by referring to the Quran, it is clear that all humans have come from Adam and Eve: “O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another." (Surah 49, Verse 13) - the male and female referenced here are Adam and Eve. God also states “O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women.” (Surah 4, Verse 1). If for arguments sake we follow the Christian idea that Adam and Eve appeared on Earth 6,000 years ago and Islam clearly states that mankind came from Adam and Eve, how does the Theory of Evolution fit in?

The Earth clearly existed before the arrival of Adam and Eve and was inhabited by various creatures, plants and organisms. Paleontologists have studied various fossils showing the existence of dinosaurs, animals and also creatures with human characteristics - known as hominid fossils. Fossils have been discovered of skulls similar to that of humans and skeletons with a similar shape to humans. The fossils have been dated to over a million years old. So, clearly species with human features existed before the arrival of Adam.

Evidence has also been found of tools that could have been used by these species, suggesting that they had some level of intelligence as well. We've all seen the classic picture showing man's evolution from ape to homosapien (see below), and there is nothing in Islam which suggests that this hasn't taken place and neither is there anything which confirms it.

The issue arises as to what science believes happened from the moment Adam arrived on Earth. Science cannot prove that Adam did not arrive on Earth, neither can it prove how mankind progressed from that point. Islam clearly teaches us that we have all come from Adam and Eve, therefore it makes sense to assume that from the arrival of Adam and Eve, man has stopped evolving and has remained the same.

My personal opinion, and this is not based on any scientific fact, mainly cause there isn't much to begin with, is that if the Theory of Evolution is true, then for humans, it must have taken place before and up to the arrival of Adam and Eve on Earth. For other species, other animals, it has continued to this very day, but for humans, it stopped with Adam and Eve's arrival. To a atheistic scientist, that may not be good enough, but for me and perhaps other Muslims (or people with a belief in God) it is a suitable explanation to help understand the role of evolution in human life.

Further support for this opinion is provided in the Quran. God states that "...I am about to create man, from sounding clay, from mud molded into shape. When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down in obeisance unto him." (Surah 15, Verses 28-29). Adam was created from mud and Allah breathed his Spirit into him so it became a living, flesh-and-blood human being. There is no mention of this happening to any of God's creations before Adam, hence we must believe he was the first to be blessed by God and from him and Eve we have all been created.

This leads neatly into another discussion. Mankind started from Adam and Eve, but how we're the first children born from Adam and Eve's children? There are two options, either the children of Adam married each other and produced offspring or the children of Adam married humans who already existed on Earth at the time of their arrival. For the first option, it means that brother and sister got married and although that sounds wrong, at that time, that was the only option. God in his infinite wisdom lifted the rule of not being allowed to marry your sibling - it was a unique situation which required a unique action. The Quran backs this view, “O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women.” (Surah 4, Verse 1). This verse indicates that mankind came only from Adam and Eve, no-one else was involved.

For the second option, although there is no support in the Quran, it is a possibility as humans existed on Earth prior to Adams arrival. However, in all likelihood, it is probably the first option that took place at that time to allow the creation of mankind. It doesn't make sense for us to have been created from Adam and some other human who God did not bless with his Spirit.

Finally, all of this makes interesting discussion, but the most important thing is that no matter what theories or findings scientists come up with, they only go to prove God's existence and how in his mercy he has given us the ability to study all his creations. He sums it up best when he states:

“Allah is the Creator of all things and over all things He has
authority.” (Surah 39, Verse 62)

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Crunchy Credit Flakes

2008-09-17T09:02:00.003+01:00

So tired was I on Monday, I completely forgot to mention the great victory by Liverpool over the scum. It was long overdue, with the last victory coming in 2004 (before Benitez), and the last at Anfield way back in 2001, I was only 21 then! It's been a long time needless to say, but as I've left it so late to gloat about, the feeling has passed.

This week has seen a lot of movements in the financial market with the US government intervening to save the likes of Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac and more recently, AIG. First of all, who or what the hell is Fannie Mae? Had anyone heard of them before last week? Doesn't Fanny Mae mean buttocks? No wonder they're in trouble, it's like have a company named 'Arse,' doomed for failure don't you think?

With some research I've discovered that Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee $5.3 trillion worth of loans and mortgages in the US. Due to increasing number of defaults and repossessions they have lost billions as they have to payout when ordinary homeowners can no longer afford their mortgages. The US government has stepped in by providing funds (from the taxpayers) to support the two firms. The government plans to guarantee the firms debts and provide fresh liquidity to make the business less vulnerable to the declining housing market - costing in the region of $25 billion.

Today, the US government announced that it will also be bailing out insurer (and shirt sponsor of Man Utd) AIG, this time to the tune of $85 billion. AIG has over a trillion dollars in assets and insures bank loans around the world. Again, it has been all because of the collapse in the housing market, having to make payments when customers defaulted on their loans. Unlike the Lehman Brothers which filed for bankrupcy on Monday, AIG's assets were felt to be more important and potentially cause more damage if they were to collapse, hence the US government stepped in.

All of this firmly falls under everyones favourite phrase "credit crunch." The banks are in trouble due to years of over spending and now we the taxpayers have to bail them out. In this country we have already suffered the crisis with Northern Rock and other firms appear to be in danger, including the Halifax (how much were those fancy adverts?)

It's not just the banks who are in trouble, only last week, travel company XL collapsed and in an instant thousands of customers were left stranded abroad, with no flights to get back. Luckily for them, the Civil Aviation Authority has stepped in to try and provide flights for those stranded across the globe. However, there is a downside. The CAA has a deficit of over £20 million due to previous interventions when travel companies have gone bust. Who do you think is going to foot the bill for the stranded XL customers? Us, the taxpayers of course. Doesn't seem fair. I know it's not the customers fault that XL went down the drain, but why should we have to bear the cost?

Personally, the "credit crunch," is all very confusing for my scientific/medical mind. However it has definitely affecting my finances. Basically, I'm earning the same amount, but everything has become more expensive. Petrol, gas, electricity, food - never have the ASDA and TESCO value items looked so appealing. Last year I took out a huge mortgage, not one that I could get this year, but since then my house value has decreased, so I have to sit it out. Luckily, inshallah, as I progress this year and qualify as a GP, my earnings will increase, so it should ease the burden somewhat.

It's been a bit of a ramble today, mainly because it's not something I know much about and also because I'm having to rush - unusually, it's a busy day today. Hopefully a accountant or finance specialist may be able to shed more light on the whole "credit crunch" fiasco. Mr Toodle-Loo perhaps?

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Self-struggle

2008-09-15T10:01:00.005+01:00

This morning I woke up and suffered from what I can only describe as brain freeze. Everything was hazy, my vision was blurry and I just could not shake it. I even had a dream about having a dream! I don't remember what I dreamt, only that I dreamt that I was having a dream and I then woke up from the dream wide awake, only to then wake up for real feeling quite the opposite. I drove to work in a semi-conscious state. So much for a recuperating weekend, it's not good if I feel worse then what I did on Friday.

I might have told this story before, but I'm going to bore you with it again. At university, first year, first term, I would typically sleep at 3-4am and wake up for 9am lectures no problem. Gradually this began to wear me down, so I decided to make a change: skip lectures to get my sleep. In fact over 5 years of medical school, not once did I go to bed before midnight. Over the next 5 years, whenever I had to wake up for 9am lectures, I still didn't sleep early. We used to joke that it was all about "the thrill of feeling tired." Trust me, it is no longer a thrill, but quite the opposite, especially as it is so frequent. While I'm talking about university, another interesting tidbit for you. After spending 5 years skipping lectures, it was quite ironic that I spent over £500 in my final year to attend revision lectures before my final exams, lectures I probably would not have needed had I attended the free lectures in the first place.

Despite feeling so whoozy and tired, I will struggle on with today's topic and appropriately it is all about self-struggle (jihad-al-nafs), the struggle against oneself. The human soul is constantly involved in a self struggle between two competing powers. One power attracts towards God and inspires acts of goodness, the other power leads towards the devil and tempts acts of darkness and wrong-doing. Which power wins in this struggle determines our character and actions and hence our reward (or lack thereof) from God.

This self-struggle is the struggle against evil ideas, desires and powers of lust, anger and fantasy. The struggle is to place these thoughts under God's command and reason, attempting to purge all satanic ideas and influences from one's soul. It has been defined as the major struggle - the major jihad. Unlike the jihad which requires us to physically fight against the oppressors of Islam (only as self-defence), this self-struggle is a constant war in ourselves. Fighting our inappropriate or incorrect desires and thoughts and striving to improve ourselves in the eyes of God.

God talks about this struggle in the Quran: "And the soul and Him Who made it perfect. Then He inspired it to understand what is right and wrong for it. He will indeed be successful who purifies it. And he will indeed fail who corrupts it." (Surah 91, Verses 7-10) Everything we do is a direct influence from our souls and subsequently has a direct influence upon it. Our thoughts lead us to our actions and our actions lead back to our thoughts and so on. Controlling these thoughts to do what is blessed or allowed, helps to ensure that our soul remains healthy. Having thoughts that lead to the wrong actions do the opposite, they ensure that our soul remains dark and ill.

From my research of this topic, I came across a good method of how to explore our self-struggle and how to develop it to make our souls better:

Step 1: Reflection
Try to spend some time every day reflecting on what we do. The aim of this life and purpose of all God's blessing is far more important than to follow mundane desires and evil tendencies that are short lived and temporary. Having the blessings of God at the forefront of our minds can only help us in our thoughts and actions. By reflection, we can identify what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong. Identify our weaknesses and then decide how best to overcome them.

Step 2: Will and resolve
Reflection leads directly to will and resolve. Laying the foundations for our actions. Having the determination to make a change, to adapt our thoughts and ensure our actions are appropriate. A good starting point is simply by ensuring we perform our wajab acts. Those acts commanded by God, no questions asked. They are wajab and hence must be pursued and followed. By doing so, we have automatically improved our soul and received God's blessings. From this, inshallah, we can lead on to better deeds, stemming from our determination to improve. "You shall believe in Allah and His Messenger, and struggle hard in Allah's way with your property and your lives; that is better for you, did you but know! He will forgive you your faults and cause you to enter into gardens, beneath which rivers flow, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetuity; that is the mighty achievement. (Surah 61, Verses 11-12)

Step 3: Self-evaluation
Obviously being a struggle, by its very nature, means there will be times we make mistakes or do the wrong thing. We are by no means perfect and hence we have God's forgiveness and mercy. Making time to look at ourselves and seeking improvement can only be a good thing. Having made the change from step 2, self-evaluation is crucial in making sure we don't fall back into bad-habits and if we do to ensure that we seek God's forgiveness and strive to be better and inshallah slowly reduce our mistakes. It is also a time to evaluate what we are doing right and ensure that it remains. "Those who repent and amend and make manifest (the truth), these it is to whom I turn (mercifully); and I am the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful." (Surah 2, Verse 160)

Step 4: Self-conditioning
This process involves turning our thoughts into actions. By struggling to make a change in our thoughts, directly has a benefit upon our actions. It is the conscious effort to make a change - to avoid our bad-habits and to re-enforce our good ones. It is a small-step process. Make a conscious decision to change our aspect or ourselves - either stop a bad thought/action/habit, or start a new good one and resolve to continue that for as long as possible. "The believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger then they doubt not and struggle hard with their wealth and their lives in the way of Allah; they are the truthful ones." (Surah 49, Verse 15)

Step 5: Guarding against evil
Throughout our life, Shaitan will manifest in several ways to distract us from our struggle, to tempt us into bad habits and thoughts. Having this realisation, this awareness, can lead us to improve in this self-struggle. Recognising when things are going awry and then struggling to make a change will mean we continue to receive God's blessings. Think twice before we do something that is questionable, God will always recognise when we struggle to improve, even when mistakes or slip-ups occur. Keeping his commands in our thoughts and following this process on a daily basis with all our thoughts and actions can ensure that we improve and continue to do so.

Step 6: Remembrance
All of the above can only be achieved by thinking about God. We must thank him for his help and mercy during each step. As we improve, our gratitude towards God will naturally increase as we attain higher levels of struggle. Due to God's help, we can get rid of Shaitan's influence on us.

In summary, first identify what we are doing (right and wrong), then resolve to make a change. Start with easy steps, do the wajab acts. Constantly evaluate ourselves to make sure we are sticking to the struggle of self-improvement. Ensure that our actions are appropriate to our thoughts and remember God when we make mistakes. Remember that Shaitan will try to tempt us, trick us and be able to recognise when that is happening. All of this is only achievable by remembering God and his infinite mercy that he bestows on us. We can rest safe in the knowledge that he will always help us if we help ourselves in this struggle.

Hopefully these steps are something we should strive to do everyday. Similar to my discussion about patience last week, it is the constant struggle to improve ourselves that determines our reward from God. Having this struggle to improve and actually overcoming the obstacles that come in our way ensure that we receive God's blessing in this life and the hereafter. I hope all this makes sense, as my brain is still very hazy. Please leave any of your thoughts about this topic and what you do perhaps in your own self-struggle.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Tiredness is killing IV

2008-09-12T09:10:00.004+01:00

My mind is a hazy blur. Whilst fasting, by the time I get to Friday everything seems foggy. The lack of sleep catches up with me - thankfully it's a half-day today and I can get some rest this afternoon, and then catch up on my sleep over the weekend to get ready for next week when the cycle repeats itself.

Big game tomorrow and because it's come so early on in the season I'm not too worried. We normally lose these games, and without the injured Gerrard and Torres I'm expecting the worst. However, this time round it shouldn't be too damaging. Man Utd will have the same points but there's plenty of the season left to hopefully maintain a title challenge. Liverpool have won 18 league titles in total. Before the Premiership started in 1992, Manchester United had only 7 league titles. Today, Liverpool still have 18, Man Utd now have 17 - it is going to be immensely painful if they catch up and indeed overtake Liverpool.

Bored you enough about football, so lets move on. It seems every week there is an amusing incident occurring during the US Presidential race. This week was all about "lippygate". Barack Obama, in a speech about the US economy, was criticising his rival, John McCain, about his lack of ideas on how to run the economy, and how similar his ideas were to George Bush. He suggested change would be impossible for McCain to achieve "you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." This led to an almighty outcry from the Republicans, accusing Obama of sexism against the Republican vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Despite being a phrase that McCain himself has used on numerous occasions (see below), and despite being a comment used in reference to the US economy, somehow it's all become about "sexism in American life." The Republicans ran an advertisement condoning the phrase and complaining of sexism against Palin. And all because Palin described herself as a "hockey-mum," joking that the only difference between a hockey mum and a pit bull is lipstick (see below, with cheers and thumbs up included). Once again, only in America.

It's really concerning to see the Republicans lead in the polls. With the current incumbent enjoying the lowest ever approval ratings of any President, and McCain openly following policies similar to Bush, how on earth is he ahead? Are Americans simply that dumb? It's a case of the blind leading the blind. Should McCain win, then the world is in serious trouble - no where will be safe!

My brain is really struggling to get going at the moment. I think I better wrap things up for the week. Hopefully people will read and contribute some comments over the weekend. Then again, probably not.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

The worried well

2008-09-11T09:13:00.004+01:00

Fabio Capello had his 'Munich Moment' last night. Astonishingly, England somehow managed to thrash Croatia in Zagreb. They beat a team ranked 5th in the world and who had never lost at home in a competitive fixture. The night brought back memories of the famous night in September 2001, when England thrashed Germany. Once again, an England striker scored a hat-trick, the first since that very game in Munich.

I and many others gave up on England after their shocking and inept performances in the 2006 World Cup and this was further compounded by their disappointing failure to qualify for Euro 2008. However, if somehow they can turn the tide and put in more performances like last night, then hope shall prevail. Getting way ahead of myself, Spain were the worthy winners of Euro 2008, 44 years after they last won a major trophy. Who will also have gone 44 years without a major trophy come the World Cup in 2010? England. Let's hope they qualify first.

Last week I mentioned that I wanted to talk about a few amusing patients that I had encountered. Working in sleepy Buckingham, I get to see my fair share of patients who I like to call 'the worried well'. These are people who have too much time on their hands and come to see a doctor because they have nothing else to do. They come with simple and mundane problems, simply desiring reassurance.

One such patient came to see me last week. A man in his 40's cycled in for his appointment. He complained about having back pain. He described it as a muscular ache which only occurred at night whilst he was sleeping. He worked as a gardener and had no problems with lifting, bending or stretching his back during the day. This had been going on for over six months.

The pain would wake him up and he would then be unable to sleep because of the constant aching. When he got out of bed in the morning it would slowly ease and then he'd be fine for the rest of the day. He hadn't taken any painkillers because "I don't like them unless I know what they are for" and he was using a hard mattress, which was going to be changed to an orthopaedic mattress shortly. When I examined his back, he pointed to where it was tender at night, but right then it was fine. There was no pain and he displayed a full range of movement of his back.

People often joke with me, that all I do is prescribe painkillers (specifically paracetamol), but honestly in this case what would you do? I suggested he wait and see if the new mattress makes a difference and to try a painkiller in the night when he wakes up with the pain. I explained that in all likelihood it was a muscular problem, potentially caused by his hard mattress and to wait and see if the painkillers help. "Ah, yes, I thought it might be that. I'll try the painkillers in the night then." If he knew what the problem was, then why not try painkillers himself?

Another person I saw was a gentleman in his late 50's. He came with three problems that he had been "saving up" for me. He had pain in his left shoulder, pain in his left knee and pain in his right ankle. This had be ongoing for the past 2 months. He worked as an oil tanker driver, spending large amounts of time behind the wheel and then having to lift heavy barrels across his shoulders and having to spend a lot of time kneeling under his truck to access the connection system. With that history, what do you think I did?

Like most people, he hadn't taken any painkillers, nor had he tried to rest and take some time off. Understandably he was not in a position to do so financially, but I tried to explain that his pain is a direct result of his occupation and that he needed to take some rest, take some painkillers and allow his body to heel. He didn't seem surprised about this information, "I expected you to tell me that doctor." I then re-iterated the importance of getting some rest and taking painkillers and advised him on the rules of self-certification for taking time off. He left assuring me he would get some rest - but after the appointment I felt what was the point?

Lastly, I saw an eccentric lady this week who wasn't so much 'worried well', but more 'unworried ill'! She came to see me to discuss her cholesterol-lowering medication. "I want to reduce them, because I had a brain haemorrhage recently." That immediately triggered alarm bells in my head. I spoke to her about the haemorrhage that she casually threw into the conversation. Back in March she woke up with a severe headache "as if I had been hit by a cricket bat," and came to see one of the GPs. Rightly concerned about the possibility of a subarachnoid haemorrhage (which presents with a sudden onset of a severe headache - like being hit by a bat), the GP referred her to hospital.

At the hospital she had a CT scan which was clear, but she also needed a lumbar puncture to be certain that she hadn't suffered from a brain haemorrhage. She decided to self-discharge, claiming that no-one had explained to her the seriousness of her condition and she was fed-up of waiting in hospital. Her headache continued for the rest of the week and she also developed numbness and weakness in her right arm for a month or so. More recently, she also had another episode of a severe headache about two weeks ago. So, here was a patient who most likely had suffered with a bleed in the brain, but was carrying on as normal.

I explained to her to gravity of the situation and she was quite surprised by the seriousness of it all. She assumed because her weakness had resolved and her headaches had cleared, she was OK. It was why she didn't come to see a doctor afterwards either. Most galling of all was the fact that the hospital did not even inform the surgery about what had happened. The GP who saw her should have followed up what happened, but nonetheless it was the hospitals responsibility to ensure that the practice was informed.

I've urgently referred her to a consultant neurologist and I hope that she hasn't suffered any permanent damage. In all honesty, she should be OK, often with these types of haemorrhages, the blood is self-absorbed which is why her symptoms improved slowly, but there can be lasting damage. I'll wait and see.

What type of patient do you think you are? Are you the 'worried well' or the 'unworried ill'? Let me know in the comments section.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Ready for the end?

2008-09-10T09:25:00.003+01:00

So the world has not come to an end after all. As I type, millions of sub-atomic particles are being accelerated round in a circular tube, approaching the speed of light in an attempt to recreate the conditions in the Universe moments after the big bang. The experiment is taking place in a Large Hadron Collider at the famous CERN facility in Geneva (the same CERN organisation mentioned in the novel Angels & Demons by Dan Brown). The experiment sparked rumours that it could cause the end of the world, causing the Earth to be swallowed up by a huge black hole.

Listening to the radio on my drive to work this morning, presenters were having a good laugh, joking about the imminent end of the world. Now of course, today is not going to be the end of the world. According to Shia belief, for the end of the world to happen, the re-appearance of the 12th holy Imam needs to occur - and that has not yet happened. However, it was amusing to listen to the presenters joking about the end of the world - I couldn't help thinking, if indeed it was the end of the world they are all going to be in for a mighty shock.

The end of the world heralds the arrival of the Day of Judgement - when all of mankind will be resurrected to be judged fairly and justly by God, to determine whether we will spend the rest of eternity in heaven or hell. That is what life is all about - we are here for God to judge our actions and decide whether we deserve heaven or hell - I can't stress the point enough. Everything we do, especially in this holy month of Ramadan, has just two purposes - to receive God's blessings and to avoid his punishment.

Yesterday I attended a majlis commemorating the recent death of a relative. The speech was about death and how Muslims should embrace it. Death is not something to be feared, in fact quite the opposite, it is something to be welcomed. If our faith and belief is strong then that is no problem, we will be ready for death because we are aware of the potential rewards that lie beyond. God says in the Quran "What is the life of this world but amusement and play? But verily the Home in the Hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew." (Surah 29, Verse 64) and also "O my people! This life of the present is nothing but (temporary) convenience: It is the Hereafter that is the Home that will last. He that works evil will not be requited but by the like thereof: and he that works a righteous deed - whether man or woman - and is a Believer- such will enter the Garden (of Bliss): Therein will they have abundance without measure." (Surah 40, Verses 39-40). To achieve that feeling, that status, we continue to strive to seek nearness to God and to seek his blessings.

We are all destined for death - it is not something that anyone can escape. No matter what scientists and doctors try, they cannot prevent death. The Quran states that "Every soul shall have a taste of death in the end to Us shall ye be brought back." (Surah 29, Verse 57) It is something we have no control over whatsoever, we have no say as to where we will die, "Nor does any one know in what land he is to die." (Surah 31, Verse 34) and we have no say as to when we will die "Nor can a soul die except by Allah's leave, the term being fixed as by writing." (Surah 3, Verse 145). Modern medicines and technology may seemingly prolong life, but that is due to God's mercy. He has blessed us with the knowledge and ability to develop new technologies and medicines and with it certain illnesses and diseases can be prevented or cured, but that doesn't change the inevitable. Our time is fixed and we are all destined for death.

With the guarantee of death set, it's what we do in the meantime that counts. Our aim is to struggle and strive to reach nearness to God. To follow his commands, to follow the teachings of the Holy Prophet and Imams. This constant struggle will determine our reward in the hereafter. I know I sound repetitive, but it is important to keep discussing the issue. Death should be at the forefront of our minds. Everything we do should be to get ready for death. Have we done enough? Are we doing enough?

Moving on to briefly talk about the Day of Judgement. God has described it as "...a Sign for those who fear the penalty of the Hereafter: that is a Day for which mankind will be gathered together: that will be a Day of Testimony. The day it arrives, no soul shall speak except by His leave: of those (gathered) some will be wretched and some will be blessed. Those who are wretched shall be in the Fire: There will be for them therein (nothing but) the heaving of sighs and sobs. And those who are blessed shall be in the Garden: They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy Lord willeth: a gift without break." (Surah 11, Verses 103-108). It is the time when everything we have done in this life will be judged. "Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty), looking towards their Lord. And some faces, that Day, will be sad and dismal." (Surah 75, Verses 22-24).

Like I have said on numerous occasions, not only today but in various other blogs, the Holy Quran has made it quite clear what will happen after we die and how we will be judged and what the rewards and punishments will be. It is clear-cut. That leaves it down to us to ensure that we are ready for that time. This is not something to put to one side, it should constantly be on our minds. We all have jobs, all need to earn a living, have family and friends that we interact it and it is all blessed by God as long as we live our lives in accordance with his teachings. We earn money correctly and spend it in a halal way, we remain friendly and cordial in our personal interactions, not judgemental and vain. A lot of these elements we already do, it is not that difficult, God has not made this life an impossible struggle, he has made it an achievable struggle and inshallah a struggle that we will benefit from in the hereafter.

One final point, coming back to the experiment that is currently taking place at CERN. Scientists are constantly striving to prove that God doesn't exist. Today's experiment is designed to study what happened after the big bang - no doubt in another attempt to explain away God's influence in it all. However, these experiments and discoveries do the exact opposite. Each time a new revelation is made, it just reminds me of the power of God. He has blessed us with the ability to develop these technologies, which enable us to study his creation down to a micro-microscopic detail. We can marvel at the sub-atomic particles and study how the Earth and the Solar system was created and remain in awe over God's creation. These experiments continue to provide more information about God's power and will. They don't deny his existence, but only strengthen the proof that he is holding power over all things.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Patience

2008-09-08T09:07:00.002+01:00

Boy have I received a lot of criticism for defending GPs in the last couple of blogs. Is there anyone who likes GPs? Doesn't look like it. I think it'll be better if I stay well clear of the subject for now. I don't enjoy being this defensive.

My wife and I made our first baby purchase over the weekend and it was a rather hefty one. We bought the cot, mattress, pushchair, car seat and car seat base all from a warehouse in Bedford and the total price was very reasonable. For those interested, after reading my pushchair blog, we went for the Phil & Teds Sport in black. No Graco in the end.

Was up late last night watching the climax of Andy Murray's fabulous win over the world no.1 Rafael Nadal, in doing so he became the first Brit male since 1997 to feature in a Grand Slam final, and if he wins, he'll become the first Brit male since 1936 to win a Grand Slam. Only the small matter of beating arguably the best ever player the world has seen - Roger Federer - in order to achieve that. Should hopefully be an exciting match tonight.

Being Ramadan, I wanted to blog at least once a week on various religious topics that interest me in the hope of interesting you. Today I wanted to talk about 'Patience.' In the Quran, God asks us to "...be patient and persevering, for Allah is with those who patiently persevere." (Surah 8, Verse 46). Life is a test, a struggle. How patient we are during this struggle inevitably determines our reward from God.

What do you think about when you think of 'patience'? I think about having the ability to endure without complaint. To take things as they come and rather than feel negative or angry or depressed to try and focus on the positives. This is sometimes easier said then done. At times when I've found it difficult, I've often tried to focus on the fundamentals of life. When something has had a really negative effect on me I think about my basics: a loving wife, good family and friends, a good job, a good car, etc etc. That is what I feel defines patience - but it is only the beginning. Like most important values in Islam, it can be taken a whole lot further.

Imam Ali (a.s.) explains that patience comprises of four attributes: Eagerness, fear, piety and anticipation of death. "So, whoever is eager for Paradise will ignore evil temptations; whoever fears the fire of Hell will abstain from sins; whoever practices piety will easily bear the difficulties and hardships of the life of this world and whoever anticipates death will hasten to perform good deeds." (Al-Aimidi, Hadith #2897).

There are various degrees of patience, and the merit and reward vary in accordance with degree and level. Imam Ali (a.s.) states that “Patience is of three kinds: patience at the time of affliction, patience in regard to obedience, and patience in regard to disobedience (of Allah). And the third one is superior to the first two kinds.” We believe that our good deeds in this life will be rewarded in the hereafter and by keeping that at the forefront of our minds, dealing with difficulties and hardship should become easier - looking at the long-term goal. We increase our nearness to God by displaying patience throughout life.

Being negative, angry and anxious at the time of personal struggle (financial loss, death, natural disasters etc) are the signs of a soul's weakness. Patience strengthens the will and the power of resolution to overcome adverse circumstances, make rational decisions and act wisely. If a person bears patiently with misfortunes and calamities, endures the hardships that come with worship and tolerates the difficulties arising from the renunciation of forbidden pleasures for the sake of God, it gradually becomes easier and allows the person to move to the next level of patience.

Ah yes, levels of patience. Because life is a struggle, achieving success in certain virtues allows us to move to the next part - to move closer to God, to continue the struggle. For patience it starts with what I've been describing so far: Patience in God - Steadfastness whilst trying to get rid of evil habits (lying, greed, backbiting) and ugly traits (anger, ego, hypocrisy) and practicing abstinence from the objects of desire during self-purification (i.e. everything we do in the month of Ramadan).

Next comes Patience with God - a level of selflessness that allows one to witness intimacy with God. All traces of self-love, pride etc are removed. After that comes Patience from God - after receiving blessings from God, having to continue to endure the trials of this world, separated from God. Imam Ali (a.s.) asks in Dua Kumayl “O my God, my Master and my Lord! Even if I were able to endure Thy chastisement, how shall I bear Thy separation?". Finally comes Patience for God - the state of perfection, achieved when one has the ability to exist only with God and moulds himself with the moulds of Allah.

The previous paragraph describes what can be achieved, but for now the focus should remain on the first level - Patience in God. We are here to be tested and having the ability to be patient during the tests and struggles endears us towards God. Controlling our anger, our hatred, our pride and instead displaying patience and endurance are qualities that God commends. God speaks about its importance in the Quran:

"Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere" (Surah 2, Verse 155)
"Therefore endure with a goodly Patience." (Surah 70, Verse 5)

The Imam's had to display tremendous patience throughout their lives. None more so than Imam Husain (a.s.) during the events of Karbala. He could have displayed anger and thirst for revenge, but instead he showed us the greatest patience by enduring the events of Karbala and providing the ultimate sacrifice to save the religion of Islam. Imam Ali (a.s.) was denied the Caliphate of the Muslims after the demise of the Holy Prophet - again, he could have shown anger and hatred to those who took away his right, but he remained patient in order to safeguard Islam.

We have these great examples throughout history. Events which required the greatest levels of patience imaginable. We will never (inshallah) have to endure such struggles - but what we do endure, we must do so with patience and restraint. We must develop the ability to be patient, to constantly show humbleness and modesty in order to receive God's blessings. Displaying anger, hatred, revenge are all qualities which will not help us and often make the situation worse.

I know today's topic has been a bit difficult to understand, but I wanted to attempt to describe patience - especially during this month as it is something we need to show the most during the time of fasting, whist we abstain from worldly pleasures. I hope some of it makes sense and hope that we can all strive to achieve patience inshallah.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Tiredness is killing III

2008-09-05T08:43:00.002+01:00

These first few days of fasting are proving to be extremely difficult. I am exhausted before I even arrive at work. Waking up for sehree at 4.30am and then attempting to go back to sleep after Fajr at 5am, only to wake up at 7am to get ready for work - if that sounds tough, that's because it is! By the time I arrive to work after a 50 minute, 40 mile drive I am struggling to stay awake. Luckily, as usual, Friday is a half day and I shall be going home soon.

In the comments section to my blog on Wednesday, I was kindly given a link to this article in (of all places) The Sun. Mr MacKenzie accuses GPs effectively of being lazy because they don't work on weekends. I ask simply, why should they? Can you find an accountant, a lawyer or a solicitor on the weekend?

It's too easy to say GPs earn over £100,000 and therefore should be working at weekends. If you have a health concern over the weekend or during out-of-hours, do you really need a GP, or do you need to go to the hospital? In all likelihood, it's probably the latter. Not many people would like to give up their free-time on a weekend to discuss a minor health matter. The other side of this arguement is that for some people the weekend is the only time they have free. They are too busy to make an appointment with their GP during the week, but again I ask, if you needed to meet an accountant or a lawyer etc, you would make the time to do so during normal working hours during the week - why not the same for the GP? In fact, if the problem is serious enough, it shouldn't even be an issue.

People will also state that unlike accountants or lawyers, our salary is from the government, but who provided the opportunity for GPs to not work on weekends? The government. They offered, for the cost of roughly £6000, GPs the option of opting out of providing an out-of-hours service. Who wouldn't take that? This is then countered by claiming that the BMA were ruthless in their negotiations, but then why wouldn't they be? It is the governments role to stand up to them and they didn't - so don't bash the GPs over it.

Personally, I feel that GPs shouldn't have to work weekends and out-of hours during the week. If a health problem is serious enough during that time, people need the hospital, if it isn't then people should make time to see their GP during normal hours. It is not fair to suggest that GPs are lazy because they don't provide that service.

Moving on, and I think I've got enough energy for some general discussion before I sign off for the weekend. Over the past two weeks I have been keeping an eye on the Democratic and Republic conventions being held in the US. American politics is always funny to watch and these conventions even more so. I love how the crowd respond when big politicians give their keynote speeches. You only have to stand on the podium and say 'hello' for the crowd to erupt in cheers and screams. All the speeches are pretty much the same - full of grand rhetoric about 'making a change' and how one party is better than the other.

John McCain (the Republican nominee) harps on about his record and 'his scars' to prove he is ready in comparison to the 'unexperienced' Barack Obama (the Democratic nominee), but I'm sorry, how does having a so-called illustrious record in the Vietnam War prove that you are ready to lead? With the current Republican President holding such a low opinion in the American public, it's amazing that the Republican party are a threat in these upcoming elections, never mind the fact they are running neck and neck in the polls with the Democrats - surely only in America.

Hands up anyone who had heard of Sarah Palin before last week? Hands up if you had even heard of Alaska until last week? (I'm joking.) As the Republican's nominee for vice-President, her promotion was certainly a surprise - so much so that her Wikipedia page was only updated last week, with the quantity of information on it quadrupling. She gave a good account for herself on Wednesday - full of grand rhetoric, attacking Obama and generally getting a cheer and scream every 5 seconds.

Whilst all this has been going on, Obama played a masterstroke yesterday by agreeing to an interview on the Republican-backing FOX NEWS channel, interviewed by Bill O'Reilly, just prior to John McCain's keynote speech at the Republican convention last night. How frustrated must the news channel have been, knowing they had to cover a Democrat rather than focus on the upcoming Republican speech. Genius. Now, I am looking forward to the upcoming Presidential Debates as the election race heats up. Should be entertaining.

Lastly, what a crazy week it has been for football. Overnight, Manchester City became the richest club in the world when they were bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group, led by Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim, a man worth 10x more than Roman Abhramovich. There are now reports that the group will bid a whooping £135 million for Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United - now that would be something.

With all these takeovers, comes great pressure on the managers as proved this week when the managers of West Ham United and Newcastle United resigned, both for similar reasons - not having control of the clubs transfer policy. These owners are rich businessmen used to having their on way, making their own decisions. When they takeover football clubs, they can't tolerate someone else making the decisions on how to spend their money. Understandably, managers won't tolerate this interference, especially as when things go wrong the blame will be placed on them, and therefore, this creates an unworkable situation. The owners have the power but crave the glory. Unfortunately, until the rich businessman happens to also be a football manager, it just won't work. Now, who will agree to manage these clubs - actually, I'm sure they'll find someone happy to work in these circumstances for the right salary - everyone has a price.

That just about wraps things up for this week, just as well as I can now go home and get some sleep. Next week hopefully my energy levels will improve and I can discuss some of the amusing patients I've had this week. More about that later.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

A Beginners Guide to Ramadan

2008-09-04T08:59:00.005+01:00

The start of Ramadan is always difficult, especially for the 2-3 years which have seen the length of the fast increase year by year. This year the average length is 15 hours! That is a very long time. Obviously at this early stage my mind and body are suffering big time - everything seems in a haze, even the computer screen while I type.

With that in mind, today I want to keep things basic and discuss the importance of Ramadan. I've attempted to talk about this 2 years ago when I last blogged whilst fasting and I guess today is a re-hash of that, but hopefully better. A Beginners Guide to Ramadan if you will - humour me please!

Fasting involves abstention from all food, drink, vain talk and intimate relations for married couples from the time before dawn, until after sunset. These practical elements are geared towards achieving a time of sustained and amplified effort towards spiritual perfection. All the qualities that make us Muslim and determine our behaviour and actions need to be enahnced in this month. Avoiding sin and striving for God's blessings receives great reward from God.

In addition to fasting and aiming for excellent moral character, we devout time and energy towards prayer and supplication to God. The month of Ramadan contains the the Night of Power, when God determines each and every event to occur in the following year. A chance for us to repent for our sins and to make a fresh start. The importance of that night should not be underestimated - compare it to an opportunity, whereby one day a year all your debt and credit card bills etc are cleared and you are then given a healthy deposit of cash. How you spend that cash throughout the following year is then judged by God, but then the following year you have the chance to restart. Of course, no such day exists but imagine if it did - that's the importance, spiritually, the Night of Power carries.

A lot of people, non-Muslims and Muslims alike, ask why we need to fast? Surely just making an effort to better ourselves is enough, why is God asking us to fast for 30 days on the trot? Fasting focuses the mind. One could argue that food, drink, vanity, intimate desires are all material pleasures and hence distract us from God. Abstaining from all these builds and strengthens a person's self-control, nearing them to their creator. Having less time spent on vain talk and eating big meals allows to concentrate on God and strive to become better year on year.

People forget, it's not just Muslims who have the prescription of fasting from God. Previous religions also carried great weight with fasting, but over time the importance has been forgotten. For Christians there remains the concept of Lent, where they choose to abstain from one or multiple items of their choice for forty days. It represents the time Jesus spent in the desert fasting for 40 days to ward off Satanic temptation:

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry." (Matthew 4:1-2)

For Jews there is the Day of Atonement, when they spend a day of rest and fasting. Spending the day in repentance and prayer. Although the concept exists, over time the effects have been significantly watered down and it no longer retains the power the we Muslims benefit from during the month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the lunar calendar and is a sacred month because God ordained it for the revelation of sacred texts. The Torah was revealed in the Jewish month of Sivan, which according to research, translates to the month of Ramadan. Also, according to hadith, the Bible was revealed in Ramadan and of course the Holy Quran was revealed in Ramadan on the Night of Power.

In conclusion, Muslims observe fast, as in any act of devotion, to seek nearness to God, seek His pleasure and Forgiveness, and generate a spirit of piety in Man. Fasting in this month honors the revelation of God’s word and purifies one in preparation for the night of decrees and in hope of forgiveness. Fasting is a yearly spiritual renewal, given abundant reward in this month of God’s mercy, that is part of the Islamic path to the ideal self.

I can't stress enough how important the month of Ramadan is. The benefits on offer during the month are limitless and with them come great rewards and blessings. On a personal note, I've only come to appreciate this as I've got older. Previously, it just used to be about fasting from dawn till dusk and nothing else. I remember at university, Ramadan fell during the winter months and I used to stay awake till dawn and sleep till dusk - cheating the system is a polite way of describing what I did! However, as I've grown older (perhaps matured?), I've come to appreciate it's significance and the wonderful opportunity it provides for me to connect with God and attempt to receive his blessings for this world and the hereafter. Beofre I finish, I leave you with a quote from the Holy Quran and a request: how about some comments about what Ramadan means to you and how important it is to you personally?

“And men who fast and women who fast…God has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward.” (Quran Surah 33, Verse 35)

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

I.C.E. (Ice Baby)

2008-09-03T09:15:00.006+01:00

Before I start on today's topic and wanted to dispel a myth that has appeared in the comments section and I want to stop it before it potentially escalates. Contrary to popular belief - now this may surprise most of you - I am not a 'lazy GP'. In fact, I'm not even a GP - I am a GP Registrar, which means I am in training to be a GP. I have a morning session from 8.30am to 11am, seeing patients with 20 minute appointments. After the morning session I spend an hour or so seeing extras and home visits. In the afternoon the session runs from 4pm to 6pm, again with 20 minute appointments. It is not my fault that I have a 4 hour gap during the afternoon. However, even with the 4 hour gap I have to update my training ePortfolio daily - filling in details of clinical learning that I experienced during the morning and previous afternoon sessions. After all of that, I have the time to blog and do other things - so I am anything but lazy!

Now that's all cleared up, we can move on. Yesterday saw the usual commotion about whether it was the 1st day of Ramadan. Generally it has been accepted that yesterday was in fact the 1st of Ramadan. Ayatullah Sistani's UK based website, stated that the moon crescent was visible on the night of 1st September, and the Greenwich Royal Observatory has also declared that the crescent was visible on the night of 1st September. It also states that the next moon crescent will definitely be visible on the night of 1st October, making Eid on the 2nd of October for everyone inshallah.

Yesterday was a day of tutorials as part of our training during the Registrar year. Being the first day of fasting made the day particularly tough, but I somehow managed to plough through. The morning tutorial was about consultation skills in General Practice. I thought it might be interesting to discuss the art of consultation with you all in an attempt to demystify the work of a General Practitioner - I am sure you all very interested to know!

There have been many books written on the subject of consultation skills in General Practice. (Apparently, I am not the only doctor who has a lot of spare time). GPs have taken the time to study how people consult and then come up with models for the consultation to ensure that they go as smoothly as possible.

A common theme from these various models is that the consultations need to be patient-centred. After all, like anything in the consumer trade - it's all about the customer, the patient. Ensure that the patient comes first and you can't go wrong. Simple. So why is there so much literature on the subject? It's not that simple after all.

Dr. Roger Neighbour has written The Inner Consultation and it seems to be the most widely used when teaching GP trainees about the skills of consultation. He talks about "5 checkpoints that need to be visited on the journey that is each consultation."

CONNECTING: Being able to see the world through your patient's eyes - building a rapport with the patient and attempting to appreciate their views/beliefs/ideas.
SUMMARISING: Telling the patient what you think is the problem - the patient has a chance to correct you if there has been a misunderstanding.
HANDING-OVER: Agreeing a management plan between the doctor and patient. The responsibility lies with both parties (unless the patient hands full responsibility to the doctor and vicer-versa).
SAFETY-NETTING: Considering what may go wrong and planning accordingly. Giving the patient the chance to come back if there is no resolution to their problem.
HOUSE-KEEPING: Ensuring that the doctor looks after his/her own needs and is satisfied with the consultation.

Neighbour's model is popular because it can be flexible when used with different patients. It is apparently easy to remember (can you name the 5 check points yet? I can't!) A lot of the above is taken as standard practice engaged by most doctors. Labelling them as checkpoints is a way of ensuring it is done all the time with each consultation. An additional benefit is that it's the first model to actually consider what occurs to the doctor after the consultation.

Another model discussed was the Pendleton New Consultation, which has 7 tasks.

To define the reason for the patients attendance.
Take into account the patient's perspective - achieve a shared understanding.
With the patient, to choose an appropriate action for each problem.
To enable the patient to manage the problem - encourage him/her to accept appropriate responsibility.
To consider other problems.
To use time and resources appropriately.
To establish and maintain a relationship with the patient which helps to achieve the above tasks.

Reading all the above (if you managed to keep your eyes open), the two consultation models are practically the same. From the tutorial I came to the conclusion that all these consultation models are essentially the same. They all focus on a patient-centred approach and all discuss with clever language about how to connect with the patient, establish their concerns and develop appropriate management plans.

It all comes to the fundamentals of general practice: I.C.E.

Ideas
Concerns
Expectations

That is the simplest way of putting it. Talking to the patient to develop their ICE. From there all the rest follows. Once I've established what the patients ICE is I can discuss the problems, advice the patients appropriately and come to an agreement over the management plan.

I've been doing this since I qualified. I didn't need a 2 hour tutorial to go into the various minutiae details about how to do it - I already follow the correct principal. By following the ICE principal, my consultations are automatically patient-orientated. It's only through ICE that I am able to advise and treat patients.

So, why do I need all the other stuff that just expand on the same thing? One word - 'exams'! To qualify as a GP I have to take the MRCGP (Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners) and part of it is the theory paper which goes into a lot of details about various consultation models. In order to qualify as a GP, I need to learn about the above (and other) consultation models, just so I can answer questions on them. Also, from these models come the performance criteria for my practical exams - I will be observed conducting a range of consultations and in order to pass the examiner will have a tick sheet with various principals of the consultation models which I need to display during the consultation.

However, without wishing to sound complacent, I am pretty confident about the practical exams. By following the ICE principal, I should achieve quite a few ticks because the nature of the consultation should lead me to cover the relevant points from various consultation models used in the exam. Of course over the year I am meant to steadily show an improvement in my consultations and hopefully by sticking to ICE that should be straight-forward. It had better be, as the exam costs over £1400 and there's no refund if you fail - it's another £1400 to re-take as well - so no pressure then!

Having bored you enough, it's probably time to finish. Looking on the bright side, a) this has taken 10 minutes or so to read - that's 10 minutes not thinking about food! b) when you next see a doctor, see if they look after your ICE!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Bloggywood

2008-09-01T09:21:00.002+01:00

My last blog attracted quite a few readers which was extremely pleasing, it even got a few comments. The weekend was pretty average fare, took advantage of the last weekend before Ramadan, which should start on either Tuesday or Wednesday, by ensuring that I ate as much as possible. It's going to be really tough this year, with saree around 5am and iftar near 8pm - 15 hours.

With Ramadan around the corner, I hope during the month - energy permitting - to blog mainly about religious topics and I would welcome any suggestions on what to blog about during the month. In the meantime, I thought that today I'd get my obligatory Bollywood blog in to please the masses. Anything to get the hit count up - I'm such a sell-out, like many Bollywood actors!

I may have been away from the blogging world for 18 months, but during that time , the great void felt by my blogs absence was filled with not one, not two but three different bloggers! These bloggers are all big Bollywood superstars and have been blogging on an almost daily basis, all in the name of their fans, but more because it gives them a chance to fight back against all the bad press they receive.

First out of the blocks into the blogging world came Aamir Khan. A notoriously recluse actor with a reputation of being extremely difficult to work with, Aamir Khan's blogs attract thousands of readers. He appears to blog about once a month or so, unless he's promoting a film in which case the number of blogs increase (as seen recently when promoting his home production Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, starring his nephew, Imran Khan). It seems to do the trick as the films tend to be extremely successful.

Aamir Khan courted controversy earlier this year when he blogged about a dog in a house he was staying at, who was named, by his servants apparently, Shah Rukh. He affectionately states:

"Well Shahrukh is once again begging for my attention, so let me get back to him. He is smelling too much, I think he needs a bath. Heel boy, heel."

Needless to say the media had a field day with that blog and Aamir Khan had to come out and apologise for his crass behaviour. Amusing to say the least. On the whole, his blogs tend to be interesting, talking about a wide range of subjects, much like this blog, the difference being he gets over 1000 comments per blog. If only!

More recently, Salman Khan has joined the blogging world, using the same server as me infact. He's been blogging during the course of his stint presenting the game show Dus Ka Dum on Sony Entertainment Television. As a quick side note, that has been another development in the Bollywood world, ever since Amitabh Bachchan presented India's version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2001, other actors have had a go at presenting various game shows. Shah Rukh Khan presented Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? last year and is currently presenting India's version of Are You Smarter Than A 10-year Old?, Akshay Kumar presents India's Fear Factor and now Salman Khan with Dus Ka Dum - which should really be called Dus Ka Dumb!

In his blogs, Salman Khan attempts to deal with a lot of philosophical issues, attempting to make his game show appear deep and meaningful, when it is anything but. For those who haven't seen it, the premise is extremely simple. Salman Khan asks questions based on polls done across India and the contestant has to guess the percentage of people who give a certain answer - as far as I can see it requires no skill whatsoever. Have a look yourself below, this particular episode has a very special contestant - talk about back-slapping!

But the King of the Bollywood Blogging World has to be Amitabh Bachchan. The man is a machine. At the grand age of 66, he is blogging on a daily basis, sometimes even twice a day, discussing what he gets up to everyday, discussing his personal issues with the media and more recently discussing at great length the success of his recent Unforgettable Tour. It's hard to believe that he actually types the blogs himself - the quality of English is superb - but he insists that he is repeatedly. Obviously it may not be true, but some of the information he provides could only come from him

His blogs get over 500 comments each, again on a daily basis, and his server has a neat gimmick which allows him to respond to each comment separately in the comment section - he even has time to do that as well. One reader even had the audacity to question Amitabh Bachchan on whether he types the blogs himself and once again, he denies the allegation.

Amitabh Bachchan also uses the blogs as a tool to fight back against the media. He puts up scans of newspaper clippings which attack him or his family and then types a long rebuttal. Recently, he has taken to putting up any interviews he has given to the media on the blog as well - stating that he wants to ensure that the reporter doesn't twist his words when the official version is printed.

So far, there is one notable omission from the blogging world. A certain Shah Rukh Khan, who claims to be too busy to blog, but I am certain it is only a matter of time before he joins the blogging world. Anything to get the fans. And I guess that is what it's all about. The actors will do anything and everything for the attention - they crave it - but then they wouldn't be successful if they didn't receive all the attention.

I finish with a link to this interesting article, which Amitabh Bachchan kindly put up on his blog to allow readers to comment on. It's quite interesting and for a change, Amitabh Bachchan has not come up with a rebuttal - perhaps he can't argue against it - after all, he craves attention to.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Self flagellation

2008-08-29T08:51:00.008+01:00

Admittedly this weeks blogs have had a rather depressing tone to them and although I had planned on a light-hearted blog for today, something more important has come up. You may have heard in the news this week, about a man convicted for child cruelty. The case was about a Shia muslim in Manchester who forced two boys to perform zanjeer matam against their will during Ashura.

Before I discuss the case, you may remember I blogged about the importance of Ashura a while back here and also talked about the importance of Muharram and the events of Karbala here. During the month of Muharrum, Shia muslims attend events (or Majlises) commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Husain (a.s.), the grandson of the Holy Prophet. During this time a learned scholar discusses various important topics in Islam and also recounts the events of Karbala when the tragedy took place. Before and after the lecture, Shias remember the events more emotionally through recitals and readings of the events. During this process Shias perform matam - this is the act of - for want of a better description - hitting our chests. Shias stand and hit their chests as a symbol of grief, a sign of respect towards Imam Husain (a.s.) and his family and friends who made the greatest sacrifice. It is a tradition which began after the events of Karbala by the women and children of the camp of Imam Husain (a.s.). Overcome with emotion and grief from such a tragic loss, the survivors of Karbala would hit themselves as they tried to deal with their loss.

Over the years this act of matam has become a symbol both of good and harm for Shia muslims. For Shias, it allows us to remember the emotion and grief of the occasion and display it according to tradition. For outsiders - mainly Wahabi muslims - it allows them to condemn Shias and belittle them as "the people who hit themselves" - not for one second attempting to understand the reasons behind it.

The tradition of matam has lasted for over 1400 years. Zanjeer matam is the act of hitting yourself with blades and knifes. Some Shia muslims are so overcome with grief and emotion that they feel they need to bleed to express their faith. They hits themselves repeatedly, causing numerous cuts to their backs, all in the name of Imam Husain (a.s.). For Shias throughout the world, the concept of Zanjeer matam is very sensitive. While some condemn the act, others defend it wholeheartedly.

Speaking from a purely personal point of view, I disagree with it completely. The act of harming yourself in the name of Imam Husain (a.s.) is wrong. Imam Husain (a.s.) made the greatest sacrifice to save Islam. Islam today does not need saving by performing zanjeer matam. Imam Husain (a.s.) did not make that sacrifice because he wanted us to remember it by harming ourselves. Hitting yourself with knives and causing serious harm was not the message of Karbala.

Three important points to consider; on the Day of Judgement, will God bless those who have harmed themselves in the name of Imam Husain (a.s.) and overlook any wrongdoings in their life? God will judge each individual based on his deeds as a muslim - and will performing Zanjeer matam receive any benefit? Secondly, when the 12th Imam makes his long-awaited return, will he stand quietly while people perform zanjeer matam in front of him? Will he not stop them from doing so and advise them about the importance of Imam Husain's (a.s) sacrifice, and that it was not made in order for Shias to harm themselves? Lastly, no Imam after the events of Karbala ever performed zanjeer matam when mourning the sacrifice of Imam Husain (a.s.), isn't that a sign that it should not be performed? You may accuse me of being too simplistic, but often for such sensitive issues, being simplistic is the best way.

Having explained my viewpoint, coming back to the case, I found it extremely upsetting that such an event took place. It's one thing to perform zanjeer matam on yourself, but to actually attempt to force others - and in this case children - to do the same thing is horrible. Instead of explaining the importance of Imam Husain's (a.s.) sacrifice, this man tried to force two children to harm themselves. Totally inexcusable.

Fortunately according to reports, the Shia community in Manchester helped the police with their investigations and rightly condemned the act. Unfortunately, its given the Shia faith a bad name. No matter what justification, people will rightly or wrongly remember the stand out features of this case - a man forced two children to hurt themselves in a religious ritual - it's difficult to put a positive spin on that.

Nadeem Kazmi (director of international affairs at Al-Khoei Foundation in London and New York) has also blogged about the subject on the Guardian website - which will attract many more readers than here! He rightly condemns the act of the man in question, but also attempts to justify the act of zanjeer matam. Although I disagree with him, he is entitled to his opinion. However, certain points he states leave him open to a lot of criticism. He states that:

"Those adults who engage in self-flagellation with knives, chains or blades, do so with a consciousness of the ceremonial nature of the act, keenly watched by onlookers, children and adults alike, who, though they have seen it all before, continue to be mesmerised by the sheer spectacle of it – the display."

It's unfortunate that he mentions children in this statement. When condemning the act of the man, how can we justify allowing children to watch adults "engage in self-flagellation," is that not an act of cruelty itself?

Further on, in his attempt to justify zanjeer matam, he compares the act to Jesus's crucifixtion:

"But it would be unjust if the Zaidi case were to poison the wider public's view of a ritual that commemorates a death that, like the Christian concept of the crucifixion of Christ, is seen as the epitome of sacrifice for humanity, and the triumph of good over evil."

Again, an unfortunate comparison. Whereas Christians remember and mourn the crucifixion of Christ, to my recollection, I don't think they do so by harming themselves and re-enact the crucifixion. That's the point - we do commemorate the death and sacrifice of Imam Husain (a.s.) but zanjeer matam is an inappropriate from of commemoration, hence it is wrong to compare it to the crucifixion of Christ. Christians believe that the crucifixion took place and mourn it accordingly, zanjeer matam never took place at the time of Karbala, so why is it practiced?

The debate about zanjeer matam can go on and on. There is much more to discuss about the topic. I've attempted to give my views on this particular case and also provide some information about the ritual. Hopefully this case will not cause much lasting damage to Shias across the country and hopefully the sacrifice of Imam Husain (a.s.) can be remembered and treasured more appropriately.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Stabbing society

2008-08-28T09:07:00.003+01:00

Yet another disappointing performance by Liverpool that saw them scrap through into the Champions League last night. The start to the new season has not been good, but still produced 3 wins out of 3. However, looking at the headlines this morning, you would think Liverpool were the worst team in England. All the criticism, and yet the main fact is that Liverpool won. If Manchester United had shown similar form, the critics would have lauded the performances as a mark of champions - to win when not playing well. I guess until Liverpool win the Premier League the critics won't stop criticising.

Whilst I was away from the blogging world for the past 18 months, one recurrent news story has been about the dramatic increase in knife crime. It seems not a week goes by without at least one death from a knife crime, especially in London. At last count, so far this year, there have been 24 teenagers killed in the streets of London. Just stop to think about that number. Almost one teenager a week is killed by a knife attack in London.

Politicians harp on about the cases of violent crime actually decreasing, but one cannot ignore the numbers. Twenty-four teenagers. Are we still living in the UK? How has society degraded so far that people can stab someone over the smallest of issues and show no restraint? What is the cause behind this spate of violence? What can be done about it?

Obviously the answers are not easy. Reports often point to extremely dire family backgrounds for both the perpetrator and the victim. Single parenting, lack of schooling, lack of discipline, poverty and too much free time are amongst the reasons for the cause. Although the statistics may show a decline in crime levels, like I explained yesterday, for the victims family and friends, the statistics mean nothing. I find it difficult to comprehend what has happened to society that makes knife crime so prevalent.

The act of stabbing someone to death - how is that possible? What must be the circumstances surrounding the development of that individual to cause such an event? How can someone be able to do that without regret or remorse? All these questions and no real answers. That's what the blog is for.

When I think about the people that carry out such vicious acts, I think of their circumstances - it must boil down to how they have been raised. That directly leads on to the kind of society we live in. A society that allows people to stab one another death. There will always be evil people, that is unavoidable, but for society as a whole, to allow such events is a great tragedy. Despite Gordon Brown's claims, our society is breaking.

Currently, a lot of reports speaking about how to deal with the knife crimes point towards how to deal with the perpetrators. One particular method receiving quite a bit of criticism is 'stop & search' carried out by the Met Police. Youths are being randomly stopped and searched for any knives or guns. Talk about marginalisation. These youths already come from brittle backgrounds and attempting to victimise them could potentially send them to the very place we are trying to avoid. Aside from that, it's not even certain whether such techniques are successful.

Another method is the often derided 'knife amnesty', allowing people to hand in their knives (or guns) to a local police station no questions asked. However, people need to first realise that possessing such weapons is wrong, otherwise why hand in the weapon? Of course, once the guilty party is found then surely they should serve time in prison. However, even this is not successful with only one in five people charged and found guilty actually going to prison. These methods and others deal with the problem, but not the cause of the problem - that appears to be much more difficult.

The cause of the problem lies in the background of these youths. Clearly, more needs to be done identifying areas that are vulnerable to 'poorly raised youths' (for want of a better phrase) and then acting upon it. Starting from the grassroots and working up. Educating people on the importance of family - not to have multiple teenage pregnancies, which lead to a multitude of single mums. When that happens, to then ensure the mums are supported in the raising of their children. Providing a decent school, decent leisure facilities to occupy free time and reward the efforts of people involved in making a difference - to the teachers, social workers, etc.

I personally don't think the above targets are too difficult for this government. Providing decent education in the first place is the key. Why should there be sub-standard schools? Why should the 'poorly raised youths' not have the same opportunities as others? Why should single mums or broken families not be supported? If these families have children who can potentially cause such damage, who can they turn to for help? Is the support system there? Clearly not.

Say for example, a single mum living in Brixton had a child who was involved with a gang who possessed knives. Who does she turn to? Her GP? He or she will refer her to the local psychiatry team for assessment of that child - how long will that take? 4-6 months. Imagine what could go wrong in that time. Ok, if she's not happy with that, she can contact her council and speak to a social worker who can refer the child to the social support team, but again, how long would that take? Assuming nothing happens while the mum and child wait to be seen, the child gets assessed - a lot of factors are identified - poor schooling, poor role models, poor attitudes. What next? Mum and child are sent for family counselling in another 4-6 months time. And so on and so forth. The time it takes to identify the problems and start dealing with them appropriately is too long.

I can continue this rambling for much longer, but I think I should stop. Much of what I say is idealistic, I readily admit that, but that doesn't make it unachievable. The death of one teenager per week in London alone, is a scary thought and interventions need to be made, changes enforced and better support systems provided to those involved. Of course punishments need to be guaranteed for the perpetrators beyond help but a lot needs to be done to treat the cause of the problem.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Safe to fly

2008-08-27T09:36:00.004+01:00

The quest for the ultimate pushchair continues. Spent more time researching and came up with more possibilities. The choices are too much. Came across a really cool looking pushchair, the 3Tec by ABC Design, but I can't find any reviews about it. My wife is particularly interested in the Phil & Teds Sport buggy which again looks very cool, but is very expensive - starting from £294.95, for the buggy only. The ideal pushchair is one that allows the carseat to sit on the frame without having to remove the pushchair, is easy to fold, lightweight, affordable and not a Graco. The search continues...

Having entertained you enough about my pushchair needs, time for something more interesting I hope. I'm sure you all remember the upsetting news last week of an aeroplane crash in Madrid, claiming upto 153 lives. I can't imagine how it must feel for the family and friends of the victims, but needless to say, it was a great tragedy.

Having recently flown to India and Pakistan, I took the flights for granted, nothing was going to go wrong and thankfully nothing did. However, unfortunately accidents happen. I think of the passengers in the Madrid flight. They, like most of us, would have checked in their baggage as normal, waited in the departure lounge and then boarded the flight as scheduled. On the plane they would've jostled for the overhead storage and then settle into their allocated seat, putting on the flimsy waist seat-belt. As the plane prepared for take-off, they would've sat in their seats reading/chatting/sleeping, not paying attention to the safety advice from the air hostesses. As the plane accelerated down the runway, people would brace themselves for take off and then... crash... nothing...

When I think about the whole process that you and I go through as a routine, even though we perhaps don't fly very often, flying is exactly that - a routine. Unfortunately, the routine was tragically ruined on that flight in Madrid.

However, as I think about the accident, I feel reassured when I look at the statistics. Flying remains, by far, the safest mode of travel. Flying carries a 1 in 2.5million chance of being killed. Travelling on a train carries a 1 in 50,000 chance and in a car, the chance increases further to 1 in 200. On top of that, in the last year there have been no accidents involving large passenger air crafts that caused loss of life in Britain. I know there was a recent mid-air collision in Coventry, but that involved two microlight planes and "only" 5 people died. Traumatic for the family of the victims, but last year almost 3,000 people died on the road (a record low by the way), what about their family and friends?

Aeroplane flights have to follow rigorous safety procedures. Each aircraft is kept at least a mile apart, pilots and crew get trained every six months and we the passengers are informed where the life jackets are, where the exits are and how to use the oxygen masks, even though we hardly listen. On the road however, there is no rigorous safety procedures - could you pass your driving test if you had to re-take it tomorrow? I probably couldn't.

As the number of people flying has increased over the past few decades, the number of accidents have decreased. Its become safer as time as gone on. In 1976 there were 3 accidents per million flights worldwide, in 2007 that was down to 0.65 per million. Flying is five times more safer than in 1976. The decrease is down to improving aircraft technology. The aeroplane is the safest element when it comes to considering causes of the accidents. Nowadays the accidents are mostly caused by pilot error. Almost always there is no single cause of a crash, often it is an accumulation of factors.

Of course for those unfortunate victims and their families it's not going to make a difference - they've just become a statistic themselves. My words can never be a consolation for them, but hopefully for the readers who haven't suffered such a tragic bereavement, the figures reflect the safety of flying and perhaps make us feel better before our next holiday abroad.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Pramming along

2008-08-26T09:10:00.004+01:00

How depressing to return to work after the 3-day break. Even the weather agreed, after a sunny weekend, drove in to work and it was grey and overcast - matching my mood. Attended my friends wedding over the weekend in Birmingham. After being together for almost 9 years, they finally tied the knot. The wedding was an all day affair encompassing the civil registry, Hindu ceremony and finally the reception in the evening. It was held at the stately Ragley Hall, and all in all it was a lot of fun. The Best Man's speech was extremely funny and wildly inappropriate, with the closing line the highlight: "Congratulations to the couple, and we hope the only ups and downs are those that occur between the sheets!"

My wife and I are expecting our first child in October, inshallah and as the day approaches we've been spending a lot of time on deciding what we need to buy before the baby arrives. One of the most important purchases is the pushchair and car seat. There appears to be two main options. Either have a separate car seat and pushchair, which means having to transfer the baby to and from both or have a travel system that enables one to transfer the car seat directly onto the frame of the pushchair.

By all accounts, having the travel system is the better (and more expensive) option. The convenience of transferring the car seat onto the pushchair frame saves a lot of hassle when it comes to transferring the baby and risk waking him/her up. So, having agreed on the need for the travel system the weekend was spent trying to decide which one to buy. Although my parents have very kindly offered to finance the purchase of our new travel system, I still thought it prudent to do some research to decide which is the most suitable travel system for us. The choices are seemingly endless.

Starting with the most expensive and working downwards, the king of the travel systems appear to be the Bugaboo, and with prices starting from over £550 and that's just for the pushchair - it doesn't include the carrycot or the car seat - it deserves the title. It is the designer pushchair - the Armani of the pushchair world - too exclusive and too expensive. To be fair it does do everything a travel system could probably do, but the price is extremely prohibitive.

Next is the Micralite Toro, which you must agree does look really cool, and at a price of £349 you would expect it too as well! It looks like a Golf-Kart, all that's missing is an engine and remote control. However, there is also the Micralite Fastfold, which looks almost as cool and can be had for £139.99. The added bonus of the Micralite is that it allows for 'off-road' travel on grass and sand because of the large rear wheels. The downside appears to be that it is not a shoppers buggy and that won't suit my wife.

Further down the list comes the highly recommended Quinny Buzz, which is used by a few people we know. Having used it myself, I thought the design was very good, with the all important height adjustable bar for tall people like myself. However, at almost £300, it definitely doesn't come cheap. It has the added advantage of allowing the pushchair to face either towards you or away from you which is quite rare. It is however, quite heavy, making it difficult to transfer from car boot to the road for my wife.

Last but not least are the Graco travel systems, which appear to be extremely good value for money at £149.99, for the Mosaic travel system, and £159.95, for the Tour travel system (both include the car seat and various other accessories). The Graco's get good reviews, are easy to fold and relatively lightweight. However, they do look a bit cumbersome to say the least and tend to suffer for being too common.

For the first three travel systems I've discussed, the very popular Maxi Cosi CabrioFix is compatible with the pushchair frames, which needs to be purchased separately. The Graco comes with it's own car seat, included in the price. In addition to the car seat, for ease of use, a car seat base is essential for locking the car seat safely and securely. For the Maxi Cosi, an Isofix Base or Easy Base is required at an additional cost. For the Graco, again, the car seat base is included in the price.

So, there are our options. The Maxi Cosi CabrioFix is a very good car seat, but the pushchairs compatible with it are very expensive. The Graco travel systems are very affordable and good value for money, but don't look as good. It should be an easy choice, but then if it was I wouldn't have blogged about it. I'm probably going to settle for a Graco travel system, but the other pushchair are just too cool to rule out. I welcome any recommendations and suggestions that people may have.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Week of the Toe

2008-08-22T09:27:00.003+01:00

Friday at last. An extra bonus this week, with a bank holiday - meaning a 3-day weekend. Here in the UK we have only 8 bank holidays, easily the lowest in Europe. France has 10, Germany 12 and Slovenia a whopping 17. In actual fact, although that sounds a lot more, the bank holidays across Europe are fixed dates, regardless of whether they fall on a weekend or not. Therefore, I'm told, on average, the number of weekdays off is the same. Still, wouldn't mind a few more!

My first week back in General Practice and already I've seen an unusually high amount of toes! 5 patients have come in this week with issues about their toes. One had a persistantly swollen little toe, another had nail damage and one just didn't like the shape and wanted to discuss surgical options to correct it. Admittedly it was an ugly toe, but still - to consider surgery is pretty drastic.

These patients along with others prove how mundane GP-life can be. Three of the five toe patients came simply because they could. They clearly had nothing better to do - there wasn't a problem with their toe that I could help with and they all got the same advice. As part of the consultation process I'm supposed to enquire what the patient expected or hoped for from me. Each time the patient just wanted to check if the toe was ok and to do so needed confirmation from a doctor. When I confirmed that the toe was fine, they felt reassured and left.

Often in these consultations, it's simply an exercise in reassuarance. I'm here to just confim the patients thoughts. The patient has already formed an opinion, a reason for their symptoms/problems and just want to double-check with the doctor. If I confirm their ideas they go home happy, if I disagree, we discuss the alternatives and come up with a plan - working in partnership.

To the reader this may seem pretty straightforward, but I guess, when I try to look at this positively (difficult on a Friday), I possess the skill and knowledge to identify when the thoughts are wrong and also provide alternatives and options in dealing with different problems. My skill is as a diagnostician.

Everything else I do, could technically be done by someone else. Nurses are able to do blood tests and other investigations. Other healthcare professionals are able to prescribe certain medication, are able to examine certain patients. Only the doctor is able to diagnose the problem and then attempt to come up with a solution where possible.

So, after 4 years of hard labour, I finally stumble across my role. I diagnose problems and hopefully provide solutions. I guess it's a shame that doesn't endear me to my work as much as it should. As positive as I have made it all sound, when I put it into practice - diagnosing what's wrong with a patients toe is not exactly the most exciting thing in the world.

Apologies for how slowly this blog is developing, I'm just trying to get back into the typing groove and right now my thoughts are pretty boring. Thanks for persisting and hopefully things will start picking up soon. If not, I'll rope in the guest bloggers early, or type something about Bollywood - that seems to attract all the hits.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Professional socialisation?

2008-08-20T09:45:00.004+01:00

Tuesday's are teaching days throughout my GP Registrar year. This means time spent in a small room with all my fellow GP Registrars being taught subjects relevant to General Practice. Yesterday started with a gentle introduction into Registrar life. A summary of what to expect in the upcoming year, how to prepare for exams and to round it off, a nice session spent on our 'hopes' and 'fears' for the next year (seriously, I'm not making this up!) And to think I could have actually been providing a service by seeing and treating patients instead.

In the afternoon we had a session titled "Professional Socialisation and Working in Partnership." No matter how many times I read that, it makes no sense and the teaching was even more confusing. The teacher we have is a lovely lady, but her teaching drives me to tears. And with a topic title like that it didn't take long before the tissues came out.

The teaching session focused on how various healthcare professionals interact and how - with examples - our egos get in the way of patient care. We went through some scenarios, which actually took place, where meetings with a range of healthcare professionals would turn into slanging matches about who holds authority over whom.

Often in these examples, the GP (or doctor) was relatively unscathed, and the people in the meetings (to discuss healthcare of a variety of patients) would place the doctor at the top i.e. the one with the most responsibility and then fight it out amongst themselves to decide who ranks where. If this all sounds confusing, it is!

Bottom line, doctors almost always have to take the most responsibility - the buck stops with them. Everyone else does their respective jobs but when things go wrong, ultimately they all turn to the doctor to sort it out. Interestingly, there were no examples of when things go right and the doctor is given credit - in those cases everyone wants a share of the praise.

There was an interesting scenario towards the end which woke me up a bit. Three seperate groups of psychiatrists and psychologists were made to watch a video of an interview with an actor who was displaying absolutely normal behaviour. The first group were told that the man "although appears neurotics, is perhaps psychotic," the second group were told that the man "is absolutely normal" and the third group were not told anything.

After watching the interview, 75% of the first group diagnosed the man with a psychotic condition, only 8 said he was normal. In the second group 90% said the man was normal and in the third group there was practially a 50-50 split between being diagnosed normal or being diagnosed with a psychiatric condition. How this is professional socialisation I don't know.

The last half hour was spent discussing working in partnership with patients, but I was so out of it, I can't remember what was said. Although I did get a good quote from a doctor to a patient "there are things about you I could never know and there are things about the human body that I know but you don't, so we must work together to come up with a solution for us both." That's deep!

So after complaining about how boring yesterday was, I've managed to come up with a good amount of information and in the process bore you guys to! These blogs better get interesting soon - I'm just warming up.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Night of Salvation

2008-08-18T09:03:00.009+01:00

As promised I'm back and ready to re-enter the blogging world proper. Let's hope it doesn't take too long to get the readers back to the blog - because if I have free time, then I'm sure you do to! Even now, I've finished seeing my first patient and have 20 minutes until I see the next one.

Last week I was away in Pakistan attending the wedding of my sister-in-law. (New job and already taken annual leave - easy for some). The wedding functions were extremely enjoyable - grand and colourful affairs, with good food and plenty of photos of everyone dressed up. My wife's family were understandably moved to tears when we gave away the bride (the 'rukhsati' for those in the know), and emotional time for all. It must be said, that there was a lot more emotion than when my wife and I got married four years ago. Hardly anyone seemed upset then - apart from my wife!

Before I move on to today's topic, two further points from my holiday. First of all, we flew with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and were very impressed with the quality of service. We sat in a Boeing 777 plane with sufficient leg-room (just) and all in all it was a comfortable experience. I feel PIA is much-maligned but as a first time user I was pleasantly surprised. Also, Pakistan uses daylight saving time. India doesn't. This means that for half the year, Pakistan is half an hour behind India and for the other half, 30 minutes in front. How odd is that? OK, not very, but I still find that interesting!

Today, in the Islamic calendar, is the 15th of Shabaan. Last night was quite important for all muslims - Sunni and Shia. It was Lailat-ul-Barat or the Night of Salvation. It is the night when muslims believe that God grants forgiveness to all sins and resets everything for the following year. It is yet another opportunity from God for us to seek his forgiveness and blessing. A night spent in rememberance and prayer towards God.

In the Islamic calender, there are six great nights, repsected by both sects in the muslim world. Lailat-ul-Qadr, Lailat-ul-Miraj, the nights of the two Eids, night of Arafat and Lailat-ul-Baraat. Although each of these nights are important, Lailat-ul-Qadr and Lailat-ul-Baraat traditionally get the most coverage, simply because of the meaning behind them. So much coverage in fact, that even Amitabh Bachchan mentioned it in his blog.

With my cynical hat on, I've often dispelled these nights in the past. Why does God grant forgiveness only on special nights? Surely God is all-forgiving all the time. He is, but these nights carry extra importance because God has deemed it. In his mercy, he has placed emphasis on such nights so that we can take stock of ourselves. Reset.

I now feel that these nights offer me the chance to reflect on where I've been and where I can go. To re-align myself with God. Last night, I came to realise that for the past few months I have just been drifting along. Praying regularly, but apart from that nothing! Not reading the Quran, not seeking further knowledge, not getting close to God. It's disappointing that it took such a night to realise all this, but on the other hand, without Laital-ul-Baraat (and other great nights) would I have come to reflect on myself - probably not.

This time of year, islamically, is always more spiritual. It starts with last night and then leads into Ramadhan shortly, during which we have the Night of Power and then continues into Muharram in the New Year. Inshallah, with the help of these nights, I continue to develop as a muslim and continue to get closer to God.

Leading on from Lailat-ul-Baraat, today being the 15th of Shabaan carries an extra importance for Shias. Today we celebrate the birth of the 12th Imam, a person I attempted to blog about a while back. So, with the Night of Salvation and the birth of our living Imam, all in all a very important two days for us and a wonderful opportunity to remember God and seek his forgiveness - moreso than usual.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Return of the Doc

2008-08-08T09:12:00.009+01:00

The return of the prodigal doctor! Back in GP-land, back in the land of the free! My 18 month hiatus (hell) is finally over. I failed to blog at all whilst in hospital - apologies - but now I'm back.

Life, as expected, has changed in the last 18 months. However, being back at the same GP practice, it's easy to say that some things have not changed one bit. Still in the same room, same computer, same boredom as I wait for patients. The boredom that led me to blogging in the first place and once again led me back here - first day - it didn't take long!

So, for the next year, I hope to entertain you all with blogs on everything and anything. Working as a GP Registrar means I may be busy at times, but I will strive to blog on a daily basis, only this time keeping them conscise and precise. Gone are my days of incessant ramblings over nothing. I also hope to get the guest bloggers back over the course of the year, along with new guests as well.

All in all, there is hopefully much to look forward to from the blog and because I'm away next week (enjoying the benefits of GP-life from the start), this blog officially kicks-off from the 17th of August - hope to see you then.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Goodbye for now...

2007-02-06T09:48:00.000+01:00

The moment has finally arrived, my last day at the GP surgery, my last free afternoon, my last free time to actually type something. After almost 5 months of blogging, I'm signing off with the 70th blog. From tomorrow I'll be starting work at A&E which means crazy shifts and long hours. I already received my rota yesterday and discovered that I've got night shifts starting from Friday - talk about the deep end.

However, this does not mean the end of the blog - it's more like a sabbatical. Working in A&E means my time is very limited. I had hoped that the Guest Bloggers would take over and keep the blog alive and I am still hopeful that may still be the case, however the interest in the blog has seemed to wane since the New Year so my optimism has diminished as well! If you would like to post a blog, please let me know in the comments section.

Looking back, keeping the blog has been a lot of fun. Typing something on a daily basis was quite a challenge and one I feel I met with varying degrees of success. I think the blogs have ranged to very interesting to very boring with the majority stuck in between. The topic range has been quite diverse which was always the aim of the blog - "random thoughts on any given day." Over time I've attempted to change that and focus on a few main topics, relevant to the current climate and people reading the blog.

The peak of this blog was arguably during November/December, when many people were reading and leaving comments. It was also the time when I started publishing the Guest Blogs. Although quite a few people have contributed, the majority have struggled to come up with follow-up blogs, mainly due to sheer laziness - you know who you are! However, I'm extremely grateful that they all made effort in the first place and hopefully they can contribute in the future. See how I am trying to come up with different ways to get people to blog!

11 comments remains the record for any blog and it's funny that the blog was about Bollywood! Forget all the religious, political and current affairs blogs; it was the one about Bollywood which received the most comments! If it wasn't so funny, it would be depressing. I've nagged Frank-ness to post another blog and see the response but so far no luck, maybe she's scared of living up to past success!

My favourite blog was easily the blog about the 12th Imam back in December. I spent almost two weeks researching material for that blog and found out a lot of new information on the subject. My blog only began to scratch the surface on the 12th Imam but I learnt a lot from it, the only disappointing part was that I didn't go on to type more about it and also to discuss the other Imams.

As the current climate seems to deteriorate on a daily basis, Muslims are coming under more and more scrutiny. Every day there seems to be a negative portrayal of some Muslim community/family/person. Although some of it justified such as the on-going trial on the attempted July 21st bombings, other stories, I believe, exist to create more and more tension against Muslims in the UK and the West as a whole. How the situation will continue to develop is in our hands, we need to stand up and be noticed. Only the Muslims can change the perception of themselves, it's no good relying on others and for that, every action is helpful regardless of how big or small.

Lastly before I sign off, I thought I'd summarise my blogs under relevant heading (in chronological order), easy reading if there are any new readers out there or for anyone who just wants to waste some time reading my random thoughts:

RELIGION

CURRENT AFFAIRS AND POLITICS

MEDICAL

MISCELLANEOUS

So there you have, a concise list of nearly all my blogs. You'll have to go hunting in the archives for the ones I've deliberately left out!

Take care all,
As always, thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Guest Blogger #6 - Unity between Christians and Muslims

2007-02-01T10:17:00.000+01:00

[Foreword by 2yyiam: Following my attempts to talk about the message of Karbala and the events of Ashura, below is a modified transcript of a speech given by Watford Man which discusses the importance of building Christian-Muslim relations especially at a time when there exists such tensions between the two beliefs, although they have a lot in common. It also follows on from a blog I typed in December titled "An Islamic Christian"]

There was a recent episode of 'Dispatches' on Channel 4 which showed undercover reporters attend a variety of Sunni mosques in Birmingham. It stirred up a large amount of controversy because the reporters spoke to various members of the mosque about the relationship of muslims with the West, many muslims were heard to condemn the UK, criticise Christians and sympathised with Osama Bin Laden (although stopping short of agreeing with the terrorist attacks conducted by Al-Qaeda). It painted a very fundamentalist, Wahabist view of Muslims and made no attempt to speak to so-called 'moderate' Muslims or even Shia Muslims. It seemed to purposely attend only the hard-line, fundamentalist mosques, trying to create controversy for the sake of controversy.

Fundamentalist Islam has become a very easy target for the media in the West. Unfortunately extremism does exist in Islam and there are fanatical Muslims only too keen to cause death and destruction by any means necessary. However, this programme brought to light two issues: 1) There never seems to be any attention given to the fundamentalist Christians that exist and 2) The relationship between Muslims and Christians in the West.

For fundamentalist Christians, Islam is enemy no. 1. Perhaps it is because of reports such as a recent survey published in Der Spiegel which states that Islam is the fastest growing religion in Germany and France, because of conversion by white Europeans. Prominent evangelical figures such as Franklin Graham, described Islam as a "very evil and wicked religion," Jerry Falwell calls the Holy Prophet a "terrorist," Pat Robertson calls the Prophet "an absolute wild eyed fanatic, a robber," Jerry Vines labels the Prophet as "a demon-possessed paedophile" and Patrick Sookhdeo calls for the ban of the Quran because it "glorifies terrorism." Where is all the tolerance, respect, understanding and inter-faith dialogue from such people, when they demand the same from Muslims?

The President of Iran, Ahmedinajad is often mocked for his elaborate statements such as when having given a speech to the UN in September 2005, he described afterwards that he felt as if a halo was over his head and "that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed and all the leaders did not blink." But if these statements are considered elaborate then President Bush is equally guilty.

In 2004 when addressing an Amish group in Pennsylvania, Bush claimed that "God speaks through me, without that, I couldn't do my job." And, in 2003 at the Aqaba Summit, Bush stated that "God told me to strike at al-Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam [ Hussein], which I did..." In addition, General William G. Boykin (the United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence) has stated that "God put Bush in the White House" and "My God is bigger than yours [Allah], I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol." Even our own Prime Minister joins in. On an interview with Parkinson last year, he claimed that "God will be my judge on Iraq."

These are the people with their finger on the nuclear triggers: fundamentalist Christians who believe in an apocalyptic vision of Armageddon and a clash of civilisations between East and West…God help us all!

However, I don't want to go on about these militant Christians, the nasty Christians, those who want conflict between Christianity and Islam. We have a lot in common and we need to remind the Wahabis on our side and the militant evangelicals on the Christian side of this fact, because so many of them are unaware.

We have so many beliefs in common. Both believe in the God of the Old Testament, both the heirs of Abraham, both love Mary both love Jesus, both believe in the Virgin birth, both believe in miracles of Jesus. Infact I would argue that Muslims describe the miracles of Jesus in more detail than the Christians. Whereas the Bible talks about the miracle of turning water into wine (John 2: 6-12), the holy Quran describes Jesus defending his mother's honour by speaking from the cradle (Surah 19, Verses 27-33).

Remember, in this amoral secular Western world, we followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, regardless of when and where they lived, have always had the same moral values. Refraining from murder, theft, adultery and fornication, lying, injustice, and every kind of wrong-doing, as well as behaving in a polite and respectful manner to others, are basic values recognized by all believers. Thus, they respond in a very similar manner to events, even though there are differences in their views and practices – compared to atheists and materialists who respond differently.

Problem is now that Christianity is under siege from “illiberal atheists” and “aggressive secularists” For example, the recent gay adoption row, and it was good to see Catholics standing up for themselves because for too long they have accommodated prevailing secular attitudes in the name of modernization and seen churches empty. Whereas in Islam: “what Muhammad made halal, stays halal…what he made haram, stays haram.” That is not to say that change amongst the Muslims is not required, it is, but Islamic reformation applies, unlike Christian reform, not to theology or beliefs but to the attitudes and mindsets of the believers: who have become too narrow-minded, too intolerant, too judgmental and arrogant, too prone to bloodshed and violence as a means of resolving conflicts.

The Quran talks about the Christians on many occasions, highlighting their importance and value.

"Not all of them are alike; a party of the people of the Scripture stand for the right, they recite the Verses of God during the hours of the night, prostrating themselves in prayer. They believe in God and the Last Day; they enjoin Al-Ma'rûf and forbid Al-Munkar; and they hasten in (all) good works; and they are among the righteous. And whatever good they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for God knows well those who are amongst the righteous, the Muttaqeen.” (Surah 3, Verses 113-115)
“And there are, certainly, among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), those who believe in God and in that which has been revealed to you, and in that which has been revealed to them, humbling themselves before God. They do not sell the Verses of God for a little price, for them is a reward with their Lord. Surely, God is Swift in account.” (Surah 3, Verse 199)
“Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in God and the Last Day and do righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve” (Surah 2, Verse 62)

Why do the Wahabis on Dispatches think there should be no relations, no dialogue, between us and the Christians? This is NOT Sunnah. In the Quran the Holy Prophet is invited to issue an invitation of compromise and unity between Christian and Muslims: "O people of the Scripture: Come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but God, and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides God.” (Surah 3, Verse 64)

We should have positive relations with the Christians and show them how beloved Jesus is to us; how important to Islam and the Quran he is. In the Quran he is mentioned 6 times under the title "Messiah." He is introduced as "Allah’s Messenger and [His] Word..." (Surah 4, Verse 171) and "...a sign for all peoples." (Surah 21, Verse 91).

Unfortunately, Christianity took things too far. They went too far in their adoration of Jesus; they began worshipping him whilst the Jews, on the other hand, went to the other extreme and rejected him. Only Islam maintains the true importance and value of Jesus. The adoration of Jesus by Christians is something the Holy Prophet acknowledged and compared to the adoration of Imam Ali (a.s.). After the Battle of Khaybar, the Holy Prophet said "Ali, if I were not afraid that the Muslims would start to venerate and regard you as the Christians regard Christ, I would have said things about you which would have made the Muslims venerate you and consider the dust of your feet as something worth venerating and idolising; but it will suffice to say that you are from me and I from you; you will inherit me and I will inherit you; you are unto me what Haroun was unto Musa; you will fight my cause and be nearest to me on the Day of Judgment, be nearest to me at the Pond of Kausar; enmity against you is enmity against me; a war against you is a war against me; your friendship is my friendship; to be at peace with you is to be at peace with me; your flesh is my flesh; your blood is my blood; whoever obeys you, obeys me; truth is on your tongue, in your heart in and in your mind. Your faith in Allah is the same as my faith in God. You are the doorway and gateway to me. And Allah tells me to tell you that your friends and allies, your Shias, will be rewarded with Heaven while your enemies will be punished in Hell.”

Christians say that Jesus is Son of God because Bible says so AND because he had no father. A simple reply is "what about Adam?" Why are they not “Adamists” instead of Christians? In the Bible, God supposedly states "the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God" (Luke 3: 38) when describing the lineage of Jesus. What do they think of Prophet David, who, prior to Jesus, the Bible refers to as the only begotten son of God: "I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Psalms 2: 7). Why have they literally interpreted the phrase “son of God?”

The idea of Jesus as the son of God has led to the creation of the Trinity. One God but in 3 parts. Even a 4yr old can tell you that 1+1+1=3, it can never equal 1 and yet that is what Christianity tries to claim. Jesus himself states "...the first of all commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord" (Mark 12: 29). Suzanne Haneef in her famous book "What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims," writes "...but God is not like a pie or an apple which can be divided into three thirds which form one whole; if God is three persons or possesses three parts, He is assuredly not the Single, Unique, Indivisible Being which God is and which Christianity professes to believe.”

Even Athansius, the man who formulated this doctrine of the Holy Trinity in the 4th century (300 years after the birth of Jesus), confessed that the more he wrote on the matter, the less capable he was of clearly expressing his thoughts regarding it. The issue has become more and more confusing for most Christians (including Dissident Voice). One only has to look at the 4 Gospels written by single named, source-less authors and compare them to our books of hadith on the subject of Jesus and God. There is much more to say on the subject but I would like to finish with two final points.

In Islam, we believe that Jesus will return to Earth before the end of time. Sunni's have mentioned it in numerous books but conveniently fail to mention who else will return or the relations between Jesus and that other person. In the second most famous Sunni book, Sahih Muslim, it states "I heard the Messenger of Allah saying: "A group of my Ummah will fight for the truth until near the day of judgment when Jesus, the son of Mary, will descend from Heaven, and the leader of them will ask him to lead the prayer, but Jesus declines, saying: "No, Verily, among you Allah has made leaders for others and He has bestowed his bounty upon them." Another famous Sunni scholar, Ibn Hajar Asgalani states in his book "...the leader of this Ummah is the Mahdi and Jesus, Isa, will come down and pray behind him."

Finally, as it is the month of Muharrum and we are commemorating the events of Karbala, we shouldn't forget that there was also a Christian who laid down his life for Imam Hussain (a.s.). John, the African slave of Abu Zharr who entered the house of the Prophet after his death as the slave of Abbas, brother of Imam Hussain (a.s.). During the battle of Karbala, John stood steadfast beside the Imam. He only spoke when spoken to and when Imam Hussain (a.s.) asked him to remain in the camp and look after the women and children he politely refused, “Maula I have stayed with you in happier times, and enjoyed your welfare and hospitality, and now in your time of need you want me to abandon you. I cannot do that!” This is fidelity, loyalty, servitude. He fought the army of Yazid and when he was struck down he refused to call out to his Imam. However, Imam Hussain (a.s.) managed to get to him and laid his head on his lap where he passed away.

His is the ultimate example for us all: a true Christian, who loved Jesus and followed Jesus but did not worship him. Instead, he saw that the Prophet of Islam and the descendants of the Prophet of Islam – in particular, the martyr Imam Hussain (a.s.) – provide the same, and continuing, rope of salvation as Jesus does. He is a true Christian who sacrificed his life for the true Islam.

Ashura

2007-01-29T11:01:00.000+01:00

Tonight will be the eve of Ashura (10th Muharrum). At that time approximately 1400 yrs ago, in the desert of Karbala, Imam Hussain (a.s.) and his companions were engaged in prayers and supplications to God. It was to be their last night on Earth, for all the men of the camp were to be martyred the following day - sacrificed to save Islam.

I can only imagine the strength of character of these people. They all knew their fate. 72 men versus 30,000 armed forces of Yazid, there was no question that death was their destiny. And yet they remained determined and steadfast to see it through. No-one's faith wavered. Imam Hussain (a.s.) offered everyone the opportunity to leave in the darkness of the night and their commitment would not be questioned, they would still be rewarded by God for having gone so far. Yazid's battle was with Imam Hussain (a.s.) alone, no-one else had to suffer, but not one person moved. They all remained loyal to Imam Hussain (a.s.) to the very end.

Would I have such strength of character? I honestly don't know. Would I readily face my death knowing that I would help save Islam? My thoughts are often tempered with the knowledge that I would be sent to paradise, but is that a rather simplistic way to look at it? Did the companions of Imam Hussain (a.s.) remain by his side because they knew of the reward of paradise? From all the narrations I've heard over the years, I've never got the impression that they all remained by the Imam's side simply because they were guaranteed paradise. They remained loyal because of their love of Imam Hussain (a.s.) and their love of Islam and God. It is too simplistic to think of it as the reward of paradise in return for death.

So do I have that strength in character? Inshallah, I'll never have to find out, but then I guess that's the point of Imam Hussain's (a.s.) sacrifice. He didn't go through all that only for more people to suffer similar fates. He did it to save Islam, so that never would there be a similar threat to its authenticity. His was the greatest and necessary sacrifice. His was the earth-shuddering sacrifice that would remain remembered throughout the rest of time to the Day of Judgment. 1400 years on and the message has not been diluted. Our struggle and fight is to preserve Islam's integrity, to engage in correct practices and spread the true religion of Islam.

However, do I have the strength of character to do even that? Are my practices correct? Do I do enough to maintain and spread Islam? I can definitely do more. Every year we are re-energised during Muharrum and Ramadhan, and every year we fade in the aftermath. Tonight and tomorrow will be filled with a lot of emotion and rightly so, without the emotion the message would be lost. But, as I have mentioned before, the emotion is not the be all and end all of the message. The idea should be to mourn the sacrifice of Imam Hussain (a.s.) and his companions during the first 10 days of Muharrum AND more importantly to make sure we carry the message forward in our daily lives afterwards, looking to improve year on year.

This is where we will surely be judged. Inshallah we will never have to prove ourselves on a battlefield, but carrying the message of Imam Hussain (a.s.) forward is extremely important. We all know as individuals what we need to do and it's just a case of making sure we continue to improve each year. We will be judged as individuals but often I find the most success can be found by working as a group, bouncing off each other and helping each other to continue to improve our faith, practices and help spread Islam further. Collectively we can improve, which in turn improves us as individuals.

Ashura saw, unarguably, the greatest sacrifice of mankind. No other story of sacrifice can compare. For someone to watch their sons (including a 6 month old), brothers, nephews, cousins and friends mercilessly killed and then to be killed themselves in the act of prostration does not bear thinking about and cannot equate to anything else. Imam Hussain (a.s.) watched and made the greatest sacrifice. I know I've kept going on about it for 3 blogs now, but that is mainly to re-invigorate myself. By typing this blog I keep the message of Karbala at the forefront and hopefully can continue forwards after Muharrum for a longer period before the inevitable fade out!

Ever since I had the chance to visit Karbala and the tomb of Imam Hussain (a.s.) and his family in 2002, every Muharrum has held even greater significance. Each year when the story is re-told I am able to imagine the actual location of each event and feel the heat of the desert at the time. Our trip struggled in the heat of Karbala even though we had a/c accommodation and travel, how did the Imam survive 1400 years ago, that too without any water for 3 days prior to the battle?

The true test will come after, what will I do from Wednesday? Majlises will continue throughout the months of Muharrum and Safar which will act has reminders but eventually they too will stop and hopefully this year will be better then last year and I can continue to improve myself and give and receive help from others in doing so.

The actual story of the battle of Karbala has been documented on numerous occasions and below are various links which you can read if you're interested in these events to which I have given such importance. I could type about it myself but feel the links below give better justice to the events of Ashura.

Story of Ashura I
Story of Ashura II
Story of Ashura III

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Message of Karbala

2007-01-25T09:55:00.000+01:00

I think you can all tell by now that the volume of blogs have somewhat decreased since the start of the New Year. It's mainly been because the level of interest in the blog has seemed to drop following a peak period in late November and with it my commitment has also waned. So now I'm only typing a couple of times a week with a few guest blogs here and there, although none this week so far.

Following on from Monday's blog, I've been attending lectures (Majlises) every evening since Sunday to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (a.s.) leading up to Ashura (10th Muharrum). The message of Karbala seems to get stronger every Muharrum only to be forgotten during the rest of the year. More and more people appear to be attending majalis every year. The message of Karbala has a strong attraction but seems to wither as the months pass after Muharrum.

I often joke with friends and family that we are all '10 day Muslims.' To varying degrees we are. Almost every Shia I know (including myself) gets energised and religious during the first 10 days of Muharrum. Regardless of how religious we are beforehand, Muharrum seems to make us even more religious. Some even manage to stretch it further to include the 40 days of remembrance after the 10th. But afterwards we all seem to go back to our usual activities and nothing ever changes. For some that is not a bad thing, since their usual activities incorporates increasing religious knowledge, but for many that is not the case.

In the past I've spoken about the need to refresh yourself (here and here) and mentioned the importance of Muharrum for that. At the risk of repeating myself, Muharrum plays an extremely important role for us to increase our faith. The story of Imam Hussain's sacrifice has always been an invigorating one, but one from which we need to take the message and act accordingly.

The lectures themselves provide the first opportunity for that, the lecturers (highly learned and respected people) discuss a wide range of topics in Islam. It's almost a unique chance to have an audience attend for 10 consecutive days and to then educate them (us) about Islam. It obviously comes with a lot of responsibility to make sure mistakes aren't made and the information served is of a responsible, valid and useful nature. However, that has not always been the case.

The sacrifice of Imam Hussain (a.s.) and his family and friends has a message for everyone. Everyone has been represented. Baby, young, teen, middle-aged, old, male and female. Everyone has someone they can identify with and learn from. The Holy Prophet introduced Islam, Imam Hussain (a.s.) saved it. The situation at the time had become so dire, that the only solution was for Imam Hussain (a.s.) to sacrifice himself so that the message of Islam could continue. After his battle, no other subsequent Holy Imam engaged in warfare, no other corrupt ruler challenged the authority of the Imam of the time to such a level and the supposed military victory for Yazid was a huge loss, which inevitably lead to his downfall and inshallah destruction at the hands of God.

However, a lot of the time we feel extremely emotional and mournful of Imam's sacrifice, and although there has to be time for that, it is not the be all and end all of his sacrifice. The message of Karbala is not simply to mourn Imam Hussain (a.s.) and then continue with our usual activities. Imam Hussain (a.s.) did not engage in such action because he only wanted to be remembered as a martyr and mourned. Their actions were not an act of desperation or heroic defeat. They served a purpose. They saved Islam so that we could continue increasing our faith and Islamic actions, so that we could spread the correct religion of Islam. Islam is what it is today (not the fundamentalist and terrorist side which constantly gets portrayed) because of Imam Hussain (a.s.). All branches of Islam, Shia and Sunni exist because of Imam Hussain (a.s.).

So, it is simply not enough to remember his sacrifice, mourn and move on. That is not the purpose. We have to take the message of Karbala. For example, one of the biggest messages of Karbala is the importance of prayer (namaaz). One the eve of the battle, the leaders of Yazid's army were anxious to start the battle. Imam requested an extra night to engage in prayer to God. On the dawn of Ashura, Yazid's army launched an aerial arrow attack on the camp of Imam Hussain (a.s.) whilst many members were engaged in Fajr (morning) prayers. During the prayers the Imam was protected by his companions who took arrows to their chests whilst standing over the Imam. When something is thrown at you, your first instinct is to get out of the way. To actually stand in the way of a lethal arrow seeing it arrive towards you, just shows the level of dedication to the Imam his companions had.

Much fighting ensued after Fajr prayers and many family and friends of the Imam were killed. The time had come for Imam Hussain (a.s.) to head for the battlefield. After much fighting, the Imam managed to move away from the battlefield. It was time for Zuhr prayers and so the Imam stopped to perform his prayers. Only then did the general of Yazid's army summon up the courage to attack Imam Hussain (a.s.). Whilst the Imam was in the act of sajdah (prostration), the general mounted his back and killed the Imam - the greatest act of the devil.

With that the battle of Karbala was over. Yazid won the battle, but the women of Imam Hussain's (a.s.) camp, lead by his sister Bibi Zaynab, ensured that the war was not over and victory would be theirs. And so it proved. Today we remember the greatest sacrifice. What happened to Yazid and his puppets has become irrelevant. The Imam realised at the time that it was going to take a huge event to wake up the so-called Muslims of the time and beyond and to save Islam. The huge event became his and his companions’ martyrdom.

There are many more messages from Karbala and I've used today's blog as a sort of introduction for that. Today's message was the importance of namaaz. Imam Hussain (a.s.) was killed in the act of sajdah. He stopped fighting to perform his prayers. That says it all. Even when his life was facing its greatest danger he still stopped to remember God. Hopefully throughout this month of Muharrum I can type some more about the various messages of Karbala, but I also know of people much more learned then myself who can contribute as well and will be asking them to do so!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Islamic New Year

2007-01-22T10:21:00.000+01:00

It seems I was seriously mistaken, an astonishing 82% of people called/texted in to vote Jade Goody out of the Celebrity Big Brother house. My view of the Big Brother audience was wrong to say the least. I'm pleasantly surprised. Goody's career looks to be over, in a great sense of irony; the programme that made her has also destroyed her (hopefully). Watford Man, being a media boff (!), came up with a great idea for her to restore her career - after CBB has finished, Goody should make a documentary about a trip to India and have Shilpa Shetty as her tour guide around Mumbai - millions would watch and she could create some genuine credibility.

Finally a win to savour for Liverpool on Saturday as they completely destroyed Chelsea. I watched the match in High-Definition for the first time - an amazing viewing experience. Coupled with Arsenal's comeback against Man Utd and maybe, just maybe we can start dreaming of a belated title challenge. Meanwhile, enjoy the goals from the Chelsea game below.

Sunday saw the start of the first month of the Islamic calendar, Muharrum. The reason why majority of muslims and especially all Shias do not celebrate an Islamic New Year, is because of a significant event which occurred in the first 10 days of the month almost 1300 years ago - the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (a.s.) and his family and friends and the hands of the evil tyrant ruler Yazid.

Only a few years after the Holy Prophet's demise, Islamic rule had fallen into the corrupt hands of Muawiyah who handed over the reigns to his even more corrupt son, Yazid. Driven by power, he demanded the acceptance of Imam Hussain (a.s.), grandson of the Holy Prophet, which would legitimise his leadership. When this was declined despite the threat of death, Yazid engaged his armed forces in a horrific massacre of the Imam and his companions in Karbala (Iraq) in the 7th century. Although the event lead to the death of the family and friends of Imam Hussain (a.s.), it ended up saving Islam from the grip of destruction.

Shia's across the globe gather at mosques and Islamic centers every day for the first 10 days to remember his great sacrifice which saved Islam. Every year the numbers in attendance seems to increase and the message of Imam Hussain's (a.s.) sacrifice continues to spread. It never ceases to amaze me the power of the story of Karbala. It has to go down as the greatest sacrifice for mankind. Imam Hussain (a.s.) watched his family members including his brother, nephews and sons (including his 6 month-old son, Ali Asghar) ruthlessly murdered by the army of Yazid. I can't even begin to imagine the level of resolve and belief in Islam it would take in order to endure such horrific events, but Imam Hussain (a.s.) had it in abundance.

Islam is often criticised for its apparent oppression of women. Women don't have equal rights, have to wear hijab, have to stay at home etc. All incorrect, but nevertheless a widespread view. The message of Karbala and Imam Hussain's (a.s.) sacrifice would've been lost had it not been for the women of his camp. After the terrible events on the 10th day of Muharrum - Ashura, the women of the camp of Imam Hussain (a.s.) were rounded up and marched to Damascus, Syria and duly imprisoned. After their eventual release, the sister of Imam Hussain (a.s.), Bibi Zaynab, spread the message of Karbala and made sure it would not be forgotten. Through the centuries the message has continued to spread and hence Shia's across the globe commemorate the martyrdom at every Muharrum.

With each passing year the message of Karbala seems to get more and more poignant. With Muslims being oppressed across the globe either by their rulers or by foreign nations, now, more than ever, the sacrifice of Imam Hussain (a.s.) seems relevant. Remembering the ultimate sacrifice can only strengthen our resolve especially those Muslims living in Iraq and Palestine. For us, living in the comfort of the Western world, it provides an opportunity to look at ourselves and continue our drive to increase our faith inshallah.

Over the next few days, I hope to type some more about the sacrifice of Imam Hussain and his companions. I've had a long-term ambition of producing a sort of docu-drama on the story of Karbala and this year it seems I've been beaten to it with the imminent release of Karbala - When Skies Wept Blood, I'll leave you with the trailer below and hopefully will have the time this week to type more on the issue or perhaps any of the readers might want to contribute? Who knows, not many people seem to be reading the blog anymore!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Random chatter

2007-01-19T09:48:00.000+01:00

It's been awhile since my last random blog about anything and everything. Haven't mentioned the football for quite some time mainly because of the recent humiliation suffered by Liverpool at the hands of Arsenal - (twice). However this weekend sees a big opportunity for Liverpool to restore some pride when they play Chelsea. They have the chance to actually beat them for the first time since Benitez took over in the Premiership and with it, go only 5 points behind them in the league. With the recent announcement that the Champions and Runners-up stand to receive £50million, coming second is a realistic target for Liverpool - my support is on the up.

Watched the first 4 episodes of the new season of 24 and needless to say the quality of the show continues to astound. Obviously some of the logic goes out of the window and what people manage to achieve in each hour is quite astonishing. It seems that there is no such thing as traffic in Los Angeles, given that it takes a prisoner 9minutes to escape, get changed and arrive at the other end of LA to meet with his terrorist buddies. Yet again the baddies are Arab Muslims, perhaps they've settled on a method of having bad Muslims in every alternate season. What the terrorists manage to achieve though, is highly impressive - not wishing to give anything away you'll have to see it for yourself - and it starts on Sky One/HD this Sunday.

The racism row on Celebrity Big Brother shows no sign of calming down. Yesterday the housemates discussed the issue of racism with Shetty initially claiming she was a victim of racism but later retracting that statement and Goody trying to claim that she's not a racist. With both Shetty and Goody up for eviction this evening, people are calling it a vote for or against racism, high stakes indeed. I don't think it's quite as drastic as that but although there has been a lot of apparent sympathy for Shetty, I still think the majority will vote to save Goody because they are a lot like her. I will be extremely surprised if Shetty stays in the house. I still can't believe that I'm actually typing about Big Brother, a show I've refused to watch for the past 6 years. What has the world come to?

Being a Friday, means I normally discuss medical matters, even though I haven't done so for quite some time. It was quite revealing to hear the Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt's thoughts this morning on the way to work. Apparently she made a mistake when negotiating the GP contract in 2004. She would've introduced a salary cap if she knew how much GPs would earn with the contract.

How dumb can you get? She's basically saying she didn't realise that GPs would do as well as they have. By making the contract more target-based, she's now surprised that GPs have actually met those targets and gone beyond. So she's not happy that the quality of care that GPs have provided has improved. I am the first to admit that GPs no longer have to work as hard as they did with the removal of out-of-hours care on weekends and nights, but why complain when she negotiated the contract in the first place. What did she expect? That GPs wouldn't want to meet targets to earn more money?

What this all means I don't know. It will be difficult to re-negotiate the contract to make GPs earn less, I don't think she can ask GPs to take a pay-cut. However, what she can and probably will do is increase the targets that need to be met for the same amount of pay and also increase the hours GPs work with a return of weekend and night cover. Ironic really, since the main reason I wanted to become a GP was the quality of life, the lack of weekend and night time work. I await the developments with much pessimism. Hopefully the existing GPs will put up a good defense as they should, my trainer for one has claimed he will retire if he has to do weekend work again.

I watched the Trial of Tony Blair last night on Channel 4. What an excellent docu-drama. The actor playing Blair (I forget his name) was absolutely superb, at times he really looked like Blair himself. I hope beyond hope that one day Blair is held to account for his actions. Every single death of British troops and Iraqi civilians is his responsibility and I hope he has as much difficulty sleeping at night as what was portrayed in the drama last night. Yes Saddam Hussein was an evil bastard, but there weren't suicide bombs going off almost every day. Having visited Iraq in 2002, I never got the impression that people were fearing for their lives the moment they stepped outside as I imagine the situation is now.

Muharrum starts this weekend, an especially important time for all Shias across the globe. No matter how religious we are, during Muharrum every Shia unites to mourn the martyrdom of our 3rd Holy Imam, Imam Hussain (a.s.) and his family. I hope to type a blog on the subject next week.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

World's gone crazy!

2007-01-18T09:58:00.000+01:00

Me thinks the world has gone crazy. I haven't posted anything this week because I didn't have much to type about, but the events over the past few days have changed all that. Yes, the world was already pretty crazy, but the past few days have only confirmed that further. And it's all been about a Bollywood actress. Already many people have commented in newspapers and blogs, so I thought that today I’d add in my opinion, for what it’s worth.

A quick reminder for those who've had their head in the sand for the past few days. Celebrity Big Brother saw the arrival of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and over the past 3 days the show has come in for heavy criticism because some of the housemates have been taunting and bullying Shetty in a perceived racist tone. As a result, it has lead to widespread discussion in the UK and India. The issue has been covered by both broadsheet and tabloid newspapers, Shetty is making headline news on every news channel and programme and even the Prime Minister and Chancellor have commented on the situation. All in all, a vast amount of coverage and attention for Shetty.

First of all, I must deal with a few myths that have been doing the rounds during the furore. Shilpa Shetty is not an A-list star. Having made over 50 films, only 2 or 3 have been successful. She has never won an award for her acting, neither, do I think, has she been ever nominated for one. India has 5 or 6 big award shows each year and she has never won. In a land of over a billion people, where Bollywood is like a religion, of course she will have many fans, but A-list she is definitely not! If she was, then surely she wouldn't have time to take out 3 months to appear on the show. A-list stars are just as huge in India as they are in Hollywood, can you imagine Angelina Jolie appearing on Big Brother? Thought not.

Pictures have also been reeled in from India showing the public burning effigies of the producers of the programme. This is not hard to arrange in India! All it needs is a few rupees and the presence of cameras to get people to do pretty much anything. I'm sure the media probably paid a few people to stand in front of the camera and burn a few dolls.

The Indian media have also got involved, the same media that barely batted an eyelid when she first arrived on the show. She got next to no coverage then, the focus was on India's own version of the show: Celebrity Big Boss, with stars of various TV dramas locked in the house. Only when the alleged racism started did they begin to show any interest. Now, even the Indian Government has got involved, calling for action to be taken and diplomats are even saying that the row is damaging Britain's reputation.

How pissed off must Gordon Brown be feeling right now? Visiting India for the first time, he finds himself dragged into the controversy and having to issue statements about Britain not standing for racism. In the UK, even Tony Blair has made a comment abhorring any racism that takes place in this country. This morning, 5Live reported that 21 MPs had signed a petition to have the show cancelled and taken off air.

As for the main protagonists, they remain blissfully unaware of what has been going on outside the Big Brother house. Shetty last night, for the first time, claimed that she has become a victim of racism in the house and things could really take off from here. Already, Ofcom has received well over 20,000 complaints about the alleged racism towards Shetty.

However, all things considered it has actually been extremely successful for Shilpa Shetty, she's received more coverage and attention then she could've dreamed of. Having received over £350,000 just to appear on the show, the money she'll make once she comes out will be huge. Bookies are already making her odds-on favourite to win the show. She is now more recognised in the UK then any other Indian celebrity, more recognised then Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan! For Bollywood fans like myself, that is difficult to comprehend.

To an extent, Shetty knows what she is doing. She is a professional actress, successful or not, she knows how to act and is performing brilliantly, milking the attention and sympathy. Her fellow housemates don't know how to handle her and have revealed their true colours. I was hoping to get through this blog without even mentioning Jade Goody who having appeared on Big Brother 3 has become a so-called celebrity, what an absolute disgrace! Someone who thought that East Anglia was abroad is now considered a celebrity. The past few days have showed what she really is - a working class, council home raised, trashy, unintelligent piece of crap! I'm sorry for the anger, but she really is revolting.

What the past few days have shown is that the other contestants feel threatened by Shetty and are responding in the only way the know how, lowering themselves to cheap comments and insults that they would engage in everyday life, but now their comments are broadcast to the entire nation. They represent a large proportion of the working-class in this country, which in turn forms a large part of the population of the UK, and it's sad to see their true opinions are what they are. I'm not sure I would label it entirely as racism, but perhaps anti-cultural or anti-ethnic. Politicians are trying to advertise the fact that the UK is a tolerant country when infact it's not.

It will be no surprise if Shetty wins the show and receives more attention and wealth as a result. She has raised her profile infinitely and if that was her main aim then she has succeeded beyond any realistic expectation. If you break it down, it's all because 3 girls couldn't help themselves and revealed their true feelings about her which can be reasonably extrapolated to the entire country. But all in all, well done to Shilpa Shetty, perhaps Celebrity Big Brother has turned out to be her best performance - award-winning maybe?

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Guest Blogger #4 - Getting away with murder

2007-01-16T09:59:00.000+01:00

The police force is by far the most unaccountable – and out of control - public body in Britain today. While other institutions have been shaken up by successive governments over recent decades, the police have been left virtually untouched. This has culminated in the approach of Tony Blair – the most pro-police prime minister since the war – summed up by these words in a speech on criminal justice a few years ago: “We asked the police what powers they wanted and we gave them to them”.

Indeed it is an irony that this police-worshipping administration is now threatened by a “cash for peerages” scandal pursued with surprising rigour by Inspector John Yates of the Met, who in turn has become the most recent victim of Labour smear tactics.

But at a time when the police appear superficially to be on a collision course with our rulers it is more important than ever to look more closely at the relationship between police and government, and police and people.

Since the Macpherson Report into the death of Stephen Lawrence labeled the police “institutionally racist”, conventional wisdom has ridiculed the phrase, claiming it was an example of “political correctness gone mad”. This is deeply depressing – and misleading.

For the fact is that the vast majority of people stopped by the police are still from ethnic minorities, and Muslims particularly are being targeted since September 11, 2001. Since then, the number of Muslims stopped is reported to have risen by 300%. Home Office figures for England and Wales show that in 2002/2003 nearly 3,000 Asians were stopped and searched. The total number of stop and searches under new and unprecedentedly overbearing “terror laws” more than doubled in 2002/2003 from 8,550 to 21,577.

Almost unbelievably, a Home Office Minister, Hazel Blears, has not only admitted this but sought to justify it explicitly, saying that the “new” threat means that “some of our counter-terrorism powers will be disproportionately experienced by the Muslim community." Just to be clear, she was saying that was a good thing, not a bad one.

Meanwhile the number of people who have died in police custody – many from ethnic minorities - has risen to over a thousand in the last 40 years. How many police officers have been held to account in court for this? 100? A mere 50? Nope: none. Zero. Not one.

And, of course, this is the same police force who followed innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes from his flat in south London to the tube at Stockwell, chased him down the escalators and shot him up to eight times in the head at point blank range. Has the unnamed officer in this case been held to account? No. What has happened since? He has shot dead another man.

For me, the Stockwell shooting was a formative experience. I could tell when it happened that it stank, and that it would come to help prove a point I have always made about police unaccountability. For if the police was subjected to the proper checks and balances that other institutions are, it would surely have not got away with such a case of chronic incompetence bordering on wild vigilante animalism.

A dose of accountability down the years would surely have meant a gang of supposedly anti-terrorism specialists – one of whom was idly urinating in the street as de Menezes emerged from his flat – would have followed a random dark-skinned man onto a bus and onto the Underground and hounded him to his death. At the time, we were told he was running. This has been proved to be untrue. We were told he was wearing a big “bulky” coat. Untrue. We were told he jumped the tube barriers. Untrue. All of this has been disproved, despite the relevant section of CCTV having been mysteriously wiped from the records. I happened to be in Jerusalem at the time, where even the Israelis were dismayed by the shooting. There, they say they prefer to “get their buddies rather than their bodies”, and have their doubts about the shoot-to-kill policy.

And of course it was the red herring of “shoot to kill” that both Blairs – Met chief Sir Iain and his namesake and ally the Prime Minister - waded in on, defending the need to have strong tactics in the wake of the “new” threat. Indeed whenever police and intelligence failures are exposed, the latter Blair never fails to defend them. Let’s not forget the Forest Gate raid - in which a Muslim was shot amid more murky half-truths, reported breathlessly by Rupert Murdoch’s Times as Britain being under chemical attack – after which Blair declared that he supported the forces “110 per cent”. And of course there’s the intelligence used in the run up to Iraq, about which we don’t need a further lesson. Save to note, though, that the then chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, John Scarlett, who signed off on every single one of Alastair Campbell’s “drafting suggestions”, has just been rewarded for his services. Arise, Sir John. I should declare a personal interest in police accountability, which may partly explain why I am on the look out for incidents like Stockwell, one that I could tell perhaps before some of my friends were riddled with smoke and mirrors from the moment Sky News flashed up a breaking news strap-line saying: “SUICIDE BOMBER SHOT ON TUBE”.

In the 1960s my father attended a march against the Vietnam War outside the American Embassy in Grosvesnor Square, London (along with Christopher Hitchens and Tariq Ali among others). Now, passionate though my father was about Vietnam, he would be reluctant to hurt a wasp, so when I tell you that he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer, I’d ask you to take it from me that this wouldn’t have happened. In fact, I am told, he was himself hit over the head by the police, to the point where his head was bleeding. Apparently at the time protestors were routinely arrested for assaulting officers who had, in fact, assaulted them: it was a little trick of the trade to pull in a few of the unwashed lefties.

The arrest was one thing, but it is what happened next that says it all for me: my grandparents hired a good lawyer, and the case went to court. He was convicted. He was given a criminal record that hung over him in the years to come, preventing him from traveling to America for work. It still hangs over him to a lesser extent.

This is just one of a million stories of police unaccountability: infinitely less serious of course than the deaths in custody that go unexplained every year; and the savage killing of an innocent man in Stockwell. But, nonetheless, part of the same problem.

When is a government going to turn the spotlight of accountability on the police, and stop groveling to, and further empowering, what is – in parts – a band of racist thugs?

Don’t hold your breath.

Dissident Voice

Especially published for 'Doctor's Free Time'

It's Bauer time II

2007-01-12T09:45:00.000+01:00

Before I discuss today's 24 Top 5, I just wanted to briefly talk about two recent newstories. Yesterday came the unsurprising announcement that, yet again, President Bush decided to ignore all advice offered to him and deploy a further 20,000 troops to Iraq. He has sentenced yet more Americans to their death. For the meantime, the UK has not decided to follow suit and deploy further UK troops, but the situation just appears to be getting worse and worse with no end in sight.

The other piece of news was the transfer of David Beckham from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy, where he has signed a contract worth £128m over 5 yrs, that's £492,000 per week! What an astonishing amount of money to play football in a country which isn't even serious about it. The funny thing is, he probably wasn't even after that much, but why refuse when such an offer is made? All the media will now focus their attentions to what he gets up to in the US and when he inevitably makes a movie of some sort.

Back to today's blog and another top 5 for all the 24 fans out there - the top 5 'Jack Bauer moments.' These are scenes that only Jack could do, certain actions or scenarios which require drastic action which only Jack seems to be capable of, regardless of the consequences. It's what makes Jack Bauer so unique and Kiefer Sutherland was fully deserving of his recent Emmy Award for Best Actor in a TV Drama.

Jack Bauer moment no. 5 - Prison Break (season 3)
To avert the spread of a lethal virus across LA, the President is ordered to release Ramon Salazar, a major Mexican drug dealer and terrorist. Obviously the President cannot comply as he does not negotiate with terrorists, Jack decides to take charge and help the prisoner escape from prison. In doing so, he releases all the in-mates from their cells and creates a horrific lockdown situation. He, Ramon and the prison guards are captured and Jack has to watch as the prisoners kill the prison guards and he even survives a game of Russian roulette.

The tense series of events in the prison, probably inspired the later introductions of another rather enjoyable TV show; Prison Break, also on FOX, which has followed the formula of 24 to reasonable success.

Jack Bauer moment no. 4 - Go in Commando (Arnie) style (season 4)
Jack has finally managed to locate the whereabouts of his girlfriend and her father, the Secretary of Defense, held hostage by terrorists. However, the President has decided to launch a missile attack on the location in order to sacrifice the hostages and prevent the terrorists from succeeding in their mission to embarrass the US government. The CTU Director warns Jack that he has 5mins to leave the area before it is attacked.

Does that stop Jack? Does it hell. In true Arnie style he enters the building and saves the hostages single-handedly and manages to alert CTU and prevent the missile attack on the location. And there's no need to worry about the terrorists, he kills them as well. All within the first 15 minutes of the episode. Marvelous.

Jack Bauer moment no. 3 - Electrocuting his girlfriend’s husband (season 4)
Having just recently saved his girlfriend and father from imminent death at the hands of Arab terrorists, Jack's upset by the arrival of her worried husband (Paul Raines) who she had planned to divorce but now seems to be showing signs of affection for. CTU then discover a rather vague and weak link between Paul and the terrorists and Jack then takes things into his own hands.

Rushing to the hotel that Paul is staying at, having already sent his girlfriend (Audrey) to delay him, he barges in demanding information. Paul comes across all innocent but that's no reason to stop Jack. He ties him to a chair and pours a bucket of water on him. Audrey insists on staying hoping to prevent Jack from doing anything too damaging, Jack simply ignores her and proceeds to electrocute him, with the wires of a lamp, for information. Good way to keep hold of your girlfriend - torture her husband right in front of her eyes. Incidentally the information he obtains remains vague and something that surely could have been achieved without such drastic measure, but hey, this is the world of 24, nothing is too drastic.

Jack Bauer moment no. 2 - Shooting people in the leg (season 4 & 5)
This was actually used as an interrogation tactic twice by Jack. The first was at the beginning of season 4. Jack was visiting CTU in his new role as advisor to Secretary of Defense to discuss the funding of a new contract, and at the same time a terrorist was being brought in for questioning. As CTU obtained information that a serious attack was going to occur and the stalling terrorist new of the location, Jack barges into the room, locks it from the inside and yells at the terrorist in true Jack-style. With no success, there seems to be only one option left for Jack - he shoots him in the leg, much to the shock of the on-looking CTU staff. It works; Jack gets the information, but the attack is not foiled.

A similar scenario occurs in season 5, this time Jack is at the house of an ex-CTU agent, one who was in fact his mentor in his early days at CTU. He's refusing to give Jack the information he needs, so yet again Jack sees only one option, he shoots his wife in the leg! It doesn't work, the agent refuses to budge, obviously being his mentor means he would be better than Jack and he doesn't crack and even more obvious is the fact that their marriage will need some serious counselling! This technique has provided Jack with a 50% success rate so far, who knows whether it will come in handy again at some stage.

Jack Bauer moment no 1 - "I need a hacksaw" (season 2)
By far, the most outrageous Jack moment has to be at the beginning of season 2. Having reluctantly agreed to help CTU foil a nuclear attack on LA, Jack needs to obtain information from a FBI prisoner who will provide him with the location of the man behind the attacks. Instead Jack shoots him in the chest and proceeds to cut his head off, much to the shock and horror of the CTU Director, George Mason: "the problem with you George, you want results but aren't prepared to get your hands dirty." Not if it involves cutting off someone's head, we all think! Regardless, the tactic works and Jack is able to locate his man!

These are my top 5 Jacck Bauer moments so far. All extremely entertaining and unique to the man who is Jack Bauer. Hopefully the 24 fans out there will have there own Jack Bauer moments and again, I ask you to discuss some in the comments section.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

It's Bauer time

2007-01-11T16:12:00.000+01:00

What a lot of attention the last two blogs have received. Apparently a debate about Christianity isn’t interesting enough for some people. The hit counter has gone up quite a bit, which hopefully indicates people have read the discussion, but no-ones been moved to comment or add their own thoughts. Hopefully that will change in the next few days.

Meanwhile, it’s definitely time for something more light-hearted. I feel the blogs over the past few days have been extremely informative, but more serious and thought-provoking and some light-hearted stuff is now required!

You may have noticed on the right-hand side of this blog, links to the TV show, 24. There’s a simple reason for this, it is by far the best programme on TV at present. Next week sees the start of season 6 in the US, and due to the beauty of torrents, it can downloaded here and watched straight after airing in the US. The antics of Jack Bauer, superbly played by Kiefer Sutherland, are gripping, exciting but most of all, extremely entertaining.

In anticipation of the new season, I wanted to talk about 24. However writers more talented than me including Stephen King have been doing the same thing. So instead, I’d like to do something a bit different. Another blogger is currently doing a Best of 24, and without wishing to steal his thunder, I thought I’d do something similar. Today I’m going to discuss my top 5 ‘absurd moments’ on 24 – situations which have defied all reasonable logic and expectations but still remained gripping and exciting. Tomorrow will be about the top 5 ‘Jack Bauer moments,’ looking at classic scenes that only Jack could do. Hopefully those of you who are 24 fans will contribute their own suggestions for their favourite absurd moments…

Absurd moment no. 5 – Taking on military commandos in a gun store (season 4)
Having unsuccessfully prevented the detonation of an EMP bomb (?), Jack finds himself literally in the dark as all electrical equipment has been shutdown, and about to be taken out by a group of commandos. Conveniently he comes across a fully equipped gun store run by two Arab brothers. At the time, 24 was coming in for some heavy criticism for its portrayal of muslims, almost every baddie seemed to be a Arab and this was a weak attempt to redress the balance.

After insisting that the brothers leave, they instead chose to stay and help Jack take on the commandos. Unsurprisingly Jack prevails, but surprisingly the Arab brothers survive as well. Usually Jack’s success comes at a cost of someone else’s life and this time it wasn’t the Arabs, but the husband of his current girlfriend – Bollywood or what?

Jack often finds himself in situations when he is seemingly overwhelmed. But so far, each time he comes through. What a legend! A similar event happened at the beginning of season 4 which saw the return of Tony Almeida. Jack found himself surrounded and out of bullets. Having called “the only man I can trust” only 7 minutes previously, it was quite fortuitous that he should show up at the correct location, take down the henchmen and save Jack. But who cares, it was the return of Tony, a great moment for 24 fans.

Absurd moment no. 4 – The ever so elusive tape (season 5)
The plot of season 5 was about the President being the big baddie. All attempts to take him down rested on the tape recorded by the First Lady’s aide earlier that morning. The tape recorded a conversation between the President and an ex-CTU agent, discussing the killing of former President David Palmer.

The aide then somehow managed to get the tape locked in a security box in a bank in Los Angeles, whilst no-one was looking, even though she was seen to be at the First Lady’s side all day. Having managed to get hold of the tape, Jack then gets captured and re-captured and the tape ends up on a plane on its way to Mexico.

Jack then manages to get on the plane, and in true ‘show & tell’ style, manages to make the plane twist and turn in mid-air – any terrorists watching should take note. Eventually having managed to get the tape back, he then returns to CTU. Instead of insisting that a copy of the tape be made, he hands it over to Chloe for analysis, only for someone to come and delete the recording with a handy laser gadget. All that effort gone to waste.

Absurd moment no. 3 – Nina Myers is the mole (season 1)
At the end of season one, the big twist is the revelation that Nina Myers is the mole at CTU, an apparent masterstroke. Throughout the day she had been supplying information to the Drazens and helped Victor Drazen escape from a high security prison. She had also assisted in the assassination attempt on Senator Palmer, all while working in the confines of a government office, CTU.

However, with further scrutiny, it didn’t actually make sense. If she was the mole, why was she helping Jack and his family escape the clutches of the Drazens’ evil henchmen? Why did she inform Teri, Jack’s wife when she had been inadvertently captured and why did she assist in the capture of Victor’s son when he was attempting to kill the Senator? For entertainment and shock-value it was TV gold, but a bit nonsensical.

The writers attempted something similar in season 5, when the big twist was that the big baddie was the President. Played expertly by Gregory Itzin, he had helped kill a former President (who had previously helped him avert nuclear disaster in season 4) and allowed the Russians to get hold of nerve gas. Where the logic fell down was the fact that earlier he had asked Jack to help him find the Russians and stop the spread of nerve gas. Surely he knew what Jack was capable of and inevitably it was Jack who instigated his downfall by the end of the day.

Absurd moment no. 2 – Sentox nerve gas released in CTU (season 5)
This was a tough call, but eventually I settled for the nerve gas scenario as absurd moment no. 2. CTU had been infiltrated and sentox nerve gas was released throughout the air vents of the building. The main characters manage to stay alive in 3 rooms which are sealed from the outside and the nerve gas can’t get in. Poor Edgar doesn't make it time and is killed.

Time is now limited as the rooms will soon run out of oxygen. Jack devises a plan to go underneath the building into a storage room where the gas can’t enter. Then he’ll hold his breath, walk to a nearby computer, thus breaking the seal of the storage room, and attempt to turn on the air conditioning to expel the gas from the building.

Unfortunately it’s the wrong computer, so Jack returns to the storage room. Now, ignoring the fact that apparently the nerve gas can’t effect the eyes or the nose, Jack manages to get back to the unsealed storage room whilst holding his breath, then Chloe manages to expel the gas from the room and a neat graphic appears on the screen telling her when the room is clear allowing Jack to breath again, how this is possible is unexplained.

Then to add to the absurdity, the computer which can turn on the a/c is located near another agent’s location, played by Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) and unfortunately (or rather conveniently) he will need to turn on the a/c and sacrifice himself because the room he’s in cannot be re-sealed once the gas enters. Therefore, a tiny irrelevant storage room can be re-sealed, but not any other room. It all makes for great drama and a sense of poetic justice (as it was his fault in the first place) but logic goes out the window.

Absurd moment no. 1 – Jack has a heart attack and still saves the day (season 2)
For me, the most absurd moment on 24 was during season 2. Jack has been captured and is being tortured for information. The baddies get a bit carried away and accidentally cause Jack to have a heart attack and he requires CPR to be revived. Being a doctor and having seen people being revived by CPR after a heart attack, it’s impossible to explain what happens next.

Somehow, whilst they give him a moment to recover, Jack gets hold of a lethal injection and injects one of the bad guys and manages to escape. With 12hrs or so remaining of the day, and with terrorists to foil, Jack carries on with his heroic activities as if nothing had ever happened. It’s impossible to for anyone to recover that instantly, let alone be running around and firing guns within hours. Following a heart attack, patients need long rehab and are often limited in their activities for life. Being a doctor means I’m biased, but for me this was easily the most absurd moment on 24.

Absurd though all these scenarios are, they haven’t diluted the enjoyment of 24. To truly enjoy it, logic has to go out of the window. It remains the best show on television and I can’t wait till season 6 starts next week. In true TV style, tune in tomorrow for the top 5 Jack Bauer moments.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

WM vs. DV: Christianity and Jesus - Part 2

2007-01-10T10:39:00.000+01:00

Continuing from yesterday, below is the next part in the debate between Watford Man (WM) and Dissident Voice (DV)...

DV: You still do not explain why the Koran is likely to be a more reliable source than the Holy Bible or the Gospels. Meanwhile, you are obsessed with Paul, but Paul came before the Gospels at a time of only an oral tradition – the Gospels were written when a written tradition of recording events emerged.

Talking of the Gospels, I would point out, on your claim that Paul was the founder of Christianity, that many eminent theologians point to a Centurion as the first “Christian”. For although his disciples and many others recognized Him for what he really was, as he walked the Earth, this was a man saw the truth at the last minute:

"And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:51, 54)

"This was after The Thief On The Cross, who was forgiven after repenting at the 11th hour, with Jesus telling the thief: ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43).

But the examples I have given you so far are very limited. I would also appreciate it if you read – and absorbed – these plentiful Biblical quotations showing how Jesus Himself saw Himself:

"The Jews therefore said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple." (John 8:57, 59)
"I and the Father are one." The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God." (John 10:30-33)
"And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me. And he who beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me. I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness." (John 12:44-46;)
"And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." (John 13:12-14;)
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (John 14:6-9;)
"Jesus therefore said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." They said therefore to Him, "Lord, evermore give us this bread." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." (John 6:32-35;)

WM: I never said the Quran “a more reliable source” than the Bible/Gospels (although of course I believe it IS!) – my point is that it is more consistent and logical to believe in a Son of God if that Son of God left behind his own literature, penned by himself. Instead, you take as your Scripture, and as the basis for your beliefs, a narrow set of “Gospels” which you yourself accept were written by men (MEN! Ordinary fallible men – who we know very little about, whose sources we know even LESS about!). This, for me, doesn’t make sense and I don’t understand how you can have such faith-by-indirect-proxy.

As for “theologians” pointing to a “Centurion” as the “first Christian” – again, you miss the point and simultaneously make my point for me. Did Jesus say to the centurion from the Cross: “You are my Christian?” No. Did Jesus say to his followers – “Here, I leave you the Gospels as my teachings and Christianity as your religion?” No. Did Jesus institute and propagate, or elaborate and explain the controversial doctrines of original sin and resurrection and the Trinity which divides Christians from Muslims and even Christians from Christians till this very day? No.

Your “plentiful” quotes from the Bible pose a problem for you, not me. The fact is that there are quotes from the Gospels in which Jesus implies (never says in black and white terms, incidentally, only implies) that he is God and/or the Son of God BUT there are also quotes (which I have sent) in which Jesus seems to say (to the naked impartial eye) only what all his predecessor prophets said: that God is the Lord, Father, Master, greater than him, a third-person entity that he himself as a man looks up to and worships, etc.

So, what do you do?

You can accept the latter AND accept the former which is illogical
Or you can accept the latter and ignore the former (the former being either deliberate changes added later to the flawed human Gospels OR misinterpretations of Jesus’s words, e.g. the fact that he came before Abraham does not make him God – we believe Muhammad was created before Abraham but he isn’t God either!) as I do.
Or, worst of all for you, you have to accept that the New Testament is contradicting itself in various and numerous places and abandon the whole thing – as many former-Christians-now-agnostics-or-atheists have done (e.g. the writer and scholar Karen Armstrong).

DV: What is your motive?. I will do no such thing as to "abandon the whole thing", whether someone called Karen Armstrong has done or not. I prefer to be inspired by lifelong Christians down the centuries who didn't "abandon the whole thing", like Francis of Assisi, or Aquinus, or even your friend Paul, and present day types like Rowan Williams. You present a deal or no-deal scenario about the "former" and "latter" quotes, claiming I ignored your latter ones - but I didn't. The difference is that I do not accept that they contradict the numerous quotes I have provided portraying Jesus - in the words of He Himself who you say you revere - as the Son of man and the Son of God.

WM: My motive? My motive is to demonstrate to you that the Gospels contain inconsistencies, inaccuracies and contradictions and do not remain true to Jesus’s own words let alone the predecessor books of the Old Testament. My motive is to demonstrate to you that the Islamic view of Jesus – which, prior to your increasingly rabid emails in this exchange – draws on much of what Jesus himself said in your own human-authored Gospels. My motive is to engage with you on your own religious beliefs which, occasionally, in the past, you have seemed to have some rational and understandable doubts about but now, with your back against the (intellectual) wall you have come out fighting for (and seemingly blindly for).

I accept your quote from Jesus about his death and resurrection – do you accept my quote about him coming only for the House of Israel? Do you accept my quote that “My Father is greater than I?” Quotes which, basically, undermine the entire Christian enterprise.

DV: I am glad you have accepted my quote from Mark (though it's odd given your disdain for the Gospels). But I do not accept the claim that "My Father is greater than I" contradicts a) the fact that his Father is the One God to whom he refers - as do you, or b) the fact that this somehow means He is not the Son of God (it seems to rather explicitly state it here as in so many other places.

The point you don't seem to get - which has nothing to do with the Trinity, is that Jesus refers to his Father as God, but He himself is regarded as Godly and very close to God by followers and believers - because He is God's Son.[

[Moving on], I also wanted to mention the Nicene Creed, a centuries-old statement of belief, that I sing on Sundays. It talks of Jesus as "being of one substance with the Father". The point is that Jesus is Lord with the Father, of the Father, and this does not undermine the concept of One God - it is not like lots of Greek gods doing different curses and having two heads and so on.

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

WM: I’m glad you’ve finally brought up the Nicene creed as I was hoping to discuss it. By bringing up the creed you ONCE AGAIN make my argument for me and reinforce my original and over-arching point: i.e. many of the fundamental and controversial bedrock doctrines of Christianity have little to do with Jesus himself or his conventional monotheistic/prophetic teachings and, instead, a great deal to do with those innovators who came later (Paul, Constantine, various popes, etc).

The Nicene Creed are not the words of Jesus. Nor are they some infallible, undisputed words of the earliest Christian scholars – they were the result of a meeting of church leaders in 325AD in an attempt to unify the split church and were decided upon by the Roman Emperor Constantine (a late and convenient convert to Christianity). They were the result of a discussion between ordinary, flawed, fallible, self-interested, politicized human beings – in essence, no different to, say, a bunch of Iraqis coming together now to decide the constitution for that country. There were others at that meeting who disagreed with the creed but their views – for example, the Arians who (like the Muslims) refused to accept the Trinity and did not accept the divinity of Jesus – were rejected AFTER the creed was politically agreed upon (just as how, incidentally, there were other Gospels which were conveniently abandoned when they didn’t fit the new post-Jesus, post-Nicene “orthodoxy”). And now you sing this creed in church and pretend that it is the Word of God?

This is the problem with Christianity – it isn’t based on Christ himself. I cannot fathom how lovers of Jesus have segmented themselves into various churches which have, over the centuries, quietly openly adapted their beliefs/theology/creeds on the basis of what political rulers (be it Constantine, be it Henry VIII, etc) think or believe (!!) And I find it amusing that there is even such a thing called “the Church of England” – as if nationality has anything to do with God’s faith, and as if we are supposed to pretend not to know that the CofE was created, basically, to allow Henry VIII to divorce his wife and marry a woman he lusted after, Ann Boleyn.

DV: You keep saying things aren't the Word of God, when I have never claimed they are. The Creed is a declaration - a statement - about God, not by Him. And whilst I do have doubts about the concept of Church of England, I do not accept that Anglicanism is all down to a divorce, indeed I was chastised in detail by fellow worshippers the other week for saying something similar.

WM: You neatly avoid the points I am making: statements about God are irrelevant when are we are talking about faith. We all – don’t we? – depend upon revelation for our faith. Your faith, however, takes right-turns and left-turns wherever someone (an anonymous Gospel author? Paul? Constantine? Athanasius? King Henry?) in Christian history says something or declares something. Why on earth do you take the politically-motivated, politically-sanctioned declaration of theology from a riven and divided bunch of scholars who lived three whole centuries AFTER Christ as the basis for your faith and as the basis for something to sing while worshipping God in church?? Answer this question please.

Also, you have yet to answer my fundamental “Sonship” question: if, as you and your brethren claim, Jesus was the son of God because he had no father and because the Bible refers to him as the “son of God”, then why do you not hold the same belief vis a vis Adam, who some might argue holds a stronger claim to the title of “Son of God”? Or David, who the Psalms say, was actually “begotten” by God??

... and that's where the discussion ends at present, with many questions left to ponder! Please feel free to leave some comments on the discussion and hopefully the debate can continue.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

WM vs. DV: Christianity and Jesus - Part 1

2007-01-09T09:36:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd try something different today. Below is an email exchange between Watford Man (WM) and Dissident Voice (DV) that took place last week. It's a debate about Christianity and Jesus and with their permission I've edited the exchange and have published it for you to read and hopefully ponder and comment on in due course. It's a fairly lengthy exchange which is why I've decided to split it into two parts, which not only makes it easier to digest, but serves me well as I'm busy today and tomorrow to type a blog of my own! Anyway, hope you enjoy...

WM: Muslims revere Jesus more than you. For us, his greatest miracle is, as a baby, defending his virgin mother’s honour while declaring the existence, and one-ness, of God. [Check out this link for more information.]

DV: I don't get why it (the above article) calls Him the Messiah. (And), unlike a series of Gospels, this seems to be some narrative with quotes that do not feature in the Bible. And the ending is unconvincing to me. But interesting that he is so revered.

WM: It is based on the Quran (the Word of God, [by the way], not the word of man, like the Gospels). And why is he called the messiah? Because he was for the Jews and because he will return before the Final Day. Finally, once again we revere Jesus more because we DON’T believe he was humiliatingly executed – contrary to God’s wishes in your own Bible (Old Testament).

DV: Do you mean he was the Messiah for the Jews despite their rejection of him? And I'm afraid if you take away the cross and the execution you take away much of the whole point of Christianity, as you know.

WM: Christianity forgot Jesus and his teachings and instead launched a new religion based on Paul’s teachings about original sin, the crucifixion, the resurrection – none of which Jesus talked about, even in your own man-made gospels.

DV: I think you'll find Jesus talked quite a bit about the crucifixion and the resurrection, directly and indirectly. Here is one of many examples of how that is incorrect:
“And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going before them: and they were amazed; and they that followed were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were to happen unto him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles: and they shall mock him, and shall spit upon him, and shall scourge him, and shall kill him; and after three days he shall rise again.” (Mark 10:32-34)

WM: I understand your desire to focus on the crucifixion-then-resurrection myth and your obsession with it - without the crucifixion the resurrection becomes irrelevant, and without the resurrection Christianity itself is rendered meaningless, e.g. "and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain." (Corinthians 15:14)

The problem you have is that your sources are all over the place: the Gospels – as you know from your history (as well as, hilariously, from the Da Vinci Code!) – are only four out of the many Gospels that were written but later abandoned, under state or sectarian pressure. Their authors were not all Apostles nor do we know much about their sources. As for the later books of the New Testament, they are largely based on the writings and teachings of Paul, the real founder of Christianity. All of the dodgy doctrines of Christianity – the divinity and sonship of Jesus, the crucifixion and resurrection, original sin, etc – derive from Paul and not from Jesus (it is no wonder that Jesus never mentioned the name “Christian” or “Christianity” in his own lifetime). As Paul, a former enemy of the fledgling Christian population, himself notes: "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:11-12)

He basically elevates himself to prophet-like levels, i.e. receiving revelation, and goes out of his way to deny that his teachings are based on things he might have learned or adopted from Peter et al.

As for Jesus, even in the distortions of the four surviving Gospels, we find the chinks of light which support the Muslim position – that God is One, that God does not beget “sons”, that Jesus was a prophet of God and not God incarnate:

"Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One, that is God." (Mark 10:18)
"...whosoever receives me, receives not me, but Him who sent me." (Mark 9:37) "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent." (John 17:3)
"Now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard from God." (John 8:40)
"I ascend unto my Father and your Father, my God and your God." (John 20:17)

DV: You claim: "All of the dodgy doctrines of Christianity – the divinity and sonship of Jesus, the crucifixion and resurrection, original sin, etc – derive from Paul and not from Jesus".
This is similar to your statement that: "Christianity forgot Jesus and his teachings and instead launched a new religion based on Paul’s teachings about original sin, the crucifixion, the resurrection – none of which Jesus talked about, even in your own man-made gospels."
Again I refer you to this passage from Mark 10:32-34 (see above).

So, not only did Jesus - repeatedly - describe premonitions of his own betrayal (at the Last Supper, when he declares that one of the disciples will betray him), death and resurrection, but also the whole story of Jesus in the Gospels (pieces of evidence to me, plotlines of the Da Vinci Code to you maybe), is of a pre-destined and looming fate for, yes, the son of man/God. On that latter point, you claim that even the "divinity and sonship" of Jesus is some invention of Paul, yet throughout the New Testament and Gospels there are reference to the Son of God and the Son of Man, especially from Jesus' own lips.

And I do not understand why the Quran, allegedly dictated by God, sounds to you like a firmer basis of belief and "evidence" that written testimonials by witnesses (even if a select few) – unless of course you accept that religion involves some mystique, and we can’t understand everything, nor will, or should, we on this earth.

It would be interesting to know when the Islamic narrative veers off away from that of the New Testament. We know it takes a sharp turn at the end, claiming that Jesus was not in fact crucified but went off somewhere else. So we know you would reject one of many examples of direct prayer to His Father: His questioning, on the cross, of why he appeared to have been “forsaken” by Him: “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? - that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) For me this is interesting because it shows Jesus as part-human, partly unable to come to terms with or comprehend what is happening.

I know you do not accept this side of the Prophet, and it is cleanly dealt with by the fact that you reject that last – crucial - episode of his life, and see it as fictional fantasy. But where do you draw the line? What about the night before, when Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemanie, again showing his human side, sweating blood out of fear of the fate he knew awaited him? When he prayed to his Father: "My Father, if it is possible, do not let this happen. However, I want to do the things that you desire. I choose not to do the things that I desire” (Matthew 26:39)

As to your - to me offensive - claim that there are in the Gospels "chinks of light which support the Muslim position", including: “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One, that is God” (Mark 10: 18, see above) you seem to conveniently forget that Christianity, Islam and Judaism ALL believe in One God - that is why they are called monotheistic religions.

But perhaps the most absurd - and for me blasphemous - of your claims is that "the real" founder of Christianity is Paul. In line with this, you say: "it is no wonder that Jesus never mentioned the name “Christian” or “Christianity” in his own lifetime". This is as hilarious as it is wrong. I am assuming you have worked out that "Christianity", relates to the name of the Prophet and Messiah and King and Prince of Peace himself, Jesus Christ. So it is natural that a gradually growing following (after he was near-universally rejected in his day in Jerusalem) should be, named AFTER him. It is after all only vain, earthy politicians who name their following while still in harness, like Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. The founder of Christianity was Jesus himself. Paul was a later convert. So, to conclude, on the question of your Corinthians quote - "and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" - we are in agreement, precisely because we disagree on everything else.”

WM: The problem with the Bible’s authenticity is that you do not even pretend to base it on the words of Jesus, only on those of four single-named (No surnames? No father’s names? No biog’s for them in the book label or jacket?) men who may or may not have met Jesus and/or his Apostles and who were not the only four to collect together his life’s words and works in books called “Gospels”. Where are the footnotes, where are the names of their sources, where is this eyewitness testimony you refer to? The Gospels are the equivalent of our Muslim collections of “hadith”, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. As is the entire Bible, in fact. If submitted as a piece of historical scholarship in a university examination, it would fail.

I do not forget that all three Abrahamic faiths are monotheistic but I do question modern Christianity’s adherence to that monotheism: the Trinity is a shot across the bow of God’s oneness. You know it, I know it, every Christian scholar knows it. And there is no proper or clear basis for the Trinity in your own limited four Gospels from the mouth of Jesus – you yourself quote him referring to another entity as “God”. Or was he talking to himself? Sorry to be flippant but the Trinity does lend itself to such bizarre and perhaps circular conclusions (and puns). We DO need to discuss it – in fact, prior to any discussion of any theoretical crucifixion-then-resurrection.

It is not “blasphemous” to claim that Paul created and founded Christianity – it is both historical fact (there were no “Christians” during Jesus’s lifetime, only Jews) and theological fact (Paul is the originator of the doctrines that underpin modern Christianity, like original sin and resurrection and says so himself on more than one occasion in the New Testament). Your reference to Thatcher is irrelevant – we are not talking politics here. We are talking religion, faith, God. For example, we Muslims take pride in the fact that the God in the Quran refers deliberately and purposefully to “Islam” and “Muslims” and the “Quran”. It stops later generations from changing things. Unfortunately, Jesus makes no reference to “Christianity”, “Christians” or the “Bible” in any of the Gospels – and never claims to have come to start a new religion. In fact, and this is one of my favourite killer quotes from the New Testament, he says quite clearly and unarguably in Matthew 15:24: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel ”, i.e. he is a Jewish prophet (as we Muslims believe he was and he indeed saw himself). The idea that anyone who claims to follow Christ is a Christian and that Christ somehow bestows that title upon them is nonsense and does not follow at all.

As for your reference to the “sonship” of Jesus and the “reference to the Son of God and the Son of Man, especially from Jesus’ own lips”, you have walked into the trap that I have been setting for Christians since I first began debating them.
(a) Jesus may refer to himself as the “Son of God” but he also refers to himself clearly as the emissary, the prophet, the teacher from God, and, crucially, lesser than God: “The Father [God] is greater than I" (John 14:28), and
(b) if your argument is that Jesus called himself “Son of God” so he is therefore, literally, rather than metaphorically, “the Son of God”, how then do you view Adam? In the Gospels it says: “…the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God" (Luke 3:38). How then do you view David, who, prior to Jesus, the Bible refers to as the only begotten son of God: "I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Psalms 2:7).

...And so ends Part 1, please return tomorrow for the next installment in this fascinating discussion.

Guest Blogger #6 - Grateful for gratitude

2007-01-08T10:02:00.000+01:00

Why do we complain so much? Why do we whine and moan and grumble so much about our lives? What is the cause of our monumental ingratitude? Why are we such a bunch of ungrateful, unappreciative and thankless individuals who prefer to see the glass half-empty rather than half-full?

These are questions that have been disturbing and troubling me in recent weeks and months. Those who know me would be quick to point out that I am at the forefront of the whiners, the whingers and the moaners. I am the first to grumble at something going wrong in my life and the first to mumble about “Sod and his bloody law”. Yet, at this moment in time, when I take a step back and look at my life in a wider context, objectively and critically, I see a person who has nothing to complain about and everything to be grateful for.

After all, so what if I am late for work? Or if I’ve had a fight with a friend? Or if I’ve lost some money? Or if I have a headache? Think big picture. I am a person with a wife I love, a baby on the way, two healthy parents, a loving sibling, a successful career, innumerable friends, two cars and a brand-new house. Why am I not more grateful for what I have? Especially when I look around the world and I see so many people with so little wealth or opportunity, so many people in so much pain and poverty. The answer must be that I am a selfish, self-centered person who magnifies my own petty problems while forgetting, overlooking, downplaying or simply ignoring the much greater problems faced by others – both at home and abroad. It’s what makes me an ungrateful individual, rather than a grateful one.

And how many of us can say we are truly grateful people? That we fully and regularly acknowledge the numerous (countless?) reasons to be grateful, to show gratitude, in our everyday lives? Some points to ponder:

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
If you can attend a public meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.
If you can read this, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

We all – deep down, in our heart of hearts – know all this. We all, on occasion, realize all this. Yet we must keep reminding ourselves of this – for two main reasons:

The first is Islamic. Our guiding text, the Holy Quran, the literal Word of Allah, repeatedly asserts the necessity for gratitude and thankfulness to God. For example, it is written: "If you are grateful, I will give you more"(Surah 14, Verse 7). In a hadith, or saying, the Holy Prophet adds: "The first who will be summoned to paradise are those who have praised God in every circumstance." He also said: "Gratitude for the abundance you have received is the best insurance that the abundance will continue." True gratitude, Islam says, draws ever more numerous blessings upon the believer to be grateful for!

Gratitude underlies each of the major pillars of Islam – for example, the performance of the daily Islamic prayers, the salah, or namaz. The essence of the prayer is not to ask or petition God, but to show everlasting praise and adoration to God for the life that He has given us and the mercy that He bestows upon us. Another pillar of Islam is fasting during the month of Ramadan. Contrary to non-Muslim (especially Western) perceptions, this period is not supposed to be a time of dieting and weight-watching but instead a deliberate period of contemplation, reflection and self-sacrifice which leads the believers to a state of gratitude. Allah says in the: "He wants you to complete the prescribed period and glorify him that He has guided you, and perchance ye shall be grateful"(Surah 2, Verse 185).

On the subject of Islamic gratitude, and the underlying philosophy, we should look to the Sufis, the mystics of Islam, for advice – they have written entire books devoted to developing gratitude. Different stages of gratitude are explained by Sufi scholars: the first is gratitude for the gifts received from God - as we would be grateful for any gift - but a higher state is attained when one actually becomes grateful for not (!) receiving gifts or for being delayed in having a hope fulfilled. In this state, say the Sufis, one sees the blessings that are “veiled in affliction”, i.e. those that come through suffering and/or self-denial. The final state of gratitude is recognizing that no amount of worship is sufficient to express gratitude to the Creator and that even feelings of gratitude are a gift from God. In essence, we show gratitude for the capacity to feel grateful!

The second reason we must value gratitude and engage in showing and feeling gratitude is a self-interested and scientific one. Dr. Michael McCollough, of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Dr. Robert Emmons, of the University of California at Davis, say their initial scientific study on this subject “indicates that gratitude plays a significant role in a person's sense of well-being”. Curious about why people with faith seem to be happier than those without faith, these two scholars set up their intriguingly-named ‘Research Project on Gratitude and Thanksgiving’, which involved hundreds of people in three different groups keeping daily diaries. The first group kept a diary of the events that occurred during the day, while the second group recorded their unpleasant experiences. The third group made a daily list of things for which they were grateful.

According to press reports, “the results of the study indicated that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. Additionally, the gratitude group experienced less depression and stress, was more likely to help others, exercised more regularly and made more progress toward personal goals. According to the findings, people who feel grateful are also more likely to feel loved. McCollough and Emmons also noted that gratitude encouraged a positive cycle of reciprocal kindness among people since one act of gratitude encourages another…In light of his research, McCullough suggests that anyone can increase their sense of well-being and create positive social effects just from counting their blessings.”

Counting blessings indeed! It is an aphorism that is drilled into us as kids by our parents and teachers but one which slips from our minds as we grow older and the stresses and strains of modern life take their toll on us (and our egos). But the cold, hard reality is that the only way to start being happy, stop being selfish and fulfill our Islamic obligations is to regularly, repeatedly, daily, morning and night, hour after hour, minute after minute, publicly and privately, count (and count again!) our many and varied “blessings” – to be grateful for what we have, and to be grateful even for our ability and capacity to be grateful and have gratitude.

Now, I had hoped to end this post with wise words from perhaps a Muslim scholar or a Greek philosopher or an 18th century novelist. Instead, rather embarrassingly, I leave you with these words on gratitude from the Hollywood actor and comic Jim Carrey, discussing this particular theme - which formed the basis of his film Bruce Almighty - with the BBC:

“I don't want to take it all the time, but the exit from agony is always there. Sometimes you don't take it by choice. Instead you sit around going, "Why? Oh, why?", and you just want to indulge in that pain. Sometimes, when you think you have nothing, you sit down and make a list of things you're grateful for. Even if it's the stupidest little thing, you can't help but be happy at the end of it. It just lifts you. So, be grateful. Find something to be grateful for.”

© Watford Man

Especially published for 'Doctor's Free Time'