He may have instituted a widely reviled "Muslim ban" and encouraged the rise of white supremacists, but Donald Trump might just have given us an early Eid gift this year.
This week, the US President and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had a historic handshake and signed an agreement to move forward with peace. While it's not entirely clear that the agreement offers us anything new, the significance of the photographs, the togetherness and the seeming agreement might herald a new future.
And after all, isn’t that what Eid is all about: the renewal of hope, forgiving the sins of the past and starting afresh? Eid Mubarak Donald and Kim.
For many of us, the last 12 months have felt tumultuous and often frightening. This week we mark the anniversary of the tragic Grenfell Tower fire. Whether in Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Guatemala or Bangladesh, the heartbreaking horrors of war are seemingly neverending.
So even though this is a small gesture, it happens to be perfectly timed to give us all a bit of an Eid present. It might be just the gift of hope we’ve all been seeking.
Even the Taliban have got that festive Eid feeling. For the first time ever, they’ve agreed to a ceasefire, which will extend for three days of Eid. Perhaps, like me, they are keen to resume their morning coffee routine. It should not exculpate them of the bloodshed they have caused. But on Eid we need to think nice thoughts about people. Should we have hope?
The Taliban don't seem to be fully embracing the Eid spirit though because while they might be laying down arms, that won't be the case when they are facing US troops in Afghanistan.
But Eid is for everyone. It is about taking a moment of pause in a chaotic world to think about the basic human delights and joy the period generates. It is about bringing the family together and celebrating all the goodness of the human condition. It is about the unadulterated delight of children that reminds us of the purity of love and youth. It’s about the rush of a sip of caffeine, about remembering the taste of food. It is about spiritual renewal, the intention to improve and do good. It is about hope, about how resetting our individual lives can contribute to a better world.
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Read more from Shelina Janmohamed:
Women are disproportionately affected by mental health issues. It's time to talk about it.
Grenfell Tower is a monument to the tragic inequalities of modern Britain
Denying the discrimination of British Muslims is its own twisted form of Islamophobia
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But even in the joy and celebration, the world can still be a dark place capable of worrying or scaring us. We must not forget that Eid is not about superficial delights such as high-calorie cakes, sequined gowns and fattening biryanis. And while baklava might be melting on our lips and the morning cup of coffee might be coursing through our veins, the reminders of those who do not have access to food, shelter, healthcare, warmth or security should be at the front of our minds. Eid is the beginning of the beginning.
While we can hope that handshakes between world leaders and photo opportunities will bring us peace, the thing to remember about Eid is that it is far more than a show. Rather, it’s about deep change, remorse and restarting. It’s not about patting ourselves on the back, but moving forward in a different way.
I’m hopeful. We should always be hopeful. But Eid is a time when our joy and celebration can be incongruous with a world in which many people don’t have that safety and security. We should look past the headlines and glossy images.
Closer to home, we may assume that everyone is having the Eid that we are enjoying. But loneliness, poverty and mental health issues might lie behind the smiles that surround us, hiding sorrows and pain that we can’t imagine. They might mask what was lost in the past, or the suffering that is ongoing.
And when we smile on Eid, we don’t know what the future holds. But we know what we can bring to it – hope, and hard work for the coming year, to rise above where we currently are. So hold your loved ones close and your hope even closer. And share love wherever you go. Eid Mubarak.
Shelina Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Fixtures
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
NBA FINALS SO FAR
(Toronto lead 3-2 in best-of-seven series)
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
Game 5 Raptors 105 Warriors 106
Game 6 Thursday, at Oakland
Game 7 Sunday, at Toronto (if needed)
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
