Tag Archives: Islam

Is the Queen descended from the Prophet Muhammad?

Posted on May 10, 2018 by Stephen Liddell

It is said that most of us have hundreds or thousands of living relations, if only we knew who they were. On one line of my family tree I have found to be descended from such people such as the … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Life, Religion and Faith | Tagged family tree, Genealogy, Islam, Prophet Muhammad, Royal Family, royalty, SOAS, The Queen | 6 Comments

Gertrude Bell – The Ketrun – Desert Queen

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Stephen Liddell

From time to time, I have written about iconic and pioneering women in relative recent history, well recent by British standards 🙂 I also sometimes write about the Middle-East which is actually the one area of life that I can … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Life, WW1 | Tagged Baghdad, Gertrude Bell, Iraq, Islam, Lawrence of Arabia, Lest We Forget, Mesapotamia, Sykes-Picot, WW1 | 19 Comments

Musa I of Mali – The richest man you may never have heard of

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Stephen Liddell

You might never have heard of Musa Keita I of the Mali Empire but it is fair to say that no-one alive today will ever make such an impact on the world today. Born in 1280 AD, Musa grew up in … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Religion and Faith | Tagged Africa, Empire, Hajj, history, Islam, Life, Mali, Mecca, Must Keita, Sahara, Timbuktu, Travel | 13 Comments

Volleyball in a Bikini or a Hijab?

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Stephen Liddell

Much has been made about the appearance of the Egyptian beach volleyball team playing in the Olympics wearing the all-encompassing Hijab Islamic dress rather than the usual Bikini style outfit and comment has been made over how appropriate this is. First … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Opinion, Religion and Faith | Tagged Beach Volleyball, Bikini, Culture Clash, Egypt, Germany, Hijab, Islam, Life, Olympics, Opinion, Rio Olympics, Sport | 1 Comment

Sunni and Shia Islam – All you Need To Know – Islam 101

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Stephen Liddell

You’d have to be living on another planet not to hear about the seemingly endless troubles in the Middle-East. To many in the west, Muslims are Muslims but it is much more complex than that with an ancient schism dominating … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, News, Religion and Faith | Tagged Culture, Faith, Iran, ISIS, Islam, Life, News, Politics, religion, Saudi Arabia, Shia, Sunni, Terrorism | 11 Comments

Cultural Vandalism – The destruction of priceless monuments by ISIS / ISIL

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Stephen Liddell

One of my most popular blog posts that I have ever written was on the ongoing destruction of historic Mecca by Saudi Arabia and whilst one day soon I hope to write more on the topic, I thought for now … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, history, Politics, Travel | Tagged Art, history, Iraq, ISIL, ISIS, Islam, Libya, Life, News, Syria, Terrorism, Travel, war | 17 Comments

Shibam – The original high-rise city

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Stephen Liddell

Even going into London as frequently as I do it is hard to keep track of all the new skyscrapers going up with their weird names. The Gherkin, Shard, Walkie-Talkie or as it used to be called The Death Star … Continue reading →