Mealtimes offer a pause in the day for parents and children to sit together, listen to one another and trade stories

• Making sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday life

When I was growing up in a Muslim household, food was rarely just food. As the youngest child, my job was to bring out a large water jug with a matching basin pot and soap to help the family wash their hands. Mum would distribute freshly baked breads to everyone to have with the soup or curry. Dad would have me sit next to him as he presided over the gathering – asking questions, giving directions all the while passing food and utensils around. My older brother would take turns helping everyone wash their hands.

There was even a small ritual around something as ordinary as a piece of bread. If it fell on the ground anywhere in the house or was even seen on the ground outside, we would pick it up, clean it, kiss it respectfully and place it somewhere clean and safe. Food was not to be treated carelessly.

As attacks on Muslim places of worship rise, more than 100 mosques this weekend have offered conversation, food and friendship to challenge prejudice

At one mosque in north London, a woman shouted at worshippers that more of their children should be killed, as children had been in Gaza. On another occasion, gas pipes were ripped from the building and reconfigured so leaking gas built up inside it.

These are among a series of incidents the London Islamic Cultural Society has faced in the past three years. But rather than retreat behind closed doors, the mosque has opened them wider. It is one of more than 100 across the UK, including in London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Glasgow, Southend and Cardiff, that have invited in members of the public this weekend to learn more about Islam and British Muslims.

Zena Al Tahhan on Israel’s colonial expansion, Jon Elmer on Yemen’s offensive and Ali Abunimah on the Macklemore backlash. News from Gaza and Lebanon.

Journeying into the poorest neighborhood in Herat, Darius comes face to face with tragedy and makes a new friend.

The post Far Away [Part 28] – Death In District Nine appeared first on MuslimMatters.org.

Supporters’ club says billionaire should stand down after ‘completely unacceptable’ comments on the UK and empire

Manchester United’s Muslim supporters’ Club (MUMSC) has called for the Premier League side’s co-owner to step down after he made “completely unacceptable” comments during a BBC interview.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe described the UK as being a country “on the slide” from the days when it had “the greatest empire in the world”.