My last Words of Faith, and I like to think of it as quite appropriate. When put in a position where your words are sent around the world with the imprimatur of the BBC attached, it is only too easy for those who listen to assume that you are speaking with some authority. But I'm not a clergyman, and despite all the appointed imams around the world, the Prophet made it clear that Islam has no clergy. I'm just a traveller on the Way, and I'll tell you what I think, and what I've learned, and what I think I've learned. And I'll tell you what I think I know, but it is up to you to think about it for yourselves.

"Who can you trust these days?" said the man on the Glasgow Underground - a question which set me thinking. Was the world a safer place when I was young? Was the man in the street then more honest and sincere?

The older generation often use rose-tinted spectacles to look back at the days of their youth. The proverb says that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but that fence needn't be wood, the barrier between here and there can also be time. It is true that in the part of town where I was raised no-one feared to walk the streets. Yet just as now, there were dangerous places, but I only read about them in the newspapers. Then, as now, I didn't go to them, and they didn't come to me.

Those newspapers also relished scandal, with lurid tales of political and religious leaders practising the opposite of what they preached. History would suggest that those in positions of power and moral authority, have always run a gauntlet of suspicion and mistrust, much as they do today. It has always been recognised that power corrupts as it distances the one who wields it from the people. But what of the people themselves, are they any more dishonest or unreliable than they were, or is it just that the world is now changing so fast that it's hard to find anything to depend on.

In such an uncertain and unstable world, it can feel like standing on quicksand, and people search for something to cling to, clutching at any straw that offers certainty. In their desperation many are easy prey to the confidence trickster and the hypocrite, who offer a simple formula for understanding and salvation. Some follow politicians, those notorious masters of the art of public flattery. Some submit themselves to men who claim special knowledge of the Will of God, while some would rather put their trust in science or perhaps astrology.

My favourite advice from a religious teacher was "Never trust anyone - especially me!". Now there was a man who knew enough to be aware of his own limitations. It's not that I'm cynical about humanity. What I trust most people to do is act according to their natures, as when the imam told his mosque congregation that if they prayed for assistance they could trust in God to help them, and Nasruddin asked for help in stealing his rich neighbour's fine new shoes - a severe case of following the rules while completely misunderstanding their purpose.

With knowledge comes humility. With ignorance comes arrogance. It's dangerous to trust a man who has something to gain from the situation, taking the risk of following someone else's personal agenda. Much better to put our trust in the One Who cannot be increased - the All-powerful, All-knowing, All-merciful, All-provider. Why shape your life around the movement of the stars when you can worship the Creator of the Universe.

[From the Qur'an, the chapter called The Criterion, vv. 56-62]

We have not sent you except to bear good tidings and a warning. Say: "For this, I ask no reward of you, other than that whoever wills may find a way unto his Lord."

Put your trust in the Living God, the Undying, and proclaim His praise, for none is as aware of His creatures' sins as He, Who created the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them in six days, then established Himself upon the Throne, the All-compassionate. Ask about Him of anyone who is aware.

But when they are told, "Bow yourselves to the All-merciful," they say, "And what is the All-merciful? Shall we bow ourselves to what you tell us?" And your telling only increases their aversion.

Blessed be He Who has set in the heavens constellations, and has set among them a radiant lamp, and an illuminating moon. And it is He who causes the night and day to follow one another, for whoever wishes to remember, or whoever desires to be thankful.