Shared
Interests

Now we know that the interests muslims share

are usually much the same as interests that humans everywhere share.

So people are interested in food,

because they need to eat,

and so they cook things in different ways,

and people coming from other cultures brought their way of cooking with them to Scotland,

whether it be curries from South Asia, or pizzas from Italy.

But that doesn't stop them from liking local food.

Both fish and chips are halal,

and there are muslims in Scotland making halal mutton pies and haggis,

though of course the vegetarian kind was always halal.

And obviously it's not just muslims that like sports.

Like so many things, muslims share their interests with other humans,

but when they bring their Islam to what they are interested in,

they can add a little something extra of their own.

So lots of people in Scotland are interested in bird watching,

and people come here from all over the world to see the variety of birds that like to live here.

But muslims also know that the Qur'an tells us to

look at the birds above us,

opening their wings and closing them,

and remember that no-one feeds them

and keeps them alive

other than their God.

And just as the Qur'an says about humans,

muslims can see the incredible variety of their songs and colours

a Sign of God in the creation.

And so it is with those who are interested in the variety of plants

Muslims have always grown gardens for pleasure,

like the gardens of Shalimar,

but Scotland has wonderful gardens,

displaying plants from all around the world,

even having giant greenhouses

to grow banana trees and cactus plants.

And most plants need little more than sunlight and water.

The gardens on earth are a reminder

of the pleasures that await those who do good in this world,

when they are raised up from the dead in the afterlife.

The Qur'an tells us

to look at the way that the rain falls on what seems like dead land,

and out of it comes all of the world's plant life,

and to know that in the same way, at the end of time

we will be brought out of the earth back to life again.