Good intention counts

Abdullah bin `Abbas (May God be pleased with them) reported:

Messenger of God (PBUH) said that God said:

"Verily, God has ordered that the good and the bad deeds be written down. Then He explained it clearly how (to write): He who intends to do a good deed but he does not do it, then God records it for him as a full good deed, but if he carries out his intention, then God the Exalted, writes it down for him as from ten to seven hundred folds, and even more. But if he intends to do an evil act and has not done it, then God writes it down with Him as a full good deed, but if he intends it and has done it, God writes it down as one bad deed". [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Book of Travels: How the Ottomans shaped London

BBC
Raheel Mohammed of Maslaha, one of the organisations behind a unique online exhibition, introduces the Ottoman Empire and their influence on London and beyond.

The online exhibition follows Ottoman solider and writer Evliya Celebi

Lady Mary Montagu, a leading society figure of early 18th century London, an advocate of women's rights and fearless traveller, wrote of St Paul's Cathedral, after visiting Istanbul:

"Perhaps I am in the wrong, but some Turkish mosques please me better…St Paul's Church would make a pitiful figure near it."

Ironically, Christopher Wren the architect of St Paul's Cathedral, one of London's towering landmarks would be looking back to Istanbul's domes for his inspiration.

The Ottoman influence

These are just some of the relationships that a unique online exhibition explores, uncovering how the Ottomans shaped London and the rest of Europe through music, medicine, architecture and art.

The House of Wisdom by Jonathan Lyons

When Baghdad opened its gates as the new capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, the prime site in the city was occupied by the royal library. Both the city and the library, completed around 765, were built by Caliph al-Mansur, who devised a method for measuring the circumference of the Earth and was second in a long line of Abbasid caliphs who valued thought and learning above all else. The Abbasids created, shaped and developed one of the most rich and fertile periods of science in human history.

The library was officially called “the House of Wisdom”. It was a monumental structure, accommodating translators, copyists, scholars, scientists, librarians and the swelling volumes of Persian, Sanskrit and Greek texts that flooded into Baghdad. Not surprisingly, it became a magnet for seekers of knowledge from across the Muslim empire.

Jonathan Lyons tells the story of the House of Wisdom, the caliphs who supported it and the people who worked there, at a riveting, breakneck pace. In quick succession we meet scholars such as al-Khwarizimi, the illustrious Muslim mathematician and founder of algebra, the geographer al-Masudi,

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New Mosque Plans Revealed

London Eye architects to design new Cambridge Mosque
Award-winning architects Marks Barfield, working in association with Professor Keith Critchlow, have been appointed by the Muslim Academic Trust to design the new Cambridge mosque. Marks Barfield are internationally-renowned for striking projects such as the London Eye and the Kew Treetop Walkway.

On behalf of the Trust, Chairman Tim Winter said:

‘Moving the mosque to this new location represents a hugely exciting opportunity for Cambridge.  Working with Marks Barfield, we can create on the Mill Road site a superb place of worship to replace the overcrowded facility on Mawson Road.