“Happy New Year” Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a level of simultaneous change happened that was previously unimaginable. Living through the pandemic has been hard, exhausting, and sometimes terribly sad. But we are entering 2022 with a fortified tool kit of experiences, starting with the ability to measure and increase their organization’s capacity to change. Let’s begin this new year with a lot of happiness and hope which will surely come in our lives soon. All of us have hoped for a COVID free India for almost a period of 2 years but it has continued to spread in a wide range of ways. This year my first hope will be I see this world free from all types of viruses that are spreading in an anonymous way. I wish all the people would live their lives freely and happily, without using masks anymore. There is also a good impact of COVID-19 in our lives. We all learned how to keep ourselves hygienic and purified, and we should surely continue to follow these rules in the future because Allah loves who keeps themselves pure and clean. All I hope in 2022 is there shouldn’t be any wars and we all be in a peaceful environment. For the last few years many countries have been suffering from a lot of wars and destruction, I just pray to Allah to end these wars, and this hate and suffering from the world and that we all live in peace and also ask Allah to show mercy upon all the living beings since He is all Forgiving and Merciful . And there are some things that I personally feel every believer across the world should do is to pray five times, recite Quran frequently, be respectful to their parents, help the poor, help all the persons in need, show mercy, increase their faith in Allah, try not to lie whatever situation it may be. I hope all of us will surely follow these things in the coming year. My vision for the new year is that it will be full of happiness and more opportunities to open ourselves and have a life we all wished for. With this note let’s end all of our grief, sadness, hate, and all the bad memories of 2021 and welcome the new year 2022 with happiness, joy, and hope for our and the world’s better future. Let’s keep all our faith in Allah because all he does is for our good future. The note from me to all of you is: love yourself, keep yourself safe and hygienic, protect yourself from the sins that will ruin the akhirah and evolve good behaviour, remove all the dirt from the heart and purify it with good thoughts, faith and fear of Allah.

MEHAK KAUNAIN SABA

This New Year

This new year I will go back

To all the old promises I made

To all the places that stood

To enjoy the sip of coffee

Upon the future overwrought

I will go back to living every moment

Beautiful mornings and whimsical nights

In lieu of making new resolutions

I will go back to the ones I left incomplete

To all those things I’ve been running away

From and hiding in the cave of months

I will go back to the inner peace

I have always been wandering

To the one who created me

And has a home for my heart and soul

I will live each day more lovingly

And treasure the sweet moments In my memory castle

I will go back to the times when

Every little thing excited me

I will make a fresh start

By loving my roots

And making peace with my old self

This new year I will bring

Myself as I truly am.

SIBGA ALI

2022

I will always remember

The day COVID came

I was only 11

The day crisis came

But I am all done with it

Learned so much from it

Coming the winter of 2022

I hope it will be a truly happy new year

All will be happy giving and taking love

I wish nothing but the best for this year

Coming the winter of 2022

I hope people will become happy

I hope school will be open

I hope people will be employed

I hope that virus will be gone In this coming year of 2022.

AFZAL SANIYA

Pain, loss, and a story of hope

On a Sunday in March 2019, I heard an ayah from Surah Baqarah which speaks about tests, tests with what we love the most. I remember – I wrote ‘Dadajaan is the most beloved thing to me. Ya Allah preserve him. 2 days later, he passed away. 2 months later, my NaniAmmi passed away. After a few months my Chachu passed away.

I failed in exams, suffered from depression and panic attacks, my father got COVID and land dispute happened, and much more.

“And we will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits but give good tidings to the patient.”

In moments of ease and in happiness, we talk about hope.

But…

Hope in the face of disappointment. Hope in despair. Hope in failure. Believe me, it takes pain to know true hope.

We all know how Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Prophet Adam A.S, Yunus A.S, Ayub A.S, and our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w faced trials and despaired, but we also know this is what made them special because they were hopeful in Allah’s decree.

Allah is the source of love and Allah is the source of peace.

I want parents, teachers, sisters and friends be hopeful not just with their lives or the situations with which they are dealing with but with the people around them as well. Be compassionate, be hopeful. Don’t shame them, blame them or disregard their pain. Give them words of hope, and a warm embrace. Hope needs patience.

Hope needs determination to continue. Hope needs faith.

There is news of a new variant. Let us be hopeful. May Allah protect us and let us be hopeful in Allah’s mercy.

A dying plant with proper care and nourishment can regrow – so can you. Look at the small things: movies like Chak De India and Super 30, the last minute goal Liverpool scored in extra minutes against Wolves. These moments inspire me….SubhanAllah, little things instil hope in us. Look around and find hope.

Above all, the hope Allah swt has in us despite our failings. He is eternally merciful and hopeful in us.

My Vision

I have a vision to excel in both the worlds. I envision myself as beloved servant of Allah. The responsible citizen of the country.

A Quran student, an active GIO member, A lecturer. The best daughter, sister, wife, mother.

I hope to and strive to and envision to eradicate casteism in society. I want to establish a NGO or a school for girls from marginalised communities such as “fakir” and “kalalan.” I want to see them excel in their lives be IAS officers and doctors.

There is no castesim in Islam but why do I hear such names based on their professions and come across such instances where people are treated based on castes.

I envision my country free of hunger and free of crimes and having a clean environment. I envision a world of truth and justice.

Free of oppression on people and the environment.

The actual vision sometimes is not what you dream of or plan for or look forward to…..Sometimes vision is seeing light in darkness, looking beyond the despairing situation and being hopeful. A vision of hope with the Creator, with creatures and with oneself.

I always say, our realities are not greater than Allah’s mercy.

Some of the ways we can stay hopeful and have a vision in our lives.

– Establish and maintain a relationship of prayer to Allah

– Read and reflect on Quran

– Pause and reflect on yourself

– Repent and seek forgiveness

– Have good thoughts of Allah

– Develop a positive attitude towards trials.

– Do not underestimate Dua

– Remind yourself that we belong to the Hereafter.

We must redirect our hope from feeble humans and this temporary world to Allah, and His all-powerful and everlasting abode

MALIHA FATEMA ZAKIR “Hoping to restore a garden” We had a whole year Like a tree Weeping out its leaves, But we can’t despair In this sorrow and grief. In this road to inevitability, We must let the waters flow, We must let the tree restore its leaves. I just hope For a year of SOLACE, A year to heal. Open the jammed rusty doors of my heart And let the rays of new hopes and felicity Seep down through it. I would rather carry just a handful of visions To be seen tomorrow. I would hope For flowers to bloom On this dismal land To diffuse the fragrance of pure bliss. I would hope For neem, tulsi and aloe to grow On this ailing land To help us recover. I would hope For eucalyptus to stand firm On this erudite land So that I can have more books to read. I would hope For huge banyans to spring up On this extremely exposed land To cover me and provide a safe zone. I would hope For money plants to spread On this deprived land To improve standards for everyone. I would hope For hands that’d say, “Let’s be together” And when I join them Even justice and oppression would favor both. Lastly I would hope For a firm rose of Imaan That’d never get wilted And feet That’d take me closer to You (Allah) In the year of Twenty Twenty Two

Note: This is the illustration for the poem The above poem compares the plant life with the human life. It is used with metaphors of plants to illustrate the need to improve our society. Firstly flowers are symbolised as happiness givers. Neem, tulsi and aloe are mentioned to give light towards our health care system. Eucalyptus which is used for paper industry is used to draw attention towards our educational system while banyans symbolise as protection for women and need to women safety. Money plants are mentioned so to provide importance towards the economic situation and lastly the two hands refer to unity joining for equality in Justice. And then the poet also wants herself to be spiritually better in the coming year which is referred by rose and feet