From 2025, Onward to 2026—-

Ishtiaq Ahmed

Bradford: As 2025 slowly draws its curtain and we turn our gaze toward 2026, it feels fitting to pause to reflect gently on the year that has passed, even as we anticipate the one that lies ahead.

For me, 2025 has been a year of movement and meaning. For much of it, I have been blessed with good health, enriched by the warmth of family and friends, and sustained by a deep engagement with writing and reading, pursuits that continue to nourish my inner life. 

Alongside this, my commitment to community development, both here in the UK and in Pakistan, has remained a steady thread running through the year.

For many years, I had carried a quiet hope that retirement would allow me to spend more time in Pakistan. That hope has, in many ways, been realised. 

Over the past three years, I have visited on average three times a year, some journeys carefully planned, others shaped by circumstance. These visits have allowed me to reconnect with childhood friends and to travel through different regions of a country that remains endlessly diverse and deeply intriguing.

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And yet, as my heart continues to return to the land of my birth, I cannot ignore how rapidly it is changing, too often marked by deepening lawlessness, poverty, and political toxicity. 

Still, my longing for its people, so beleaguered yet so resilient, has not diminished. Perhaps this attachment is written into our very being, part of what we call DNA.

Back in the UK, my engagement has taken different forms. Encouraged and supported by family and friends, I have continued my work across various fronts.

My passion for equality, justice, and community relations remains as strong as it was during my professional life. Though I am now less visibly present in those circles, I continue to contribute through my writing on digital platforms and through research projects in which I remain involved.

The pursuit of equality and justice, too, feels embedded in my DNA, and long may it remain so.

2025 was also a significant year for Bradford, my home city,  as it celebrated its status as the UK’s City of Culture. While my extended stays in Pakistan meant I could not participate fully in many of the activities, it was impossible not to feel the city’s energy and buzz.

 I remain, however, one of its thoughtful critics, of the view that an opportunity was missed to truly galvanise communities beyond the city centre, particularly neighbourhoods with a visible BAME presence. 

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Despite the programme’s diversity, it often felt disconnected and elitist. Nevertheless, 2025 was a positive moment for Bradford, and I wait with cautious hope to see how its cultural legacy unfolds in 2026 and beyond.

On a more personal note, I was pleased to be involved in the development of a Sufi Music project through Bradford Women Zone for local schools. This initiative included the creation of a teaching framework , teaching resources, and a programme of instruction and live performances, a unique project, and the first of its kind not only for Bradford, but for the country.

In 2025, my short biographical work on the life and legacy of Pir Syed Mahroof Hussain Shah (may Allah have mercy upon him) was also published by Jamiyat Tabligh-ul-Islam, the organisation he founded. 

Pir Sahib is widely acknowledged as the visionary behind the development of the Masjid and Madaris movement in Bradford, across the UK, and in Europe. It felt both timely and necessary to record and honour his legacy.

Throughout the year, my commitment to equality and justice also found expression in supporting a major research project led by the Muslim Women In Project at Khidmat Centres, under the leadership of Dr Sofia Buncy MBE, in collaboration with Leeds Beckett and Sheffield Hallam Universities. 

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The research examines the challenges faced by Muslim women under the age of 25 who are entangled within the British criminal justice system. The work is currently being written and is due for publication in 2026.

Yet no reflection on 2025 would be complete without acknowledging the immense human suffering that continues to unfold beyond our immediate lives. Millions in Gaza and Ukraine remain trapped in cycles of war and devastation, still waiting for a just and lasting peace. No one can say what 2026 will bring for them. 

The world today feels far less safe than it did even a year ago, and this unease is felt closer to home as well. In the UK, the rise of far-right violence against asylum seekers and Muslims, coupled with the growing normalisation of anti-immigration rhetoric, racist and islamophobic  overtures. 

Yet, I look at 2026 with hope and positive anticipation. 

The author is a British citizen of Pakistani origin with a keen interest in Pakistani and international affairs.

The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.