The Radical Middle Way has organised a splendid event, with online pioneers and bloggers from the UK.  I will be at the event, so please do come along.  Click on the image above for more info, or see full post below.

Welcome to Muslim 2.0 – a wired generation whose members would rather pose their tough questions to Shaykh Google than their local Imam and who feel more connected to the Facebook ummah than the congregation at the local mosque. Never has Muslim conversation buzzed with so many divergent, combative and off-the-wall perspectives.

But is more Muslim chatter really better?
Has Web 2.0 democratised Muslim debate, and if so at what cost?
Are we talking to each other or at each other?
With so many blogs, websites and forums to choose from, are we actually engaging with other points of view or are we comfortable staying in our intellectual (and spiritual) ghettos?
Join us for Divan 2.0, as we bring together some of British Islam’s most (in)famous bloggers, web pioneers and online warriors for some face-to-face debate. They will be taking your questions in this special “Question Time” style event.
Challenge and be challenged – submit your questions in advance and come ready to jump into fray!

Where and When?

Date: Friday 22 May 2009
Location: Old Theatre, London School of Economics [MAP]
Address: Houghton Street (off the Aldwych) London WC2A 2AE

Time: Doors open 6:45 pm; Starts 7:15 pm; Ends 8:45 pm

Bloggers

Shelina Zahra Janmohamed, Author of Love in a Headscarf and Spirit21 blog

Omar Tufail, Web Guru and Founder, DeenPort.com

Musab Bora, Blogger at Mooslim.com

Indigo Jo, Blogger at www,blogistan.co.uk/blog

Zahed Amanullah, Editor, altmuslim.com

and more to be confirmed! 

Participate!

1. Book and Post your questions HERE!

2. Follow the debate on Twitter – www.twitter.com/radicaltweets

3. Watch us LIVE online and send us your comments and questions.

Why "Divan"?

During Ottoman times, the Sultan would call together a Divan-i-Am – a public assembly where all were welcome to raise their beefs and offer their advice on matters of public importance. We believe that this tradition needs to be revived. Muslim communities need a space where we put aside our "swords" and sit down to a good, old-fashioned argument – with wit, humour and good dose of manners! This isn’t personal, it’s public – we debate because we care about our communities and our country."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/may/14/islam-community-religion

Musab Bora

A few weeks ago, a research article was published regarding Muslims who had fought and died for the British during the second world war. Some were as young as 15, and came from various places in the Indian subcontinent, including the region now known as Pakistan. The research was interesting because of the push by the Ministry of Defence to recruit more ethnic minorities, and especially Muslims, into the armed forces. In the light of the recent focus on Gurkhas fighting (and dying) for the British, the research shows that those willing to die for a country may not be the most obvious of candidates.

My father worked as an army chaplain at a marine base in El-Paso, Texas in the early 90s. He served with soldiers from the Gulf states who were being trained by the US army. We heard many stories of barracks life and how the soldiers he counselled were often in their late teens, training on quite sophisticated weaponry but really just dreaming of home. The truth is for many of them, the militairy was little more than a secure job. Personally I cannot understand how believing in an ideological cause is not a pre-requisite to putting your life at risk for it.

Generally speaking, Muslims are encouraged to be people of conscience regardless of circumstance. There is a famous, if rather graphic, story of the Ali, cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, when he was engaged in battle. At the moment he was about to strike down on his enemy, the enemy soldier spat in Ali’s face. Ali walked away, refraining from attacking him because he felt anger, and did not want to strike his enemy of out anger but for a greater cause he believed in.

Muslim terms, once exotic, are now familiar. We are taught about the "just war", jihad, and becoming a "shaheed" (martyr) and other honourable concepts. However, 1400 years of history of peoples spread over most of the planet means there is no uniform monolithic Muslim approach to war. The religion is principled but my fellow adherents are a diverse bunch. The lack of a central authority in Islam means opinions vary on issues where there is room for interpretation. As a consequence, the present Muslims discourse consciously and cynically demotes Muslim-on-Muslim violence in favour of highlighting conflict with outsiders: It is easier to "defend the honour" of Muslims if there is an outside threat to struggle against, to "defend the ummah".

In these turbulent times a mild cynicism has set in regarding rulings of one sort or another. That cynicism also spills into political justifications of war. We are encouraged on the one hand to support troops and air our disagreement with politicians. However, being a member of the armed forces would not have encouraged me to be a thinking, conscientious person who at any point had full control of his actions, or indeed, had his intentions as clear as Ali.

The concept of life is taken as a precious thing, to save one life is as if to save the life of the whole mankind. However, this is, again, an abstract idea. What is real and tangible is the community around me. I live in a predominantly non-Muslim area, and I would fight and die to defend my community, my neighbourhood. The concept of neighbourliness in Islam is quite a strong one – if any of your neighbours go hungry, you are required to feed them. Here, neighbours are defined as at least 40 houses either side of you, quite a large responsibility. We are urged to seek the permission of our neighbours before we travel on pilgrimage, if they are in need, we are required use the money to help them. Defending my community is just one of the causes I would be willing die for on the principle of justice. In fact, there are many causes I would die for, but far fewer I would kill for.

Firstly, have you received my allowance and expense claim form?  As you are government funded, not only are you deviant and obviously out to subvert the masses with your unspecific deviancy and general subversion, but clearly you must be rolling in it, to use the vernacular.  In short, I believe you all must be very rich, like those Quilliam fellows that seem to really excite  my fellow PM-BWTTS’s.  I really should type up my little Quilliam speech that I do regularly.  Khair.

Back to my claim form.  I was told by that jolly foreign-sounding chap who called me up that any expenses would be paid for.  Now, not being a Tory MP, I don’t have a moat, but my in-laws still live in London, so I hence my claim for a housekeeper and some garden manure.  I must confess, like many families from the subcontinent, they have put concrete over most of the garden, but there are borders that require fertilizer.  What this has to do with the ‘Soul of Islam’.  Everything!.  If the link is unclear, I will explain all on Friday.

Anyway, if the expense/allowance entry for ‘Hotel accommodation’ for the entire bank holiday weekend.  I am conducting vital research into the state of Mosque toilets, and how they are all continental style.  Unless we change these toilets to the English style, our youth is doomed. Who wants to squat, when sitting is so British?  My apologies for being so graphic, I know this is the sort of British Muslim research you like.  That’s what we PM-BWTTS’s do, think outside of the box, the box here being the ablution facilities in our mosques.

Anyways, must dash.  Frightfully honoured to be invited, and looking forward to meeting you all, and putting to rest those awful rumours that you are all reptile-aliens.

Do write back

Mr Moo

For the above, I could do one of the comic things I enjoy doing, but I don’t feel the need to.

Today in the UK it is Mother’s Day,others around the world celebrate it on different days (see wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers_day)

I saw on a forum someone asking what the Islamic ruling was on Mother’s Day. Now, not being a scholar, I don’t want to comment on the fiqh (despite the title of post, that was just to lure you in). Instead, the following train of thought occurred.

Scenario 1: You celebrate Mother’s Day, are happy to, and thus your Mother is happy.

Scenario 2: You celebrate Mother’s Day in a clandestine fashion, and the air of guilt tempers any pleasure gained from honouring your Mother (heaven lies under her feet….)

Scenario 3: Mother’s Day is an innovation, and you have no need as every day is Mother’s Day.

I occurred to me the least satisfactory of these positions is Scenario 2. If I wanted to celebrate Mother’s Day, I would do it properly, with happiness and joy (hopefully).

If you follow Scenario 3, well, have a good day being generically good (without any change for today) to your Mother. I suspect you are not known for your jolly temperament, but that is just speculation on my part.

On a final note, will the grammer police (sic) please observe I have tried my best with the apostrophe thing in this post, and to take this into consideration when reporting future and past transgressions.

“In this country one married man is allowed to marry one woman. That is the way and that must be the way for everybody who lives in this country.”

A firm moral stance advocating the nuclear family.

Maybe she should tell her fellow party members.

Working class Muslims tend to be very casual about babies, and are very shouty in their Islam, whilst upper class Muslims have harems and polygamous extended palaces full of amoral sproglets. It is the Middle-class Muslims who are squeezed in the middle, statistically speaking. MUGS calls on this demographic group to increase the number of Muslim children as these will be the Right Sort of Muslims.

Our four point plan includes:

- encouraging Young Middle-Class Muslims to be less picky when choosing a partner.
- spreading the slogan “Marry early, the Sunnah the better”
- Have as many children all schooled in The Right Sort of Islam as possible
- Spread The Right Sort of Middle Class Muslim Messages to children other than your own. Stalk the corners in working class Muslim areas, pushing packets of Middle class Muslimness to these feral children so they get addicted.

The future of the UK is at stake, and to these Middle Class Muslims, it is time for us to accept the challenge. Out time is now.

Khoda from Reza Dolatabadi on Vimeo.

What if you watch a film and whenever you pause it, you face a painting? This idea inspired Reza Dolatabadi to make Khoda. Over 6000 paintings were painstakingly produced during two years to create a five minutes film that would meet high personal standards. Khoda is a psychological thriller; a student project which was seen as a ‘mission impossible’ by many people but eventually proved possible!

Director and art director: Reza Dolatabadi
Written by Reza Dolatabadi & Mark Szalos Farkas
Animation by Adam Thomson
Music by Hamed Mafakheri

Yes, I use Americanisms, which some people don’t like

I am going into hibernation for a couple of weeks, to finish off the decorating so I can get my haircut (a tacit agreement with Mrs Moo made one contingent on the other). I also had a nasty bout of hand cramp the other day, which could be the onset of RSI – something I wouldn’t wish on my worse enemy*. I may still be twittering, but it will be one-way traffic as I am intending to update by SMS text.

In the meantime, I am taking requests, if there is anything y’all would like me to cover, let me know in the comments.

See you in January. Salaams.

* I actually don’t have a worse enemy. In fact, don’t even have people who I consider ‘enemies’ let alone order them in hatefulness to bestow a ‘worst enemy’ tag to one of them….