Brasscrescent.org

Indonesian cleric ‘to marry seven-year-old girl’: The only good thing about this story is that most Indonesians are as aghast as I am. Perv.

Kick A Migrant : This little game is actually quite fun…seriously.

The colour of disadvantage isn’t black or brown: it is white¦« Walls Come Tumbling Down (aka www.chris-allen.co.uk). Chris, again, hitting nails on heads.  One day, I will do an article about racism in the Muslim community, victimhood and sectarianism. One day. I don’t think Trevor Phillips has made the wisest comments in the past, but broad point made here are valid: It is white working class boys who are bottom of the achievement stats at the moment.

BBC – Beautiful vowels Each chapter, only one vowel.

Hassan Abd al-Hassad, an Agha Khan, basks at an ashram – a Taj Mahal that has grand parks and grass lawns, all as vast as parklands at Alhambra and Valhalla. Hassan can, at a handclap, call a vassal at hand and ask that all staff plan a bacchanal – a gala ball that has what pagan charm small galas lack. Hassan claps, and (tah-dah) an Arab lass at a swank spa can draw a man’s bath and wash a man’s back, as Arab lads fawn and hang, athwart an altar, amaranth garlands as fragrant as attar – a balm that calms all angst. A dwarf can flap a palm branch that fans a fat maharajah. A naphtha lamp can cast a calm warmth.

[asks... halaal?  haraaam?]

One World Week – Ubuntu NGO trying to get Muslims involved in One World Week – and a definition of Ubuntu – the proper definition…

Use BitTorrent to Upgrade to Ubuntu” Speaking of which, now Intrepid Ibex is out soon, a geeky article for the proper geeks…

Tennant to quit Doctor Who | Media | guardian.co.uk continuing the nerd vibe, especially for my nephew who is ‘Hafiz-ul-TimeLord’ and most likely an Aalim in that subject soon…

Finally, a photo that made me smile (Fozi, this one is for you).  It is orcs, having a coffee break.

“Look at this ball, it is a round ball like the planet, but if you look, it is not really round, it is a buckminsterfullerene stitched in leather by child labourers in Pakistan.  If one looks closely, one can see the shine of the lacquer applied to ensure the blood of those little fingers does not stain this football.  The equalities lesson for us all is, through football, we can tackle the problems of the world.

Look at the colours on this football, there are black patches, and there are white patches, they are stitched together, they cooperate to become harder.  The equalities lesson we can learn from this is ‘It does not matter what the colour is of the  overpaid poseur who kicks you.  What matters is how strongly are you physically stitched to regularly cut bits of leather?’    You do not have to be a football to appreciate this.

Look at the goal, with a net, and three poles defining it.  The net is white, the poles are white, but the grass, the grass is green, and the earth, the earth is brown, and the sky is blue.  If mankind was wiped out, the wind and the rain would erode the enamel paint of the goalframe, the metal underneath would corrode, and scattter.  The post-apocalyptic sky will still be blue, the earth still brown (though maybe with flecks of red rust) and the grass, horrendously overgrown though it will be without the groundsman to mow it, will still be green.  The point?  There is no point being racist because in 150 years time you will most definitely be dead.”

You see, the chap who regularly recited the adhan had a very very distinctive style. Like most mosques, he was the designated muezzin. Anyone else doing the adhan just didn’t feel right However, we were used to hearing it in the mosque, but not in Spinney Hill Park. It was actually lovely. It also worked quite effectively, we dutifully herded ourselves into the mosque, which was not far. I don’t know if the Mosque on Berners Street still has the adhan on loudspeaker, but that first day we heard it was lovely.

There are frequent charges that Muslims want to have the adhan on loudspeaker in every mosque in the land. A few months back, a mosque in Oxford got into a spot of media bother when they looked into having the adhan on loudspeaker during the day. Â Some Christian clergy in Oxford supported the idea in principle, others denounced it.

In the end, it transpired there was no actual proposal, the mosque management had merely made enquiries about the amplified adhan. There may be a a compromise, sing from the minarets and roofs using the human voice alone.

During Mayday celebrations, the choir at Magdalen College sing from the rooftops in the early hours. Crowds gather to hear voices sing about the divine. Surely that tradition should not be the exclusive of one institution?

Extend this concept throughout the land, and it may be an elegant way of keeping in tune with all of our religious and social traditions. Without a doubt, Muslims were happy without electronic amplification for centuries – speakers are a bid’ah. The children at the top of Spinney Hill Park would still be able to hear the call to prayer, and the muezzins of Leicester and beyond surely have the lungs for it.

From: Angry Al-Abama
Sent: 08 May 2008 13:17
To: ‘Mr Moo’
Subject: Salaam Cafe will destroy your hard drive

Akhee, brother, brother, akhee. I know about you and your type of liberal -neo -traditional -post -salafi -pseudo -reformist- sufi -goofy -omniverous- secular -religious -clark shoe -wearing person whose beard is too short and hair too long. I know you like to scoff at the pofaced Muslims and praise those who scoff at the pofaced Muslims and generally promote the scoffers amongst your elitist brethren. We know about the silly things you do to scoff at the pofaced Muslims. We have marked your scoffing card.

Akhee, brother, brother, akhee. This is a pre-emptive strike. We know you will promote deviancy like Salaam Cafe, which aired this week in Australia and available to view online. We do not approve of this sort of filth, and send you warning not to approve of this sort of filth. You and your deviant website will think they are funny and witty, but that is precisely why we warn you not to promote it. Do not promote the group discussions, the comedy sketch shows and all round jollity.

Akhee, brother, brother, akhee. We also know that you will scoff at this message, but we have to send it. And on a final note, why do you scoff at the green alarm clock? I have a special alarm clock like that. The hands fell off 1996, but the alarm still works. Sure, the adhan has no correlation with prayer time, but akhee, we must keep on our toes.

————- ————- ————-

The aim of this workshop is to explore the analytical value of Islamophobia and its limitations. To this end, we will address a number of key questions.

• How was the phenomena that Islamophobia seeks to conceptualise dealt with prior to the formation of the concept?
• What is it that the category of Islamophobia brings to the table- is it useful and if so why?
• How would a consistent and clearer understanding of Islamophobia help?
• How does Islamophobia relate to others of social exclusion?
• What is the relationship between Islamophobia and racism?

Chris Allen wrote a piece in preparation last week on his blog.

It is these unaccounted for grey areas that have contributed to a climate where those such as the BNP have found favour and gained an increasingly listened to voice. One result of this was that in 2006′s local elections, where the BNP won 11 of the 13 seats they contested in Barking & Dagenham. Making history through being the first time that a far-right political party has ever been the official opposition in any council chamber in Britain, on the evening of the first Barking and Dagenham council meeting attended by the BNP an Afghan man was repeatedly stabbed outside Barking tube station, his body left on the pavement draped in the union flag.

Since the writing of the above piece, the BNP have gained a seat in the London Assembly, and have kept their seat on the council in Solihull. The BBC have some analysis here.

The tendency for the wider public to ignore academic gatherings can be placed firmly at the publishers of the book Von-IgelFeld trilogy By Alexander McCall Smith. However, I think the symposium above will come out with some interesting findings. It cannot have come at a better time.

This post on commentisfree by Asim Siddiqui is very interesting, not for announcing the launch of two new Muslim groups, but because of the use term ‘Islamistophobes’.  I like it (and I hope Yahya, Chris and others are paying attention and will use it in their posts and academic papers).

My own position on race, religion and identity is simply stated by Tariq Ramadan:

“Lets say you are vegetarian and a poet, and you are at a dinner. You are going to say you are vegetarian. But at a party, you will say you are a poet…

We all have multiple identities which are also moving identities…”

I have been repeating the term “Islamistophobia” and it feels strange on my tongue but I like it.  Another cudgel any side can use in our virtual identity wars.

Musab and Chris say salaams to a smiling brother.

Musab: Salaams.

Smiling Brother: Salaams. You look familiar, where are you from?

Musab: My name is Musab, and I am from England

Smiling Brother: [eyes widening slightly] No, where are you from

Musab: I am from England.

Smiling Brother: No, no, Where are you really from.

Musab: I really am from England.

Smiling Brother: Oh, ho, I see what you are doing. Where are your parents from.

Musab: For the last 30 years, they have been living in England…

[Smiling Brother: (Smile disappears for a fraction of a second)]

Musab: …They are originally from India…

Smiling Brother: Ooohhh Indiah, (does the subcontinental bobble head)

Musab: …My wife was born in Pakistan.

Smiling Brother: (face lightens) Excellent. Which part of Pakistan?

Musab: Punjab…

[Turning to Chris] Smiling Brother: what is your name?

Chris: Chris

Smiling Brother: But what is your Muslim name

Chris: Chris

Smiling Brother: Is that a proper Muslim name? What is your ‘real’ name?

Chris: It is my name, and I am a Muslim.

Smiling Brother: But brother, you can get a proper Muslim name, with a beautiful meaning. For example, there are is Adam, he was the first Prophet, then there is Nuh, he was also a Prophet….

[Proceeds to list all prophets...When he reaches Muhammad, Chris breathes a sigh of relief,]

Smiling Brother: … Of course, there is blessings of combining the name of Muhammad with the names of the prophets…Muhammad Adam, Muhammad Nuh… Muhammad Ibraheem… [proceeds to repeat first list of prophets, with prefix of Muhammad]

Chris: errr…

Smiling Brother: Also, you can get all the names of the Sahabah, there is Abu Bakr, and Omar, and Othman, and Ali, and Hamzah, and Zayd..

Chris: …..

[A second brother walks up, Musab and Chris say salaams]

Second Brother: What is your name?

Chris: ‘Chris’, it’s a Muslim name

Second Brother: ‘No it’s not’.

At that point, Chris was then going to say – because the smiling brother had asked about Mrs Musab, and Musab had replied she was from the Punjab – that Chris was married to an Essex girl. That would have really put the final nail in the coffin.

Bio blog of Chris: http://119elimestate.wordpress.com/

the custard skin stabbing: http://119elimestate.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/the-custard-skin-stabbing/

*NB. Contains a rude and earthy swear word calling into question the genealogy   of one of the characters, as well as graphic violence, and processed food.  These may offend, so you have been warned.