Really, we should stop talking about islamophobia or anti-migrant sentiment. The attacker himself was a migrant. The real problem is supremacist ideologies.
Honeytrap
Yes, there is a conspiracy against you. It’s terrible, awful. But note that there would be no conspiracy against you, had you not been engaged in a conspiracy of your own. I think of you a bit like a bee that stings in defence, only to rupture its own abdomen, causing sudden death.
Be true to yourself
Don’t let your fear of people hold you back. Don’t succumb to intimidation. Be true to yourself, even if this means you walk alone.
Lived history
Prior to the autumn of 1993, I knew nothing of Islam. It wasn’t on my radar. I may have heard mutterings of the Satanic Verses saga from a teacher one cold morning in 1988, but it meant nothing to me. From those first Muslims I ever came into contact with as I entered sixth form college, I only learned two things: Muslims don’t eat pork and shouldn’t drink alcohol. The first time I ever saw somebody wearing the hijab in real life was in 1994. She was an English student, the daughter of a convert, and the only person in the college to dress that way.
A word of truth
My best teacher of my Islamic religion was my own father who’s Christian. Most of my Islamic manners was taught to me by my father. Don’t associate Islamic faith with corrupted scholars. Islam is perfect faith but people are not perfect.
The blank cheque
Every spoken word has context. Nothing said endures in isolation. You can speak the truth, but still have an ulterior motive. You can be both good and bad, both sincere and insincere, depending on the urge of the moment. You can be both a voice in the wilderness and the wilderness. You can be both a hero and a demon. As the poet says: To good and evil equal bent, and both a sinner and a saint!
Silicon Wadi
Everyone supports the boycott until it touches the luxuries they believe they cannot live without. Then they are silent, suddenly forgetting their principles.
Those who ask no fee
I just came across a Facebook post lamenting the apparent lack of support for religious institutions amongst the faithful. I’m not exactly sure how true that is, for our communities seem to be forever reaching into their pockets to finance new institutions.
In any case, these are the thoughts that sprang to mind: perhaps people recall that fellow in the oft recited Surah Ya-Sin, who came running from the farthest end of the city, saying:
“O my people, follow the messengers. Follow those who ask of you no fee, and who are rightly guided.” — Quran 36:20-1
We all know of teachers who work by day in trade and academia, who give of their free time to the service of others, in the spirit of that prophetic refrain found throughout the Quran…
“No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the Worlds!”
If it is really true that people are worried about paying for sacred knowledge, perhaps this is the reason. Though I suspect, if the weekly collection bucket at Jummah prayer is anything to go by, that it may be more down to saturation. I don’t think anyone could doubt the generosity of the faithful when asked to dig deep.
To the one we wronged
I’m sorry. I’m sorry that we drove you out of the religion. I’m sorry that we drove you from the path you once embraced with sincerity and passion. The one you once pursued with all that inner strength of yours, that forced you to sit at the feet of those you thought would guide you, enlighten your soul and raise you to great heights. I’m sorry that instead we trampled you under our feet, and slandered your name and spoiled your reputation everywhere we went.
On white saviour complexes
As a youngster, at around the age of 15, I became interested in the field of sustainable development. An article in the magazine of a Sunday newspaper about life in Burkina Faso had particular influence on me. From that moment on, I was convinced that my future lay in working on rural projects in central Africa that aimed at alleviating poverty amongst some of the world’s poorest people.
