Ours is a community which can spin itself into a fury over a video featuring dancing Muslims, spewing forth a million words for or against, but falls dumb when a group of extremist lunatics reportedly kidnaps hundreds of girls from their school. Ours in a community ready to excommunicate and denounce believers for the tiniest …
On this day, sixteen years ago, I became a believer, albeit one still wavering. A lot has happened since then. The zealotry of youth has given way to more considered thought, more open to new ideas. Gone the certainty in absolutes, the black and white view of the world; in their place more nuanced understandings, …
When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for …
I think I am too English to embrace public displays of piety — a tasbih always in hand, salutations always on the tongue, eyes glazed over, intoxicated by the presence of the One. But I know it is wrong of me. Theirs is a faith more courageous than mine, more willing to be seen in …
Did we really need another narrative pseudo-documentary featuring the exact same cast as the last three: Tommy Robinson’s EDL and Anjem Choudhury’s disciples? What exactly do these meandering personal explorations achieve, except reinforce ideas that both groups are mainstream and influential? Neither notion is true. I don’t expect it will be the last one, for …
In one breath you dismiss the faith of millions of your brothers, writing them off as sell-outs, apostates and hypocrites, while in the next you agitate on behalf of millions of others, unknown. Here are the contradictions of the Muslim propagandist. A brutal oppression is raging out there, elsewhere, in distant lands, and it is …
I have read Tony Blair’s Bloomberg speech in full, long winded though it was. It contains some truths, and some realities for Western interests. I don’t know anybody who would deny that Muslim extremists are a threat to many communities around the globe; other Muslims are as much victims of their words and actions as …
There shall come upon people years of deceit in which the liar will be believed, the truthful one disbelieved, the treacherous will be trusted, the trustworthy one considered treacherous; and the Ruwaybidah shall speak out.’ It was said: Who are the Ruwaybidah? The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: ‘The lowly, contemptible one who will …
Whether we like it or not, Campaign Islam’s response to the now infamous Honest Policy video will resonate with many young people, unable to sift through propaganda which presents Muslims as permanent, exclusive victims. Most of us have mellowed with the passing years and have forgotten that the young are often attracted to those who …
Had a splendid week away in Ireland. In disconnected remoteness, missed much of the happenings of one world, but experienced the greater realities of another, such as the beauty of gardens, rivers, lakes and mountains, the sweet sound of bird song and waves washing the shore, the peace that descends when no mobile or wi-fi …
Dearly beloved, When I was first getting into graphics, I yearned for a Mac (but could not afford one). That was way back when they were beige: not cool, but highly functional. However, when they started that whole PC vs. Mac (Geek vs. Mr Cool) campaign, that really killed it for me. I can see …
To be honest, there’s very little nobility or goodness in our actions these days, and all that’s left is an odious caricature of faith.
For all the claims a decade ago, that journalists are a far superior species to bloggers, somebody needs to explain why so many newspapers now quote stories in other papers verbatim, without verifying the facts; how Twitter became a trusted authority; why so many spurious claims which are later found to have no basis get …
