Every nation rejoices in its temporal messiah. Eyes closed, the moment becomes sacred. Dissenters are renegades, despised. There will be a great clamour, chaos and confusion. But soon enough we will all be mere footnotes in history. Yet another dynasty long forgotten in the winds of time. But dust blown hither and thither. Who dares …
If we had our own Norman Finkelstein, who spoke out about our own crimes and held up the mirror of introspection before us, we would also call him a sellout, a turncoat, a hypocrite… and our own community activists would attack him without relent, until he finally capitulated into silent submission to the gatekeepers of …
We all have different talents and different weaknesses. Don’t begrudge those of us who hate the sound of our own voices, who prefer to flee the public sphere in favor of private spaces. Perhaps we have other talents, unbeknownst to the world. Not everyone can be a preacher or guide.
Last week David Cameron accused an imam of supporting IS. When it was later discovered that the imam had in fact been touring the country to talk about the evils of ISIS, Number 10 clarified that David Cameron was not talking about “The ISIS” but, you know, Islamic states in general, you know, like Saudi …
MuslimView has recently approached several imams employed in UK mosques to find out how much they are paid and has been shocked by their findings. They are being paid between £700 and £1400 per month, depending on where they trained. The upper end of the scale is on a par with a taxi driver, secretary …
I’m known for my occasional Luddite lapses, but still we should challenge some of the technophobic declarations of our some of our scholars. My wife has just had a seamless face-to-face conversation with her mother, 1600 miles away, both via a flawless video image on a pair of mobile phones, one out about in the …
Surely I can’t be the only one perturbed by Trevor Phillips’ analysis of the now famous ICM poll which claimed to find out what British Muslims really think. Four percent of the 0.04% of British Muslims polled said they had sympathy for terrorist acts. From this the broadcaster extrapolated that 100,000 British Muslims have sympathy for terrorist acts. But all …
I am a strong believer in the need for sincere and serious introspection. It’s my calling card. But tonight’s broadcast claiming to tell us what Muslims really think was absolutely atrocious. It will not help anyone actually concerned about very real issues in our communities. If anything, it will make those conversations harder still. Here …
Trevor Phillips says he has identified a chasm of difference between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain. But surely it is only possible to identify that chasm if an equally representative number from both groups have been asked the same questions. Otherwise all you really have is a chasm between what the selected sample seem to …
Time and again I am reminded that I have no power to affect change in the world, except by the will of the Most Merciful. Plots and plans fail, grand designs founder. Hard work, dedication, patience, obsessive attention to details: none of these can bring about the result you desire on their own. Only the One …
No, I won’t attend the next great charity fundraiser to come to town. Not because I’m anti-social (though I am), but because I’m tired of being held ransom by professional fundraising consultants, who seem to believe we all have tens of thousands of pounds sloshing around in our back pockets. Back in the day, you might …
True repentance is undoubtedly liberating, but that does not make it easy. Sometimes it means letting go of all that you have become attached to, to reject a part of yourself, or to turn away from what you treasure, or desire, or wish for beyond the worlds. But in the end you know that you …
It’s all too easy to allow ourselves to be bamboozled by the turgid rhetoric of our quasi-phrenic pundits. But scratch the surface and, more often than not, we find there’s nothing there. There is no real substance beyond the esoteric vocabulary that holds us in awe. It is all form over function; the medium at …
While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ …
This Muslim nation’s rapid economic development comes at a price — to its environment and natural beauty — a stark reality now hitting home. Sadly the government — which in earlier times shared roots with the environmentalist movement — is now too much in thrall of big business and the construction industry to anymore take the …
