islam today - Issue 26 / March - April 2015

issue 26 March/April

What if we had a Muslim Manifesto?

Children and mental health Communication with God The mosque of Fatima

vol.3 2015

Editorial team March / April 2015 Issue 26, Vol. 3

bi-monthly magazine

islam today magazine intends to address the concerns and aspirations of a vibrant Muslim community by providing readers with inspiration, information, a sense of community and solutions through its unique and specialised contents. It also sets out to help Muslims and non-Muslims better understand and appreciate the nature of a dynamic faith.

Managing Director

Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour

Chief Editor

Amir De Martino

Managing Editor

Anousheh Mireskandari

Health Editor

Laleh Lohrasbi

Art Editor

Moriam Grillo

Layout and Design

Innovative Graphics

Contact us Information

info@islam-today.net

Letters to the Editor

letters@islam-today.net

Contributions & Submissions submit@islam-today.net Subscriptions

subscriptions@islam-today.net

www.islam-today.net Follow us on facebook

www.facebook.com/islamtodaymag

Batool Haydar Cleo Cantone Frank Julian Gelli Hannah Smith Harun Yahya Julia Khadija Lafene Rashid Rose Sabnum Dharamsi Back Cover The Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque 17th century Mostar - Bosnia and Herzegovina The mosque was seriously damaged during the war in the 1990s and was later restored.

Publisher: Islamic Centre of England 140 Maida Vale London, W9 1QB - UK

2

ISSN 2051-2503

Disclaimer: Where opinion is expressed it is that of the author and does not necessarily coincide with the editorial views of the publisher or islam today. All information in this magazine is verified to the best of the authors’ and the publisher’s ability. However, islam today shall not be liable or responsible for loss or damage arising from any users’ reliance on information obtained from the magazine.

From the Editor

20 5

A long road ahead

6

Children and mental health

Addendum Illustrator - Yusef Abdul Jaleel

Life & Community The Place to Be

The number of children with mental health issues has reached alarming proportions Sabnum Dharamsi asks why and suggests some answers

Natural History Museum

10 Raising thinkers not thought

Heritage

Underlining the importance of independent thinking, Batool Haydar advises parents to consider a different educational approach in the relationship with their children

The Conference of the Birds

21 Medium Photography

14 Lofty Proportionality: Is raising the skyline the way to go?

The Horsehead Nebula

The desire to build ever taller buildings out of steel, glass and concrete is questioned by Cleo Cantone who believes that we should seek inspiration from our past

Painting

Art

‘Masked Man’

18

In the Spotlight Playwright - Rohina Malik

Opinion 19 Masterpiece Painting - Helen Zughaib

22

Is Democracy the modern Colonialism?

Western style democracy is failing to address the needs of the poor, but continuously demands the world adopts it, argues Rashid Rose

3

Cover

What & Where 26

What if we had a Muslim Manifesto?

With Muslim communities coming increasingly under pressure in Europe and the UK, Hannah Smith believes that the time is now right for a new phase of Muslim political engagement

46

Listings and Events Commentary (Tafseer) of the Holy Qur’an

Poetry and Exile in Works

Approaching Islamophobia from a Human Rights Perspective

Faith 30

It is in your power to attain goodness True goodness is an elusive concept that is becoming hard to find in today’s society. Haroun Yahya believes that a true adherence to the faith of Islam can help us achieve true goodness

32 Communication with God There are many ways in which we can interact with our Creator. Julia Khadija Lafene gives us some insight on how we can ‘converse’ with our Merciful God

Ways of Writing in Medieval Islam

The Islamophobia Awards

Rediscovering Hadhramaut: Paradigms of Research

Diversity in ‘End of f Life Care’

Negotiating covenant, Prophethood and redemption in the Qur’an Saverah Women Expo

Challenges and Opportunities: British Muslim Women and Maktab Education

Interfaith 34

St Bernadette of Lourdes, a bringer of Hope St Bernadette believed she saw the Virgin Mary at Lourdes. Today her visions still work miracles of healing and hope, says Frank Gelli

Health 38 Eat right for your type A diet based on blood group type may be the answer overweight peopleare for.

Laleh Lohrasbi explains

Places 42 The mosque of Fatima One of the daughters of Imam Musa Ibn Ja’far Al-Kadhem(a) is believed to buried in Baku Azerbaijan. Islam Today takes a look behind the legend of Fatima

4

Glossary of Islamic Symbols The letter (s) after the name of the Prophet Muhammad(s) stands for the Arabic phrase sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam, meaning: “May God bless him [Muhammad] and grant him peace”.

The letter (a) stands for the Arabic phrase ‘alayhis-salaam, ‘alayhas-salaam (feminine) and ‘alayhimus-salaam (plural) meaning respectively: (God’s) Peace be with him/ her/ or them.

From the

Editor

A long road ahead

I

f we take into consideration the events of the beginning of the year, as an indicator of what to expect in the subsequent months, we can conclude that the Muslim community in the UK and the rest of Europe is in for a rough ride. Demonised for the despicable acts committed by a few, the majority of the Muslim community finds itself, once again, at the receiving end of a relentless media campaign putting on trial Islam and all its followers. Another crisis? It certainly looks that way. But should it necessarily be all doom and gloom?

If we look at the history of the Muslim communities in the UK, we can see how it has often been the response to a crisis that has provided an opportunity for positive or negative changes. The British Muslim community’s interaction with governmental bodies has been long and slow. Early Islamic institutions were only marginally interested in issues related to ethnic minority communities. They were centred mainly around the activities of mosques that began to appear soon after the 1962 act on immigration, which resulted in the reunification of families on British soil.

For a long time Muslim organisations that attempted to establish a public profile did it primarily in the cultural context rather than the religious one and they rarely negotiated with local government institutions. The case of religious education in British schools is one good example. It was during these initial contacts that both sides came to know each other and started to develop

some forms of mutual understanding.

The example of the Muslim Liaison Committee of Birmingham back in 1983 would provide one of the first examples of how positive action by a joint pressure group to steer the local authority in a favourable direction in matters of religious education would have nationwide repercussions. In the last half century, perhaps the most significant event which mobilised Muslims in the UK, on a single platform, was the Rushdie affair. Muslim pressures started, as usual in a very casual way - but soon frustration within the community began to build up. In the absence of any public reaction, coordination efforts increased across the country. It was only then that national institutions began to take the Muslim community seriously. First the Home Secretary and then the deputy chief of the opposition gave speeches, to members of the Muslim community in Birmingham Central Mosque. At the same time, the media suddenly became aware of the evolution of a Muslim community, with Islam being raised to the top of the agenda of correspondents dealing with communities or religious affairs. Despite the outcome of the case, the community demonstrated the ability to come out of its shell claiming a platform in the public arena. There have been many challenges for the Muslim community post-Rushdie, but what made the reaction of Muslims much more newsworthy was the fact that Muslims had gradually abandoned their cultural identity and started to claim a new culture as ‘British Muslims’.

In a sense this transformation was the greatest challenge to British society

resulting in the intensification of the activities of an Islamophobic mass media that had identified a religious minority to oppress and bully into submission.

In the cover story of this issue Hannah Smith talks about a possible scenario to take Muslims out of the current quagmire and set them on a course to reclaim their rightful place within British society. Hannah speaks about a new initiative undertaken by a Muslim group which set out to produce a ‘Muslim Manifesto’ in the wake of the next general election in May. She believes this might be a move in the right direction in providing a rallying point for a disunited community to come together. Is this wishful thinking?

Only time can tell. The fact that there is a need for a proactive strategy is all too obvious and as the first generations of Muslim leave their place to the second and third generations the new element will need to think and act taking into consideration local realities and mentalities and engage in the political process with a new-found confidence, hope and the understanding that there is a long, hard road ahead of us. Ê

5

With mental health disorders rising among children, Sabnum Dharamsi underlines how correct parenting at an early stage can provide a healthy future for our children

6

I

sometimes feel that childhood has lost its former innocence. Gone are the days of children happily playing outside, discovering the glory of life, restricted only by teatime curfews and pocket money limits. And now it seems that all we speak about is iPads and protecting children from abuse. It feels stressful to think about all of this - and surely childhood is still idyllic. Aren’t kids just still kids?

Well, unfortunately the answer is ‘no’, but also ‘well, maybe’. Let me explain.

Consider the following statistics: y Three children in every classroom has a diagnosable mental health disorder (and that’s just those who have been diagnosed)

It is difficult to determine why children’s lives are so stressful; studies have identified increased stress from bullying, anxiety over future prospects and school performance, a 24/7 online culture, body image pressures and family breakdown as well as poor economic conditions. And whilst difficulty is a part of everyone’s life, including that of children, it’s clear that some children are really suffering. Maybe they always have.

Maybe we are just recognising it better.

But in any case, whilst a part of me still does very much believe that childhood can be and often is a beautiful part of life, I do want to raise awareness about

y One in five young adults show signs of an eating disorder y One in 12 deliberately harm themselves y Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer from severe depression It’s worrying.

While these statistics do not represent every child, we do know that the culture that children live in can also be a stressful one.

Why is that? And is there anything that can be done? And can we ever go back to a time when childhood is what our hearts tell us it ought to be?

First we have to understand the term ‘mental health’. If we break down the words ‘mental health’, it’s easier – it simply means well-being of the mind.

So the work of a counsellor, alongside other mental health professionals, is to support that. Unlike when you go to a medical doctor, when the emphasis is on your physical state, a counsellor’s emphasis is on the inner state of a person – although as all medical practitioners will tell you, the inward and outward state of a person are intimately connected.

this issue.

This is because if you are aware, you can find help or address things before they get worse. Most of us get very protective over children. If they fall over, and bruise their knees, we cradle them, give them plasters and kiss their pain better. But mental health is a hard subject to even contemplate and when it comes to applying these words to children, it’s even harder. We don’t like to think about these young minds being damaged or hurt in any way. And when things are hard to think about, we sometimes ignore or avoid things we really shouldn’t.

So what’s going on inside your child’s mind? It’s so important to get to know

your children. A big part of this is to recognise that they have a lot going on inside them. It’s easy to forget that while children may not articulate or even understand their feelings in the way that adults do, it doesn’t mean they don’t feel. So the first thing to do is to look out for how your children are feeling.

Secondly, it’s important that you teach your child about feelings. Not just difficult ones, nice feelings too. Talk to them. Even young children can understand if you explore their feelings with them gently. So reassure them if they are hurt, explain to them if you shouted because you are tired, and show them love and appreciation. Treat your children fairly, with affection, and compassion.

I love this advice from Imam Ali(a): “It should be your aim to display more kindness towards your child than the kindness that he displays towards you.”

This kind of parenting can have a lifelong impact, because it is in childhood that we establish patterns of how to deal with those feelings. Consider your own ‘past feelings’ for a moment; how were you ‘taught’ as a child to express love? Was it through physical signs of affection (a kiss or a hug) or perhaps through more material methods (food or money)? If you compare this with how you show and receive love now, you’ll probably see some connection. In fact these childhood ways of being are so powerful and run so deep that they form the way we see the world – what psychologists might call ‘internal constructs.’

Now take a difficult emotion, like anger; it’s normal in certain situations, but some children have learnt to express anger aggressively. Others have learnt to repress anger. Negative forms of anger expression in children have been associated with a number of negative

7

health and mental health outcomes, including elevated blood pressure, psychosomatic symptoms, poor perceived health, depression and aggression. So we have to be really careful how we parent – it sticks.

I believe what makes the most impact is when parents are able to model ways of expressing a range of feel-

8

‡ 7KUHH FKLOGUHQ LQ HYHU\ FODVVURRP KDV D diagnosable mental health disorder (and that’s just those who have been diagnosed) ‡ 2QH LQ ¹YH \RXQJ DGXOWV VKRZ VLJQV RI DQ eating disorder ‡ 2QH LQ GHOLEHUDWHO\ KDUP WKHPVHOYHV ‡ 1HDUO\ FKLOGUHQ DQG \RXQJ SHRSOH suffer from severe depression

ings and ways of being that are healthy. Modelling – or walking your talk - is really important for children because this is what they really absorb, rather than what you tell them. As Imam Ali says: “For sure, the heart of a child is like fallow ground: whatever is planted in it is accepted by it.� A recent study (data tracking 9,000 people from

$ UHFHQW VWXG\ GDWD WUDFNLQJ SHRSOH IURP birth) has concluded that: ‘by far the most important predictor of adult life-satisfaction is emotional health, both in childhood and subsequently.’

Finding this balance is something that I think we learn as we go along, not just something that just happens once and for all. But also, one aspect of balance that we so easily overlook is to take pleasure and enjoyment in life and in children. Sometimes we try so hard, that life itself becomes a chore. I find it so reassuring to be reminded: “God has created for your enjoyment everything on earth� (Qur’an 2:29) Life is a challenge, but children’s hearts – and those of their parents - are precious and need to be taken care of.

Learning how to be emotionally healthy yourself is one aspect of balance – telling yourself for example, that it’s not wrong to give yourself a break, take time out and enjoy life as a family and for yourself. Create times when you can have those golden rewarding moments, whether it’s laughing over the simple things that happen, playing games in the park or talking about a verse in the Qur’an. That’s paying attention to mental health too – and it needn’t be all doom and gloom. Ê

birth) has concluded that: ‘by far the most important predictor of adult lifesatisfaction is emotional health, both in childhood and subsequently.’ It is even more important than if they achieve academically when young, or acquire wealth when older. And as a counsellor, the link between childhood and adulthood seems so obvious sometimes; I’ve seen people go through similar events yet the way they respond to them is completely different and therefore their experience and expectations of life are

totally different. If you are a parent reading this, you may feel ‘getting it right’ is a million miles away, as you struggle to pay the bills and just get some dinner cooked before the mad rush of getting ready for bedtime and prepping for next day’s school. I think then it’s helpful to remember that Islam is all about balance: “Thus we have appointed you a middle nation, that you may be witnesses for mankind.� (Qur’an 2:143).

Sabnum Dharamsi is a therapist and co-founder of Islamic Counselling Training.

9

Raising Thinkers Not Thoughts

How successful our next generations will be depends on how we train and impart them with knowledge. Batool Haydar provides some guidelines that should help parents to raise individuals who think for themselves

10

“Teaching how to acquire knowledge is an important responsibility, but what is more important is teaching children and teenagers how to think.”

– Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khameini.

the ‘mystery’ that many a child accepts as part of adult behaviour. On the flipside, you could ask your child questions about what they think and how they would handle a situation.

nformation is power. This has been the catch-phrase of the past couple of decades. We have been encouraged to gather as much knowledge as possible and ensure the next generation do the same. The more you know, the more you can do, the more you can control. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. In reality, information is simply data. Without the ability to use it or deduce new ideas from it, it becomes trivia that we collect to pull out of our pockets for the purpose of impressing others, much like a party trick. However, progress and growth requires a different approach to knowledge. In order to ensure that the things we learn will have an impact on our lives, our characters and on our futures, we need to ensure that we know how to think for ourselves; that we can analyse and assess the reliability of the information we receive from the many sources around us. This is an essential skill that we also have to pass on to our children if we want them to survive in the world and maintain their character and belief. One of the best ways to do this is to start early! By encouraging our children to think for themselves from a young age, we give them a gift that will help them through their entire lives.

2. Encourage Free Play

I

Encouraging Independent Thought

Starting off a child on the path of independent thinking can be a scary experience; however, as the child begins to make decisions and connections, watching them grow and come into their own is a reward that only a parent can truly appreciate.

The following habits can help trigger innovative thought-processes in your child: 1. Lead by Example It is well known that your own behaviour is the best example for your children to follow. By verbalising and explaining your reasoning behind the simple daily decisions you make, you can remove

One of the most consistent pieces of advice when it comes to nurturing creativity, inventiveness and thinking is to allow and encourage free play in children. Free play involves simply removing structure from play time. Allow children to come up with their own games, to daydream and explore in their own manner without specific instructions.

3. Allow Experience to Teach Don’t think for your children. Give them small choices and then accept and trust their decisions. Allow them to make mistakes without judging them.

When things go wrong, talk about what happened, ask them why they think it happened and what they would consider doing differently next time around. In this way, you let experience and trialand-error guide them. Don’t try and protect them from the consequences of their actions or decisions.

4. Nurture Curiosity We often expect children to be silent and obedient observers of life. In many cultures, questioning is considered rude.

However, if you don’t allow curiosity and the natural inclination to ask in a child, you will stunt their exploratory instincts. Give your child the confidence to ask questions - politely and within context. Let them take the initiative and follow through without interfering or trying to ‘help’ them get it ‘right’.

Discouraging Dependency

A lot of our current parenting habits are actually detrimental to the growth of children. We try too hard to teach them skills and feed them information that we think they will need or will keep them ahead in the ‘rat race’. Often, out of misplaced love, we step in to save them and make things better, easier, smoother, swooping in with solutions sometimes at simply the intimation of a problem!

11

If you find yourself doing any of the following, it may be time to step back and re-visit your upbringing strategy...

1. Hovering

Playstation or any other device that will keep them entertained. Studies have shown that even the so-called ‘educational’ programmes and games will never compare to actual active involvement in activities.

as jigsaws, 3-D puzzle sets and brain teasers. For older children, a cheap camera or camcorder could be the beginning of a career in film, or craft activities could open the door to creative expression.

Don’t watch over your child’s shoulder all the time. Give them room to do 3. Solving their own thing, to make mistakes, to get hurt and then to pick themselves up and try again. If what they do has less than perfect results, We try too hard to teach them skills and feed it’s fine! They’re learning through the process, not them information that we think they will need in the result. By admiring or will keep them ahead in the ‘rat race’. and complimenting the effort, you also remove the pressure of comparison to others.

2. Relying on Passive Entertainment It’s so easy to get carried away with chores and duties and leave our children with the television, iPod, iPad,

12

If you work or don’t have the time to do things at home with your child, sign them up for activity clubs or give them creative mediums to play with such

the ‘Boredom’ Issue

When our children complain that they’re bored, we usually try and provide them with a list of things they can do. On the other hand, our parents used to react to the same complaint with a refrain of ‘children don’t get bored’.

A balance between the two would be to challenge your child to come up with ideas on their own. This may be difficult at first if your child has been used to ‘not thinking’ but with a bit of encouragement and consistency, they will soon thrive on activities of their

discussing the issue with them. Yes, they must understand that as a parent, your decision is paramount, but they also must trust that your choices are made in their best interests and not on a personal whim or with the intention of disappointing them.

children. In actual fact though, they are all adults-in-training. Every day of 4. The Unexplained ‘No’ their childhood is a classroom in which How often do you find yourself saying they are gathering the skills they will something along the lines of ‘Because I need to live the rest of their lives as said so!’ or ‘I’m the parent and I make constructive adults. If we manage to the decisions!’ Children have the ability shift our perspective from being figures to reason and understand, of authority who dictate the albeit at a simpler level lives of our children because than us. we know better, to being mentors and guides who By asking us for things, they are sharing what we have are seeking answers as well By encouraging our children to think for learned through the years as hoping to discover how themselves from a young age, we give them and who are willing in turn we reach the conclusions a gift that will help them through their entire to learn from our children, we do. So when a child we may experience a parentpresents an unreasonable lives. child relationship deeper request, keep in mind that and more satisfying than we to the child there is logic ever imagined possible. Ê behind the query. It is only lack of information and experience that prevents them from Sowing And Reaping knowing what you do.

Implementing a new way of interacting Batool Haydar is a wordsmith who has writIn such cases, try and get the child with children is a difficult process ten many articles and blogs to figure out why you are refusing by for some. We see children as ...well, own invention.

13

Lofty Proportionality: Is raising the skyline the way to go?

Pondering over the human obsession to build taller buildings, Cleo Cantone wonders if our past can provide inspiration to move away from the disproportionate towers made of steel, glass and concrete

I

t’s a precarious life for the Latin American window cleaners in New York City. Dangling from dizzying heights in a ‘gondola’ for $15 an hour seems a disproportionately low amount for such a potentially hazardous job. There seems to be little accountability when it comes to the architects of such tall and window cleaner-unfriendly buildings.

If building one taller than the last one appears to be the sole feat of the modern architect, some people (mostly ordinary citizens) are starting to question the validity of the mushrooming phenomenon of skyscrapers. A recent

14

petition by 38 degrees, “Save London’s Skyline” reflects this concern, alleging that a further 238 monsters are planned in the capital alone. If their banal names are anything to go by, London’s ‘famous’ skyscrapers pose little threat to the world’s existing seven wonders.

According to philosopher-sociologist Henri Lefebvre, the masculine principle is responsible for the construction of phallic architecture. Gherkin, Shard, Walkie-Talikie, Cheese-Grater represent little else than massive erections to their creators’ egos. The last of their considerations, surely, are the cleaners and their poorly paid services to keep

these mega-galactic monoliths in pristine condition.

The rationale for vertical buildings and cities rests on the premise that high-density dwellings are space saving.

Indeed, according to the doyen of modern architecture, Le Corbusier: “Make advantageous use of the free space on the ground; preserve space that is free; magnify things by the feeling of space.” With cities razed to the ground in the Second World War, Europe’s cities needed to be rebuilt and Le Corbusier’s vision was to fill empty spaces with greenery, housing people in high-rise buildings. Opposing Auguste

Rather than heeding the :KLOH LW PD\ EH GLI±FXOW WR DJUHH RQ ZKDW Qur’an’s admoconstitutes an excessively tall building, the nition: “How many populaERG\ NQRZQ DV WKH &RXQFLO RQ 7DOO %XLOGLQJV tions have we GH±QHV D ©VXSHUWDOOª EXLOGLQJ DV RQH WKDW destroyed which PHDVXUHV PHWUHV RI ZKLFK D SHUFHQWDJH were given to usually consists of ‘vanity height’. wrongdoing?

They tumbled down on their roofs. And how Lumière’s vision of the horizontal city many wells are lying idle and neglected? made up of bungalows, Le Corbusier And castles lofty and well built” (22:42) profoundly disagreed that this was or Prophetic traditions about the signs a valid solution, rather it was the of the end of the world including when ‘conquest of height’ that could integrate shepherds compete to build tall buildthree essential elements: sun, space, ings (Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states greenery. apparently have an insatiable appetite Thus if the main consideration is to save for things vertical). space as may well be the case in New While it may be difficult to agree on what York, can spiky architecture be justified constitutes an excessively tall building, in the vast expanses of the Gulf desert?

the body known as the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) defines a ‘supertall’ building as one that measures 300 metres of which a percentage usually consists of ‘vanity height’, i.e. uninhabitable space (in the case of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, 29% of its vertiginous height is a sacrifice to vanity).

A cursory glance at Islamic history reveals sensitivity to matters of urbanisation, down to the finest details of which materials should be used and how they should be priced. For the Hispano-Umayyad caliphs of Cordoba, proportionality was seen as an expression of beauty as these verses by ‘Abd al-Rahman III (r. 912-961) illustrate: “When kings want to immortalise the memory of their loftiest thoughts, They do so through the language of architecture. A building, when it is of noble

15

proportions, Reflects the majesty and rank (of its builder).” (Trans. Ruggles) The inheritor of a diminished empire and ruler of Delhi, Firuz Shah (r. 13511388) was not only a prolific builder but also a keen restorer of architecture fallen into disrepair: “By the guidance of God, I was led to repair and rebuild the edifices and structures of former kings and ancient nobles, which had fallen into decay from lapse of time: giving restoration of these buildings the priority over my own building works.”

Among his impressive list of restorations, he also built a Dar al-shifa (house for the sick) making no distinction as to the status of patients, bonded or free.

Firuz’s dedication to curing the sick is mirrored in the care he took to repair his predecessors’ buildings. His wish to leave an architectural legacy seems to be counterbalanced by a list of ‘good works’, signs of altruism rather than merely self-aggrandisement.

In Abdu’l-Fazl ‘Allami’s history of the Mughal emperor Akbar, the monarch similarly pays great attention to building practices, specifying prices of materials to prevent lack of ‘honesty and conscientiousness’ among traders. According to ‘Allami, part of the urbanisation process includes building ‘splendid edifices’, ‘mighty fortresses’, ‘delightful villas and imposing towers’ that ‘afford excellent protection against cold and rain, provide the comforts of the princesses of the Harem and are conductive to that dignity which is so necessary for worldly power’.

Around the same time Thomas Moore wrote Utopia foreseeing this heightening trend: “…the houses in the beginning were very low, and like homely cottages or poor shepherd houses, made, at all adventures, of every rude piece of timber that came first to hand, with mud walls, and ridged roofs thatched over with straw. But now the houses be curiously built, after a gorgeous and gallant sort, with three storeys, one over another. The outsides of the walls be made either or hard flint, or of plaster, or else of brick, and the inner sides be well strengthened with timber work.

16

ture may not be the solution The roofs be plain and for our post-modern, angstflat, covered with a certain ridden, rat-racing population kind of plaster that is of no but possibly something cost, and yet so tempered A cursory glance at Islamic history reveals other than steel, glass and that no fire can hurt of sensitivity to matters of urbanisation, down to concrete could be envisperish it, and withstandeth WKH ±QHVW GHWDLOV RI ZKLFK PDWHULDOV VKRXOG EH aged. As well as flexing their the violence of the weather used and how they should be priced muscles with more sustainbetter than any lead. They able materials, architects keep the wind out of their could contemplate more windows with glass, for it sustainable solutions to is there much used, and deal with the ever-widening some here also with fine tall structures blended in with the concrete footprint of man on earth. Ê linen cloth dipped in oil or amber, and surrounding landscape. that for two commodities. For by this Another example of tall vernacular more light cometh in, and the wind is architecture are the mud-brick or better kept out.” banco constructions in Mali and the Three storeys for 16th century Europe Niger Bend: the Great Mosque of Jenne, must have seemed exotic. In southern for instance, towers 20 metres above its Dr Cleo Cantone holds a Arabia, since pre-Islamic times inhabitPhD from the University of worshippers. Ironically these ‘tall’ tradiants had dwelled in multi-storeyed London. Her book “Making tions are millennial and still stand the houses with terraces on their flat roofs. and Remaking Mosques in Senegal”, based on her test of time. If properly maintained - and Indeed, the so-called samsara of Yemen doctoral research, has been it takes a whole community to make were six or seven storeys high. Made published by Brill. this happen - they last. Banco architecof baked brick and stonework, these

17

Art Editor Moriam Grillo

Each character offers insights into their ego and own personal story. Their reasons for partaking in the arduous journey unfold as they progress. Each of the five diverse women in the story slowly reveal the pain and passion which motivates them to make the journey:

In the Spotlight Playwright - Rohina Malik

y Malika, an African-American medical student, decides to undertake the pilgrimage after experiencing the death of a patient. y Bina, the Pakistani-American wife of a doctor is seeking relief from the dark, unhappy moments which pervade her seemingly perfect, affluent life. y For Salaam, an Arab-American born in a refugee camp, the pilgrimage is cryptic, connected to the story of three critical hours in the life of her parents - and a pen, which mysteriously disappears during the camping trip. y For Alma, an Argentine-American, it is a journey of redemption to counter the anger and depression she feels toward her newborn child, born with a cleft palate.

Rohina Malik is a critically acclaimed playwright, actress and solo performance artist of South Asian heritage.

Born and raised in London, Malik currently resides in the US and is resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists theatre in Chicago, Illinois. Her play, ‘The Mecca Tales’ will be performed for a month from mid-March. It is Rohina Malik’s third play and was first written in 2011. Her first play was entitled ‘Unveiled’ and is a critically acclaimed solo performance which tells the story of the post-9/11 experiences of five Muslim women. Her second, ‘Yasmina’s Necklace’, is also a powerful and complex story, which homes in on issues around identity and heritage.

The Mecca Tales is a spiritual journey which explores the power of ritual and redemption. The work itself centres

18

around five Muslim women who go on a camping trip to prepare for the Hajj, the greater pilgrimage to Makkah. As the drama unfolds, each pilgrim reveals their unique and personal reason for choosing to make the pilgrimage, a choice, for each of them that begins a spiritual journey and signals how each individual character will progress along the path, beginning a journey of self-discovery, or not, as the story unfolds. The play skilfully allows the characters to choose to reveal aspects of themselves. If they do, their journey progresses positively and goes forward.

Malik’s work makes reference to the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and The Conference of the Birds by Farid Ud Din Attar.. It catalogues the challenges faced by pilgrims as they travel together on a religious journey.

y Grace, a white American convert and leader of the group, uses the hajj as an act of service assisting pilgrims to make the voyage year after year, while busying herself in order to hide her own pain.

The search for meaning within each complicated narrative ties the stories together, making the play a complex mix of emotions, driven forward as each character struggles toward hope and away from fear. Their stories are told in a poetic and touching way allowing us to relate to and engage with each character sympathetically. Through the act of sharing their secrets and vulnerabilities, the women are able to lighten their individual loads of sin and sadness, emptying out of themselves in preparedness to commune with God. Malik has recently been awarded the Y Award with the Evanston YWCA for her work to end racism and empower women.

The world premiere of ‘The Meccan Tales’ is 13 March to 12 April 2015.

Masterpiece Painting - Helen Zughaib

“I am an Arab American, born in Beirut, Lebanon. I also lived in Kuwait and Iraq with my family, … Though I am an Arab American, I feel that my background in the Arab world provides me with a platform to address issues that affect both women.” - Zughaib Helen Zughaib was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and lived most of her life in the Middle East and Europe before moving to the United States and receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University.

Zughaib works primarily with gouache on canvas or and ink on board. Her recurring themes are portraiture, still life and landscapes. While the latter two remain apolitical, she uses portraiture as an area to discuss gender, equality and cultural ideologies.

“With much of the media focused on negative stereotypes of Muslim Arabs, especially Arab Americans, I began to work on a series I call ‘Changing Perceptions’. In these paintings, I use the black abaya and veil, juxtaposed with elements from recognisable Western artists such as Picasso, Mondrian and

Lichtenstein, to create a new vision of the abaya, so often misunderstood in the West.” - Zughaib Zughaib believes that art is one of the most important ways to help shape and foster dialogue and positive ideas, and this is apparent in her work. While her landscapes and still life studies carry strong Middle Eastern cultural themes they are also made palatable to a broader audience through their lively use of colour. Zughaib uses her portraiture to tackle complex social issues.

‘Blue Abaya Driving’ is one such piece which caught my eye. A painting that Zughaib says is about freedom and giving power to women, silently responding to the cultural inhibitions in some lands that do not permit women to drive.

Throughout her work, Zughaib mixes familiar Western motifs with the traditional Islamic abaya in an attempt to bridge East and West and confound prevalent stereotypes. Zughaib says the abaya represents tradition, modesty and a sense of comfort and shelter, and is not seen by those who wear it, as a restricting or inhibitive garment

as is often implied. She believes it is a personal choice that has helped women to feel less objectified. Malik frequently uses the apparel in a conversation which is continued throughout her work, constantly asking the viewer not to judge by outward appearance alone.

Interestingly, her palette is more European than Middle Eastern with hues remaining bold and, in her portraiture, reminiscent of western art. There are polite allusions to Matisse’s cutouts and Mondrian’s use of primary colour and geometric form, weaving together East and West, as a symbolism of shared identity and dialogue.

Helen’s works are a stark reflection of her Middle Eastern background thrown against her experiences of living in America, allowing her to remain an observer of both cultures and a resounding voice of a modern art movement that unifies a variety of themes and ideologies.

Zughaib’s work has been widely exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States, Europe and Lebanon.

19

Addendum Illustrator - Yusef Abdul Jaleel

Yusef Abdul Jaleel is an African-American Digital Media Artist.

The Place to Be

Jaleel has over 20 years of experience in digital print production and currently specialises in vector based illustration.

He uses geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves and shapes, which use mathematical expressions to represent images in computer graphics. With this, he has created a series of colourful illustrations of Muslim women in order to reflect positive representations and counteract negative stereotypes.

Natural History Museum

‘Covered: Celebrating Muslim Women’ is a series of illustrations depicting a variety of Muslim women from around the world. Jaleel says that these images were inspired to combat negative stereotypes associated with modesty and covering. The word Hijab is associated strongly with not just covering, but being hidden, so it is no surprise that when seeking positive representations of the Muslim woman in the media and the art world, one is often met with a void. Jaleel hopes his work will go some way to dispel this reality.

’Images of Nature’

The Natural History Museum is home to the 3rd rotation of natural history artworks into the Images of Nature Gallery. This new rotation features the artworks of 18 women artists whose artworks are represented in the Musuem’s collections. This temporary exhibition showcases botanical and zoological artworks from the museum’s extensive collection. Many of the artworks include watercolours dating from the 18th century as well as works by some of the most outstanding female nature artists of our time. From detailed scientific studies to bold and beautiful botanicals, all the works displayed demonstrate the skill, motivation and determination of women in their visual portrayal of the wonders of the natural world. This gallery houses more than 110 images of nature from over the last 350 years.

The exhibition ‘Images of Nature’ is on show now. Entry to the Gallery is free.

Cromwell Road, South London SW7 5BD Open Daily 10am-5.45pm.

20

Heritage

Kensington,

Scene from the Conference of the Birds in a Persian miniature.

The Hoopoe instructs the other birds on the spiritual path

Medium photography The Horsehead Nebula (IC 434) by Shishir and Shashank Dholakia, USA, Aged 15.

“Our main academic interests are science, science and science.” - Shishir and Shashank In an attempt to understand the universe better, 15 year-old twin brothers, Shishir and Shashank Dholakia have been photographing the heavens, capturing the beauty and splendour of accessible aspects of our universe by documenting incredible images of the sky, ranging from solar system to far into deep space.

The brothers are the latest winners of the’ Young Astronomy Photographer’ of the year and have used their love of science to create a phenomenal work of art - out of a cloud of gas and dust.

The famous ‘Horsehead Nebula’ is arguably the most recognisable of celestial objects. And their winning image comprises the dark nebula, the surrounding red emission nebula and the flame nebula.

The brothers used their father’s equipment to take the image during their first trip to Lake San Antonio, from where the Milky Way is easily visible.

As an avid photographer, I am stumped by the sheer brilliance of this image.

The brothers used an Astro-Tech triplet refractor telescope with varying exposure times. And it is, apparently, these exposure times which make all the difference. They also used a variation of red, green, blue, and clear filters in front of the camera to produce a series of images, before combining them to create one full-colour image. The winning photograph had a total exposure time of 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Painting ‘Masked Man’

‘Al Mawoud’ - Oil on canvas, printed by Ayman baalbaki

ravaged his land and killed thousands of his people, many survived. And in his depictions of death, threat and carnage there is a counter narrative that lives on, one that enforces the reality of a people that overcame hardship.

‘The Lebanese don’t want to address the issue of the war, but at the same time it’s everywhere. I am part of a generation of artists and writers who lived 20 years of it and don’t have anything to say but about the war.’

Baalbaki Lebanese artist, Ayman Baalbaki was born in 1975 in Odeissé, near Lebanon’s border with Israel. He studied Fine Arts in Beirut, before pursuing a doctorate in Paris. For me, Baalbaki’s work is an interesting mix of opposites. Depicting a life of an individual whose foundation has been subjected to devastation. Baalbaki was born at the beginning of the Lebanese civil war and subsequent Israeli occupation. His work is deeply informed by first-hand accounts and memories of the events as well as the aftermath that no doubt shaped his adolescence and fuelled his sense of identity. But there’s more to Baalbaki’s narrative than being a refugee in his own country and suffering the traumas of war. Baalbaki’s paintings are expressionist in their intimation and although depictions of destruction and war, hold a sense of sweetness in them. It is as though Baalbaki is telling us that although war

‘Self-portrait’

A people that were able to rebuild what was broken. This is evident in Baalbaki’s ability to tell the story decades later.

Although Baalbaki presents us with dilapidation, what he is really saying is ‘this is from where I have come’. It is in this context that one can observe his bright and varied use of colour. A point which, for me, reflects Baalbaki in his truest sense, as a Phoenix rising from the ashes to live another day.

Ayman Baalbaki lives and works in Beirut. He has exhibited extensively in Beirut and Paris. Ê Moriam Grillo is an international artist. She holds Bachelor degrees in Photography & Film and Ceramics, her current projects include a commission for the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham.

21

Is Democracy the Modern Colonialism?

B

ased on the current political and economic events in the world, once again we are witnessing the dominance of the former colonial masters, Europe and the USA, joining forces and using their economic and political influence to spread their brand of democracy.

In doing so they have sought to dispel other forms of democratic practice. The

22

USA/EU alliance argues that the world will be safer if all the nations embrace modernisation or in reality, ‘western democracy’. Consequently, those countries that do not toe the USA/EU line are considered a threat to the stability of the western way of life.

During the era of slavery European nations were responsible for implementing the Whip or the Bible method

of coercion. Today they seek psychological and ideological changes in the thought processes of those under colonial rule. The area of the Caribbean provides a typical example of such a policy.

Europe has played a significant role in using religion as an ideological base to bond European nations, helping them to become a dominant force throughout

7KHUH LV QRW PXFK GLIIHUHQFH EHWZHHQ WKH old colonialism and modern democracy.

In fact the world’s powers use the same tactics to colonise and control poor and needy nations, argues Rashid Rose

the world for centuries. This dominance and influence is still today, to some extent, used to spread ‘democracy’ among the nations of the world. This process is also constructed as a modern crusade waged against some nations.

Today the choices are similar. Countries are asked to embrace western style democracy or suffer the consequence, which is ostracism. The resources spent

and the emphasis placed on democratising countries today by the US and her allies is enormous. As oil is the key need for the US and European economies, their penetration into oil-rich countries is vital. The USA’s ability to establish a foothold in Middle Eastern nations has been made easy due to the preoccupation of these governments with the acquisition of wealth.

The West’s association with some of these countries is important for the stability of their economies. The USA single-handedly shifted the balance of global economic power by forging an agreement between the major oil producing countries to convince them to use the US dollar as the main currency to trade oil. In return the USA agreed to supply the oil producing

23

Glass window at St. Therese Chapel - Paris 16

24

such as the World Bank and the IMF. the union between five nations: Brazil, states with military support to protect This allows them to maintain control Russia, India, China and South Africa their oil fields through the establishin these nations. Anyone attempting to (BRICS). BRICS was initially conceived ment of permanent military bases. establish an alternative style of governin 2001 by economist Jim O’Neill of Indeed Britain has just announced ance is ostracised and falls out of favour Goldman Sachs, in a report on the plans to open its first base in Bahrain with the US and her allies. growth prospects for the economies of since 1975. If the agreement to use the Brazil, Russia, India and China which US dollar as the primary currency for The ploy to deceive the world has failed. the purchase of oil were Unlike the Iraqi invasion of to collapse, it would bring 1991, when the USA misled about a seismic change the world by claiming that in the US and European Iraq possessed weapons (XURSH KDV SOD\HG D VLJQL±FDQW UROH LQ XVLQJ economies and would of mass destruction today diminish the political influreligion as an ideological base to bond European the world is on alert and ence of the US. For example nations, helping them to become a dominant is aware that the US will when Gadhafi refused to use any means necessary IRUFH WKURXJKRXW WKH ZRUOG IRU FHQWXULHV 7KLV sell Libyan oil in US dollars to try to destabilise the dominance … is still today, … used to spread and instead demanded non-compliant nations in payment by gold-backed ‘democracy’ among the nations of the world. the same way it destabilised dinar (a single African Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan.

7KLV SURFHVV LV DOVR FRQVWUXFWHG DV D PRGHUQ currency made from gold) The ultimate objective crusade waged against some nations. he created a real problem seems to get the world to for the US, an act which embrace the Western style some argue may have led of ‘democracy’. The underto his eventual downfall. lying practices of western together represent a significant share of Libya is Africa’s largest oil producer. democracy are bedded in the legacy of the world’s production and population.

The Libyan regime had been sitting on colonialism, once used to dominate the After the first summit held in Yekatermassive amounts of gold, estimated at world. Today democracy is being used to inburg in 2009, the depth and scope 150 tons. Gadhafi was pushing other achieve the same ends. In the colonial of the dialogue among the member African and Middle Eastern governperiod the commonwealth countries states was further enhanced (by this ments to follow his example and were all dictated to by their colonial time South Africa had also joined the succeeded in gaining some momentum masters, so what has among leading African changed? Colonialism has nations to regain control been replaced by western over their oil. Shifting from style democracy to continue the dollar – as a single 7KH FRPPRQ DSSURDFK RI WKH 86$ DQG WKH the same dominance and currency - could potentially control over the politics of (8 LV WR SURYLGH WKH SRRUHU QDWLRQV ZLWK FDVK bring down the world these nations. Some nations LQ WKH IRUP RI ORDQV IURP 86 OHG LQVWLWXWLRQV monetary system. Nicolas are afraid to choose other Sarkozy, the French Presi 7KLV DOORZV WKHP WR PDLQWDLQ FRQWURO styles of democracy for fear dent at the time, reportedly in these nations. of economic sanctions. went as far as calling Libya We need to ask what these a ‘threat to the financial so-called democratised security of the world’. nations have done to However, it would have union) and BRICS emerged as a new combat poverty in Africa, India, Central been especially devastating for the US force in the international economic America and the Caribbean. The answer economy and particularly the elite in order. BRICS also became a new and is very little. Millions of dollars spent by charge of the global financial system. promising political-diplomatic entity. the USA and the EU on unnecessary ‘A Gadhafi-driven gold revolution would wars has demonstrated that they don’t Democratisation of other countries have imperilled the positions of central intend to relinquish power and the gives the USA and her allies control bankers and their political and media dominance of Western style democratic over the world and will restrict organipower-brokers’, stated Wile. practices. Ê sations such as BRICS from functioning The collapse of Gadhafi’s plan did not independently.

The common approach deter others from trying to reduce the of the USA and the EU is to provide Rashid Rose is Co-founder of the influence of US and EU economic poliAfro-Caribbean Muslim Federation the poorer nations with cash in the cies. One response was the creation of form of loans from US-led institutions

25

What if we had a Muslim Manifesto?

With Muslim communities coming increasingly XQGHU SUHVVXUH LQ (XURSH DQG WKH 8. Hannah Smith believes that the time is now right for a new phase of Muslim political engagement.

F

orget about self-styled Islamists and their idiotic dreams of a British Caliphate. Or the embarrassing State-manufactured ‘moderate Muslims with their neo-liberal visions of servile Muslim assimilation. What Muslims in Britain actually need is a Muslim Manifesto!

And yes I do mean a political manifesto!

Imagine that – an independent free thinking Muslim inspired agenda that emphatically and empirically outlines the commitments we as a community

26

expect of our prospective candidates for political leadership. These candidates are already campaigning for your votes to empower them beyond the May 2015 General Elections and if they are not fit for purpose perhaps Muslims need to choose their own.

Let’s be under no illusions about what is now at stake here in Britain - it is our very right to exist equally, in a nation that we and our ancestors have helped to build with our blood sweat and tears.

But make no mistake - Muslims are

day by day, law by law, inexorably being relegated to second class citizenship.

The neo-con inspired cycle of baiting Muslims with a range of provocations from the latest disrespectful Charlie Hebdo cartoons to the roll out of full blown socio-religious and political engineering programmes, is simply a means to an end. And what is their end game?

Well, all the evidence suggests we are being set up to become the new target for fascist right wing bigots. Muslims are, today, becoming the potential heirs

our best thinkers to define a holistic well-researched and evidence-based Muslim community vision. The next is to resource the development of a roadmap towards achieving that vision and employing professional community developers to deliver the initiative.

of the 20th century Jewish holocaust legacy (Bosnian Muslims will bear witness as to how quickly that can happen).

Muslims must very quickly learn the art of setting the agenda and not simply being victims or apologists. It is time to go beyond predictable reactionary knee-jerk crisis management of the various institutionally inspired racist attacks against vulnerable Muslim minorities. Meritocracy must prevail and the sincere intellectual and crea-

tive capital within the communities must be acknowledged, empowered, resourced and mobilised to set a fresh proactive British Muslim Community agenda - one which takes the fight to the cowardly social engineers who lurk in the shadows of the corridors of power. Muslim intellectuals, businessman, charities, religious leaders and politicians need to show some wisdom and push back against the institutional bullying. The first step towards achieving this is to sponsor

Given that many Muslim leaders are incredibly highly qualified in dividing their communities on ethnic, cultural, racial and religious grounds, and given their egos and vested economic interests in maintaining power; it is indeed a daunting challenge. However with the grassroots now rattled by Charlie Hebdo and other counter-terror imperatives, is this notion of a collective vision realistic and achievable? The policy content of the new Muslim Manifesto says yes, unity of purpose is possible. Because all the statistical evidence shows most of the Muslim communities, rather worryingly, have common purpose in the enormity of their shared social, legal, educational and health related problems. Muslims are more than twice as likely to have poor health, poor education, poor career prospects, high unemployment, high crime rates, a negative media stereotype and they are virtually discriminated against at every level. This might just be enough to give them a point of unity in adversity. Along with the commonality of basic religious tenets and their moral and ethical values, it could provide the basis for a unified political purpose that could even reach out to other ethical Britons. “But aren’t Muslims violent and power-crazy?” I hear Middle England cry. Well, a tiny minority clearly are, but that shouldn’t be a reason to let Muslims shy away from making their political demands heard. In fact, there is no better time than now for the Muslim community of Britain to throw itself into the democratic process with full force. At a time when the beautiful religion of Islam’s reputation lies in tatters, as yet more atrocities are committed in its name, a serious democratic engagement may be the only way of saving our community from a bleak future. The alternative is to be marginalised even more.

I am probably not the only one who felt

27

blighted British Muslim communities. It latest Counter-Terrorism and Security that the Charlie Hebdo incident was the may succeed where hundreds of Muslim Bill passed through its third reading final straw, and when you count the fact organisations have failed; to address or in the House of Commons, and cries that this umpteenth act of terrorism tackle entrenched social problems such to deport Muslims gained momentum occurred in the same week as the as poverty, high unemployment and across Europe. massacre of allegedly 2000 Nigerians by academic failure.

Boko Haram and a cyber-attack on the In the face of such a great challenge, US Central Command I believe that a

by ISIS, it felt like we Muslim Manifesto is had crossed some the antidote to restore invisible threshold; health, vitality and that the British and vigour to the Muslim European public 7KH QHR FRQ LQVSLUHG F\FOH RI EDLWLQJ 0XVOLPV ZLWK community. At the just cannot tolerate end of January 2015, a range of provocations from the latest disrespectful what seems to be Muslim CommuCharlie Hebdo cartoons to the roll out of full blown the persistent resistnity Development ance of Muslims to socio-religious and political engineering programmes, Network launched conform to what any is simply a means to an end. a Muslim Manisane person would festo for the 2015 consider fundamental General Election on values of decency. In behalf of all British the last issue we heard Muslims.

Following from Sayed Kazmi, who painted an a nationwide community consultation and time quickly running out, asserting Orwellian-type future in which British with leading Muslim organisations and ourselves politically may be the only and European Muslims are treated with Muslim communities across England, saving grace for the Muslim community, increasing suspicion, spied on, and engia set of straightforward and inclusive at least one that could stave off our neered to conform to a neutered state policy recommendations covering relegation to the status of virtual second religion that falls short of the powerful key issues of high importance to the class citizens. A political stand may also values of justice and compassion that Muslim community were formulated. be the right manoeuvre to persuade the Prophet Muhammad conveyed to us.

The resulting document is a clear politicians to stop neglecting the socioIn January we moved quite a substantial statement of intention of relevance economic and cultural situation of step closer to this dark reality when the

28

on British elected representatives, including members of parliament and local councillors. The Muslim population, estimated at 2,786,635 in the 2011 census, makes up a substantial proportion of the British population – approximately 4.4% - a source of considerable leverage for Muslim needs (There is evidence to suggest that the unofficial number of Muslims is likely to be significantly more than the above figures). Muslim influence is particularly great where Muslims are clustered in a number of British cities and it is estimated that as many as 40 constituencies could be determined by a Muslim swing vote. The failures of previously elected Muslim MPs and the ineffectiveness of the hundreds of growth and storing up trouble as these to British Muslims of diverse sociolocal Muslim councillors has left many socio-economic issues lie at the heart economic background, ethnicity and Muslim voters disillusioned with the of radicalisation and violent extremism. religious persuasion. Fundamentally notion that democratic engagement It is simply unacceptable that politiit is non-sectarian and not owned by through the morally deficient existing cians have failed to acknowledge the any single organisation or individual; it political parties will make any meanreal roots of radicalisation; that is the is a proud move forward, which could ingful difference. The answer is to stand forge a more united your own independent future for the British candidates in high Muslim community, density Muslim areas historically held and fight on an ethical back by community Muslims must very quickly learn the art of setting the platform based on the in-fighting and agenda and not simply being victims or apologists. It Muslim manifesto’s organisational principles! A number power games. is time to go beyond predictable reactionary kneeof prospective Muslim Currently the Muslim jerk crisis management of the various institutionally MPs in Muslim majority community with all inspired racist attacks against vulnerable Muslim areas, frustrated at the its inherent ethniciexisting political will, minorities. ties lags behind have already decided other religious and to do just this. It is ethnic communihoped, however, that ties in many areas politicians regardless of background or impoverished, isolated and marginincluding academic attainment, faith will champion the Muslim Manialised inner city communities where employment, household wealth, health festo and ensure a brighter Britain for lack of investment, ineffective secular and well-being, and crime. Muslim Pakiall. Ê education and high unemployment is stani boys are twice as likely to have no leaving young Muslims vulnerable to GCSEs as their peers and Muslims are the criminal cartels and simple slogans Hannah Smith is a writer three times more likely to be behind and social activist. She of violent extremists. bars than people of other faiths. Clearly has a Masters degree from University of the Michigan The Muslim Manifesto gives Muslims neglecting to properly tackle these probthe opportunity to put pressure lems is both holding back economic

29

It is in your power to attain goodness Human beings are becoming more desensitised towards the suffering of others. Haroun Yahya believes that the transformative Power of the Islamic faith can provide us with the necessary tools to achieve true goodness

N

ews reports appear in both the printed media and on television every day telling of murders, acts of terror, thefts, jealousy, child abuse, rapes, violence, injustice and torture of animals. These acts all fall under the heading of evil.

But do these crimes represent the limits of evil? Or does it have a wider scope?

How is it that from being pure and innocent at birth and during childhood, a person can gradually develop a cruel and ruthless personality? How is it that he can consider acts of revenge, anger, hatred, envy, selfishness and lying as possible? Or how is it that he finds it possible to hold the idea of ‘Who cares what happens, so long as it does not

30

happen to me’ when other people’s rights are being violated, or when they are being oppressed and mistreated and slaughtered? How is it that while murder or theft is regarded as evil, nobody regards insensitivity or apathy in the same light?

There is actually something in common between the behaviour of a bloodthirsty killer, or someone who occasionally makes concessions on moral values for the sake of his own self-interest, and a selfish person who thinks of nobody but himself. All of these actions fall into the category of evil and all are caused by an emptiness of the soul which can be described as lovelessness.

Lovelessness hardens the heart. And as

a result, those who suffer from it provide an opportunity for the internal space that should house love to become populated by ruthlessness, anger and hatred.

Under the influence of the ruthless spirit brought about by lovelessness, these people, who value nobody, may also become killers or thieves. When a lack of compassion pervades the heart, people become uncaring about the suffering of others. In fact, that last step is the most insidious of evils – to care nothing for the sufferings of others.

Insensitivity is a deadly scourge that infests societies like a plague: it is present in a mother who has no qualms about sacrificing her own life for her children but cares nothing for the

They then begin to love with sincere intentions, solely for the sake of God, with no expectation of earthly reward.

They show affection for the sake of God and are compassionate for the pleasure of God. That is because they know that God created human beings and true believers show their love of God by in turn loving all living things that are the manifestations of God. Let us not forget that God created the world for love, beauty and goodness.

That is the essence of Islam and the Qur’an. That is the reason why God created the universe and this world.

The test in the life of this world is a test of love and becoming a good person of whom God approves. A heart filled with love will never even hurt the tiniest insect created by God, let alone offend another human being. For someone whose heart has been purged of lovelessness and pollution, being good is just as essential as food and water. Moreover, all it takes to attain the true goodness beloved of God is to live by the Islam of the Qur’an. As our Almighty Lord reveals in one verse, this is the only way to enjoy true goodness and please the Almighty Creator:

children of others suffering hunger and slaughter and war, or in a father who sits and watches images of violence on social media as if they were scenes from a film and then forgets all about them and goes on with his daily business, or in young girls and boys who seek to offend other normal people through their hateful views and unpleasant language.

In other words, people you meet in the course of daily life can easily fall prey to this insidious evil. If asked, all these characters will proudly claim to be good people; after all, they have never killed anyone, nor stolen anything, nor taken part in any acts of violence. Yet they have also demonstrated little in the way of affection or compassion or goodness to others.

Of course, nobody enters that state of being consciously. Lovelessness, just like a cancer invading the body, has emptied the souls of the majority of people in today’s society, so much so that they have become insensitive and uncaring without even being aware of it.

Well then, since nobody is born evil but falls prey to the snare of evil over the course of time, can one ever be saved from it? Can one ever achieve the true goodness beloved of God? There is only one way to achieve true goodness - faith. Faith brings with it a love of God. And the love of God has a very fine and positive effect on people. It inspires people to exhibit good morality in order to earn the approval of God.

‘It is not devoutness to turn your faces to the East or to the West. Rather, those with true devoutness are those who have faith in God and the Last Day, the Angels, the Book and the Prophets, and who, despite their love for it, give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to travellers and beggars and to set slaves free, and who establish prayer and pay the poor-alms; those who honour their contracts when they make them, and are steadfast in poverty and illness and in battle. Those are the people who are true. They are the people who have piety.’ (2:177) Ê

Adnan Oktar, also known as Harun Yahya, is a Turkish author and an Islamic creationist

31

Communication with

God While we all hope for the mercy of God, our request for help from Him should be put in such a way as to maximise the chances of acceptance. -XOLD .KDGLMD Lafene explores the guidelines with which we can achieve this

‘

Conversation’ implies a two way communication, usually between two or more people - when one person speaks and the other responds. How can we have a conversation with God, a Being so vast and ineffable? Can we

32

really speak to God, and if we can, how does He respond? Obviously a ‘conversation’ with God is not like any other conversation; perhaps the nearest thing to it in human terms is a young child learning to communicate with

adults, but even this analogy is faulty because God is always present and ready to hear us. Communication with God is more often than not an inner process without words or gestures but it is still a two-way process, in which the

petitioner expresses him/herself and God responds, or God communicates with His creation and creation must respond.

Qur’an 2:186).

The Prophet Muhammad(s) said: ‘The difference between one who engages in dhikr, remembrance and awareness of the Divine Presence, and one who does not, is as the difference between the living and the dead.’

So how does God respond to us? The Prophet said: ‘God will not answer a prayer from a heart that is distracted.’ He also said we must be sure to rely entirely upon God. If we rely on creation it will disappoint us in the end.

For example, however ‘safe’ we think our savings and investments are, they can all disappear in an instant because they depend on human agencies. But if the seeker relies on God, he will receive relief in one way or another. So if we go to the doctor to heal us, we must bear in mind all the time that God is acting

The renowned saint Rabia al-Adawiyyah said: ‘The door is open! You are running away from it by means of your actions.

How then will you approach it?’

through the physician as the primary cause.

We have also been advised in sacred traditions that remembering, thanking and praising God is better than making There are many accounts in the Holy requests, because He already knows books of Prophets and saints commu(a) Imam Ja’afar As-Sadiq has warned us what we need. We might have asked nicating with God. These communicafor something which was tions often began with harmful for us, though we God sending an angel or might not have realised communicating directly. it. We might have actually The prophets themselves received an answer but would go to lonely places ‘...and whoever trusts in God, then He will failed to recognise it. For to ‘speak’ with God. But VXIÂąFH KLP ÂŞ DQG Š,I LQGHHG \RX JLYH example, I have a chronic they never ‘saw’ God WKDQNV , ZLOO VXUHO\ JUDQW \RX LQFUHDVH ÂŞ

disability which I wish to be with the normal eye, only healed. In spite of begging through their inner eye.

God to heal me, it is as if If God showed even a He is not listening. But I small aspect of Himself, have not fulfilled the correct a human being would be conditions. I am not in a overwhelmed. to maintain the correct courtesy, know state of tawakkul, or trust; I have not Ordinary human beings who are not as whom we are calling on, realise His reflected on the meaning of my illness spiritually advanced as Prophets have greatness and Majesty, and be aware or what I can learn from it. He has given been given specific instructions on how that He already knows what is in our me an inner answer, but so far not an to communicate with God, through hearts.(7: 55-56) outer one. prayer, supplication, His remembrance, These great souls knew that God’s Imam Ali(a) suggests several reasons for asking forgiveness, praise, expressing response depends on the attitude of gratitude and making requests. There an apparent delay in an answer from the seeker, just as a successful human are both formal and informal ways of God. The response may be stored up conversation depends on the attitude of doing this. But the response of God will for us in the next world; what we seek the participants. The difference is that depend upon the state of the supplimay not be for our ultimate good; we in ‘conversing’ with God, we are reliant cant. might have committed an action which upon Him. nullifies our supplication. It is no use We must approach God with purity, ... Indeed God leads astray whomever asking for God’s generosity or forgiveempty hearts, humility and the highest He wishes, and guides to Himself those ness if we have not been generous or expectations that he will respond to us, who turn penitently. Those who have forgiving to others. In the Holy Qur’an, though not necessarily in the way we faith and whose hearts find rest in the human nature is described as needy might wish. God knows what we do not remembrance of God. Look! The hearts and insecure, so we need to recognise know, what is good for us may not be find rest in God’s remembrance! our weakness, but at the same time what we think. We have been given a have trust and hope, and persist in Those who have faith and do righteous great deal of guidance by the Prophets, supplication and prayer. ĂŠ deeds, happy are they and good is their Imams and saints as to the correct way [ultimate] destination.

(13:27–29) of approaching God.

Imam Ali(s) said: ‘Be mindful of God and He will be mindful of you. Remember God and you will find Him before you.

Go to God in times of wellbeing, and He will come to you in times of difficulties.

If you ask of anyone, ask of God. If you seek help, seek help from God’ (see also

Julia Khadija Lafene graduated in Modern History from Oxford University. Since embracing Islam she has studied Islamic psychology and selfknowledge.

33

Interfaith

St Bernadette of Lourdes, a bringer of Hope Visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes brought the simple girl Bernadette many trials but innumerable miracles of healings and hope have vindicated her, says Frank Gelli

34

‘

Providence brought me to Lourdes’, wrote the noble Jewish writer Franz Werfel. In flight from the German Armies which had defeated and invaded France in 1940, Werfel and his wife received hospitality and refuge amongst the local people in the little town by the Pyrenees. In Lourdes they found not only safety but hope. It was there and then that he vowed to write a novel inspired by the wonderful life of St Bernadette. Eventually, Werfel made his escape to America and faithfully fulfilled his vow. ‘The Song of Bernadette’ was the result, a moving book also made into a successful film.

she also suffered from asthma. Could not her visions be put down to a case of all too human pathology rather than celestial theology?

Significantly, Bernadette herself did not claim to know outright the identity of the shining figure. At last, she gathered enough courage to ask her, not once but three times: ‘My lady, please tell me your name. Who are you?’

‘I am the Immaculate Conception’ the answer came.

plicable - took place in the aftermath of the Virgin’s apparitions.

After Bernadette was examined over a period of four years by a commission set up by her Bishop, it was concluded that she was a dignified, perfectly honest and simple soul, without guile or ulterior motive. The Bishop eventually declared that her visions were not a fake. They ‘appeared true and so the faithful were justified in believing in their truth.’

Bernadette also had to contend with tricky political implications. The France of her time was ruled over by Louis Napoleon III, a lesser nephew of the The name of Lourdes is bound up great Napoleon. Before coming to the with that of Bernadette Soubirous, throne Louis had been a revolutionary an adolescent, pious peasant girl. In and a freemason and under his regime 1858 the town witnessed a number of there was a constant tug of war between wondrous, supernatural Catholics and secularists. events. The Virgin Mary That is why Bernadette was appeared to Bernadette in closely investigated by the the grotto eighteen times. …[Bernadette] described a young, smiling and local Prefect of Police. He had the cave of her visions Simultaneously, a spring VKLQLQJ ±JXUH ZLWK \HOORZ URVHV DW KHU IHHW sealed shut. They feared the sprang out of the earth at Her dress was white, with a blue sash and she girl to be manipulated by the apparition’s bidding. wore a veil over her head, shoulders and arms… clerical, pro-Church forces Miraculous healings and they also forbade access followed. The young girl but…could they not be simple hallucinations? to the spring. Fortunately at first suffered sceptithe Emperor’s wife, Eugenia, cism, derision and even was a devout believer and downright hostility but so she ordered the place to be opened of course the Lady really had spoken she steadfastly held true to her visions. again to the pious crowds. More healthose words.

The Virgin Mary had told her that ings followed. she wished a church to be built over Contrary to popular opinion, the the grotto and Bernadette spread the Bernadette continued to live with her Catholic Church is by no means message. Years later the girl entered parents but inevitably she had become enthusiastic about personal claims to a convent and lived an obscure life of ‘a celebrity’. She was the centre of much divine revelations. She subjects putaservice as a simple, self-effacing nun popular attention and morbid curiosity. tive visions to rigorous criteria. For till her death at the age of thirty-five.

It was thought advisable for her to go example, the claimant must be a person Today Lourdes is one of the greatest and stay as a boarder with a community of genuine piety, personal honesty and Marian shrines and places of healing of nuns, the Sisters of Charity at Nevers, sincerity. But even all those qualities and pilgrimage on earth. but then a full vocation to the religious are no protection against error or selflife blossomed in the girl’s heart. She How did Bernadette know that the deception. Saints too can get it wrong took the three monastic vows of poverty, woman who appeared to her was the at times: St Catherine of Siena believed obedience and chastity and for thirteen Blessed Virgin? She described a young, the Virgin had disclosed to her that years she dwelled in the convent as a smiling and shining figure with yellow she was not conceived immaculate. simple nun, modestly and darkly. roses at her feet. Her dress was white, However, when a vision is accompanied with a blue sash and she wore a veil over by miracles, supernatural events that Saints are supposed to be extraordinary her head, shoulders and arms. All very strengthen the faith and morals of those people but not necessarily in the way lovely and Bernadette felt quite ecstatic involved, then there are good grounds many imagine. A story is told of a novice at the lady’s manifestations but…could for crediting its authenticity. to the community who was looking they not be simple hallucinations? forward to meeting the famous BernaQuite apart from the spring, many Bernadette’s parents were poor and she dette, the exceptional girl who had miraculous healings – medically inexwas not well-fed. Too small for her age, A very remarkable response because the Immaculate Conception is not an everyday expression but a special religious title. It means that the grace of God exempted the Mother of Jesus from the stain of original sin. How could Bernadette, an uninstructed and unlettered person, have learnt it? Unless,

35

seen the Blessed Virgin. She expected someone looking like an angel but she was disappointed when she saw a very unremarkable nun, like all others. She could not hide her chagrin: ‘What?

You are only like this?’ she exclaimed. The episode amused Bernadette. ‘Yes. Only like this!’ she laughed.

…when a vision is accompanied by miracles, supernatural events that strengthen the faith and morals of those involved, then there are good grounds for crediting its authenticity.

Bernadette’s health did not improve in the convent. Asthma tormented her and she started spitting blood. But she

36

bore it patiently and never complained.

‘My task is being ill’, she once said.

She clearly was a saint with a sense of humour. She died calmly reciting

the words of that beautiful prayer, the Hail Mary. For four days after her death her body remained extraordinarily intact. In 1933 Pope Pius XI proclaimed her a saint and there is now a universal Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

‘By their fruits you shall know them’, says Jesus on how to recognise his true followers from false ones. The fruits of St Bernadette’s work are manifest in the

flourishing shrine at Lourdes, in the pilgrims, the devotions, the healings, the many miracles and above all in the faith and hope that continues to emanate from her experience.

Five years ago I saw an impressive movie entitled Lourdes. It is about a young, severely disabled girl who is taken to Lourdes in search of healing.

She suddenly gets out of her armchair, is able to stand, she walks: miracle!

The song of Bernadette breaks out again. Alleluia! The results in the hearts of the people around the girl are not very positive, however. Jealousy, envy

spite, hypocrisy…the miracle has its flip side. Later the girl unfortunately has a relapse. She sinks back in her wheelchair but her face radiates hope.

She may not be cured but she is not crushed. She is not bitter, she does not despair. She still hopes. That is the true spiritual miracle the Virgin Mary can be said to have done at Lourdes.

I trust that St Bernadette would be pleased with that conclusion. The Blessed Virgin, the mother of Christ, keeps performing miracles today.

Foremost, miracles of hope, like that

experienced by Franz Werfel and by innumerable others. A hope that springs eternal because it has something of the Eternal about it. Ê

Revd Frank Julian Gelli is an Anglican priest, cultural critic and a religious controversialist, working on religious dialogue.

His last book ‘The Dark Side of England’. An exposé, is available on Amazon Kindle.

37

Health Health Editor Laleh Lohrasbi

Eat Right

For Your Type It is said ‘we are what we eat’. However according to Dr D’Adamo’s theory our blood group actually determines what we should eat. Laleh Lohrasbi puts his theory under the microscope

38

W

In fact the presence or absence of antigens – a substance that can trigger an immune response - creates different blood types or groups such as (A, B, AB and O). Blood is made up of red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), platelets and a liquid called plasma.

On the surface of the red blood cells which carry oxygen through the body and remove carbon dioxide, there are certain antigens or proteins which vary from one blood group to the other.

Antibodies which are found in plasma recognise anything foreign in the body and alert the immune system so that it can destroy it. As the red cells of different blood types have specific antigens then antibodies found in the plasma only recognise that specific antigen as safe and all other types as foreign elements. This sends a signal to the immune system to eliminate the foreign substances. That is why knowing our correct blood group is of utmost importance because in case a blood transfusion is needed, using even one unit of incompatible blood will cause a severe reaction, potentially leading to renal failure, shock, and even death.

What Dr. D’Ádamo suggests about food follows the same theory. He states that lectins - certain kind of proteins found in food - can act as antibodies and Since his ideas came to light many interact with different kinds of blood dieticians and physicians have tried to group antigens which can be harmful evaluate D’Adamo’s theory, with diverse to the body. So it is important for each outcomes. individual to consume foods containing lectins compatible with his or her blood Blood is made up of the same elements type. Lectins have agglutinating (clotin all individuals, but not everybody ting) properties that affect our blood. has the same blood characteristics.

So when we consume food containing protein, lectins that are incompatible with our blood type antigen, the Dr D’Adamo believes that eating proper food lectins target an organ or bodily system and begin to according to our blood type is not only useful clot blood cells in that area. in maintaining good health but it also helps in D’Adamo claims that each

e are repeatedly told that if we have our five daily fruits and vegetables, eat plenty of omega 3 fish, salads, plenty of dairy products and do regular exercise, our health will be fine.

But how is it that we still feel exhausted, have digestion problems and cannot lose weight? Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo, a naturopathic physician, believes he knows the answer.

Years ago Dr D’Adamo‘s controversial article ‘Eat Right For Your Type’ was published in the NY Times.

It claimed that blood types play a major part in determining the appropriate

diet for us. D’Adamo believes there is a direct chemical reaction between blood and our food intake.

losing weight and preventing diseases.

Eat Right

For Your Type

39

blood group has unique dietary recommendations. For example: Blood group O

Blood group A

D’Adamo believes the group A, or the agrarian or cultivator, dates from the dawn of agriculture, about 20,000 years ago. He claims that since this blood type group have a sensitive immune system individuals with this blood

group should have a vegetable based diet such as a meat-free diet based on fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains - ideally, organic and fresh.

This blood group is described as the Blood group B hunter. He recommends that those of this blood group consume a higher This group is called the nomad by protein diet, heavy on lean meat, poultry, D’Adamo, who dates its origins to 10,000 fish, and vegetables, and years ago. He states that light on grains, beans, and this type is associated with a dairy. D’Adamo also recomstrong immune system and mends various supplements a flexible digestive system. to help with tummy troubles He also asserts that people As the red cells of different blood types have and other issues. He claims of blood type B are the only this group is the first blood type VSHFL±F DQWLJHQV NQRZLQJ RXU FRUUHFW EORRG people able to thrive on to have originated 30,000 years dairy products; Blood group group is of utmost importance… ago, although other research B should avoid corn, wheat, indicates that blood type A is lentils, tomatoes, peanuts, actually the oldest. and sesame seeds. Chicken

40

meat is also problematic.He encourages the individuals with this blood group to eat green vegetables, eggs, certain meats, and low-fat dairy products.

Blood group AB

AB group is described by D’Adamo as the enigma; he believes it to be the most recently evolved type and to have arrived less than 1,000 years ago. In terms of dietary needs, he treats this group as an intermediate between blood types A and B. Food for this group type recommended by D’Adamo includes tofu, seafood, dairy, and green vegetables. He says people with type AB blood tend to have low levels of stomach acid so they should avoid caffeine and smoking.

Dr D’Adamo believes that eating proper food according to our blood type is not only useful in maintaining good health but it also helps in losing weight and preventing diseases. For example D’Adamo states that wrong lectins will affect our gastro intestinal system

and will cause bloating, slowing down the rate of food metabolism, which consequently prevents the calories from burning efficiently for energy, compromising the production of insulin, upsetting hormonal balance, causing water retention, thyroid disorders and many other problems. So by simply replacing the key weight-gaining foods in our diet, we can lose weight and at the same time gain more energy.

D’Adamo’s theory has many opponents who believe there is not enough scientific evidence to support his ideas.

One of the most common criticisms is in relation to weight loss. It is said the way an individual responds to any diet has absolutely nothing to do with that individual’s blood type and instead has everything to do with their ability to stick to a sensible low-carbohydrate diet and the reason why D’Adamo’s suggested diets usually help in losing weight is because they are based on proteins, seafood and vegetables.

On the other hand there are those who follow Dr D’Adamo’s theory to the letter.

Among them are famous people such as Tommy Hilfiger, the fashion designer, who believes that D’Amato “is an amazing healer with the most advanced natural healing methods incorporating age-old techniques in a very thoughtful way!”

I suppose time will show if D’Amato’s recommendations and theory has what it takes to help a generation of overweight individuals who are constantly on the lookout for a type of diet that will help them lose weight. Ê

Dr Laleh Lohrasbi is a pharmacologist. She has worked as an editor for the medical section of “Hamshahri”, a daily newspaper in Tehran.

41

Places

The Mosque

of Fatima 2YHUORRNLQJ WKH SRUW RI %DNX LQ $]HUEDLMDQ LV WKH ‘Mosque of Fatima’ (UHFWHG LQ WKH WK FHQWXU\ in honour of a special lady from the progeny of the Prophet Muhammad(s), today the mosque is a place of pilgrimage and spiritual retreat.

T

he Bibi-Heybat Mosque on the outskirts of Baku in Azerbaijan, known locally as the ‘Mosque of Fatima’, was built to honour the Lady Fatima as-Sughra, daughter of the 7th Shiite Imam Musa Ibn Ja’far Al-Kazim(a). The mosque, was the only Islamic building during Stalin’s rule that was destroyed.

The origins of this mosque go back to the 7th century, when many Alids perse-

42

cuted by Abbasids caliphs migrated to the North. After the death of Harun ar Rashid and during the reign of his son Mamun, to appease the Alids, Mamun summoned the eighth Imam, Ali ibn Musa Al-Reda(a) to go to Marv in Khorasan in order to keep the Imam under his watchful eyes. The Imam had no choice but to accept. He left his wife and son, Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali al Jawad, and went to the province of Khorasan

(Iran). Almost a year after Mamun who felt threatened by the Imam’s popularity among people ordered his death by poison.

After the Imam left Baghdad his sister Fatima Masouma, accompanied with some other elders from Ahlu ul Bayt left Madinah to join Imam Reda.

Her caravan stopped in Qum - Iran, where she fell ill and was not able to continue the trip. She died and

was buried in Qum. Another sister of the Imam, Fatima as-Sughra (Okuma Khanim), also left Baghdad during the persecution of Alids and settled in Baku along the shores of the Caspian Sea. There she was considered a holy and blessed woman, respected by the locals as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad(s). After her death, the people erected a small crypt over her grave. Years passed and rumours about

the grave of a holy woman from the Prophet’s family spread throughout the East and soon the site was declared a holy place.

Religious people, particularly Shi’ite scholars, began to settle near the site and the village was given the name Sheikhovo or Shikhovo (place of Sheikhs). Pilgrims from distant Muslim countries flooded to the land to visit Okuma Khanim’s grave. Eventually, a

small mosque was built over the tomb.

The mosque which consisted of a single room had an inscription which said: ‘Built by Mahmud ibn Saad.’ Another plaque indicated that the mosque had been built between 663AH/1264CE and 665AH/1266CE. The remains of the building showed that the interior of the mosque was decorated with blue tiles with a crystal lamp suspended from the ceiling. When

43

the strong Baku winds blew, the crystals would hit against each other and make tinkling sounds. The mosque had a 20 metre-high minaret from which the Adhan (call to prayer) would be made.

There were around 40 stone steps leading from the mosque to the nearby pier where foreign ships docked.

new wave of mosques, churches and synagogues were built.

or workshops or used for storage.

In days gone by it was not proper to call a woman by her first name. Any respectable woman should have had a given name by which she was called.

The name given to the mosque was Bibi-Heybat because Okuma Khanim had a devoted servant ,Q WKH V 6WDOLQ EHJDQ KLV FDPSDLJQ WR EDQ named Heybat. In the Azeri language ‘bibi’ means aunt, religious practices and ordered the widespread so calling the mosque GHVWUXFWLRQ RI UHOLJLRXV EXLOGLQJV 7KH ÂąUVW Bibi-Heybat was the same target in Baku was the Bibi-Heybat mosque. as saying ‘the mosque of Heybat’s aunt’, rather than saying ‘Okuma Khanim’s Mosque.’

When foreigners flocked to Baku during its first oil boom at the end of the 19th century, they brought their religious beliefs with them. Although Azerbaijan was traditionally a Muslim country, it was open and tolerant of other religious traditions including Judaism and Christianity.

The architectural landscape of Baku soon revealed this religious diversity.

Along with palatial residences, community theatres, clubs and music halls, a

44

In the 1930s, Stalin began his campaign to ban religious practices and ordered the widespread destruction of religious

buildings. The first target in Baku was the Bibi-Heybat mosque, followed by the large Alexander Nevski Cathedral and several churches which were dynamited shortly thereafter. Other centres of worship were converted into museums

In 1903, an artist drew a painting of the mosque. An Englishman liked the painting and convinced the artist to sell it to him. But it has been said that the famous Azerbaijani oil baron Taghiyev found out about it and

as an act of national pride bought the painting back from the Englishman so that it could stay in Azerbaijan.

However during the Bolshevik Revolution (1920) when all of Taghiyev’s property was confiscated, the painting disappeared. Some 44 years later in 1964 and after Stalin’s death, someone anonymously donated the painting to the Art Museum of Azerbaijan where it remains on display today.

There are many legends surrounding the Bibi-Heybat mosque. While it may be difficult to separate fact from fiction, what is undeniable is that Bibi-Heybat has remained significant to the Azerbaijani people. Maybe the legends were created to cope with the disturbing fact that their holy place had been desecrated and it was their way of avenging the destruction and creating a mental construct of justice as a substitute for their inability to defend such an important symbol of their faith.

But what is interesting is that more than 60 years after its destruction, the Bibi-Heybat Mosque has been rebuilt.

It was restored in the 1990s; a re-creation of the original mosque built in 1281 by Shirvanshah Farrukhzad II Ibn Ahsitan II, and destroyed on Stalin’s orders by the Bolsheviks in 1936. The new Bibi-Heybat Mosque is an example of the Shirvan School of Azerbaijani architecture.

A commemoration ceremony, attended

by President Heydar Aliyev, was held on 11 July 1997.

Regardless of whether the stories are true, the fact that the mosque continued to live on in the memories of the Azerbaijani people through legends has clearly contributed to bringing the mosque back to physical reality. Ê Based on ‘Legend of the Bibi-Heybat Mosque When Legends Shape Reality Decades Later’ by Azad Sharifov from Azerbaijan International (6.3) Autumn 1998

45

Through March & April Commentary (Tafseer) of the Holy Qur’an

By Shaykh Bahmanpour

More info: http://www.mbrn.org.uk/islamuk-centre-cardiff-university-public-lectureseries-2015/4

general.

For more information on the Hadhramaut Research Centre (HRC) please visit: www. hadhramautresearchcentre.com.

4 March

Venue: Islamic Centre of England, 140 Maida Vale, London W9 1QB Time: Every Friday starting at 7:45

Ways of Writing in Medieval Islam

Organiser: Hadhramaut Research Centre and the London Middle Institute Time: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings, Room: DLT, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

1 March

Poetry and Exile in Works Poetry and Exile in Works by Abdallah Benanteur, Ipek Duben, Mona Saudi and Canan Tolon, drawn from recent acquisitions of works by artists of the Middle East and North Africa by the British Museum, explores the effects of exile through the eyes of five artists.

There are many forms of exile expressed here. For Canan Tolon, it is exile from her home in Istanbul as a result of contracting polio as a child, the story of which she evokes in “Futur Imparfait.” Ipek Duben’s book Refugee, with its delicate gauze pages, belies the terror and helplessness of people forced to flee their homeland.

Mona Saudi and Abdallah Benanteur combine the powerful verses of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish with drawings.

Venue: Room 34, The British Museum, London

3 March Approaching Islamophobia from a Human Rights Perspective

Chris Allen is a Lecturer in the Institute of Applied Social Studies at the University of Birmingham. For the past decade and a half, he has been undertaking research on the phenomenon of Islamophobia including researching the experience of Muslim women who are victims of Islamophobic hate crimes, opposition to the building of mosques, and the role of the far-right in promoting anti-Muslim hate. This lecture is organised in partnership with the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Wales.

This lecture will be preceded by a Reception at 6.30 pm in the Glamorgan Building Coffee Shop. Booking for this lecture is ESSENTIAL.

Speaker: Dr Chris Allen Time: 7 p.m.

Venue: Glamorgan Committee Rooms 1and 2, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WT

46

In medieval Islam, the written word assumed many functions and many meanings. In some cases, writing functioned not in opposition to images, but in relation to them. In other cases, writing combined with images and designs. In yet others, writing, or signs resembling writing, served an apotropaic function.

This lecture looks at the many functions that the Arabic alphabet assumed in the medieval period, considering it both traditionally as a bearer of content and meaning, as well as part of systems of graphemes that carried other meanings and combined with other visual systems.

Speaker: Professor Scott Redford Time: 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM Venue: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, Brunei Gallery, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

7 March The Islamophobia Awards

The Islamophobia Awards is an annual event to acknowledge - through satire, revue and comedy - the worst Islamophobes of the year. Centred on a gala dinner, the ‘awards’ themselves are both entertaining and raise awareness of a serious and growing prejudice. Real awards are given to those who have battled against Islamophobia - often against enormous odds.

This year’s event will feature the acclaimed comedian Aamer Rahman.

Time: 6.30 pm - 11.00 pm Venue: Holiday Inn, Empire Way, Wembley, HA9 8DS Fee: Single ticket - £45 / Child ticket (up to the age of 11) - £20 More info: http://www.ihrc.org.uk/ events/11316-islamophobia-awards-2015

Rediscovering Hadhramaut: Paradigms of Research The HRC is pleased to announce its first international conference. Distinguished academics from across the world will participate in panels to cover topics on Hadhramaut in particular and Yemen in

10 March Diversity in ‘End Of Life Care’ The Woolf Institute offers bespoke courses for nurses, doctors, chaplains, volunteers and other professionals that address issues of religious and spiritual diversity in end of life care. This training is delivered through workshops and presentations.

Expert staff from the Woolf Institute lead the course in conjunction with a qualified panel, including chaplains and medical staff, from the hospital or institution in which the course is offered. Dr Philip Lodge (Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust, Marie Curie Hospice, Hampstead) is the course’s permanent clinical advisor.

Venue: Compton Hospice, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV3 9DH More Info: Sughra Ahmed, Programmes Manager, sa692@cam.ac.uk

12 March

Negotiating covenant, Prophethood and redemption in the Qur’an The lecture will outline the successive formation of a new community, and map the theological negotiations between the already established liturgical communities in the Arabian peninsula, i.e. Christianity and Judaism. It will be shown that the Quranic texts write themselves into an environment infused with monotheistic traditions, based on the knowledge of an extensive Biblical heritage, including the interpretive traditions of Christianity and Judaism.

Reading the Qur’an as a documenting text of the formation of a new community in negotiation and/or competition with Jewish and Christian traditions, the Qur’an can no longer be seen as an insufficient replica of the Bible, the product of a confused impostor. Rather, it must be acknowledged as a theologically challenging

text, an initial religious revelation subject to human development Speaker: Dr Dirk Hartwig, University of St Andrews

Time: 6.00 pm Venue: Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education, 124 Blackness Road, Dundee, DD1 5PE Registration: Free, booking required.

Booking: openlectures@almcollege.org.uk More info: www.almcollege.org.uk

15 March Saverah Women Expo Saverah Women Expo is an empowering, motivational, and entertaining event that targets the specific needs and interests of Muslim women.

You can experience spectacular fashion shows, shop, sample and view products, discover organisations and services relating to your lives and well-being, attend seminars, or simply relax in the pampering zone.

Time: 11.00 am - 8.00 pm Venue: De Vere Canary Wharf, London Fee: £9.00 Bookings: www.saverahwomenexpo.co.uk Enquiries: events@saverah.com

17 March Challenges and Opportunities: British Muslim Women and Maktab Education

Imran Mogra is a senior lecturer in Professional Studies and Religious Education in the School of Education, Faculty of Health, Education and Social Sciences at Birmingham City University.

Imran has designed a training course which he has been delivering for several years to teachers in the Muslim supplementary school sector. Alongside this, he is also a mentor on the Mosaic programme which provides support to young people to close the gap between their aspirations and attainment. This lecture is organised in association with a number of Muslim supplementary schools in Cardiff.

Speaker: Imran Mogra Time: 7 pm Venue: Glamorgan Committee Rooms 1and 2, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WT More info: http://www.mbrn.org.uk/islam-

uk-centre-cardiff-university-public-lectureseries-2015/

22 March

Walk-in Tour: The Influence of Religion on Art This tour will examine how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam influenced the creation of art.

On Sundays and selected Saturdays, the Walters Museum offers docent-led tours of a different part of the collection.

Time: 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm Venue: The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 Fee: Free

Through April

Creative Calligraphy 6 week Course Kufi was the first Arabic script to be consciously made beautiful. Unlike later scripts characterised by strict formal rules, it lends itself to being constantly reinvented, so that it thrives on the same creative freedom that animated the first calligraphers.

Joumana Medlej learned to work with Kufi through years of apprenticeship with renowned Lebanese calligrapher Samir Sayegh, and has put together an original course to transmit this material. The aim of the course in returning to Kufi is to guide students towards finding their own approach to the art of Arabic calligraphy.

All materials for the course are provided, including basic materials for the final project, which students can choose to supplement with their own. Knowledge of Arabic is not required. As the script is mostly constructed, not freehand, drawing skills are not essential.

Venue: Arab British Centre, 1 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE Time: Wednesdays, 6:00 pm - 8.00 pm Fee: £190 Register: info@arabbritishcentre.org.uk

1 April

tioners from across Britain to discuss the changing forms of Muslim leadership in the UK. There will be an emphasis on examining the challenges and opportunities facing Muslim leaders and professionals from across a range of different sectors.

Through this multi-partner approach there will be an attempt to discuss and share forms of best practice for the evolving role of Muslim leaders in modern Britain.

The Conference keynote address will be delivered by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi.

The programme includes a roundtable talk involving Muslim practitioners from chaplaincy, education, faith leadership, local government and the charities sector, papers/presentations from academics and Muslim practitioners, and Islamic art and academic/research display boards.

Time: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm Venue: University of Central Lancashire, Fylde Road, Preston, Lancashire PR1 2HE Organisers: Muslims in Britain Research Network and the University of Central Lancashire.

Registration details: http://www.mbrn. org.uk/mbrn-conference-muslim-leadershipin-britain-developments-challenges-andopportunities/ More info: muslimleadersconference@gmail.com

7 - 9 April An Islamic Perspective of Accounting, Finance, Economics and Management The Adam Smith Business School will host an international conference presenting research on an Islamic perspective of accounting, finance, economics and management. This two-day conference will provide opportunities for participants to present their current research in this area as well as build their collaboration network with other delegates.

Venue: The University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, G12 8QQ Conference fee: £325 Student Conference fee: £175

Muslim Leadership in Britain: Developments, Challenges and Opportunities This conference will bring academics together with Muslim leaders and practi-

47