Islam's Green

Hoping for PIETY

 

Last summer, if you could call it that, I headed down to Plymouth, invited there by an organisation with an interesting acronym, PIETY, short for Plymouth Islamic Education Trust, the Y added on presumably for completion. It was here I think that I discovered the real beginnings of what might be termed a "British Islam".

We're hearing a lot these days about "British Islam", and the need for a British Islam, but I'm not quite sure what it proponents exactly expect it to be! I know for sure some of us really don't feel happy about this appellation, and consider it fundamentally divisive. There is only one Islam, one Ummah, and all attempts to divide us along nationalistic lines opposes the Divine will.

I have never understood it quite like that. Perhaps because I'm a white British convert I've never felt some sort of conflict between my "Britishnesss" and being a Muslim. I still consider myself "British", but coloured with dye of Islam. As I understand it the divine guidance did not come to change everything, to wipe the slate clean and start again, but rather to correct the errors and mistakes and keep and encourage the positives in any given individual or culture.

It also seems a truism that "character" of Islam as practiced in Malaysia for example is very different in the character of Islam in Saudi Arabia, or Morocco or Nigeria and so on. In fact we can notice a difference even within a country between the people of the country side and the town, rich and poor and so on, partly because the culture in which each group operates is distinct and thus inevitably the aspects of the religion they emphasis is different. Although on occasions one section may claim a purer form of Islam than another, in general it is all Islam, only people's cultural habits are different. Of course we do not mean to deny that culture can also negatively affect the correct application of the divine guidance, and this also must be weeded out and guarded against.

It is an interesting issue to explore: What is culture?

It seems to me that in part at least, culture is a type of survival strategy that humans develop in response to a particular environment. Certainly people's character, both individually and collectively is influenced by climate, geography, language, the animals they care for, the dwellings in which they live etc….That inevitably means that different cultures will give more emphasis to some aspects of any moral or religious system than others. As a small example, punctuality and cueing might be identified as two practical aspects of British culture, thus a British Muslim following "British Islam" would inevitably take the matter of punctuality very seriously, and might argue that this is an Islamic virtue that should be imbibed within every Muslim. Muslims should keep their promises, and agreeing to meet at a certain time is a promise that should be fulfilled, and failing to do so is sign of hypocrisy. Also the performance of regular prayers with a defined time frame for example, should teach us this virtue. In fact one of the committee members of PIETY, originally from Egypt, was pointing this out over dinner. However, as I made clear, most Muslims (and Egyptians) run by the infamous IBM system. We do not mean here of course International Business Machines, but in fact the other IBM, Inshallah Bookra Maleesh! (God willing, tomorrow, it's OK!)

So to me "British Islam" seems to mean a practice of Islam that is sensitive and relevant to the culture of Britain, imbibing its positive aspects and perhaps somewhat accommodating (although not accepting) of some of its negative ones. Combined with this there is a sense of civic duty, and commitment to improve and better society through positive and pro-active contributions within the frame work of that society and its cultural norms. To translate that into normal English "behave well towards people, treat them the same way you would like them to treat you, and do something to make the world around you a better place." I don't think anyone, Muslim or not could disagree with that!

One of my long standing gripes with the Muslims here in the UK is how vigorously they hold on to practices, traditions and attitudes that are so foreign and completely unsuitable to the prevalent culture. It seems to me that this is one of the biggest factors in making Islam here in the UK seem strange and foreign, and is the cause for much hostility. The ideal situation, it seems to me, is that Islam should be an intrinsic part of life here in the UK, and that this would be the most effective way for Muslims to live and to influence society in the most positive manner.

I'm always looking for anything that might fit this vision of "British Islam", and by and large I've been disappointed. Either we become so assimilated that we loose our Islam, or we hang on so tightly to our culture we might as well still be in a village back "home", because we don't even look as this place as home! Then there is a whole generation that seems "confused", neither here nor there, torn between this and that! Where then is the ideal mizan, or balance!

Plymouth is home of Europe's largest naval base and it is here that Sir Francis Drake, in one of the iconic moments in British history, stoically insisted of finishing his game of bowls whilst receiving news of the arrival of the Spanish Armada. It is the "capital" of Devon and Cornwall and there is something quintessentially English about this town. Arriving at the venue for my lecture I was delightfully surprised to come to upon an array of Muslims from different parts of the world, and also, more significantly, a similar array of non-Muslims including the local MP, councillors, health service, church and police. Further more, their familiarity with each other seemed to be based certainly in some cases on long term friendships and acquaintances. It seemed that here at last was a Muslim community that really was part of the community, or certainly was fairly close to that.

A lot of this, as if often the case, had to do with the hard work and efforts of a few individuals, who I should add, did not fail in respect to their duty of hospitality towards me in the least. I also wondered if the fact that at least several of the committee members had English spouses might have something to do with it!

I was so inspired by this that when one of the leaders of the community asked me to come with him to Kuwait to try and raise money for a building they desperately needed, I actually agreed to take some time off in Ramadan to do that, that is how much I felt a centre like that needed help! During the hectic trip we only managed to raise enough money (£40,000) for PIETY to put down the deposit on an ideal building close to the centre of town. Up until this time they had been holding jummah and eid prayers in various hired locations around town, and the Quran and Arabic school was similarly being shifted from venue to venue, and it was becoming harder and harder to find suitable places as the needs of the community grew. Furthermore, the local authorities were relying on PIETY members as advisors in a range of issues, and were begging for them to establish a physical centre from with they could liaise and help provide services on a wider scale. Part of the challenge for the local authorities is linked to influx of large numbers of refugees and immigrants arriving there in recent years, and PIETY's diverse community was clearly a rich resource to help access them, and PIETY members have proved more than willing to help.

PIETY is not without problems and challenges that beset any group of people trying to work together but the ambitions and aspirations of PIETY are vast for such a small and under resourced community. Physical wealth is not what they have been blessed with in abundance, but enthusiasm is there aplenty. This is why I am taking the step to appeal to you my dear reader to help make this project of PIETY's mosque and community centre a reality, and to help make their dreams come true. Most of us dream of wealth and an easy life (I'm not saying that the brothers and sisters in PIETY don't either) but their dream right now is for a place where they can worship Allah, learn their deen, and interact with the wider community. Their enthusiasm for this is a joy to see, but it is quite possible that without your help they will loose the building. This community, it seems to me, and Allah knows best, is worth our investment. The cost of building including some essential work that needs to be done to make it usable is around £500,000, and alhamdulillah they already have a pledge for £200,000 but the condition is that the Muslims of UK have to raise the remainder. That is why they are asking 3000 of us to give a mere £100. And they have a deadline, the 16^th January 2008!

It would be a shame on us to let such potential go to waste, so on their behalf I'm appealing to you to dig deep and give whatever you can, and I feel sure that this will reap great returns in this world and the next. I've invested my time and money in PIETY and will continue to do so, inshallah. I advise you to do so to, because if PIETY is the future face of Islam in UK, we really have something to look foreword to.

 

You can donate by ringing this number: 0845 4590141

or on-line at www.pietyuk.org

 

 

Out sourcing in India

Following on from the India theme I was sent a link to this excellent article about out sourcing in India. I remember when I first went there some years ago the talk was already about India becoming the next super-power. There are some reasons why I suspect this might not happen. Firstly there is the issue of language. India has so many of them! Each state has its own official language.Then there are social issues and religious ones that serve to keep India divided. The Vedic religion, with its caste system seems just too divisive, and lacks the clear moral authority that is found in monotheistic religions that seems essential for constructing a long lasting civilization. Perhaps, these can be overcome with sheer energy and hard work. Certainly the Romans and Greeks had no such moral force, well until Christianity came and re-energized those failing societies. 

Anyway, these are just random thoughts being throw out whilst on my PC after fajr, with no intent of a coherent argument. Anyway, we're not in the business of fortune telling, alhamdulillah, and certainly every nation has their time decreed. What will come to pass, will come to pass:

"Verily my Lord understands best the mysteries of all that He plans to do, for certainly He is full of knowledge and wisdom!" Surah Yusuf 100

Still, I was very impressed with what India has managed to achieve in such a short time, at least economically. Some of my friends from India seem a bit sceptical themselves, and commented that there is something in the India character that only lets you achieve so much before they feel they have to pull you down. Hasad, I guess. Envy, burns good deeds like fire consumes wood.

What was interesting about the conference, "Peace, the solution for humanity" is that in a way something like this could only have been done in India. Anywhere else the cost would have been prohibitively expensive.

Anyway enjoy the article. It really is funny and informative. I apologize in advance for a few swear words contained in the article if you find it offensive.

http://www.smartmoney.com/esquire/index.cfm?Story=20050909-outsource&hpadref=1

PEACE, THE SOLUTION FOR HUMANITY

Peace certainly is a most worth goal and object, and most of us I am sure would agree that we need a lot more peace and love in the world. Peace, of course, does not mean merely an absence of physical conflict, but on the most profound and indeed significant level it is an inner condition of calm, tranquility and contentment.  The inner peace is where the peace of Islam starts, and it is a paradox that more often than not the only way to establish peace, whether the internal or external is through struggle, or even war.

This is of course the comprehensive meaning of the term "jihad". The struggle to establish Islam in oneself, to surrender to the Lord of all creation, to make ones desires subjugated to His wise guidance.  With hardship comes ease and with patience, victory.  All is known by its opposite, and peace cannot be established without fighting that which opposes and prevents it! Internally this constitutes the base desires. Externally it is manifest in a struggle against tyranny, injustice and oppression. As the saying goes: "No justice! No peace!"

Thus the theme of the ten day international Islamic conference that was held in Bombay from 23^rd November to 2^nd December. "Peace, the solution for humanity."

No one could accuse Dr Zakir Naik of lacking drive or vision, or for that matter organisational inability! Seven months ago he had already booked some of the most knowledgeable and dynamic orators and scholars of Islam in the English language for a massive ten day conference in Bombay, where his organisation IRF (Islamic Research Foundation) is based, along with the satellite channel PeaceTV, watched by over 60 million viewers.

My "jihad" started at the Indian High Commission here in the UK, as the simple matter of getting a visa proved to be quite and ordeal. At taste of India before you get there! I went to the High Commission two weeks in advance, planning well ahead for a change, prompted no doubt by regular reminders from the IRF team to get my visa, along with a plethora of invitation letters, approvals, clearance from local government that needed to be attached to my application for a conference visa, a tourist visa not being suitable for this particular event. The web site tells you that you need to get there between 8:30 and 10:00 in order to get the visa. I arrived just before ten to find several hundred people queuing, with several arguments, raised voices and waving hands. I was given a ticket to come back on 22^nd November, hardly ideal, since my flight was leaving the same day, or I was told, "Come back any morning early." I had one slot, the Monday before my flight, and I went over an hour early on a cold and rainy morning to find a queue stretching from the door to half way round the block. There must have been three to four hundred people there. I nearly gave up then and there, but I hoped that Allah would count this all as effort in His path. Arriving at the door, I was given another piece of paper, fortunately this time to come back the same day at 12:30. I rushed off to the mosque to take a school group and then rushed back just in time. Inside the visa office was chaos. The number system was all over the place, so I patiently waited at the nearest counter and handed in my application. Clearly applying for a conference visa was no simple matter, and I had to wait at another door to speak to someone senior. There was no queuing here at all, but it was a case of wiggling you way in between everyone and getting yourself noticed by the gentlemen peering critically through half glasses. I tried to talk to him, but the door was shut in our faces, and I was told by others waiting that he dealt with three applications at a time, and I have to just hold on until he got back. Eventually, I handed him application and then after more waiting had to pay at another counter, and then more waiting for the visa to be processed. It was now nearly 1pm and then the dramatic announcement that everything was closed for lunch and to come back at 2pm. This ushered a collective sigh/ moan/ laugh form the twenty applicants still waiting. I had lunch nearby and returned at 2pm, although nothing opened until 2:30pm. Everyone with whom I had been waiting all morning got their passports and then next influx were getting theirs before eventually my number was called.

What a palava!

The BA flight to Bombay was packet and I was squashed. It was a night flight and as usual I got virtually no sleep. The Park Plaza Royal Palms hotel is a mere 7km from the airport, perched atop a hill surrounded by hills and trees. It was here that the majority of speakers were based.  The first one I met was Sheik Jafar Idris, who I didn't recognise until later, but with whom I had some of the most fruitful discussions with over the ten days. At the time he was going through Dawkin's "The God Delusion", and we sat discussing how ignorant he (Dawkins) was even of Western theological and philosophical arguments about God, which all suffer from various short comings, as opposed to those propounded by Muslims which are much more coherent and consistent.  He was accompanied by his son Yusuf with whom I also shared some great conversations, especially late one night over dinner, whilst we watched young Indians emerging from a function hall completely drunk, rushing to the toilets, puking on the stair case and several men engaging in a flight that involved fists, belts and or course a lot of posturing and shouting. We sat there in amazement and this spectacle of stupidity, and thanked Allah for our Islam. All this excess seems all the more ugly in India, because you don't have to go far to see people living in crippling poverty. In fact it is everywhere. Our route from the hotel to the conference venue and TV studios passed through a slum/shanty town, with a river that was in fact more of an open sewer. On a certain section of the route the pavement was the living quarters for a collection of people covered in filth and living in filth. It was sickening and humbling and heart wrenching all at the same time, and I could not help but feel both immensely grateful for what Allah had blessed me with, yet guilty for what really amounts to an excessive life style that we live. Many of the people must often be hungry, yet the buffet in our hotel must have consisted of sixty different varieties of food! Even then we sometimes managed to comment that dinner wasn't so good as the previous night!

For all the speakers work load was without doubt heavy. Either we were in the studios recording programmes for future broadcast, or delivering lectures at the venue, or in my case preparing for both. It was the "promos" that caused almost universal amusement and complaint amongst the speakers, since no one could quite understand why the needed to spend nine hours, standing, pointing and looking at the sky and repeating corny lines in various locations from mosquito invested forest and parks to un-sound proofed studios where every noise was followed by "cut!"

I myself rather enjoyed doing my promo, set in a Bollywood set emulating a traditional Indian village, even if the nine hour stint followed on from a session in the studio's that didn't see me getting to be until 2am after our car ran out of juice in the middle of the street, and we had to wait while the driver fetched some more fuel in a rickshaw. That session had followed on by the previous night's public lecture based on an article in the blog "Do good people go to Hell" which was attended by around 10,000 plus, which itself was followed by a gathering of all the speakers/scholars, with the purpose of discussing how IRF could improve on the conference next time. That didn't finish until past midnight. It was in this meeting the Dr Zakir detailed for us just what was involved in organizing the conference. $4 million, two thousand volunteers, half a million visitors to the exhibition, spread over seven areas, all set up in a matter of days, including a fully constructed stage set up in a unique air conditioned hall. The stage was completely changed half way through, which they worked all night to complete, and Dr Zakir was somewhat upset because the program had to start half an our late that day! This is really in brief what amounted to an enormous effort. There was group of brothers almost permanently stationed at the hotel lobby to  co-ordinate the activities and comings and goings of the various speakers, and each speaker was always accompanied by a volunteer once they left the hotel, and more often than not we had interesting discussion with them also.  May Allah reward them all amply.

Friday prayer was lead by Shiekh Ayoob, former Imam of the Prophet's mosque, and was attended by over 100,000, who mobbed us after the prayer. Dr Zakir's final lecture was attended by a similar number. Where ever we went in the venue were stopped by crowds wanting to shake our hands and kids begging for our autographs. We didn't deserve any of this, As one sheikh stated, "If only they knew our sins!"

Each day's event was advertised in a full colour column in all the major news papers, and articles appeared in them on various aspects of the conference.

Perhaps for me one of the best things though, was praying, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, and just sitting in the VIP lounge at the conference and discussing with old friends and newer acquaintances, Dr Zakir Niak himself, Sheikh Salim Al Amri, Dr Bilal Phillips, Yasir Qadi, Yusuf Estes (the only major speaker staying in a different hotel), Yasir Fazaga, and Dr Mamdouh Mohammed and meeting for the first time Sheikh Jafar Idirs and Hussain Yee, Assim Al Hakeem, Dr Ahmed ibn Saifullah, Mokhtar Maghroui and Riaz Ansary. It was also a delight to see Abu Hamza from ISSNA, and one of the converts from there Musa, who bravely delivered a lecture on how he came to Islam.  I'm not sure what I have done to deserve to be included in such distinguished company, Alhamdulillah!

My biggest regret was not being able to listen to their lectures!

You can have an idea of the extent of it on the conference web site.

On day one I was struck down with a horrific "Bombay belly", which had me running all night to the bathroom every twenty minuets, leaving me physically drained and exhausted with virtually no sleep. The next morning I asked for some Ajwain and honey and I was given in addition a collection of pills. Although the runs stopped, there was no immediate cure for exhaustion, but the show had to go on! There was a press conference and the opening night where all the speakers had to give and introductory speech. I barely survived, but was glad I made the effort!   

One thing travelling does is really make you appreciate how good it is to be home, and its only now that buzz of the event has ended and exhaustion has hit hard. Although I got upgraded to business class on the return flight, and actually managed, out of sheer exhaustion, to actually sleep a good portion of the nine hour flight, I still haven't recovered completely three days later.  Must be old age!

check out more photos on the album "India"