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Who or what is a liberal? I’ve recently written about the different meanings of ‘liberty’ and it got me thinking, the term liberal and its sisters moderate and extreme are also misunderstood. Or at least they mean many things to many people. As such, other than being pejorative do these terms really mean anything, anymore? Continue reading The liberal, the moderate and the extremist The British Beer & Pub Association said that UK pubs closed at a rate of 52 per week in the first half of the year – a third more than the same period in 2008. The global economic crisis has made many people redundant and forced many businesses to cut down on their production while others are forced to close down. However, although it is bad news for some people in the UK, the recent news of the British pubs closing down at a record rate, in my opinion, is good news. Every year thousands of people die due to drink related problems or diseases. Crime and anti-social behaviour which is rife in many of our communities is fuelled by alcohol. Continue reading Mother of all vices I visited Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, recently to attend a conference on faith based organisations and civil actions. Organised by the Centre for Advanced Studies, qantara.de, NAHLAA and the European Muslim Network in association with the International University of Sarajevo – it was a unique opportunity to share our experiences on this topic. Here is a summary of my contribution: One of the most important challenges of the day is how we make our faith or our deen relevant to contemporary society. Recently we saw some of the Far Right groups gain support in the European elections and various Muslim organisations tried to mobilise the Muslim electorate to participate in the elections. So we have to ask at this very important juncture: what is the role of faith based organisations in civil action? Continue reading Faith and Civil Action At a time where there are many trying to deconstruct the fundamentals of Islam to suit their whims and desires, who only profess Islam superficially and sometimes only perform rituals just merely to confirm to their lost identity. Where there are not many courageous individuals who will stand up to the oppressors corrupting the world with their filth, the following incident or jihad (struggle) of the late Mufti of Tunisia, Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad Tahir ibn ‘Ashur, reminds us about men who stood up for freedom and justice. They did not care the least what would happen to them if they spoke out, their familial affinity or otherwise did not deter them from practicing the Sunnah of the beloved or fulfilling a religious obligation of changing the munkar (vice) in their society. Continue reading The authority of the Mufti There is a saying – ‘never give a man a microphone or a woman a telephone. Once on it they can’t get off it.’ And it’s so true. In the case of us blokes I’ve hardly found any speaker, lecturer or ‘maulana’ who stuck to their time allocation or managed to give a short, sharp and sweet talk. Yet we find that by all accounts the Prophet never gave a talk for longer than 20 minutes. Now there’s a bit of Sunnah that we could all do with seeing more of. In fact recent research suggests that the attention span of the average individual in a monologue situation is no more than 20 minutes. About 10 more minutes may be tolerated, but after that you really have lost them. Continue reading Less is more We live at a time where the balance between the rights of the individual and society are becoming so skewed in favour of the individual; the tragic consequences of such a path are already becoming all too apparent. The ‘me’ and ‘my rights’ culture is not only at the risk of losing the bigger-picture, but sadly often denies someone else’s legitimate rights. First case in point is the Spanish woman who thought she had a ‘right’ to have children – even though she was in her sixties. She lied about her age to get IVF treatment and had twins, and now even before they turned three – she has died of cancer, leaving them orphans. The cruelty of such people has no bounds. Not only have they been denied a ‘mother figure’, but she actually wasn’t their biological mother! Continue reading ‘Stupid little girl’ |
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