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"Put this woman in her place"
Almost five years ago, Merve Kavakci was publicly forced out of her elected position in the Turkish Parliament after she refused to remove her hijab. In this exclusive essay, she challenges the secular fundamentalists and their assumptions about the "dangerous" yet "oppressed" Muslim woman.
Big trouble in Middle-England
I was only fourteen when my sister Fatima and I were suspended from our 'nice little school' in Bowdon, Cheshire, writes Aisha Alvi. Altrincham Grammar School has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. At issue wasn't our grades, it was our headscarves.
Dear Monsieur Stasi
Raised in its culture, fluent in its language and intimately aware of its checkered relationship with Islam, Bashir Khan has a unique perspective on France. So when Bernard Stasi came to London, it was only a matter of time before the former minister got an earful from this British Muslim "malcontent". Here are excerpts from his submission to the Stasi Commission which on 11 December 2003 recommended the banning of headscarves and other overt religious symbols in French schools.
The Dilemma of Choice
She insisted she wore hijab out of choice, but I couldn't help but feel her ego was getting in the way. What was it about her being Muslim and her wearing the headscarf that made her feel like it was a straightforward matter of choice and agency? asks Shabana Mir
Write Mind: The French are not the only offenders of hijab
What about Iran and Saudi Arabia? asks Tarek Fatah.
Democracy is no panacea from Muslim problems
Instead of trying to Islamise western democracy, writes Iqbal Siddiqui, what Muslims really need to do is develop models of political and social organisation based on Islamic values and principles.
Review: Unveiling the scarf
Review of Katherine Bullock's Rethinking Muslim women and the veil - Challenging historical and modern stereotypes
Book extract: A Return to Modesty
Wendy Shalit, a young Jewish American woman, writes about her rediscovery of a lost virtue.
A legacy worth leaving
If you want your wealth to be distributed in accordance with Shariah after your death, it is essential for you to leave a will which is valid under English law and which expresses that wish, writes Ahmad Thomson
Pressing the panic button
Last Ramadan, Najiyah Helwani bumped into an old acquaintance. Her friend looked pale and thin and later admitted that she had recently "collapsed" while working full-time and taking care of her husband and children. It all sounded oddly familiar.
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FROM THE PULPIT
January 2004, Issue 353
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It is often easy to lose sense of the basic constituents of our ummah and faith. As I write from a noisy internet café in the holy city of Makkah, I am in a state of both wonderment and humility. It is the middle of the Hajj season and the sacred mosque is garlanded by the miracle that is the ummah. Hundreds of thousands of believers from each and every nook and cranny of the globe is represented here: farmers from Indonesia and Turkey, nomads from the Sahara, blue chip executives from California and Malaysia and scholars from Al-Azhar and Dewsbury.
To be in Makkah during this period is nothing short of a miracle: it is not a matter of wealth and health but more. Hajj is performed by both billionaires and paupers, those in wheelchairs and those fit to run a marathon. The acknowledgement of this Divine prerogative is enshrined in the talbiyah – the prayer uttered at all times by the pilgrims: “Here I am, O God! Here I am, at Your service! You have no partner, here I am. All praise, grace and dominion belong to You. You have no partner.”
To repeat this prayer together with hundreds of thousands of fellow pilgrims is an awesome experience full of joy and emotion. To understand that God has invited you to visit His house amongst millions of people is a thoroughly humbling experience.
This would be my seventh journey to the House of God but it is proving to be as exciting, as arduous and as overwhelming as my first one. The sense of adventure, of belonging, of learning and of sharing is difficult to describe. As is the senseless pushing and the shoving, the noises and the aromas, the supplications and the shouting.
The Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, described the Hajj as the “supreme act of worship.” Hajj is an exercise in spiritual renewal and rejuvenation like no other. In spirit, it combines all other acts of worship, helping us to remember God and make sacrifices for His sake. On this we have to expend time, money and energy. But Hajj is not just going to and from Makkah. Hajj shows how close we can get to God in this life.
While other acts of worship are about remembering God, Hajj is about reaching Him. Generally, when we worship God, we cannot see Him, but during Hajj, we come face to face with Him. When pilgrims stand before the House of God, it is like standing before God Himself. Then they are moved to walk around God’s House, like a butterfly circling a scented flower.
The plain of Arafat, where the pilgrims spend one day, is like a postcard picture of Judgement Day. The Holy Book says, “When the trumpet is blown, behold, from the graves they rush forth to their Lord.”
And indeed, thousands and thousands of God’s servants flock in from all sides to witness the event. And what a great sight it is! All are dressed in the same, simple nature and all recite the same words, “Here we are at Your service, Lord.”
Just as the Sacred Mosque in Makkah is the holiest, so is the worship that is performed there – as part of the pilgrimage – the most important. It is not just the pilgrims’ duties during Hajj that make it important, but the spirit in which they carry them out.
Those of us who make claims of “working for the community” must imbibe ourselves with the Hajj spirit. The sense of specialness, humility and spiritual wonderment; the realisation of the diversity and variety of our ummah, and the need for tolerance, respect and love for the other are all critical lessons that makes a Hajji a special person.
We must never forget that the performance of Hajj is a serious obligation: to procrastinate it without proper reasons is spiritually dangerous and damaging to our personal development.
Today, let us all pray that we are among those who will assembly in God’s presence in the plains of Arafat next year, Inshallah.
Fuad Nahdi
Editor in Chief
fuad@q-news.com
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Keep taking the tablets
In a moment of diagnostic gumption, Tasneem Osgood puts the community on the examination table.
Up in smoke: HT’s failed attempt to fight the war on drugs
Drug and alcohol abuse is on the rise in the Muslim community. When then, asks Dr Reehan Sabri, are some organisations using the issue to gain political capital, instead of tackling the roots of the problem?
The Roots of Resistance
Beyond the apologetics of the 'Muslim liberals' and the empty rhetoric of the radical fringe, there are real opportunities to redress the current malaise of British Muslims. The experience of the black community is a good starting point, argue Romana Majid and Adam Khan
The smear of anti-semitism
Labour MP Louise Ellman may have gotten away with her dubious attack on the MAB, but her comments could help fuel the political agenda of Britain's extreme right, writes Anthony McRoy.
A British martyr for Palestine
The death of Tom Hurndall is challenging the Israeli army's culture of impunity, writes Anthony McRoy
El-Ejido: A Warning from history
Christopher Allen revisits the setting of some of Europe's worst anti-Muslim riots of recent years and asks what relevance this has to Britain today.
Do Muslim kids need a new dad?
At a major London conference in April, experts will discuss how Islam can support modern fathers and ensure they give their best to family life, writes Jack O'Sullivan
Islam the enemy
From the time of the first crusade, launched in 1095, the Christian world has often viewed Muslim negatively, deeming them satanic and evil. Remona Aly looks at how the attitudes of the past recur in the present.
Bin Ladenisms
Yahya Ramallah's audacious attempt at irritating the FBI and their most wanted man.
Teaching across the Jewish-Muslim divide
My experiences as a staff advisor to the Muslim Students Association, by Peter Marmorek
Racial profiling, deepening divisions
New measures have led to a breakdown in the rule of law, a case of assuming guilt without due process, argue Raihan Al-Faradhi and Afaaf Rajbee.
Fiqh questions answered by Faraz Rabbani
Invocation: Prayer of hope
The prayer of Yahya ibn Mu`adh al-Razi excerpted from Tadhkiratul Awliya.
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