Don’t ban packed lunches
Last year Jamie Oliver, a famous young British TV chef, was credited with bringing about a massive improvement in the quality of school dinners after running a TV series exposing the rubbishy quality of...
Indigo Jo Blogs Blog
Muslim women, hijab and employment
Guardian Unlimited: Why are so many of Britain's Muslim women unemployed? A report from yesterday's Guardian on how women from ethnic minorities generally, but particularly those of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin have low economic...
Why Misbah isn’t going back to Mama
Osama has been doing a good job, ma sha Allah, of keeping up with the story of Misbah Iram AKA "Molly Campbell" ([1], [2]), a combination of her nickname and her mother's boyfriend's name....
Sookhdeo on terrorism and Islamic schools
This afternoon someone from the Evening Standard sent me a copy of an article the paper had printed by the infamous Patrick Sookhdeo, an apostate given to writing inflammatory and inaccurate articles about Islam...
On Natascha Kampusch and ‘Stockholm Syndrome’
One of the biggest news stories the past couple of weeks has been the reappearance of a young woman called Natascha Kampusch, who was kidnapped on her way to school, aged 10, in March 1998. For most of the time she was kept in a windowless underground cell measuring 3m x 4m (9ft x 13ft), being allowed out for the first time in May of this year according to some accounts. As you might expect, it’s a sensational story with the media somewhat frustrated by the refusal of the young lady and those around her to furnish them with salacious details. This has led to a lot of column inches being spent on speculation and commentary.
An offer I really could refuse
The other day, with some money my nan gave me, I went into Borders in Kingston to get some books. I hoped to take advantage of the "three for the price of two" offer...
Review: Shoot the Messenger
Shoot the Messenger was on BBC2 last night; it featured David Oyewolo (from the drama Spooks, British slang for spies) as Joe, a young black teacher who entered the profession after attending a meeting to discuss the chronic underachievement of black boys in British schools, at which one lady announced that what was needed was more black male teachers to provide positive role models.
Railroading east London
SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society Guardian | Laura Holland: Taken for a ride by a train link that we don't need Found in today's Guardian Society supplement: how the authorities are apparently set on forcing a...
Spectator refuse my “poem”
A week or so ago, in response to Stephen Schwartz's screed in the Spectator, I wrote the magazine a letter as well as the article I posted here. The editor decided to print two...
Review of Gita Saghal’s Hecklers appearance
Last Saturday Gita Saghal of Awaaz South Asia Watch and “Women Against Fundamentalisms”, an organisation which monitors and opposes religious fundamentalism in south Asia, appeared on BBC Radio 4’s programme Hecklers, so-called because one...
Second proggie group hit by mass resignations
Via Dr Maxtor, another representative-only-of-themselves "Progressive Muslim" group, the so-called Muslim Canadian Congress, has been hit by the resignation of several of its board. Readers might remember that a similar group, the Progressive Muslim...
No apartheid in Norbury
In this week's New Stateman, Darcus Howe responds to the persistent talk of "segregation" by presenting the situation in his home suburb of Norbury, south London, widely perceived (at least locally) as some sort...
Inside the real Tablighi Jama’at
In reply to last week's Guardian article purporting to give a glimpse "behind the scenes" at the supposedly secretive Tablighi Jama'at, Emdad Rahman posts his observations: Paul Lewis’ article contained a number of factual...
“people here in the US don’t understand these things about constitutional rights”
Raed in the Middle: back from the mideast Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi-American blogger, on his trip to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan and what happened when he tried getting on a plane from New York...
One for the textbooks?
BBC NEWS | UK | 'Porn-link' safety advert banned This is a story about how an anti-child-porn website, ThinkUKnow, was advertised on the radio, leading one lady to type what she heard – think*you*know...
John Ware interviewed in Media Guardian
John Ware, the guy behind the anti-MCB documentary last year and a more recent one attacking charity support for Hamas-run schools, was interviewed for yesterday's Guardian Media supplement (free registration required): He says he...
Shaikh Muhammad Pirzada launches website
[The website of Shaikh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada](http://www.mihpirzada.com/home.html), the founder of Jamia al-Karam in Retford, Notts (England) and one of this country’s most renowned *ulama*, has been launched on the [Night of Isra &...
Britain’s “unique problem” according to Schwartz
While one Uncle Tom denounces us for not tolerating Qadianis in the New Statesman, another denounces much of the Islamic scholarly community in the Spectator, the main political magazine of the British right. Stephen...
Zia tells us to embrace Qadianis
It looks like Ziauddin Sardar has finally overstepped the mark … in his latest column in the New Statesman, he insists that we Muslims "respect differences among ourselves – particularly when they appear to...
“Sufi Muslim Council” exposed
Sufi Muslim Council Exposed: The 'Neoconservative' Sufi Muslim Council An anonymously written, but lengthy and detailed, article showing the links the so-called Sufi Muslim Council, a body which has been promoted in recent weeks...