Gems from today’s Guardian
The first thing I saw this morning when I read their news website was an account of a meeting between Maya Angelou and the Indian food author Madhur Jaffrey. They talk about their families,...
Indigo Jo Blogs Blog
Mufti Ibn Adam in Yemen
Via Seekers' Digest, Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam has written a lengthy piece on his recent trip to Yemen, including many asides on the country's history, the hadeeth literature on it, and some social commentary...
Cohen on left anti-Semitism
There’s a long essay by Nick Cohen in the current New Statesman about his experiences of what he calls anti-Semitism on the left since the run-up to the Iraq war. His interest was piqued...
Blair to ban public smoking at last
No, he's not talking about banning it altogether – just about places where people eat, according to a report in today's Observer. And for once I've got something good to say about the present...
Darfur “not genocide”
A day late, I know (following a reminder and some new info on Lenin's Tomb): Jonathan Steele commented in the Guardian yesterday that the UN secretary-general has published a report that "attacks the government...
London Linux Expo
Yesterday I went to my second London Linux Expo at the Olympia in London. The show is an annual event held to promote Linux to the industry; there are stalls for a number of...
No nice wheelchairs?
This morning I read in the Guardian’s Society supplement an article by Judith Cameron, a freelance writer who looks after a severely-disabled daughter, Sophie. Cameron has written a monthly column about caring for her...
Thoughts on Jewish-Muslim dialogue
There’s an article on a Jewish blog called Adloyada about dialogue between us and them, and in this particular case it involved our very own Abdul-Hakeem Murad, best known for his translations and articles...
What comes of starting Ramadan too early …
OK, OK, so some people may have less sympathetic assessments of this excuse for a poem at Muslim Wake Up: Ramadan is an annoying guest who comes too often and stays too long (Him...
My Seven Things
OK, well, this is the second time I think that I've been tagged for the "seven things" meme – first it was by Safiyyah and this time it's by Izzy Mo [1], [2]. Since...
Wednesday Ramadan
Given the flood of “major” mosques which have declared that Ramadan is tomorrow on the basis of dubious “sightings” in Saudi Arabia, I’ve collated a list of places where people are starting on Wednesday....
New edition of Dala’il al-Khairaat
A new edition of the Islamic classic Dalaa’il al-Khairaat has been published, with a beautiful MP3 of the text’s recitation (via Seeker’s Digest). The page (the default page just contains a picture of the...
Who made the Barbarians pirates?
Anyone who saw Melanie Phillips’ recent piece on Britain’s campaign against the Barbary pirates and their kidnappings off the Cornish coast might like to read this article on the English role in introducing piracy...
Playing With Fire reviewed
Playing With Fire is a play by David Edgar, best known for Destiny, a play about the National Front which was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1976 and was screened by...
Narcissism and the pro-war left
Via Crooked Timber, a classic example of the smears and jibes resorted to by pro-war leftists, in the Financial Times by John Lloyd. As revealed in the current New Statesman (here’s the article, but...
Mawlana Rumi defence
Via SunniPath via Sunni Sister, an article has been posted defending Mawlana Jalal al-Deen Rumi from both the attacks of sectarians and the “universal mystics” who seek to co-opt his writings. It shows him...
Expelled union official reinstated
Via Islamophobia Watch, Keith Shilson, who was expelled from Middlesex University (in London) for insisting on holding a “question time” with Hizbut-Tahrir on campus, has been reinstated, although HT remains banned on the campus....
New Labour’s Stalinist attitudes
OK … those of us who opposed the Iraq war are used to having mud thrown at us: pro-Saddam, unholy alliance, SWP front group, and so on. Now, look which party proposes security laws...
Pictures from the demo
OK … as promised, I’ve finally prepared, scaled and uploaded a few of the pictures I took at the demonstration last Saturday. I took a total of 220 photos, some of which are not...
The rape-as-jihad myth
Some folk reading this are going to start asking why I mention people like Robert Spencer so much on my blog. Well, if Spencer was some guy howling on the sidelines, like so many...