"Azim Ahmed looks at the extraordinary life and work of the nineteenth century Liverpool solicitor William Abdullah Quilliam. Although brought up as a Wesleyan, Quilliam would convert to Islam after a visit to Morocco. He returned with indefatigable zeal to establish a mosque in Liverpool, and to create a British version of Islam, complete with hymns and a very distinctive version of the national anthem. Quilliam used the title of 'Sheikh al-Islam' of the British Isles, a title he claimed was conferred on him by the Sultan of Turkey. Azim talks to Professor Ron Geaves of Cardiff University, and to Yahya Birt, an Islamic community historian. In addition, Azim talks to writer and historian Christina Longden, whose Cardiff-born ancestor Robert Stanley went on to become one of Quilliam's most significant converts"
Monday 31 January 2022
Abdullah Quilliam - radio programme
Tuesday 25 January 2022
The Dinner Table Prejudice
"The survey, presented in a report titled 'The Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain', interviewed a sample of 1667 people between 20th and 21st July 2021 which was weighted by age, gender, social grade, voting record, region and level of education to ensure representativeness. Weighting was based on the census, Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics estimates, and other large-scale data sources." Quote source
Islamophobia adviser ignored
Monday 24 January 2022
Survey findings
Nusrat Ghani Case
There's lots on social media about this ongoing case of Nusrat Ghani, a Conservative MP, who is alleging that her "Muslimness" was a factor in her removal from a miniserial position. I've more posts on Twitter (@garybunt) The case is ongoing as this post is prepared, so expect updates. Note: the original story was in the Sunday Times, Nusrat Ghani: I was sacked as a minister ‘because I was a Muslim’ (by Caroline Wheeler, Rosamund Urwin and Gabriel Pogrund) (subscription required). Also see:
BBC News, Nusrat Ghani: Muslimness a reason for my sacking, says ex-minister, 23 Jan 2022"A Muslim MP says her faith was raised by a government whip as a reason why she was sacked as a minister in 2020."
This is defamatory
— nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) January 22, 2022
(a) She made complaint in March 2020, not suddenly
(b) Govt appears to have a big problem with Muslim women - see Baroness Warsi too & Boris Johnson’s comments about “letterboxes”
(c) a lot of unimaginative & mediocre ministers are still in cabinet or left pic.twitter.com/2Sbmy0PIms
Everyday as parliamentarians we speak up against racism and injustice faced by others, yet we work in a political culture where to speak up against racism we have faced in politics is still dismissed and career ending.#standwithNus @PackedLunchC4 https://t.co/vTSnk2DRer
— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) January 24, 2022
Tuesday 4 January 2022
Burials and Covid-19
"... the billionaire Issa brothers are planning to build a new Muslim cemetery, the Issa Memorial Garden. –With a £3.5bn fortune, Zuber and Mohsin Issa are businessmen and founders of Euro Garages, a chain of over 5,200 petrol filling stations operating in Europe and the USA that has become the UK’s second-largest privately owned company and that in 2020 bought one of Britain’s largest supermarket chains, Asda. This new cemetery would be built in northern England, west of the town of Blackburn (Lancashire), and would accommodate 35,000 burial plots in a space of 33 hectares."