“Winds of Change: Cinema from Muslim Societies”

arabnews.com, Winds of Change: Cinema from Muslim societies, 28 Sep 2011 "London’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), in collaboration with the academic publication “Third Text,” is presenting “Winds of Change: Cinema from Muslim Societies,” a series of talks and Islamic films." Details: ICA, “Winds of Change: Cinema from Muslim Societies”

'British Muslims reviving polygamy'

IINA, Great Britain/Islam: British Muslims reviving polygamy, 27 Sep 2011 "A growing number of young British Muslims are taking second or third wives in an unexpected revival of polygamy, according to religious leaders."

'The British “Islamic” Lifestyle Experience: Religiosity or Commercialization?'

Alia Raffia Ullah, Islam Online, The British “Islamic” Lifestyle Experience (1): Religiosity or Commercialization?, 20 Sep 2011 "This article explores the ideology of buying into Islam on the British high street, online and over the British Muslim media. It examines whether these recent developments are benefitting Muslims in Britain, or commercializing Islam; turning it into a profitable business."

Research on Muslim chaplains

BBC News, Muslim chaplains connect communities to public bodies, 27 Sep 2011 "Amongst the findings were the "strong Islamic" justification for chaplaincy work in a health care context, with chaplains citing the example of the Prophet Muhammad visiting the sick."

This relates to research led by Sophie Gilliat-Rae at Cardiff University.

'Britain rounds up suspected terrorists'

UPI, Britain rounds up suspected terrorists, 20 Sep 2011 "Police in the Britain's West Midlands this week conducted intelligence-driven raids in Birmingham, arresting seven people and reportedly disrupting an Islamic terrorist plot."

Peace For Humanity Conference 2011

OnIslam, Muslim Scholar to Issue Peace Declaration, 18 Sep 2011 
 "A prominent Britain-based Muslim scholar [Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri] announced his plans to issue a historic global peace declaration next week in London, protesting against terrorism and educating the whole world against anti-Muslim racism and xenophobia."

Details: Peace For Humanity Conference 2011 – ‘Muhammad the Merciful’

Official website: www.peaceforhumanity.co.uk  and promo clip:

Modernist Islamic Architecture

arabnews.com, Modernist Islamic Architecture: Toward preserving a migrant past, 14 Sep 2011

"Understanding the evolution of the mosque, people’s relation to it and communal reaction have all played a big role in the new aesthetic MakeSpace is developing. “I think it is important that architecture talks about the present, about where it is and what it is, about the society that it is in,” he says. “Muslim British society is complex and layered. With each generation you get vast cultural changes; it is the new generations that dominate the Muslim landscape.”"

Opinion: Baroness Flather: 'Polygamy, welfare benefits and an insidious silence'

Opinion piece

 Daily Mail, Baroness Flather: Polygamy, welfare benefits and an insidious silence, 16 Sep 2011 "In this disturbing and brave exposé, a Pakistan-born baroness reveals how some of her countrymen have as many children as possible by several wives so as to milk our welfare system..."

Belgium

Soeren Kern, Hudson Institute, Islamic Sharia Law Court Opens in Belgium, 15 Sep 2011

"Sharia4Belgium is linked to Anjem Choudary, a Sharia court judge based in London. Choudary, who was the leader of a group called Islam4UK before it was banned by British anti-terrorism authorities, believes in the primacy of Islam over all other faiths and has long campaigned for Islamic law to be implemented in all of Britain.

"Choudary is also a leader of the British Islamic Emirates Project, a campaign to turn twelve British cities – including what he calls "Londonistan" – into independent Islamic states. The so-called Islamic Emirates would function as autonomous enclaves ruled by Islamic Sharia law and operate entirely outside British jurisprudence."

Book: Pointing the Finger: Islam and Muslims in the British Media

Peter Stauber (Reviewer), Counterfire, Pointing the Finger: Islam and Muslims in the British Media  

Book review of Pointing the Finger: Islam and Muslims in the British Media, eds. Julian Petley and Robin Richardson (Oneworld Publications 2011), 352pp

There's also a review by Tom Mills at New Left Project, Book Review: Pointing the Finger

As with so many other titles I refer to in my blogs, I haven't read this book yet (it cropped up in one of my student's papers!), but look forward to seeing it sometime.  

"Student in al-Qaida raid paid £20,000 by police"

Guardian, Student in al-Qaida raid paid £20,000 by police, 14 Sep 2011 "Police say sorry and pay damages to student held for seven days after downloading al-Qaida manual for his masters degree"

Opinion piece: 'Time to break free?'

Ahmad Ali Khalid, Dawn.com, Blog, Time to break free?, 11 Sep 2011 "“No, Jihad does not mean holy war, it means struggle in Arabic,” this was a phrase that my Muslim friends and I repeated all too often in the aftermath of 9/11 in Britain. My generation who grew up in the shadow of 9/11 have had our religious experiences shaped not by moving Sufi poetry, reading philosophy, speaking about theology or researching about our religious traditions. Our religious experience has been shaped by an act of symbolic political violence; it has been shaped by questions of war, accusations of terror and interrogations about our loyalty which brought up the question of identy."

London protests

CNN, Atika Shubert: In London, a 9/11 event both solemn and confrontational Telegraph, 9/11 anniversary: Muslim protesters burn US flag outside embassy in London

Manchester trial

Guardian, Jihad recruiters jailed after anti-terror trial, 9 Sep 2011 "Munir Farooqi, 54, Israr Malik, 23, and Matthew Newton, 29, were exposed after undercover police officers infiltrated faith stalls in Manchester and found they were trying to groom vulnerable men to travel to training camps and battlefields abroad, where they would "fight, kill and die" in a jihad against coalition forces."

'Britain's Muslim Soldiers - Voiceless yet Victorious'

Britain's Muslim Soldiers - Voiceless yet Victorious "The Shared War Project is a cross-community programme that retells the accounts of Muslim soldiers and also draws attention to African, African-Caribbean, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh and British efforts. For almost 4 years, we have witnessed the impact of telling these shared stories first-hand at schools, youth centres and community events. The Project encourages young people to view Britain as their home, to appreciate the contributions of their ancestors and to see themselves as stakeholders in Britain and not as voiceless subjects within a foreign land." [thanks to Yahya Birt for the link]