How to Lead a Revolution

These are just some thoughts I had.

Nearly 1500 years ago, a Prophet led a revolution which changed the world. He, peace be upon him, had many followers.

The youth are often crucial in leading revolutions. A man who most Muslims consider to be crucial to the growth of Islam after the Prophet died, Umar was just 27 years old when he became a Muslim. A man who became the 1st ambassador of Islam, who delivered an intelligent and eloquent speech to the King of Abyssinia to save the Muslims from being returned to the hands of their dangerous enemies, Ja'fa ibn Abi Talib  was no older than 25. There was also Mus'ab ibn Umayr, who was trusted by the Prophet to go to Yathrib to pave the way for the Muslim migration, to help unite to the divided clans of Yathrib under one religion. He was only 20 years old. Perhaps most amazing of all, the first boy to convert to Islam, a boy who did not for a second doubt the Prophet's message when others twice his age did, Ali was 10 years old.  These are just a few examples, Islam was in its early days, and indeed throughout history, pioneered by the youth, may God be pleased with them all.

Recently I've spent a lot of my time reading this book and a fair bit of time watching the news. In the light of what's been happening recently I can't help but  draw comparisons, even if these comparisons are quite tenuous. Today the youth are still trying to lead revolutions. In some areas of the world, they've succeeded tremendously and have toppled tyrannical regimes. In other areas, the youth have burnt, smashed and stolen things and hardly know why themselves.

Comparing the first example to the latter, there seems to be a  complete degeneration of the youth where young people in some societies are completely lacking direction. In the UK, politicians are racking their brains right at this very moment to try and come up with some plausible reasons as to why their youth decided to trash their own cities. Amidst the talk, I doubt any politician will point out the flaw of this country's misguided cultural tendency of excusing the youth from growing up. In the past, children grew up to become adults. Now they grow up to become adolescents. And whilst adults can lead revolutions, adolescents can't.

Just a quick post to say...

Buy my Aunty's book ;) 

Those of you who work in schools or have children in schools may have noticed that the literature on Muslims used in RE lessons isn't too great...particularly in secondary schools. Very little is known about the inspiring Muslim role models of our society, like Dr Hany El Bana, founder of Islamic Relief. Working very hard to improve the Islamic-based literature in our schools, author Suma Din has recently released a biography about Dr Hany himself, the first in a series of biographies about Muslim role models that will be used in our schools insha'Allah. The biography is also an extremely interesting read for adults, detailing his journey towards establishing the widely recognised and highly active charity that is Islamic Relief. Visit http://thekubeblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/dr-hany-el-banna-book-born-in-lincolnshire/#comment-23 to find out more.

Check the Label: Why I support FOA's campaign to boycott Israeli dates

Every Ramadan, Muslims break their fast with dates in the manner of their Prophet pbuh. But how often do we think about where our dates come from? This Ramadan, Friends of Al Aqsa have launched a campaign calling for the boycott of Israeli dates grown in illegal settlements in the West Bank and Jordan Valley. The profit made from these dates goes into the pockets of the illegal settlers and helps to fund the Occupation.

I support the campaign because the production of these dates grown in illegally occupied land and sold en mass to the UK takes away from the dignity and freedom of the Palestinians. Boycotts helped end the South African Apartheid; I believe that boycotting Israeli goods and sanctions is a necessary way to show solidarity to the Palestinians and work towards freedom from the Israeli apartheid. I urge anyone with a conscience to check their dates and boycott the following companies:

Furthermore, Friends of Al Aqsa is requesting support for their campaign by urging customers to write to wholesalers and shops and inform consumers. Please visit their website for further details of their campaign and for free literature:
http://www.foa.org.uk/campaigns/check-the-label

This diagram clearly explains the process of how Israeli dates end up on our plates, and where the money goes:

Remember there are many alternative dates to buy such as zaytoun dates, where your money directly benefits Palestinian farmers and their families. Zaytoun products have also been branded with the Fair Trade mark, ensuring that the farmers get a fair price for the work they do.

 *** Support the boycott of Israeli dates. Anti-Occupation does not equal Anti-Semitism.***

Presenting...The New Re:Balance Video!

Just a quick post-here's the video to our RE:BALANCE campaign which our small team painstakingly put together. I mean it when I say that-we filmed part of this in between downpours of rain at Kew gardens, part of it at our local library, part of it at the London Oxfam office  part of it in my cousin's back garden and the rest of it at my local mosque. Yep that's a lot of filming for 1mins 28 secs :)

Hope you enjoy it and hope it inspires you to RE:BALANCE!

Living Islam 2011

Just last week I was enjoying the beautiful sunshine at the Lincolnshire showground along with 2000 + people at Living Islam. If you've not heard of Living Islam before, it's a 3-4 day camp aimed at Muslim families with the purpose of educating and entertaining people of all ages. There's not much out there for British Muslim families in the way of resorts, and so Living Islam fills that gap. It's organised by the Islamic Society of Britain every few years and this year's timing was perfect, finishing the day before Ramadan and getting us prepared for the month of fasting to follow.

This is a little late then I planned but here are some pictures from last week at Living Islam:

This is the show ground where it took place- it was huge! This pic was taken before anyone had arrived.

And this was our accommodation for 3 nights :) A city of tents.

                                                                 ISB were the organisers.

This is Big Top, where all the evening entertainment and major talks took place.

                                                              The outdoor prayer area.

                                          
                                       There was a bazaar with stalls of hijabs, books, jewellery etc.

After Jum'ah there was an airshow with the Areostars Air Display team. They were incredible-I can't count how many times I thought they were going to crash. Amazingly they never did :)

Katie Piper, who starred in channel 4's 'My Beautiful Friends' payed a visit. She established the Katie Piper Foundation to support victim of acid burn attacks. This is her website:  http://www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk/

                                                      BBC Lincolnshire dropped by to do some
                                                                           interviews

                                                 Ajmal Masroor hosted all the evening events.

                                                        The Sound of Reason performed...

                                                       Watched by crowds of excited girls

                                           There was a stunning firework display on Friday night

                                                                Amazing Qur'an recitation

                                                              And never a shortage of food!

                                                                     Living Islam at Night. 

All these pictures were taken from the Islamic Society of Britain's Facebook group. If you'd like to see them all visit http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=657562834#!/BritIslam

Re:Balance-Official Campaign Launch

The campaign I was speaking about in my previous post is finally up and running-visit our facebook page to find out more!

http://www.facebook.com/re.6alance