‘If you don’t like it here… go back home’

I really hate it when I get into discussion with certain people about what being a Muslim means to me… the discussion often concludes with one sentence, and more than often since Dr Rowan William’s comments. ‘If you don’t like it here, go back HOME.’ Go back home, where? I don’t have a ‘back home’. I find this kind of response annoying more than offensive because of ignorance and narrow mindedness involved, and that coming from people depicted as the most progressive and civilised people on earth. I am not shy to discuss what I believe in, and I dont’t have a problem presenting it to people as an alternative way of life, why can’t people do the same? I don’t know.

If we were to explore the idea of going back home, which unlike me, most immigrant Muslims living in the West can do so…would it solve anyones problem? Well, not really. Most Muslim countries which have abundance of resources are run by tyrant despotic rulers installed and supported by the West working to secure those resources for the West. Regimes changes only occur when the Western interests are at risk of being fulfilled, one dictator is simply replaced by another and sometimes at the cost of thousand of innocent lives such as in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most problems of the Muslim world, however complex, can sometimes be narrowed down to the presence of these idiot rulers and their puppet regimes working against Islam and Muslims in cahoots with the Western rulers. And when any neo Islamic party termed ‘Islamist’ comes close to power even through fair electoral process, who feels the first itch? Sometimes it seems almost impossible for Muslim world to free itself from the shackles of Imperialism/colonialism and the constant interference from the West to be able to decide its own political destiny.  So what are they suppose to do? Perhaps, it would sound reasonable to send people back home if they were going to bring back their own troops, stop interfering in their lands and allow them to live however they wish to. But that I don’t see happening, not when this hypocritical theory of ‘one law for all’ will soon be applicable to the world.

Regardless of all that, the ‘if you don’t like it here, go back home’ attitude clearly highlights the strength of ideas people hold and their views towards minorities. Muslims are accused of being emotional, ready to explode the minute their faith is questioned, but didn’t those accusers explode with emotions of anger at the speech made by Dr Rowan Williams? Is it understandable for people to react in such way? Isn’t it clear that it is not only some Muslims, but narrow-mindedness, ignorance, intolerance very much prevails in the West too?

Cheap Fried Chicken

Fried chicken being sold in Yorkshire for some ridiculously cheap prices:

1pc chicken and fries: 85p

2pc chicken, fries and drink: £1.99

chicken burger, fries and drink: £1.99

Grilled baby chicken: £2.50

7″ Pizza with three toppings: 95p

Chicken being sold in these places is probably not chicken and something else, if it is really chicken, than such prices are an insult to the chicken itself.  I refuse to buy any take away meal involving chicken for less than £2.99… but this does not mean I would happily eat at Nandos who charge far too much.

Bring on good chicken for morally acceptable prices.

Stuff going on

There is lots going on. To start with, it was revealed on Sunday that Sadiq Khan MP for Tooting was bugged twice by the Metropolitan Police which may have shocked government ministers and members of Parliament but comes as little surprise to British Muslims who for some time have felt that they are living in a “Police State.” Sadiq Khan is a lawyer by profession and was bugged twice on his visits to Woodhill prison to discuss legal matters with his constituent Babar Ahmed.

Bugging of MP ‘ordered by Police officer’

PRESS RELEASE: Reaction by Family to Police Bugging of MP’s Visit.

Egypt-Gaza border is being sealed again causing confusion, havoc and casualties on both sides. – Palestinian shot dead after Egypt-Gaza border sealed

On the issue of Iraq, a very good article discussing facts and trends on the ground. – The State of the (Iraq) union.

Divorce Sharia Style was a documentary shown on Ch4 last Sunday. The documentary centered around the London based Islamic Sharia Council and the kind of challenges it faces in being officially recognized. Aside from that, it also highlighted lack of understanding of shariah rules by Muslims showing exactly how stupid and naive some Muslims living in Britain can be! A more lengthy discussion on this can be found at Sumera’s Inner Reflections Transcribed.

In the blog sphere, Shahrzad and Unique Muslimah are working on a brand new blog project called: Empowered Muslim Youth. Please take a look and support their project by giving your input.

I have also been reading Dr Marranci‘s rather interesting blog: Islam, Muslims and an Anthropologist.

Oh and Pakistani Spectator was kind enough to send me bunch of interview questions which they have now published on their site. I must admit I knew nothing about this excellent blog until I’d seen it.. and what can I say? If you like to know anything about Pakistan, its people, culture and particularly Political analysis… it’s the one stop blog for all.

Breakup of the Middle-East

The breakup of the Middle-East and most of the Muslim world is the most talked about subject these days. I found this articles at the Atlantic.com which discusses Iraq and the future map of what is known as the Muslim world.

A report from the new Middle East—and a glimpse of its possible future

by Jeffrey Goldberg

After Iraq
Not long ago, in a decrepit prison in Iraqi Kurdistan, a senior interrogator with the Kurdish intelligence service decided, for my entertainment and edification, to introduce me to an al-Qaeda terrorist named Omar. “This one is crazy,” the interrogator said. “Don’t get close, or he’ll bite you.”

Omar was a Sunni Arab from a village outside Mosul; he was a short and weedy man, roughly 30 years old, who radiated a pure animal anger. He was also a relentless jabberer; he did not shut up from the moment we were introduced. I met him in an unventilated interrogation room that smelled of bleach and paint. He was handcuffed, and he cursed steadily, making appalling accusations about the sexual practices of the interrogator’s mother. He cursed the Kurds, in general, as pig-eaters, blasphemers, and American lackeys. As Omar ranted, the interrogator smiled. “I told you the Arabs don’t like the Kurds,” he said. I’ve known the interrogator for a while, and this is his perpetual theme: close proximity to Arabs has sabotaged Kurdish happiness.

Read the rest

muslimsweety

For those who are curious, muslimsweety is not the name of a new sweet or anything else for that matter.

I am participating in a learning competition set on the Ummah Forum  to get a better understanding of how search engines and website rankings work, which I actually don’t understand. So it may prove to be a worthwhile and educational participation, in someway or the other.  🙂