Thumbs up for Sky’s iPhone App

I’ve just finished watching the Arsenal v Liege match on Sky’s iPhone App, and i was really pleased with what i saw. Picture quality was good, there wasn’t any stuttering, just a seamless stream of live football.

At the moment i’m on a 3 months-free trial, but i could be tempted to sign up for £6 a month when this deal expires, especially because the app includes ESPN (which you have to pay for separately if you subscribe on the TV).

If i was abroad where Premiership football wasn’t available i would definitely subscribe.

New Adab classes on Saturdays at Lewisham Islamic Centre

http://www.lewishamislamiccentre.com/

Muslim school finances

Interesting article on the BBC site here about Muslim Schools facing the threat of closure in the wake of the credit crunch.

Lots of Muslim schools run on a shoestring budget, and that is in part due to the very low fees they charge. They’re trapped between a rock and a hard place: if they charge too low (which i think they already do), it results in low-paid teachers and a lower quality of facilities. If they were to charge a higher fee in line with market rates, tight Muslim parents wouldn’t pay up and the school wouldn’t get any students. And lets face it, the Muslim community in the UK isn’t known for its wealth accumulation in the is it?

I’ve heard that very few independent muslim schools pay anything approaching the payscale that is applicable in state schools, and that other staff are on a fraction of the salaries in the state sector.

Its a good thing that many teachers in Muslim schools don’t do their job just for the money! May Allah reward them.

On the other hand, you have the demanding Muslim parents who think that just because they’re paying £3,000 a year their kids will receive some sort of pre-Eton sort of education. They don’t realise that many non-muslim schools are charging nearly the same amount amount per term.

As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Muslim schools can & should take steps which might enable them to charge higher fees, or at least ease the financial strain on parents. One of these is the Childcare vouchers scheme run by the UK government. It enables parents to pay nursery fees using vouchers which are bought from their pre-taxed salary. This can bring a saving of up to £1100 in school fees per year per working parent. And if you’re child’s fees are only £2800 – which i think is the norm, thats a massive saving of nearly 40%.

If your child is going to a Muslim school please get in touch and ask them to start accepting payments through childcare vouchers.

Continuing with the army theme…

Finally, one of the Muslim blogosphere’s more prominent writers has addressed a question that other popular blogs have steadfastly been ignoring. Umar Lee asks the question is it permissible for a Muslim to join a non-Muslim army?

This is a question that blogs are either not addressing, or deliberately closing down discussion of, such as at Muslim Matters.

Personally, I’m fast approaching a time when I am just going to have to turn away from the works of people like Yasir Qadhi (overseer of Muslim Matters) and Suhaib Webb, because at best they are
silent on fundamental issues such as these which deserve clarification, and at worst are tacitly supporting the view that it is permissible to join the army.

I think there is something strange going on amongst the Muslim activists of America and i can’t put my finger on it at the moment. Umar has touched on a couple of the problematic issues arising there, but there also seems to be an arrogance being bred there that is tied to being an American or Westerner. For instance you have this comment…

“I am an American Muslim, and I wish to be an active part of the American Muslim community… I actually now believe that the revival of the Muslim Ummah will come from the West. Imam Suhaib Webb and some of the du’at have great plans for opening up an Al-Azhar in America. I believe that the stage is already being set for the American Muslim community to take on the leadership role of the Ummah.”

From the same country which is spearheading the physical & intellectual assault on Islam? Err… no. I don’t think so.

Jammy France

Jammy France have made it through to the World Cup Finals next year. I’d been looking forward to reading news of Domenech being crucified in the French Press tomorrow, but it looks like i’ll be waiting at least another 8 months.

And you just know that is what will happen. He is an absolutely awful manager who has made a team led by the fantastic pairing of Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka look toothless and uncreative. In fact, all through the match when the TV cameras focussed on him, he would be standing motionless. What about motivating the team? What about driving them on? The only movement from him seemed to come in the 121st minute when he was blowing for the final whistle. Quite pathetic.

In a sense its good to see France taking their place in the World Cup, but at the same time, its going to be a bit uncomfortable watching their butts getting whupped by everyone when the tournament starts. And that is whats likely to happen save for some miracle.

Double losers

I’m surprised at just how much attention Imam Anwar al-Awlaqi is getting after the Fort Hood shootings. I’ve seen as much written about Imam Anwar as about the shooter, Nidal Hasan, which is bizarre given the relatively weak links between the two men. Lets not forget the extent of these links:

• Hasan prayed at the same mosque Anwar was the Imam of until around 7 years ago
• Hasan visited the same mosque again to attend his mother’s funeral prayer
• they exchanged a number of emails not exceeding 10 – over a period of six or seven YEARS!
• Hasan was previously investigated by the FBI for terrorist connections, and the conclusion of these investigations did NOT warrant his arrest

At the same time, Muslim organisations have been trying to outdo each other in who can distance themselves the most from al-Awlaqi, with JIMAS being one of the worst examples, issuing a statement on their website which concludes:

“JIMAS has decided to completely remove any and all promotion of Anwar Al-Awlaki through his talks and CDs that were available through us. Furthermore, we urge all Muslim organisations and groups to do the same.”

The full statement is available here.

I look at individuals and organisations who engage in this sort of behaviour as losers in two ways:

The first is that regardless of how much they try to distance themselves from al-Awlaqi, that past association will continually be brought up to smear them. Take for instance this article published on Spittoon which berates Inayat Banglawala for being unaware of al-Awlaqi’s jihadist tendencies despite Banglawala distancing himself from al-Awlaqi just a few days earlier. They’ll wash their hands of their brother but they still won’t get the level of acceptance that they crave.

The second is potentially earning the anger of Allah for completely disavowing themselves of a fellow Muslim. Have they forgotten the ayaat and the hadith on Islamic brotherhood?

——-

Returning to Inayat, who remembers Inayat’s articles in support of gay rights in the Guardian? And also inviting Pete “Gay Grandmaster of the UK” Tatchell onto Islam Channel? Well, that same Pete Tatchell who he is good buddies with is a confirmed speaker at this weekend’s Rally Against Shari’a.

I try not overdo the guilt by association thing, but come on Inayat! He is going to Rally Against Shari’a? Does that not ring any sort of alarm bell to you?

I wonder if Inayat wouldn’t mind also sharing a platform with BNP leader Nick Griffin, who afterall, openly admits to liking Islam’s stance against usury. So you see, we even have some common ground with him to work from.

——–

Finally, it constantly amazes me when i read statements like the following in response to Muslim Matters latest post entitled “Letters to Dr. Seuss”:

“Masha Allah, this was a very beautiful thing the Shaykh’s wife did. It shows we can work together with the Non-Muslim community to build a better society.”

Well no shit Sherlock, who turned on the light there? Who could ever have guessed that Muslims and non-Muslims could work together? Not me!

On a serious note, which planet have some Muslims been living on that ever gave them the idea that Muslims and non-Muslims were unable to get on with each other and help each other out?

And when the penny finally drops and they realise they can its like “WOOOOOOWWWW”.

Anyhow, i’m out of here…

Muslim in the army

The BBC have an article interviewing a Muslim who is training to join the British Army. The soldier’s comments illustrate the dilemma that Muslims will face if deciding to join the army: you’ll be accommodated, get your halal food and place to pray, as long as you’re also willing to shoot down your brethren in faith.

Private Hussain says:

“If I was out in Afghanistan in uniform I would be shot at right away, as the Taliban would not know who I was or my Muslim background… so for me, it’s who shoots first … I don’t think religion comes into it, it’s more about terrorism.”

Whereas, the Qur’an says in chapter 4 verse 93:

“If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him.”

The only positive spin i can put on Pte Hussain being in the army is perhaps he is a Qadiani and therefore, not a Muslim anyway.

Continuing on the fallout to the Fort Hood shootings i’m disappointed at how quickly and how completely some Muslims & Muslim organisations have rushed to distance themselves from Imam Anwar al-Awlaki. You have Inayat Bunglawala arguing aganst him on the Guardian site. What i find ridiculous, given Inayat’s background with YM and Ikhwan al-Muslimeen is his closing statement:

“The key challenge is to convince young people who are vulnerable to al-Qaida’s propaganda that politics can be made – and must be made – to work.”

Has he forgotten what happened in Algeria to the Islamic-flavoured government back in the 90s after they won their election? What about HAMAS within the last few years? Weren’t they voted into power in a democratic election? How have they been treated by those who champion politics as a solution to everything?

Likewise Abu Muntasir, the chairman of JIMAS has also washed his hands off of Imam Anwar, writing on Suhaib Webb’s blog:

“We at JIMAS still held on to some of his lectures and CDs, but now it is crystal clear that we can’t be morally responsible for supporting any admiration for Anwar Awlaki anymore, when he advocates murder and treachery in such a vile way. I had known him quite closely for a while and he had been a speaker at a number of our conferences, so it has been not been easy to live with the hurt he has been causing with his unbalanced opinions. May Allah guide him and us. I hope we can remove all references to him on our web site and Cafe soon by the grace of Allah.”

It does seem that Imam Anwar’s latest posting goes against classical Islamic teachings on the prohibition of treachery, but there is no question as to his being a Muslim, which one cannot say with as much certainty for a Muslim serving in the British Army.

Unfortunately, i know which of those two Inayat would be more likely to show public support for.

Another shooting in America

A couple of thoughts come to mind following the killing of 13 American soldiers by a Muslim serving in the army.

Reports unanimously describe Major Hasan as a devout Muslim who prayed five times a day – regularly offering salaah in the mosque. The question comes to mind: what was a Muslim who is that serious about his religion doing in the US army in the first place? Its the army that invaded two Muslim countries and also brought us Guantanamo & Abu Ghraib.

It could be the case that he became more religious after having joined the army, and there are reports that he had wanted out for a while.

Personally, i don’t consider that the heart beat of the Muslim world lies with the Muslims in the UK, Europe and the US. We are on the fringes of the ummah both geographically and even in terms of sentiment. Being surrounded by increasingly hostile media coverage is forcing Muslims and our organisations to take positions which are moving farther and father away from orthodox Islam day by day. I wish that the Muslims who keep on referring to the US army with statements of pride and affiliation (e.g. “our boys who are protecting our great country” sort of stuff) would consider what the Muslims all the way from Malaysia in the East to Algeria in the West would say regarding Muslims serving in the US army.

2) If i was the chief of the US or UK army, I wouldn’t pander to political correctness and instead ban Muslims from joining the armed forces. In an institution such as the army you can’t afford to have men who have divided loyalties. I think it is undeniable that if there was the threat of a “fifth column” within the US army it would be from the Muslim segment. In today’s political climate would you expect a Hispanic soldier to turn on his army colleagues? Or an Afro-American? I wouldn’t.

Any Muslim in the US army must at some point feel the need to reconcile between his faith, the brotherhood of Islam that his faith entails, and the fact that the institution he is serving is day in day out fighting against his brothers in faith.

If i was the head of the army, i wouldn’t take a chance on recruiting a Muslim soldier who today joins the army when he is lax with his faith, then tomorrow his mind clicks, his loyalties rearrange, and its God at the top and not Queen and country.

More: MuslimMatters look at the shooting from a different angle.

North London derby

I went to my first north London derby at the Emirates today. I was running a bit late because i chose a new route to cycle down to the stadium, but found that some of the main roads that i needed to take were blocked off completely because of Olympics construction work. In the end I got there 5 minutes late after asking 10 people for directions along the way then stopping off at to read Zuhr at nearby Finsbury Park Mosque.

The atmosphere was brilliant but still not quite as noisy as last year’s 2-0 home win against Man U.

I’m not going to write a full match report but we completely owned Tottenham. I can’t think of any notable chances falling their way, except a few headers on targe from Crouch, but the you’d expect that from him. Van Persie’s opening goal came with great timing a few minutes before half-time, and all the Arsenal fans were still yelling “who are ya?” to the Spuds fans down in the corner when Fabregas ran straight through three challenges from Tottenham players and put it past their goalie.

GOOOOAAAAAL!

Everyone went crazy and started singing or dancing.

In the end we ran out 3-0 winners comfortably. The only sour point was a sub-standard performance from Abou Diaby who couldn’t seem to put a foot right, or connect a pass until about the 75th minute. I think if we had started with Nasri in place of him, that score line could easily have been 5-0 or 6-0.

Finally, one player who has really improved massive amounts in the last 12 months or so is Alex Song. I remember when he didn’t seem to be playing too well a couple of seasons ago, but he is putting in excellent performances week-in-week-out now. Keep it up Alex!

High point today: Cesc’s goal
Bizarre point today: Walking out of the stadium next to a woman, who looked to be be in her mid-60s, singing: Three nil! We beat the scum three-nil, we beat the scum three-nil!

Letter from Tarek’s brother

The more we learn about this case, the more outrageous it makes MM’s article seem. To a number of people the apology posted by Yasir Qadhi sounds less like a full retraction of the article and more like “we still believe what we said but should have used a better choice of words.”

For just a moment, I’d like to ask you to place yourself in my brother’s situation. You have a bright future as a pharmacist earning six figures. You come from a cushy life, no debt, and you have a pretty comfortable future to look forward to. The FBI approaches you and gives you this choice: “help us by informing on people in your community and we’ll reward you very well. Refuse to help us and we will make your life a living hell.”

Think about that for a second. Imagine if you had it made, and all of a sudden your entire future was threatened. My brother is facing life in prison now and his pending conviction means he can never work as a pharmacist in the states again. All he has to do is agree to inform and ALL OF THIS will DISAPPEAR. And yet he CONTINUES to refuse to, because it is flat out wrong. Who knows, maybe if he agreed, it would be YOU that got screwed from it, because as my brother’s case should show you, informants are really good at making stories up. After all, the FBI pays them $60,000 a year + housing and relocation to do it. It really doesn’t matter if you did anything wrong or not anymore. It’s all politics for the FBI, and they’re looking for glory.

My brother’s behavior is the exception in this type of situation. A lot of people end up making deals with the FBI. They figure, who cares, i’ll help them bust somebody I don’t even know, what do I care… it’s my future, gotta look out for #1. I want you to ask yourself if you would have the strength to make the right decision there. My brother did. And it could have been you, one of your close friends, or your family members that was spared this type of experience because my brother made the right decision. But now, he needs you to make the right decision. He needs you to do the responsible thing, and support him for what he is enduring as a result of protecting you. Because if people do not show their support for him after all of this, then the next guy that gets approached by the FBI like this will figure, “Why should I do the right thing? Last guy that did the right thing was thrown to the dogs. I gotta look out for myself.” We simply cannot afford to encourage that kind of behavior in our community. We need to help each other and protect each other. The FBI is not out for justice; they are out for blackmail and their favorite strategy is to turn people against one another. We simply CANNOT afford to be afraid to support each other.

One way or another, Allah will be the final adjudicator in this case, as He is in all cases. I trust in Allah and believe that He will have mercy on us. You just need to decide where YOU stand on things. Tariq has made his choice, and anybody with greater intellect or reasoning capabilities than a 1st grader can see through the RIDICULOUS story that the FBI “alleges.” You need to make your choice now. I urge you to make the right choice, and for the sake of my brother and the good of our communities, whether they be Islamic or non-Islamic, to support us at the upcoming hearing in person. Thanks for reading this.

Here is a related YouTube video.