Bring your own Shisha

10/8 (note I’m using the standard UK way of stating the date first, i.e. 10th August, 11th September)

That would have been another date up there with 11/9, 3/7, 7/7.

Or so we the Metropolitan Police/Home Office would have us believe. I have no doubt that there may well have been a plot. But there are a few questions I would like answered:

This threat has been monitored ‘for months’ and ’scaled up six weeks ago’, but why is there this grape-shot approach to the airports?

Is this like when Tanks were rolled into Heathrow (piccies here) and is this another method for the Government to instill the fear in us necessary to pass legislation which will infringe further on our civil rights? Just for the record, a couple of days before the Tanks @ Heathrow incident, there was a small demonstration in London. Also interesting is the Home Secretary’s speech to Demos which was delivered on Wednesday this week.

Now let’s turn to the alleged terrorists: The Bank of England has frozen the assets of 19 of the 24 people currently being questioned by Police in relation to yesterday’s plot. Thus the names of these 19 have been released to the public. What I find disturbing though is that one of them (Abdul Muneem Patel) is not even 18 yet. This is surely ‘redicalisation of the youth’ at its finest.

When will people realise that the foreign policy of the UK/US is what is driving these young men into doing crazy things? I’ve seen people in the UK Muslim community adopt the mantle of victimhood citing a litany of ‘crimes’ including the occupation of Iraq and the lack of WMDs, the failure of the US to capture Bin Laden, the Israel/Palestine problem, now Lebanon, the US’ preoccupation with Iran (which actually does go back to the Revolution in 1979), the placing of US troops in Saudi Arabia (or as some call it incorrectly, the ‘Hijaz‘).

Then there is also the perception that Oil is the main driver behind the US/UK interest in the Middle East. The relationship between the US and the house of Saud has cooled after 11/9 and the potential for getting oil from Iraq and the Caspian area has precipitated that. Many will cite other problems in the world which just dont get the same attention: Darfur, the troubles in Sri Lanka, the countries in the world which needed more ‘Regime Change’ than Iraq did, i.e. North Korea, Myanmar, heck even Zimbabwe. No Oil, No Interest.

People will counter this with, ‘Well I don’t see people from Sri Lanka blowing up Western interests.’ And they are right, but this is a misunderstanding on how Muslims see the world and how non-Muslims see the world. Muslims consider themselves part of one body. One part is cut and the pain is felt elsewhere. This is so that race, States (which have always come and gone through history) and the colour of skin plays no part in people’s allegiances. The allegiance for Muslims is to one ‘flag’ and that has no physical boundaries as it is a belief. Muslims as a whole should care about what happens in the world, as opposed to people who dont share this belief focus in on largely what happens in their backyard.

To finish off however, I must say that the if this was a genuine Terror plot, then the intelligence services have done a great job, but it doesnt just end there. They are under pressure to perform and prevent any future actions/plots, but they must use the Muslim community and bring it under its wing to make any serious attempts at stopping this threat. As said before, if I hear someone is gonna blow up a something or other, I go to the cops. I don’t want to see people blown up. That is not my Islam.

A comment made on my last post has got me thinking about what we as muslims do and how we react. Recent reactions to the Danish cartoons and the general Muslim worlds obsession with revenge is saddening. In the last post I also mention the story to the Prophet Muhammad when he went to the town of Taif.

He went their to spread his word, and after rejection by all the chieftains he was run out of town and stoned. And he offered the following supplication:

O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources and my humiliation before the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favour is of more abundance to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or your displeasure descend upon me. I desire your pleasure and satisfaction until you are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.

The Angel (some say Jibrail/Gabriel) came to him and said ‘If you wish, I will destroy that town for you’ and bloodied though he was, Muhammad replied ‘No, I hope that these people will one day come to worship only God and Him alone’.

To my mind, the state of Jahil (Ignorance) is one which is fuelled by a hateful desire for revenge and entry into a vicious circle of violence and hatred, taking us all further away from the ability to do good.

Those who speak of vengeance against the West will the next minute destroy a building considered by others to be a place of worship. Because a person’s belief does not match mine does not mean I kill him. In fact the opposite is true. A true muslim would do what Islam the word means - Submission. Submit yourselves to what God is saying and doing and have belief that what is happening is for you and only because God has decreed it for you.

To all those who read the Qur’an and like taking things literally, read the second chapter, Al Baqarah and specifically verses 285-286:

285. The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His apostles. “We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His apostles.” And they say: “We hear, and we obey: (We seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys.”

286. On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) “Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith.”

Ultimately one of the fundamentals for life in this world for a Muslim is the understanding that this is only a temporary life and not to worry too much about it. It’s the hereafter we should worry about. So why do we get so het up about what people do and don’t do. Surely it was be simpler to accept life for what it is and get on with living it as best we can.

A close relative of mine has recently (in the last week) been appointed as the global head for an Islamic Charity. And he brings me an interesting story about perceptions.

A young orphan boy of around 7 (though he claims to be 11) lives in Dhaka’s Government New Market (no longer ‘new’ as it was built over 50 years ago). He lives under the stairs to the main market mosque and wakes every morning to find food. So he looks in bins and there are specific bins where you will always find a half eaten banana, or a bit of a coconut, or if you’re lucky a piece of bread. This staves off his hunger and then he starts running errands for the shopkeepers, i.e. bringing cups of tea, getting drinks etc. And by around 11am he may have earned enough to buy something to stave off the hunger until the evening. He then continues to work until the evening by which he will have earned around 12 Taka (around US$0.18) which will buy him an evening meal. Then its back to bed.

This is life for this orphan, one of possibly millions in Bangladesh, while there are people importing brand new Mercedes-Benz’ which at 100% import duty cost effectively double the cost. So the person who I have seen has imported an SL65 AMG is paying US$185,000 x 2 = US$370,000. While our little friend is spending US$0.18 for his main meal everyday.

Poignantly this young boy’s envy for a better life is not directed at this ‘Boro Lok’ (Big Man), but at other orphan girls of his age.Why? Because people will do ‘Kharap Jinish’ (bad things) with them and then will feed them properly. He perceives them to have the better life. He did say that there was an NGO nearby who did things for kids like him, but he couldn’t find it. My relative did give him some money so he didnt have to work for a week so he could spend the time finding that NGO and getting help.

And this is certainly not a unique story. There will be hundreds if not thousands like this boy whom we simply cannot see. It makes you wonder at what point we as humans stop caring. Is it something we are taught or is selfishness a natural state for us? Sometimes I think it is certainly the latter and some people just give up trying to get out of this state.

Bloggage is slow as I’m supposedly busy with work. Which I am but I certainly dont call it work. I, quite surprisingly, enjoy work and this I am not enjoying…but here’s a few thoughts…Israel believes it will become a pariah state soon…I suppose there are 2 ways of fixing it….either protect yourself  or reach out. I think on this occasion the former will have more effect.

UPDATE:

Oh and at least some people are doing stuff to aid understanding…

Cool Eid Weekend. Fireworks which fizzled. Family fun and relaxation. Ruqaiiya screaming with fear as all the other kids screamed the house down.

But otherwise all good. Nothing major happened. Just chilled. Well its Monday evening and I’m back in Brighton tomorrow. Booked a room at the Alias Seattle which looks wicked! Still, no doubt that the work isn’t going to be the same.

Have been thinking a lot about my iman and what I have done for its good recently. I can honestly say..’Not Much!’.

Ramadan has come and gone, but I dont feel like I used to. Not sure why. Just don’t.

Ramadan is so close, and I think about what it would be like to drop my addiction to caffeine. I try not to drink coffee in the evening as it is bound to keep me bouncing off the ceiling.

But surely Ramadan isn’t just about giving up the standard things…food drink and cussing.

I have made a promise to myself. Think of this month as a time to change for the better. I have made a lot of mistakes in my life both physical and spiritual. I have made promises to people and not kept them. I have lied. I have stolen. And all of these things have eaten away at my being. They have made me a different person.

I look at my wife and wonder at her strength of character and willpower. She is capable of so much. She can endure so much. I wish I had a millionth of what she has. For her presence in my life I am grateful. I grow more grateful everyday and hope that Ruq grows up to be just like her.

I have decided to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr properly this year. I have to order lights for the back garden. I have to look at decorations for the house as well. And I believe fireworks will be ordered (never realised how expensive those things are!).

Together with all of this fun and stuff…I want to recite the whole Qur’an this month. I don’t anticipate getting to every Tarawih given my work being all over the country. 

Ramadan Mubarak!