By Irfan Jalil

“The media” eh? God bless it. It’s normally a popular subject at the sheesha joints. We can blame it for all the ills of the world.

We’d love to have a good old bash, but someone realised that we, “The Revival”, are part of the media too. The magazine. The website. The interviews. It’s all a part of the media. So we toned it all down and decided to concentrate on other media outlets.

The media has a strong influence on public opinion. It provides not only information but ways of looking at the world. It informs and influences. Issues about Muslims are very often shaped by the media. (Read More and comment)

Question

To what extent are Muslims allowed to take part in non–Islamic festivals such as Christmas, Halloween, Easter etc?

For example, can Muslims give Christmas cards to non-Muslim neighbours, colleagues and friends or attend Christmas dinners if invited by the local church?

Answer

There are different rulings for Muslims participating in non Islamic festivals and this depends on whether the festival is a religious cultural or habitual practice. (Read More & comment…)

When I first heard that someone had shot and killed 32 people on an American university campus, the first thought that came to mind was: Please God, let it not be a Muslim! By the time the full details of the horrific tragedy unfolded, it was clear that he wasn’t, although a brief moment of dread emerged when the shooter was described as Asian.

Of course to the victims of that massacre on that campus in Virginia and to those who loved and knew them, it wouldn’t have mattered one way or another what faith the killer followed, which nationality he belonged to or what ideology, if any, he subscribed to. (more…)

Hamza Yusuf was born in Washington State and grew up in Northern California, where he lives with his wife and five children. He converted to Islam in 1977 and spent 10 years studying Islam in the Middle East where he followed a more classic interpretation of the religion. After the attacks of 9/11, Yusuf emerged as a respected Islamic scholar, advising both the White House and the Arab League.

In recent years, he has focused his teachings on bridging the widening gap between the West and the Muslim world. In this interview, he talks about “tyranny” and “incompetence” on both sides and offers his prescription for creating more common ground. This is an edited transcript of an interview that took place in September 2006 (more…)

Christmas is an annual Christian religious holiday commemorating the birth of Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him. For many Muslims who even do not celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, it becomes an issue of what stand they should take.

There have been a number of legitimate criticisms of the holiday from Muslims and non-Muslims based on theological and cultural considerations. However, this cannot be used to disregard the holiday as merely an exercise in ancient pagan practices, for instance, or excessive consumerism. Muslims have to remember that for practicing Christians, Christmas really is about Jesus. (more…)

I have a confession to make – I am sick of being integrated.

I feel like a piece of furniture…I can’t help what I am made of or what colour I am but I still feel I don’t fit in with the rest of the house.

In a week when all we could talk about was the veil it was interesting to note that no-one seemed to have said the obvious.

Not even Jack Straw for whom it takes years to bring up a subject. (more…)

Most of us are fortunate enough to be born in a Muslim family. However, it is common knowledge that those who get something after working hard for it appreciate and value it so much more then those who get something automatically. It is for this reason why, most of us do not value, appreciate or even know what it means to be a Muslim.

(Read more & comment)

By Alveena Salim

Easy! Check him out…he must be the fittest boy I’ve ever seen… lets sit closer to get a better view … Gwaan check him out, but don’t be too obvious…

Sound familiar? Its one of the most common topic of conversations in most schools and colleges, “We’re only looking, it’s minor” is the defensive response of most. However the question arises “Is it really not that much of a big deal?”

(read more & comment)

Due to obvious reasons we are more inclined to befriend like-minded individuals. Someone who’s there for us when we need them, someone who empathises with us when we’re stressed out, someone who understands us and thinks in the same way that we do, this is the basic criteria of choosing a friend. So if we have friends whom our parents don’t approve of, friends who behave in a shameless and immoral manner, friends who break all the limits ordained by Allah (swa), what does this reveal about us?

(read more & comment)

The Holy Prophet (saw) has told us to appreciate five things before they go, one of which is youth before old age. Youth possess phenomenal amount of energy, and if this energy is channelled in the correct way it can guarantee a place in Paradise.

(read more and comment)

By Alveena Salim

US foreign policy and political Islam today are deeply intertwined. Every US president since Jimmy Carter has had to deal with political Islam; none has been so challenged as George W. Bush. Policymakers, particularly since 9/11, have demonstrated an inability and/or unwillingness to distinguish between radical and moderate Islamists. They have largely treated political Islam as a global threat similar to the way that Communism was perceived.

However, even in the case of Communism, foreign policymakers eventually moved from an ill-informed, broad-brush, and paranoid approach personified by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s to more nuanced, pragmatic, and reasonable policies that led to the establishment of relations with China in the 1970s, even as tensions remained between the United States and the Soviet Union. (more…)

With the significant increase in pre-marital relationships in the last 30 years amongst our Muslim brother and sisters, it does seem as if most of us no longer have any shame. One just needs to visit their local shopping centre, cinema or library to see the significant increase in unmarried Muslim couples. We have an increase in Romeo’s roaming the streets, happily driving around the block all day long looking for girls and an increase in melodramatic Juliet’s who’ll “just die if they don’t end up with their man”.

(read more & comment)

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf addressed the ICNA “Why Islam?” Symposium on March 18, 2006. He spoke of the need to express the benefits that Islam has to offer to America. (more…)

A confident, modern Islam must challenge the victim mentality of western Muslims and a crisis of authority across the faith, says Tariq Ramadan.
(more…)

After the London tube bombings last year, British Muslims mobilized to fight Islamic extremism.

The Radical Middle Way project was designed to give young people a different view of their religion.

Within three weeks of the 7 July bombings, the British government set up a series of “Preventing Extremism Together” workshops with 100 British Muslims. Mostly young and from all walks of life, their job was to provide insight into why a small minority of Muslims veer over the edge into fundamentalism, while the majority do not. (more…)

I wish every Christian in America could have heard what I heard the other night.

Two of the nation’s most learned and respected religious scholars came to Memphis to talk about Islam and civic responsibility, two topics that don’t always seem to go together. Honestly, don’t you sometimes wonder — even the most open-minded and big-hearted among you — if there’s some inherent flaw in Islam? (more…)

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf in Denmark:

Challenges of Co-Existence.

LISTEN

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri

The world is facing yet another challenge following the world-wide controversy caused by the publication of blasphemous and defamatory caricatures of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in some European newspapers. The failure of governments to address this situation has allowed it to spread all over the world, with no end in sight. This situation has been unnecessarily allowed to spiral out of control and has threatened the concept of peaceful co-existence. If not addressed, it can lead to a potential clash of not only civilisations but religions and societies as well. (more…)

Muslim Spain was a land where Muslims, Jews and Christians co-existed in relative peace and harmony. Its capital, Cordoba, although not unique amongst Spanish cities, became the centre and focus for generations of revered and respected philosophers, physicians and scholars. By the 10th century Cordoba was one of the largest cities in the world.

In Our Time, BBC Radio 4. With Tim Winter.

Read more

LISTEN (RealPlayer)

There are approximately 150,000 Muslims in Denmark, with those of Turkish heritage being the largest group at 36,000. Earlier migrants came primarily for economic reasons, but in the 1980’s and 1990’s, most migrants came as refugees. Those with refugee background currently constitute about 40% of all Muslims in Denmark. Approximately 25,000 were naturalized citizens by the late 1990’s. Muslims live primarily in the larger cities with the greatest concentration being in Copenhagen.

The latest figures from the Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs from January 2003, give an unemployment rate of 12% for immigrants and their descendents but only 4% for native Danes. In response, Denmark enacted the Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation to combat discrimination in employment, but despite widely acknowleged problems, few cases have been brought before the magistrates.

(more…)

How the books that you read can be used against you in a way similar to the Thought Police in George Orwell’s novel, 1984.

Many Muslims who have been arrested under the Terrorism Act, have been charged with possession of materials – materials that are widely available in bookshops, web sites and even your local newsagent. (more…)

By Sajid Iqbal. Editor, The Revival

A year and a half has passed since September 11th 2001. Now you would have thought that the events of 9/11 would have made non-Muslims hate Islam and the Muslims forever.

You would have thought that the September 11 attacks would have damaged the name of Islam forever but you know what… (more…)

BY Karen Armstrong

Time Magazine, October 1, 2001 Vol. 158 No. 15

There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, and Islam is the world’s fastest-growing religion. If the evil carnage we witnessed on Sept. 11 were typical of the faith, and Islam truly inspired and justified such violence, its growth and the increasing presence of Muslims in both Europe and the U.S. would be a terrifying prospect. Fortunately, this is not the case. (more…)

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear brother in Islam, we are really impressed by your question, which shows how concerned you are about the affairs of your fellow Muslims and your interest to abide by the Shari`ah in all details of your life. May Allah help us all lead a righteous life based on Islam! (more…)

Why a nun can be covered from head to toe and she’s respected for devoting herself to God, but when a Muslimah does that, she’s “oppressed”?

Why a jew can grow a beard and he’s just practicing his faith, and when a Muslim does that, he’s an extremist? (more…)