An open letter to young Muslims everywhere: the seed of triumph in every adversity

鼓勵那些生活在西方國家的穆斯林青年，不要失望，勇敢面對社會的不公與歧視。

When I was a little boy, I used to dream of being reborn outside the hardship of the Refugee Camp in Gaza, in some other time and place where there were no soldiers, no military occupation, no concentration camps and no daily grind - where my father fought for our very survival, and my mother toiled to balance out the humiliation of life with her enduring love.

When I grew older, and revisited my childhood fantasies, I came to quite a different conclusion: if I had to, I would do it all over again, I would not alter my past, however trying, in any way. I would embrace every moment, relive every tear, every loss, and cherish every triumph, however small.

When we are young, they often fail to tell us that we should not fear pain and dread hardship; that nothing can be as rewarding to the growth of one’s identity, sense of purpose in life and the liberation of the human spirit than the struggle against injustice. True, one should never internalize servitude or wear victimhood as if a badge; for the mere act of resisting poverty, war and injustice of any kind is the first and most essential criterion to prepare one for a more meaningful existence, and a better life.

華人穆斯林「離散」隨想

來到此地不知不覺已滿11個月，對於我來說是新的體驗。對於當地華人穆斯林社群的歷史、發展與現況多少有所了解。知道的越多，對當地穆斯林社群發展則有更多的無力感。這邊的華人穆斯林號稱2-3萬人，但在清真寺看到的華人穆斯林僅有幾個熟面孔，平均年紀在60-80歲左右。只有在特定時刻，如紀念亡人歸真、聖紀或是齋月的尊貴之夜時，才會看到以家族為單位的穆斯林參與，人數約1到2百人左右。這邊宣教工作與組織架構做的算是不錯，大學內部也設立專屬的伊斯蘭研究中心（雖然仍是萌芽階段），但沒有感受到當地華人穆斯林對這些活動的熱情與期盼。有關當地穆斯林活動的推廣工作，多半不是來自這個群體的華人穆斯林。也就是說，華人穆斯林社群本身似乎不太關心自身的發展，離開這個群體的人，遠遠多於仍留在這個社群的人。在這邊感覺不到伊斯蘭賦予的精神與能動性，信仰彷彿成為多數生活上的阻礙。

一位教親跟我說，當今穆斯林社群的紛擾與迷惑，是因為伊斯蘭原有精神不再。伊斯蘭最初的核心價值，一千多年過去，經由人為的詮釋與添加，失去最原始的核心價值（大意）。或者換句話說，伊斯蘭的信仰獨一的主與相信先知穆罕默德是真主派遣的最後一位使者，這個核心信條至今沒有改變。至今古蘭經仍是同一個版本，沒有更改過。但問題是，隨者時代與社會環境的變遷，不同時代背景的人，對於伊斯蘭的理解與實踐方式而有所差別。

隨者這幾年對中東局勢、西方穆斯林與兩岸三地華人穆斯林的觀察，這種感受則越強烈。穆斯林對於伊斯蘭的理解，很大程度受到所在地的政治與社會風氣影響，尤其是生活在多數非穆斯林地區的穆斯林社群，通常呈現兩極趨勢：1.跟隨主流價值，但面臨社群集體意識的崩解。2. 採取防禦姿態，時時告誡他人緊守信仰，與外界保持距離。

三週前有個華人穆斯林離散研討會，從離散角度討論生活在中國境外的華人(漢語)穆斯林。個人初步認為，已經沒有離散與否的問題，從離散角度未必適用於中國境外的華人穆斯林社群，因多數未必有回到老家定居的願望，尤其是當地出生的第二與三代，多半已經融入當地社會，這與祖父母輩在大陸的成長背景與經驗完全不同。另外，因兩岸的政策與對岸政治體制的關係，中國境外的漢語穆斯林與中國境內的穆斯林群體交流並沒有特別熱絡。因此可從另外一個角度思考，跳脫以中國為核心的根本思維概念，而改以當下所處的社會環境，重新理解伊斯蘭對於自身的意義何在？除了是個人與家族信仰之外，伊斯蘭能否增進社群的發展，與不同群體的穆斯林合作，或是對當地社會做出貢獻，讓更多人了解伊斯蘭精神，進而達到互利共生的方向？

The difficulty of being Muslim in France

法國穆斯林現況：不受到法國政府(House Arrest)與民眾的信賴。

Paris, France - Kamel Fertass and his friends are sitting outside their local McDonalds. It is in the middle of a roundabout in the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. "You want to hear my song?" he asks, holding out his phone.

He sings in a mixture of French and Arabic, his voice synthesised through a vocorder. The song is entitled 'J'ai mal à ma France' - I feel the pain of my France. This is the street cleaner's first musical foray, a means of channelling the grief he felt after hearing about the attacks on Paris on November 13.

"It's for everybody in France. We are French above all else," says the 28-year-old, whose parents came to this country from Morocco. "It's all we know. It's work, it's survival, it's everyday life."

Why I converted to Islam

賈霸從伊斯蘭得到歸屬感

I was born Lew Alcindor. Now I’m Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The transition from Lew to Kareem was not merely a change in celebrity brand name — like Sean Combs to Puff Daddy to Diddy to P. Diddy — but a transformation of heart, mind and soul. I used to be Lew Alcindor, the pale reflection of what white America expected of me. Now I’m Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the manifestation of my African history, culture and beliefs.

For most people, converting from one religion to another is a private matter requiring intense scrutiny of one’s conscience. But when you’re famous, it becomes a public spectacle for one and all to debate. And when you convert to an unfamiliar or unpopular religion, it invites criticism of one’s intelligence, patriotism and sanity. I should know. Even though I became a Muslim more than 40 years ago, I’m still defending that choice.

UK says Muslim communities must ‘own’ problem of extremism

1. 誰來定義與擁抱British Value?

2. 極端主義是政府中東政策造成，還是穆斯林本身的問題？

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday unveiled a new counter extremism strategy, which will aim to stop young Britons travelling to Syria. In it he called on Muslim communities to “own” the problem of "Islamist extremism", which he called "one of the struggles of our generation".

Key proposals in the plan include allowing parents to have passports removed from 16- and 17-year-olds, barring those with terrorism or extremist convictions from working with children and vulnerable people, and closing down mosques where extremism is deemed to be preached.

The new Counter-Extremism Strategy will also include a review of Britain's citizenship rules, making “good character” a key requirement in citizenship applications.

“Gaining British citizenship is a privilege and should signal a person’s commitment to becoming an active member of our society,” the strategy read.

“[We] will also consider who should be automatically entitled to citizenship and how we can more easily revoke citizenship from those who reject our values.”

A prominent commentator on Twitter who has in the past worked with the government said new plans to remove citizenship were worrying.

What Ramadan in Damascus looked like

介紹內戰前大馬士革齋戒月情況

In the next few days, Londoners are set to enjoy a cultural and musical event aiming to bring the Ramadan traditions of the Arab world into the heart of the British capital. The diasporic Arabs currently observing the grimness and uncertainty of the Arab political landscape from a distance will definitely find in this event a dose of hope and solace. They’ll celebrate classical Arabic music and the storytelling traditions known in Arab urban spaces by the name of Hakawati theatre. But as many Arabs and non-Arabs will participate in the event, Syrians from Damascus, in particular, will jubilate over the celebration of a tradition to which they are familiar, a tradition which is now slowly dying in a burning Damascus of civil strife and severe food, water and electricity shortages. For many Damascenes who are going to the event, memories will be revived about Damascus’s old mosques, walls, souks and historic cafes and palaces, the spaces of history which once showed how the holy month of Ramadan could be a platform for artistic and musical revival and also a platform for social solidarity and charity crossing religious and class boundaries.

As many people who visited Damascus during Ramadan before 2011 would recall, the city had always been keen on taking a moment of deep respite to show its best of traditional culture and music. The flaneur inside the city, in areas like Bab Al Amara, Salheyi, Meidan and also Bab Touma would have noticed how the old cafes in Damascus would become theatre-like spaces where one could find a storyteller mounting the stage and donning his red Tarboush while telling love stories about heroic and charitable characters like Antar, Abla, Qais, Laila and King Baibars of the Mamluk period. The audiences, puffing on their Shishas, would look stupefied and wholly taken into the adventurous world of the main characters and into the metamorphosing sound bites of the storyteller.

Why Muslim lives don't matter

Irrespective of what rallying cries, signs or adapted hashtags proclaim, Muslim lives in America don't matter. The aftermath of the murder of the three American students in Chapel Hill, and the broader context that spurred it, reconfirms this brutal truth.  

The three victims - Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were killed at approximately 5:11pm on Tuesday. The identity of the killer, Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was revealed roughly seven hours later. 

The Muslims of Early America

 IT was not the imam’s first time at the rodeo.

Scheduled to deliver an invocation at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo last week, Moujahed Bakhach of the local Islamic Association of Tarrant County canceled his appearance because of the backlash brought on by a prayer he had offered a few days before. The imam had been asked to confer a blessing on horses, riders and members of the military. He was met with gasps from the audience and social media complaints: “Outraged at a Muslim prayer at an all American event!” “Cowboys don’t want it!”

The Paris attackers hijacked Islam but there is no war between Islam and the west

The attack on Charlie Hebdo compels us to be clear and to be consistent. We have to condemn what happened in Paris absolutely. I said the same after 7/7 and after 9/11. And after Jordan and Bali and Mali.

It is particularly important to be clear about where we stand, for the attackers said things that cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. They said they were avenging the prophet. That was wrong. In fact, it is the message of Islam, our principles and values, that have been betrayed and tainted. They refer to Islam to justify what they did. From a religious viewpoint, I feel it is my responsibility to say that this has nothing to do with the message of our religion. I would expect anyone, if something was happening in the name of their country or in the name of their religion, to take a stand. As a Muslim scholar I have to take that stand.

That said, there is also a wider political side to this equation. We condemn what happened in France. We condemn the violent extremism that is targeting westerners. But it is not only westerners. We are reacting emotionally because 12 people were killed in Paris, but there are hundreds being killed day in, day out in Syria and Iraq, and still we send more bombs. We have to look at the big picture. Lives matter, but it is important to be clear that the lives of Muslims in Muslim majority countries have as much value as our own lives in the west.

What happened this week is a tragedy heightened by familiarity, for I met the cartoonist Charb (Stéphane Charbonnier), the editor of Charlie Hebdo, who was among those killed on Wednesday. We had a debate in which I told him that I respected his freedom to say whatever he wanted to say, and that there was no justification for any kind of censorship.

Is the Charlie Hebdo attack really a struggle over European values?

There is growing realisation that perhaps the tragic attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices on Wednesday was not actually about the cartoons themselves. Instead, Charlie Hebdo represented a strategic target as part of a broader tactic of polarisation.

Information is gradually trickling out that suggests that at least one of the gunmen involved, Cherif Kouachi, had long-standing terrorist links to Iraq as a middle man funnelling funds to extremists and as an aspiring fighter himself. His record of terrorist activity dates back to 2005 – at least one year prior to the Danish cartoons controversy. This suggests that while the cartoons were certainly a motivating factor, they cannot be labelled the impetus for Kouachi’s motivations. He may, as it turns out, fit into the increasingly familiar pattern of a disaffected European Muslim youth, with little religious inclination aside from an interest in a politico-religious narrative of vengeance against the “west”.