Islamic aesthetics

One well-known Hadith states, “Allah is beautiful, therefore Allah loves beauty”. [Muslim]

I can clearly recall a very interesting lunch conversation on the topic of ‘Islamic aesthetics’, a research of which has been opened up by Dr. Sulaiman Dufford in his PhD research for Universiti Putra Malaysia. Dr. Dufford points out that the majority of Muslims who convert from other religions are first and most powerfully attracted to Islam by aesthetic factors. I have read his recently translated book, “Liku-liku Pencarian Nur Islam” (now available at MPH Bookstores) which touches upon a number of aesthetic elements in the way Islam presents itself to outsiders. The first aesthetic miracle for the convert is, of course, the call to prayer or azan.

As we also know from Hadith in both Bukhari and Muslim, the “dreams of the true believers” are the last surviving remnant of the Prophet Muhammad’s own ‘wahy’ or revelation. This Azan was revealed in a dream to Abdullah bin Zaid (r.a), one of the Prophet’s companions, and has come down to us all these generations in complete purity.

What identifies the potential convert immediately is the feeling that the Azan creates an urge to respond, to DO something. Later, these converts learn to pray in a way unknown in previous religions. Those who only pass it by, as it were, do not convert.

Even before hearing an exquisite Azan (although all are not, sadly, that well done), the non-Muslim is often strongly impacted by mosque architecture. The genius of the Sultan Sulaiman’s architect, Sinan (himself a convert from Christianity) has moved many a non-Muslim visiting Istanbul, Turkey. Possibly even before seeing Muslim mosques, there is an aesthetic to the social behavior of the good and simple Muslims of the world (not so much, alas, the rich ones) that also may move the potential convert in mysterious new ways. Visitors to Jerusalem may note the simple Palestinians reciting Al Qur’an in their quiet shops.

If these examples of “Keindahan Allah” (Allah’s Beauty) are valid and important in today’s world, what, then, should be our response as Muslims to the aesthetic element of our beloved religion?

In the first place, we must be CAREFUL. Aside from guarding the pure beauty of our women, we must pay much closer attention to our prayer calls, for example. The Azan should always be live, not some endlessly repeated tape. And not anyone should give the call. Those who cannot do it well must be gently discouraged from grabbing the microphone at prayer time. As expressed by yet another convert, sometimes the calls he heard only made him want to run into the nearest closet!

We Muslims have an incomprehensible tendency to ‘habituate’ to Qur’anic recitations. How much chatting goes on during our recitation competitions? Why do we nowadays dispense with opening so many of our classes or public sessions with Al Qur’an? Or limiting such recitation to one or two minutes, fearing that the attention of the Muslims will quickly stray?

Why do we utterly disregard the beauty of our recitations by calling for ‘silent repetitions’ of Surah Al Asr, for example, in the Christian manner of calling for ‘a moment of silent prayer’? Why would we ever want to imitate Christians in this way, those people who possess neither the Qur’an nor the Solah itself?

Why do our so-called ‘Islamic radio stations’ imitate the West with bouncy, rap-like station identifications and slogans? Why do such stations often introduce their own Azans with different types of music? Why do they end their broadcast Qur’anic readings with a taped ‘Sadaq Allahu AlAzhim’ that is completely out of tune with the preceding recitation, and may even be a bit ugly? Such conclusion should be given LIVE by the studio announcers, not via some push-button tape.

Dr. Dufford is calling us to pay more attention to our ‘aesthetic sensibilities’. It is aesthetics that ‘sells’ our religion, not ‘jihad’. It is aesthetics that smoothes our social behavior, and the voice we must use when speaking with non-Muslims and Muslims alike, even in teaching or debate.

One definition of politeness is ‘social aesthetics’. One definition of covering the women’s ‘aurat’ is ‘gender aesthetics’. Casting our male eyes downwards would be an element of ‘male social aesthetics’. In our religion, the first, aesthetic look at a beautiful woman is free, but not the second, passionate one.

Many of our youth wish to explore the REASONS behind the regulations and habits of our Din, without necessarily challenging them. Perhaps the answers they seek can come through aesthetic explanations, rather than authoritarian, finger-shaking ones. For example, our sisters pray behind us precisely because they are stronger in ignoring us during their prayers, than we are in ignoring them!

We join our beloved children by paying attention to the aesthetics of their play. Indeed, they can teach us much about reviving the use of our Right Brains in this manner, as their Right Brains have been functional since birth, or perhaps even before. On the other hand, we impose our left-brain world upon them during all the years of their education, and then question why they lose their WONDER for the beauties of life, that very WONDER which is enjoined upon Muslims in so many verses throughout Al Qur’an. Modern neurology confirms the Gestalt-oriented, holistic and aesthetic processing of our Right Brains, which are already stronger in our children than they are in us as we age and struggle for economic survival (itself an exclusively left-brain activity).

It is that WONDER which must be sufficiently miracle-sensitive in itself, to prove the faith of the believer without suspending the laws of physics of the Natural Universe. And that WONDER is a purely aesthetic perception, which is why we must develop and refine our aesthetic sensibilities in all aspects of our daily lives, both within and outside of our mosques.

Islamic aesthetics is therefore the ‘Royal Road’, the background and context, the ‘template’, as it were, for our Ibadah, our Iman, our Ihsan, our Da’wah, and our sincerest aspirations to regain our lost Islamic civilization. May Allah swt continuously refine our aesthetic sensibility to perceive and wonder at His Creation, beginning with our own selves and the created universe in which we live, AMIN.

APA itu Nik Aziz??!!!

Terlalu banyak artikel dan perbincangan di blogsphere mempersoalkan siapa itu Nik Aziz … Kali ini saya secara peribadi ingin persoalkan APA itu Nik Aziz kerana kebelakangan ini terlalu banyak tindak-tanduknya dan percakapannya tidak mencerminkan seorang Islam sebenar sehingga mampu memecahbelahkan umat Islam…

Berikut adalah serba sedikit sejarah NikAziz yang dipetik daripada comment>> Facebook :

Komen AKAM….mengenai nik ajis… selalu mengamalkan sunnah Rasulullahsaw… dari mula… mengingatkan kita tentang dosa dan pahala….

Mari kita lihat bagaimana pendirian nik ajis didalam pentadbiran yang sebenar telah mengelirukan Ummah dengan kenyataan kenyataan serta dakyah dakyah yang berbaur wahabi dan kawarij yang jelas banyak mengelirukan rakyat malaysia. terutama ahli PAS khasnya..

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Sedikit sejarah pendidikan nik ajis untuk renungan:
Nik Aziz adalah seorang pelajar dalam bidang tafsir dan usuludin di sebuah pondok di Hyderabab. Pondok tersebut letaknya di Deo Band yang mana adalah dipengaruhi fahaman Wahabi. Fahaman Wahabi ini adalah adik kepada Khawarij yang mempunyai sikap “tidak Sabar”.

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Apa itu wahabi dan apakah itu kawarij..

Amalan kaum Wahabi menurut hadith Kaum Wahabi dua kali menguasai Hijaz iaitu 1803-1813 dan dari 1924. Perubahan yang mereka lakukan ialah :

1. Meruntuhkan kubah / bangunan di atas perkuburan Siti Khadijah di Mualla, makam Saidina Hamzah di Uhud dan lain-lain sahabat di Baqi pada tahun 1803-1924 kerana hadith nabi melarang membuat binaan di atas perkuburan. [1]
2. Meruntuhkan kubah / bangunan tempat maulud Nabi di Suqal-Lail di Mekah. Suqal Lail ialah tempat lahir Nabi.Wahabi berpandangan semua itu syirik dan membawa kepada penyembaahan berhala.
3. Melarang orang ziarah makam Nabi dan berdoa meghadap situ, kerana berpendapat semua doa hanya semata-mata kepada Allah.[2]
4. Melarang mengadakan perayaan pada hari Maulidur Rasul dan Hari Israk Mikraj. Semua ini dianggap puak wahabi sebagai bidaah dan perlu dihapus kerana tidak pernah diamalkan oleh nabi sendiri.
5. Melarang melagu-lagukan azan sebagaimana dalam hadith [3], terutama menggunakan radio dan pembesar suara.
6. Melarang membaca qasidah.
7. Melarang melagu-lagukan al Quran.
8. Melarang membaca Selawat Nabi, memuji-muji Nabi seperti Burdah dan Berzanji. Semua ini dianggap puak wahabi sebagai bidaah dan perlu dihapus kerana tidak pernah diamalkan oleh nabi sendiri.
9. Melarang mengaji Sifat 20 seperti yang tertulis dalam kitab Kifayatul Awam , Matan Jauharah as-Sanusi dan sebagainya. Pada Wahabi, tauhid hanya berkisar pada Tauhid Rabbubiyah dan Tauhid Uluhiyah sahaja.[4] Semua ini dianggap puak wahabi sebagai bidaah dan perlu dihapus kerana tidak pernah diamalkan oleh nabi sendiri.

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Kenyataan nik ajis tahun 1987 bagi persoalan no 9 (wahabi).. Pada tahun 1987 apabila seorang pemimpinnya, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat menyatakan sifat 20 Allah SWT direka oleh Greek dan Yunani.

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kawarij:

Secara umum, ajaran utama golongan Khawarij adalah:

1. Kaum muslimin yang melakukan dosa besar adalah kafir (bertentangan dengan pendapat Imam Hasan al-Basri dan golongan Muktazilah).
2. Kaum muslimin yang terlibat dalam perang Jamal, yakni perang antara Aisyah, Thalhah, dan Zubair melawan Ali ibn Abi Thalib dan orang perantara (termasuk yang menerima dan membenarkannya) adalah kafir.
3. Khalifah harus dipilih rakyat serta tidak harus dari keturunan Nabi Muhammad SAW dan tidak mesti keturunan Quraisy. Jadi, seorang muslim dari golongan manapun boleh menjadi khalifah jika mampu memimpin dengan baik.

Amalan mengkafirkan orang Islam lain ini dipanggil takfir. Mengikut tafsiran konvensional, hukum bagi mereka yang menjadi kafir (murtad) adalah bunuh. Melalui tafsiran inilah golongan Khawarij menghalalkan darah Ali dan Muawiyah untuk dibunuh. Pada zaman moden ini, terdapat kumpulan ekstrimis Islam yang mengguna pakai hukum takfir untuk membunuh mereka yang tidak berdosa termasuk orang Islam.

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Kenyataan nik ajis bagi persaoalan no 1( kawarij):

“Jika melawan UMNO tiba-tiba meninggal dunia, maka kita dikira mati syahid,” kata Nik Aziz di dalam kuliahnya di masjid Kg Pulau Melaka.

Pada 3 Julai 1999 di Pengkalan Chepa, Nik Aziz berkata,“Terdapat unsur kafir dalam UMNO kerana parti itu menolak Islam dalam pentadbiran negara, UMNO juga ada ciri-ciri kafir.

Kenyataan nik ajis bagi persoalan no 3 (kawarij):

Perarakan itu tidak ada di dalam sunnah Nabi dan ia satu bida’ah amalan turun menurun. Isunya, kalau ia bida’ah, kenapa apabila DAP yang haramkan baru ia dikatakan bida’ah?

Sila jelaskan? ….

Sila jelaskan yang ini juga? ….

Posted by MANTRA at 8:34 AM 3 … Your Tots Check it out…

Orientation week = Ragging

Shot by Rauff at Wednesday, June 30, 2010 0 comments

Labels: higher education, malaysia, socio politics

I pray that each and everyone of you are in the best of Iman, Amal and Healthy both in body and soul. Insya Allah.

The topic above is referred to.

Lately, I notice that there are just so many local Malaysian blogs which dwell on matters that border upon or are entirely engaged in the spreading of fitnah or gnanimah which is haram in Islam.

Most of these writers who call themselves as sopo bloggers seem oblivious to the harm that they are doing not only to our Malaysian society including the Ummah but also to themselves and their families.

I wonder why they fail to realize that each word they type and publish that concerns anyone person or group will be taken into account by Allahu Ta’ala when they do pass away from this earthly existence into the Realm of Al Barzakh?

Surely, being bloggers they warrant at least to be in possession of the powers to consider the various implications of publishing content onto the public online platform of information that is the worldwide web?

Being a blogger does not mean one can simply write as one pleases and go attack someone willfully without rhyme or reason and then act as if one’s infallible.

It doesn’t make sense for one who can put words into order to fail to understand the religious, social and moral responsibilities that goes with the position that one chooses to be as a blogger who publishes his or her material into the internet’s archives.

Yes. Whether one is conscious or not, each and every article or comment is archived immediately into the internet’s archives and burned into the hard disks of the internet service servers one is subscribed to. That’s hard evidence which can be traced all the way back to one’s internet access account here on earth and in reality, one’s personal Book of Deeds in the spiritual realm of one’s being.

The Book of Deeds that keeps each and every deed that we do is incorruptible and untamperable by us unless we totally and truly repent in the very sense of the act.

The so called SOPO bloggers here in Malaysia seem to be having a field day in thrashing the reputation and characters of their intended targets with no sense of fear of the repercussions that awaits them in the Yaum al Akhirat if not the Yaum al Barzakh that each and everyone of us will definitely enter one of these days?

Are we not Muslims who are aware of the implications of reckless blogging?

Those who spew lies and untruths in each and every publishing of theirs without fail seem to be clueless and totally ignorant of all of Allahu Ta’ala’s grave warnings to us?

Astaghfirullah hal adzhim!

Why is this so?

Are we still in the Yaum al Jahilliyyah claiming ignorance of this and that?

Truly we aren’t!

But why do these bloggers blatantly dare to abuse the trust that Allahu Ta’ala placed upon them to uphold the truth and enjoin others to goodness and join forces to combat the evil of this temporal earthly life?

104:1

1. Waylun likulli humazatin lumazatin

1.Woe to every (kind of) scandal-monger and backbiter,

Tafsir al-Jalalayn

Woe (waylun: an expression implying chastisement) to every backbiter, [who is a] slanderer, frequently engaging in backbiting and slander, that is to say, defamation — this was revealed regarding those who slandered the Prophet (s) and the believers, the likes of Umayya b. Khalaf, al-Walīd b. al-Mughīra and others

Truly, Malaysian Muslim bloggers can be better than the cartoon characters depicted here?

May Allah guide us all.

Ameen.

MAHAGURU58.

Published by MAHAGURU58 at 10:27 AM 0 responses to this article

Labels: Cikgu Nur Aliya, Newborn Baby, Pak Anjang

Tuesday, March 2

A DIFFERENT KIND OF CELEBRATION

They stood near the main gate. The stalks of roses, the chocolates and books were ready to be distributed. They waited.
The group of undergraduates were Muslims. The sisters were in hijab. They were ready for the challenge.
“Hello, how are you? I’ve some gifts for you, please accept them,” one of them approached a young Indian lady who was on her way out of the campus. It was a public holiday.
“For me? But why?” the Indian lady asked with a smile.
“Today’s Maulidur Rasul, our prophet Nabi Muhammad’s birthday and we would like to celebrate it with you by giving you these,” explained the Muslim sister, as she handed over a stalk of red rose, some chocolates and a book about prophet Muhammad [pbuh] to the Indian lady.
“Oh, thank you! How nice. I’ve always wanted to know more about Nabi Muhammad,” replied the Indian lady as she accepted the gifts.
Soon the boxes were empty. All the items had been received by the surprised non Muslim undergraduates. Everyone had smiles on their faces. Happy were they who gave and happy were those who received.

The event took place on the 26th of February. Alhamdulillah, I was told by the organiser that everything went smoothly as planned.
It was a first for him and the members of his team.
The project would not have succeeded without the help and financial support of members of the public.

While some people were still arguing about whether Muslims should hold processions and talking about the so-called ‘banned’ Maulidur Rasul celebration at Penang, alhamdulillah there’re others who decided to celebrate it in a different way:
By sharing the celebration with their non Muslim friends.
By spreading the spirit of love and care for other people, which was practised by prophet Muhammad [pbuh] during his lifetime, through gifts and friendship.
By inviting non Muslims to know the prophet by reading about his greatness and why he was called the most influential person in history, in a book not written by a Muslim scholar but by a researcher who’s a Christian, Michael H. Hart.

I don’t know about you, but I’m impressed when I saw the photographs taken during the event.
For you do know that…
On Maulidur Rasul, we Malaysian Muslims have always congregated in mosques and suraus to listen to talks, to pray and to even to have a kenduri. That’s what we often do.
How many of us have actually taken the initiative of that free-from-having-to-go-to-work-day to introduce prophet Muhammad [pbuh] to our non Muslim friends? To invite them for talks about the most influential person in history, and to explain to them why we love and honour him so much?
Or do we as usual, continue to avoid them, and to continue to call them kafirs ?
Do we continue to tell them that they’re not welcomed in our mosques, not welcomed to join us in our ceramah, and that they’re destined for hell for being an unbeliever?
Have we developed that ‘I’m holier than thou’ mentality?
Do we really believe that Maulidur Rasul should be only for Muslims?
Well, it’s about time we reflect on our actions and belief system.

Congratulations to brother Kamaruddin Abdullah and his team, especially the young Muslim missionaries for their great work. They have thought out of the box and did something not many of us would ever dream of doing.
May Allah swt bless them for their efforts and open more doors for this project to be bigger and better in the coming years, insyaAllah.

Posted by aliya

Labels: that’s life folks

7 comments:

Ray Kokuyu C said…

Assalamualaikum~

Indeed, my heart goes all out for brother Kamaruddin Abdullah and his team. May Allah Almighty bless them for such simple yet extraordinary idea.

When I was reading the sentence where the Muslim sister presented those gifts to Indian woman, somehow I got anxious to read the next sentence, wondering what’s her reaction. But alhamduliah~

Such reminds me of my challenge of bringing the beautiful message of Islam to non-Muslims. Some people, the moment they hear anything about Islam, start to feel uneasy.
Perhaps it is more of how we present Islam to them than their reactions.

Aside, I totally love your second last paragraph’s statements. They strike the chord loudly.

This blog post article seriously really inspires me. Subhan’Allah, 2 thumbs up for that

2 March 2010 23:31

mysterious_musafir said…

assalamualaikum…

wonderful!! i’ve reall wrecked my brain, searching for a great creative way in the remembrance of our beloved prophet.

All we could come up with was a competition in facebook. Its a “what will you say if you meet Rasulullah”.

I hope the group keeps getting lovely phrases.

May Allah bless all our hardwork, insyaAllah..

3 March 2010 10:20

★ said…

This is beautiful. So inspiring!

3 March 2010 20:56

aliya said…

Waalaikumussalam Ray,
You should hear bro Kamaruddin’s sermons then, hehehe.. I was just a narrator, the ones doing the work were them, alhamdulillah with Allah’s guidance.
Indeed, a gentler approach is at times better.

3 March 2010 22:21

aliya said…

Mysterious_musafir,
InsyaAllah… how’s the competition at facebook, any results yet ?

3 March 2010 22:23

aliya said…

*, praise to Allah swt for the strength to attend the ceramah, which I was about to give it a miss due to some problems with my car.

3 March 2010 22:27

TheHumbleWayfarer said…

Assalamu’alaikum Sis Aliya,
Its been a while since I last commentd =)
Subhanallah. I never thought of doing that! Indeed, truly inspiring =D
If only I cn join them !

3 March 2010 23:53

]]> http://themuslimbloggersalliance.org/featured-mba-blogger/maulidur-rasul-celebrating-it-the-ipsi-way/feed http://themuslimbloggersalliance.org/featured-mba-blogger/janganlah-biadap-dengan-sayyiduna-muhammad-saw http://themuslimbloggersalliance.org/featured-mba-blogger/janganlah-biadap-dengan-sayyiduna-muhammad-saw#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:49:25 +0000 Admin http://themuslimbloggersalliance.org/?p=73

Janganlah Biadab Dengan Sayyiduna Muhammad

Posted by Akhie Naim at 12:35 AM

Britain’s most violent football gangs unite against Muslims

Their aim? To drive out Islamic extremism. Their weapon? The thugs of Britain’s most violent football gangs

Some of the most violent football hooligans in Britain head towards Manchester to support a march by the burgeoning English Defence League (EDL), while a woman dressed in a black hijab appears intimidated

On Platform One at Bolton station a mob of around 100 men punch the air in unison. The chant goes up: ‘Muslim bombers, off our streets, Muslim bombers off our streets…’
Their voices echo loudly and more men suddenly appear; startled passengers move aside. The group march forward waving St George Cross flags and holding up placards. The throng of men around me applaud. A train heading for Glasgow draws up on the opposite platform and the men turn as one, bursting into song: ‘Engelaand, Engelaand, Engelaand.’
Some of the men hide behind balaclavas, others wear black hoodies. A few speak on mobile phones, their hands pressed against their ears to block out the cacophony.
‘It’s already kicking off in Manchester. This could be tasty,’ shouts one. These are some of the most violent football hooligans in Britain and today they have joined together in an unprecedented show of strength. Standing shoulder to shoulder are notorious gangs - or ‘firms’ as they are known - such as Cardiff City’s Soul Crew, Bolton Wanderers’ Cuckoo Boys and Luton Town’s Men In Gear.
The gathering is remarkable, as on a match day these men would be fighting each other. But it is politics that has drawn them together. They are headed for Manchester to support a march by the burgeoning English Defence League.
The police are here in force, too. ‘Take that mask off,’ barks a sergeant to one young man. He does so immediately but protests: ‘Why are they allowed to wear burkas in public but we’re not allowed to cover our faces?’
‘Just do what you’re told,’ the policeman snaps back.

An EDL demonstrator is arrested at Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester in October

‘It’s always the same these days. One rule for them and another for us. I’m sick of this country,’ a man standing next to me says in a West Country accent.
He draws on a cigarette then flicks it to the ground in disgust. He starts to complain again but when the tannoy announces the arrival of the train to Manchester Piccadilly he raises his hands above his head and starts another favourite.
‘Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves… Britons never, never, never…’ His companions join in. As the train comes to a halt the crowd surges forward.
The carriages are almost full so the men pack themselves into the aisles followed by policemen speaking into radios. A group of lads drinking beer at a table eye the new contingent warily.
One man wearing a baseball cap clocks their fear and reassures them.
‘It’s all right lads, nothing to worry about. We’re protesting against radical Islam. Come and join us.’
Further up the carriage another bursts into song.
‘We had joy, we had fun, we had Muslims on the run,’ he starts up. Nobody joins in and a couple of his mates tell him to ’shut up’ as they point to a woman dressed in a black hijab sitting at a table.
A man standing close to her is masked and holds a placard. It has a picture of a Muslim woman crying with red blood streaming down her face. ‘Sharia law oppresses women!’ the slogan reads.
The rise of the English Defence League has been rapid. Since its formation at the start of the summer the group has organised nearly 20 major protests in Britain’s cities, including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Luton, Nottingham, Glasgow and Swansea.
Its leaders are professional and articulate and they claim that the EDL is a peaceful, non-racist organisation. But having spent time with them, there is evidence that this movement has a more disturbing side. There is talk of the need for a ’street army’, and there are links with football hooligans and evidence that violent neo-Nazi groups including Combat 18, Blood and Honour and the British Freedom Fighters have been attending demos.
Violence has erupted at most of the EDL’s demonstrations. In total, nearly 200 people have been arrested and an array of weapons has been seized, including knuckledusters, a hammer, a chisel and a bottle of bleach.
As the EDL gains support across the UK, Muslims have already been targeted in unprovoked attacks. In the worst incident, a mob of 30 white and black youths is said to have surrounded Asian students near City University in central London and attacked them with metal poles, bricks and sticks while shouting racist abuse. Three people - two students and a passer-by who tried to intervene - were stabbed.
Following the Manchester protest, when 48 people were arrested during street violence, the Bolton Interfaith Council Executive issued a stark warning that race relations were under threat and Communities Secretary John Denham compared the EDL to Oswald Mosley’s Union of British Fascists, who ran amok in the Thirties. In response to these fears, the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit, a countrywide police team set up to combat domestic extremism, has been investigating the EDL.
‘The concern to me is how groups like this, either willingly or unwillingly, allow themselves to be exploited by very extreme right-wing groups like the National Front and the British Freedom Fighters,’ Metropolitan Police chief Sir Paul Stephenson has said.

Welsh Defence League members burn an anti-Nazi flag in Swansea

I had met the English Defence League for the first time in Luton three weeks before the Manchester demonstration. After several calls, key members agreed to talk on the condition that I did not identify them. We met at a derelict building close to Luton town centre. Eleven men turned up. All wore balaclavas, as they often do to hide their identities, and most had black EDL hoodies with ‘Luton Division’ written on the back. They’d made placards bearing slogans such as ‘Ban the Burka’.
The group’s self-proclaimed leader, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, did most of the talking. A father of two, Robinson explained the background to the rise of the movement.
‘For more than a decade now there’s been tension in Luton between Muslim youths and whites. We all get on fine - black, white, Indian, Chinese… Everyone does, in fact, apart from these Muslim youths who’ve become extremely radicalised since the first Gulf War. This is because preachers of hate live in Luton and have been recruiting for radical Islamist groups for years. Our Government does nothing about them so we decided that we’d start protesting.’

EDL demonstrators in Birmingham in September

Robinson could barely conceal his anger as he explained that the spark for him had been the sight of radical Muslims protesting when soldiers paraded through the town on their regiment’s return from Afghanistan in May.
Following the incident Robinson set up a group called United People of Luton and, after linking up with a Birmingham-based organisation called British Citizens Against Muslim Extremists and another called Casuals United (largely made up of former football hooligans), they realised there was potential for a national movement.
‘We have nothing against Muslims, only those who preach hatred. They are traitors who should be hanged and we’ll keep taking to the streets until the Government kicks them out.’
More than 100 divisions have been set up across Britain and a careful co-ordination means the EDL is becoming efficient and a potential catch-all for every far-right organisation in Britain.
Robinson admits that he has attended BNP meetings in the past. Another prominent member and administrator of Luton EDL’s Facebook group is Davy Cooling, a BNP member. Sean Walsh, an activist for the EDL in Luton, is a member of the BNP’s Bedfordshire Facebook group.
Even within the EDL there are concerns over links to extremists. A former member called Paul Ray recently claimed that the group had been hijacked by BNP activists, including a man from Weston-super-Mare, Chris Renton, who helped set up the EDL website. Ironically, Ray himself has extremist contacts, including a German former neo-Nazi who is friends with Northern Ireland Loyalist Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair.
Casuals United was the brainchild of Jeff Marsh, a convicted football hooligan from Cardiff City’s Soul Crew, one of the most feared gangs in Britain. Marsh operates behind the scenes, orchestrating activities with both Casuals United and the Welsh Defence League, a sister group of the EDL.
The public face of Casuals United is another Welshman called Mickey Smith. An avowed football hooligan, he is banned from Cardiff City’s football ground. Together, Marsh and Smith organise the 50 or so gangs actively recruiting members across the UK.
The EDL insists it is separate from Casuals United, but dig a little and it becomes clear they operate hand-in-hand. Joel Titus is a cocky but politically naive 18-year-old Arsenal fan of mixed race. He tells me that the EDL youth division he runs has over 300 members across the UK.
‘We want to hit every town and city in Britain,’ he says.
Titus became involved with the movement through Casuals United. And according to anti-fascism magazine Searchlight, his role is to recruit football hooligans.
He sticks to the ‘peaceful movement’ mantra but a text I later receive from him ahead of an EDL demo in London reveals his involvement with the hooligans. It reads: ‘Right lads, the “unofficial” meet for the 31st (London) is going to be 12 o’clock at The Hole In The Wall pub just outside Waterloo Station. I will be there just before that. Remember lads were (sic) going as Casuals Utd and if you could obtain a poppy to wear it would make us look good even if we are kicking off. lol. Cheers lads. Joel “Arsenal” Titus.’

EDL members meet at a rendezvous pub before travelling to Manchester

Alarmingly, the EDL is becoming more sophisticated and those orchestrating its activities at the top are far more astute than its foot soldiers. I meet two of the EDL’s key figures in a Covent Garden pub - a respectable looking man called Alan Lake, and a man who goes by the moniker ‘Kinana’.
Lake is a 45-year-old computer expert from Highgate, north London who runs a far-right website called Four Freedoms. This summer he contacted the EDL and offered to both fund and advise the movement.
‘Our leaders in this country no longer represent us,’ he says.
Lake’s aim is to unite the ‘thinkers’ and those prepared to take to the streets. He describes this marriage as ‘the perfect storm coming together’. Lake says that street violence is not desirable but sometimes inevitable.
‘There are issues when you are dealing with football thugs but what can we do?’
He criticises fascist organisations, however, and says he will only support the EDL so long as it doesn’t associate with the BNP. When I ask about extremists hijacking the movement, he says: ‘There are different groups infiltrating and trying to cause rifts by one means or another, or trying to waylay the organisation to different agendas. The intention is to exclude those groups and individuals.’
These men are outwardly intelligent and their political nous combined with the brawn of the casuals makes them a quasi-political force.
Britain’s neo-Nazis realise this. For Kevin Watmough, leader of the neo-Nazi British People’s Party and a former member of the National Front, the rise of the EDL is reminiscent of the Seventies.
‘The protests remind me of the National Front marches, but I wouldn’t march with the EDL because they have blacks as supporters,’ he told me.
But other neo-Nazis have joined EDL demos. These include members of Combat 18 and the British Freedom Fighters, who later posted videos of themselves on the internet.
Watmough lives in Bradford and can recall the 2001 riots, which came about as a result of tensions between whites and Muslims. Bradford, along with Oldham, another tinderbox northern city that witnessed riots in 2001, is a stated target for the EDL and Casuals United in 2010. Tension is likely here and in other towns where the EDL is also promoting spontaneous flash demos and the occupation of building sites for new mosques.
Professor Matthew Goodwin, an expert on far-right organisations who has advised the Home Office, says that the police are right to monitor the EDL and to take them seriously.
‘(The EDL) is now well-organised and not just a minor irritant. It has become a rallying point for a number of different groups and to have them marching through sensitive areas is a major concern.’
Communities Minister John Denham has also condemned the rise of the EDL: ‘If you look at the types of demonstrations they have organised, the language used and the targets chosen, it looks clear that it’s a tactic designed to provoke, to get a response. It’s designed to create violence. And we must all make sure this doesn’t happen.’

Daily Mail UK, 27 December 2009

Posted by Sharjeel Karim - at

Labels: Anti-Islam, Burqa, Europe, Hate, Islamophobia, UK

Posted by Akhie Naim at 11:06 PM

(Mukadepan akhbar Utusan Malaysia Rabu 26 Rejab 1427/23.08.2006 melapurkan janji UMNo/Be End untuk menguatkuasakan Artikel 11 (4) di empat negeri. Mana janji-janji itu? Lihat berita penuh dilampiran bawah).

Saya juga mengambil kesempatan ini mencabar kerajaan Be End/UMNo supaya mengotakan janji-janji mereka saperti yang telah mereka buat pada tahu 2006. Janganlah main hangat-hangat tahi ayam; bila ada isu baru kelam kabut buat kenyataan tabur janji sana-sini, bila reda masing-masing jadi Pak Pelupa. Saya sendiri telah mengemukakan pelbagai cadangan dan usul setelah menjadi Ahli Parlimen sessi ke 12 ini. Ini terbukti didalam Hansard Parlimen. Namun saya tidak punya kuasa; malahan cadangan dan usul saya kemukakan dibahas pun tidak di Parlimen, kerana UMNo/Be End yang menguasai Parlimen tidak berminat pun dengan isu ini. Kalau benar UMNo katanya juara dan champion umat Islam saperti yang diperkokokkan, saya tidak nampak mengapa undang-undang Anti-Dakyah Agama ini tidak boleh dibentangkan disidang Parlimen bulan Mac akan datang. Peruntukkan Perlembagaan sudah ada, 10 negeri lain telah pun laksanakan, Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan telahpun memmbuat Fatwa, para Sultan dan Raja-Raja Melayu telah pun menegaskan supaya Islam dihormati..yang tinggal hanya “political will’-kesungguhan politik UMNo/Be End untuk mengotakan janji mereka dan melaksanakannya.

Wassalam.

Zulkifli Bin Noordin
Selasa
03 Safar 1431
19 Januari 2010

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Selain Sabah dan Sarawak, perkataan Allah juga boleh digunakan oleh bukan Islam di Pulau Pinang dan Wilayah Persekutuan, kata seorang menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri.Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz bagaimanapun berkata, di negeri-negeri lain yang mempunyai enakmen agama Islam, bukan Islam tidak boleh menggunakan perkataan Allah, lapor The Sun. Jumaat lalu, beliau dipetik berkata penganut Kristian di Malaysia Timur boleh terus menggunakan kalimah tersebut bagi terjemahan ‘God’ dalam bahasa cetakan bahasa Malaysia, kerana mereka telah menggunakannya sejak 300 tahun yang lalu. Pengumuman itu dibuat olehnya dalam satu wawancara eksklusif dengan lima wartawan daripada Borneo Post, Utusan Borneo and Oriental Daily.Katanya, penganut Kristian di Sabah dan Sarawak tidak perlu bimbang berhubung isu tersebut kerana ia sudah menjadi tradisi mereka di sana.

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