Ramadan & CH4’s Call to Prayer
Unedited version of my column in Scottish Sun on Sunday 7th July 2013
Ramadan?
This Tuesday a three-minute call to prayer will be beamed live by CH4 every day at 3am to mark the start of 30 days of Ramadan. Is it ‘political correctness gone mad’ or liable to ‘inflame community tensions’ ?
5% of this country, many of the 2.8 million Muslims will be choose not eat or drink from 3am until 10pm.
They will come and go to each others houses, feasting late at night and I suspect some neighbours with twitching curtains will think there must be a terrorist plot afoot.
Islamic extremists claim this is the first step on the road to Sharia law. But 99% of British Muslims do not actually want Sharia law. The same applies to the majority of the world’s Muslims, just take a look at what happened in Egypt.
CH4’s aim was actually to provoke people to think about Islam in ways that weren’t associated with Al- Qaeda or Jihad, yet ‘Patriots’ decry it as increasing ‘Islamification’ of the UK and feel threatened.
Funny that because in last Summer’s Olympic the first act of the great Mohammed (Mo) Farah on winning gold was to prostrate before Allah, then drape himself in the Union Jack. I didn’t notice anyone complaining then.
Two days ago I watched a young male sneering with hatred at two quiet women pushing prams down the street in their Burkas. I could have sneered and wondered why he was drinking a can of lager in the afternoon, trying to get a tan parading his shirt free torso but hating anyone with a dark skin.
I marvel at the bravery of these Burka wearing women who dare to walk the gauntlet of hate in our ‘free’ country. When was the last time you heard of somebody abusing a nun who took a vow of celibacy, wore a habit, covered her hair and considered herself to be Christ’s Bride but Burkas are open season.
Do we care so much about the rights of Muslim women that we abuse them?
The media very rarely mention Islam unless it is in the violent context but by Tuesday millions will be engaged in peaceful praying and fasting.
As for Christianity under threat, my family like many others have long partaken in Christian festivities, the tree and the turkey (all be it with chillis).
The biggest problem for the ‘patriots’ is that the fastest growing ideology in the West is atheism not Islam.
Writing this I expect the usual ‘go back to your own country’ or ‘they wouldn’t allow Christianity in your country’. Which would mean England, as my parents left Pakistan half a century ago. They happened in Pakistan to be taught by Catholic priests and nuns in Christian schools. Pakistan’s has 2.8 million Christians, the same number as UK Muslims.
Christmas is celebrated as a national holiday and church bells ring out not just in Pakistan but across the Middle East, apart from Saudi Arabia, which trained the Taliban, supplied fifteen of the nineteen of the 9/11 hijackers, but is still backed by the UK.
British law abiding Muslims are sick of being made to feel they should not be seen or heard and criminalised for the actions of a few.
Why should our children be condemned to second class status? Why are some able to spit, attack and abuse Muslims with immunity or graffiti our places of worship and expect to march on them. Not exactly civilised standards!
As for the call to prayer, get a grip it’s not the road map to a Sharia state, if you happen to be awake at 3 am and your two brain cells can’t handle it, I have a simple solution switch off the TV, it’s what I used to do with ‘Songs of Praise’ until I got Sky.
MANDELA
Sadly the world will soon say goodbye to freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. Billions will mourn his loss like no other leader in the last century.
Remember though when David Cameron describes Mandela as his personal hero- there will be no mention of his wining and dining with Apartheid S. Africa on an anti-sanctions ‘jolly’, whilst Mandela was in his 26th year in Robben Island Prison or that many of Dave’s front bench were members of the Federation of Conservative Students which produced the ‘Hang Mandela’ badges and posters.
These slimy hypocrites will claim to be inspired but never heeded a word Mandela said on justice, poverty, HIV or Apartheid.
