Model mosque, liberal Islam
On the day when the Times reports new guidelines for mosques in Britain, Islam Channel has announced the winner of the Model Mosque competition - the mosque which spreads best practice and relations with the host community. Talking of host communities - Bradford community leaders are brassed off with their city always being portrayed as the home of racial tensions, even though it sometimes is. The target - hard upon C4's BRITZ - is the BBC's new dramas called "WHITE", dealing with the difficulties of the white working class. Bradford Council is not claiming that these difficulties don't exist, just that it would have been nice if the BBC had chosen another multicultural area for once...
Which brings me to a brief reply to RW, who furiously complains that this is an "in-bad-faith page" because we cover "some tiny dodgy case in Saudi and another in Sudan" and didn't cover the Gulen movement (liberal Turkish Islam) conference in London. RW, we do cover good news too; and can't help it if we have to record genuine, accredited examples of stupidly savage behaviour (including Christian behaviour, please note) . But I am grateful for the steer on Gulen (why didn't you tell us about it earlier?) because it is fascinating. Here are useful links. and a book, and an inspiring Gulen quote :
"We do not need to be the same, but we should find just enough similarity between us that, for a certain distance down the road, we can hold hands as fellow travelers in this life, all the while mindful of our differences in myriad ways.”
