LONDON,
August 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A conference on Muslim
identity is to be held Sunday, August 24, in the British city of
Birmingham, allowing Muslims to "take a hard look on themselves,
are they British or are they Muslim?"
Titled
"British or Muslim," the conference has been advertised in
handbills, posters, Internet sites, said the 1924.org
Muslim organization on its
website.
It
added that a televised advertise, to appear on Prime TV, ARY Digital and
Bangla TV channels by the end of this week, features a smartly dressed
English young man, questioning the allegiance of Muslim Britons, whether
to Islam or Britain.
"Muslims
need to take a long hard look at themselves, are they British or are
they Muslim?" Abdul Ghadir, 30, an IT professional from South
London, asks in one scene of the ad.
In
another, he asks, "Do they (Muslims) support British troops, do
they consider them to be ‘Our Boys’? "
The
young man leaves, as a first impression, that he is non-Muslim or
someone having problems with the Muslim community in Britain.
But
at the end of the trailer, he reveals he is a Muslim, whose allegiance
is only to Islam no matter where he lives, shedding new lights on the
underlying meaning of his earlier statements. (click
here to watch the advert).
Abdul
Ghadir, who accepted Islam six years ago, has led a quiet but active
life in the da’wah for Islam.
The
conference, organized by the London-based Hizb-ut-Tahrir (or Liberation
Party), will tackle an array of issues and challenges facing Muslims in
Britain.
Chief
among such issues are their basic identity, economic problems, including
mortgage and housing, problems affecting the Muslim youth, such as
literacy, crime and drugs as well as difficulties concerning Muslim
marriages.
Additionally,
speakers will address the issue of political participation in western
societies.
Among
the speakers is Dr. Abdul Salaam -- the former president of the Nation
of Islam, the black nationalist movement.
He
would cite his own experiences of identity, initially in the confused
and racist calls of black separatism and nationalism, to how he became a
Muslim with an identity that offers a unique and comprehensive outlook
for the individual and society.
The
conference will also coincide with the release of a new book titled
"The Western Beauty Myth," which addresses the western
attitude to womanhood.
The
book examines whether the image and identity of the western woman is
really what women, Muslim and non-Muslim, should aspire towards.
