Category Archives: Europe

Lady Evelyn Cobbald – First British Muslimah to perform Hajj?

Posted on by
4

Rhyme and Reason links to a very interesting article on a British-born Muslim lady’s Hajj pilgrimage in 1933:

Lady Evelyn Cobbald achieved celebrity at age 65, in 1933, when she became the first British-born Muslim woman to perform the pilgrimage to Makkah. She was a Scottish aristocrat, a grandmother and a Mayfair socialite, and an accomplished deerstalker, angler and gardener, and, uniquely, she was both a Muslim and an Arabic-speaker. Yet the story of her colorful career has been overlooked, as has her contribution to the literature of the Hajj. Nor has she been studied for what her life has to say about being a Muslim in a western society.

She was not born into a Muslim family, yet Lady Evelyn claimed to have been a Muslim from as early as she could remember.

Continue reading this fascinating account here ..

Christie’s Islamic Art Auction

Posted on by
Reply

I just heard that Christie’s of London have a huge collection of Islamic & Indian Art up for auction on Tuesday, 7th October 2008.


A NISHAPUR POTTERY CONICAL BOWL; NORTH EAST IRAN, 10TH CENTURY

For those of you who can’t make it down to see the pieces in person before they go under the hammer (not literally, of course!), check out the collection online – 441 lots in total; their biggest ever collection of Islamic art, apparently.

A nice opportunity to find some unique, belated Eid gifts, perhaps? As long as you have a spare, few thousand pounds lying around!

Muslim Umbrella Groups Protest United Ramadhan

Posted on by
Reply

From the tongue-in-cheek files: Mr. Moo describes the chaos that ensues when a Muslim umbrella organization for other Muslim umbrella organizations protests against a united Ramadhan.

“This was the one opportunity we had to avoid our families” said Mullah Charles Balasubramaniamnarasimharao, spokesperson for the group. “Every year we conveniently switch madhabs or geographical sightings, all so we don’t have to consume the dreaded first iftar with our mothers watching. This year, the mosque committes have let us down by starting Ramadhan on the same day”

A tip of the kufi to Minaret Muse.

Islam Expo News

Posted on by
1

As I mentioned the week before last, I planned to represent Ijtema.net at the Emerald Lounge, which took place last Sunday evening at the Islam Expo in London. I was greatly looking forward to promoting our little site, and maybe meeting some of the readers; I even printed off signs, and everything. Look:

ijtema_stand.jpg

Unfortunately, when the time came for me to do my ‘thang’, I did not actually end up spending much time at the Ijtema table, due to urgent and unforeseen circumstances. So anyone who was actually interested in taking up my offer of “free publicity” may have been let down. If you are reading (which would be a miracle), I am sorry!

However, the night was not a complete waste of time. I finally met our Arts Editor, Teakster – though how he chose to introduce himself is a story best left untold (let’s just say that this is his punishment for embarrassing me in public!). He was this >< close to being sacked by yours truly – but after he was named Best Artist at the Emerald Arts Competition, I was reminded how fortunate we are to have him on the Ijtema team, and all was forgiven. Alhamdulillah! Congratulations once again, bro!

Anyway, to make up for my poor networking skills, I’d appreciate it if the existing readers would take the time to inform their friends and family of Ijtema.net – especially to ask them to subscribe to our content, either via RSS, or via e-mail (for those who are still grappling with the whole “feed” thing).

Speaking of which, we will soon be publishing a super guide to RSS feeds – just as soon as we fix a bug in our template, insha’Allah.

That’s all the news I have for now… if you have any photos or stories from the Expo, please get in touch – we’d love to share them!

Wa’salam

iMuslim

Ijtema.net @ Islam Expo

Posted on by
2

Just a quick message to tell the readers that I will be representing Ijtema.net at the Islam Expo this weekend, in London, insha’Allah.

More specifically, we will have a stand at the Emerald Lounge, which will be open from 6.45 pm onwards, on Sunday evening. The organiser, brother Rooful, informs me that for a small fee of 10 (which covers the catering) you can attend the Emerald Network event without having to book tickets for the entire Expo.

For those of you in the UK, I hope to see you there, insha’Allah!

Art Of Islamic Patterns

Posted on by
1

_wsb_610x457_mlworkin1.jpg

Hey loyal readers,

You know I feel tired, hungry and sleepy. Whoever said that working life is fun- needs to be shot!

Anyways you’re not here to listen to me moan, so let me find an artist for you guys to check.

Wellsince I havent picked anyone from England recently, Id say thats a good place to start. On that note, anyone up for some fine English tea?!

Someone who grabbed my attention recently was Adam Williamson.

Adam Williamson is a practicing artist in many mediums. He has been commissioned by many people, such as Oxford University and currently undertaking a large piece for the Shakespeares Globe London.

Adam has travelled around the globe working with artists on Mount Athos, Greece, in France, Spain, Morocco and Turkey. He was the subject of a documentary when he travelled to Malaysia and Indonesia looking at the woodcarving in that area.

He is also a seasonal lecturer at Birkbeck College, and has taught in schools and museums across London. Following a placement as artist in residence at the Princes Foundation, Adam now works from his studio in Hackney wick.

Now wasnt that an interesting read!!!!

The Art of Integration, by Peter Sanders

Posted on by
Reply

Adnan alerts us of the upcoming book entitled “The Art of Integration” by Peter Sanders, who many of you may recall as one of the judges for our recent photo competition.

The Art of Integration is a graceful and visually poetic reminder that Muslims have been a part of British life for well over a century and have made and continue to make an important contribution to the United Kingdoms rich cultural diversity. Contrary to the headlines and editorializing, the vast majority of Muslims live peacefully and productively in Britain and many have significantly enriched the intellectual and cultural landscape of this great island nation.

Cyber-counselling for Muslims

Posted on by
Reply

This sounds like an excellent service, masha’Allah. May Allah grant them success, Ameen.

The Sakina Center is a one-of-a-kind cyber-counseling service founded on the Islamic principles of humanity and understanding. We provide moral and spiritual support for Muslims in all circumstances. Our counselors are trained in the areas of counseling, social work, and psychology. The Sakina Center takes a unique approach in using Facebook as a counseling tool to carry out this social service. We counsel Muslims on all matters as they face many difficulties in todays world ranging from anxiety to Islamophobia. Our target focus is Muslim youth residing in Western, non-Muslim countries where these services are lacking.