Comments on: Part and Parcel

By: Afriaspora Films

Afriaspora Films — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 18:55:56 +0000

If we as Muslims do not empower ourselves to tell our own stories in film then we will be forever victimized by others who continue to denigrate and stereotype us with their misperceived images of us.

By: Lena Khan | Muslimah Montage

Lena Khan | Muslimah Montage — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 04:26:56 +0000

[…] Part and Parcel – an article by Lena Khan http://www.virtualmosque.com/society/entertainment/part-and-parcel/ […]

By: Brian Cokayne

Brian Cokayne — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 21:10:23 +0000

Lena, could you please relook at one of the stand out sentences in your article-ie the sentence ‘Music or no music?’I realise you are using this as an example of what one may call a conflict in Islam.You will no doubt know through your media connections of recents events in Northern Mali, that the inhabitants of Timbuktu during the time of the ‘Islamist’ take over there recently were not allowed to play a note upon their instruments,yet when one listens to the Qur’an in its Arabic original it sounds to my ear decidedly musical,alomost ‘sung’one could say,though I claim only very limited arabic speech myself and that basically from what I have learned in reading translations of the holy book & also these Suhaib.web pages.I presume you may be making the case for music as in the article you do for poetry.that there is likely to be the worthy and the unworthy.When I think of the blessings of Allah
(subhanahu wa ta’ala)the song of the blackbird here in Northern England comes easily to mind and who can say that Our Lord has not commanded it to sing thus and tell us of the seasons or even the hour of day.Also in Timbuktu it was reported that certain precious islamic manuscripts were set on fire by departing ‘islamists’as a villification to the inhabitants-the scholars protested and efforts were made to preserve the majority in domestic hiding places & elsewhere. being my main source of infomation in respect of this. Ali Farka Toure for example,the people did not wish his music to be silenced because they felt his instrumental modesty&skill has long since put them on the world map as giving value to their country and their heritage.We know the nearby desert landscape can be a desolute place where the heart needs to beat as well as say its prayers,salah.Elsewhere when we listen to the sound of a river over stones, or a wave upon the shore what does this mean to us?I may not be so good at it, but I think it means that,like yourself in your article and your field we have to be brave,brave enough to think modern 21st Century Islam will welcome our efforts to find the true path,the path of those upon whom His favour rests,not the path of those astray whom earn only wrath. Ameen. Brian Cokayne, Stockport, England.ps. It is hoped that the writer,Lena,whom we thank, will follow her article up with further responses for those of us on the margins-responses as she has thoughtfully done so far.It precludes isolation and helps us see ourselves in a wider Prophet led context.

By: Sherifa

Sherifa — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:17:32 +0000

One of the best articles I have read in a long time. This discussion must be had if Islam is to mainstreamed into American society. Our youth is the future of our deen and they should not feel constrained in their choice of careers because of a lack of understanding. I look forward to hearing more from you. Masha Allah.

By: Staff

Staff — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 01:39:09 +0000

In reply to joymanifest.

That should be fine as long as it adheres to our article reposting policy.

– The author’s name must be prominently place at the beginning of the article
– VirtualMosque.com must be cited as the original source of the article at the beginning and a hyperlink to the website must be active
– No edits and content changes can be made to the article without the consent of SuhaibWebb.com and the author.

For more information about our reposting policy, please visit this page: http://www.virtualmosque.com/miscellaneous/announcements/article-reposting-policy/

By: Lena

Lena — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:50:35 +0000

In reply to joymanifest. It's ok with me, but I'm not sure whether you need to also ask somebody from SuhaibWebb.com . But on my end, it's no problem.

By: joymanifest

joymanifest — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:38:48 +0000

This is extremely well written, a joy to read and indeed a light of wisdom shone on this issue. With your permission, may I reblog it at joymanifest.com ? I recognize your name as the director of two incredibly powerful music videos that I am sure have many many others including myself immense good. May Allah bless you and increase you, guide and elevate you

By: Kirana

Kirana — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 08:32:29 +0000

My two cents: This mindset of fear and passivity is related to the trajectory of “Islamic” cultures parallel to the decline of the caliphates and subsequent colonialisation.

The need to control the population leads to dumbing down and discouragement of independent and democratic sharing/development of knowledge. Dumbing down leads to increased necessity to blindly following. Blindly following leads people to more easily follow wrong examples just because the examples are visible, because their critical thinking and baseline knowledge is absent to enable them to independently make a judgment call *not* to follow something. The fear of accidentally following wrong examples creates the need to restrict culturally visible examples to only the most blameless examples. Restriction of examples to this narrow range leads to intolerance of mistakes and new ideas. Intolerance of mistakes leads to ossification and lack of renewal because as time goes on and conditions change, the culture prevents its people from exploring ways of adapting fundamental principles to new realities.

By: Sameer

Sameer — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:56:22 +0000

Jazakullah khair for the insightful article and keep up the great work.

By: Lena

Lena — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:03:14 +0000

Thank you so much! As we aren’t getting as much support as need to pull this off, I’m obliged to ask – if you are able, please visit our campaign site and pledge a small bit if you can. Jazakum Allahu khayran and I hope we can all begin to discuss such topics!

http://kck.st/13tcFx8