Staging the Ummah: An Evening with Wajahat Ali

Sep 24, 2012 | Events

A Provocative Look at the State of Muslim Culture Today

Rumi’s Cave
26 Willesden Lane
Kilburn, London
NW6 7ST
7.00 pm – 9:30 pm
Nearest Stations (Kilburn, Kilburn Park, Kilburn High Road)
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/Rs5KL

What is the state of Muslim arts and culture – cutting edge and innovative, or boring and dull?
Is there a need to define to a British or American Islam? How do we represent Islam on screen, on stage, through novels and in poetry?
Doesn’t staging the ummah mean we are just selling a “safe” version Islam to the chattering classes?
Join us as we talk to award-winning playwright and author Wajahat Ali about the state of Muslim arts and culture today – and whether the project of defining a culturally relevant Islam for our times is even worth pursing.

FREE – but space is limited, so let us know you are coming!

Supported by the Radical Middle Way, The Leaf Network, The Cordoba Foundation and Rumi’s Cave.

Wajahat Ali – playwright, author, journalist and attorney – is a Muslim American of Pakistani descent and is the author of the acclaimed play, The Domestic Crusaders, which premiered in 2005 at the Thrust Stage of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and San Jose University Theatre, broke box office records in New York in 2009, was published by McSweeney’s in December 2010 and went on to be performed at Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

Ali’s essays and interviews on contemporary affairs, politics, the media, popular culture and religion frequently appear in the Washington Post, The Guardian , Salon , Slate , McSweeney’s , Wall Street Journal Blog ,  Huffington Post , CNN.com ,  CounterPunch and Chowk, among other on-line sites. His blog, “Goatmilk: An Intellectual Playground ” is ranked in the top 7% of all political blogs by blogged.com. Wajahat is the recipient of Muslim Public Affairs Council’s prestigious “Emerging Muslim American Artist” recognition of 2009 and was given the 2011 Otto Award for Political Theatre.

In 2011, he was the lead author and researcher of “Fear Inc., The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America” published by The Center for American Progress. Ali is the co-editor of the anthology “All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim” published this June 2012 by White Cloud Press. Wajahat is currently writing a TV pilot with Dave Eggers about a Muslim American cop in the Bay Area, California, and he is working on his first movie screenplay

Lecture: How to Engage With Politics – 21st September 2012

Sep 21, 2012 | Events

In a democratic system like ours, citizens have multiple avenues to influence the policies and laws that govern our society. Yet, many Muslims continue to live on the fringe of politics and do not engage in public matters. The only way for us to ensure our voices are heard is to make the most of the opportunities for involvement and to become engaged citizens.

In this talk, Anas Altikriti, the CEO of The Cordoba Foundation will discuss a variety of paths for engagement in public life and share stories from his own engagement.

Hosted by The City Circle

Venue: Abrar House, 45 Crawford Place, W1H 4LP
Date and Time: 21st September 2012, 18:45

Free entrance. All welcome. No reservation needed. Prayer space available. Street parking free from 18:30

For more information, please check: www.thecitycircle.com/events

Evening to remember Srebrenica

Jun 29, 2012 | Events

Seventeen years ago this month, thousands of Bosnian Muslims were slaughtered in Europe. Some were killed opportunistically, but most were killed in a full-scale military operation: hands tied and blindfolded, they were lined up before freshly dug mass graves and shot in the back. In other cases, rather than bussing them to mass grave locations, their captors chose to murder them were they were detained – slaughtering them by the hundreds at a warehouse and theatre, by volleys of gunfire and rocket propelled grenades.

Later, earth-moving equipment would be used to remove the dead – and perhaps some living – and deposit them into other mass graves. It is estimated that over 8,000 Muslims were executed after the July 11, 1995, fall of Srebrenica, Bosnia, to the Bosnian Serbs. Like many of recent history’s slaughters, the international community was already present. A battalion of Dutch U.N. peacekeepers was responsible for protecting the first U.N.-declared “safe area” in Srebrenica. As the Bosnian Serb Army advanced on the city, U.N. offi cials declined to allow NATO warplanes to intervene until it was too late. The Serbs took Srebrenica without a fight and thousands of Bosnian Muslims fled to what they thought was the protection of the U.N. base in Potocari. Rather than offering a safe haven, the United Nations expelled fearful Muslims from their base and watched as another European genocide unfolded. In a scene evocative of Schindler’s List–a case of life imitating art, imitating life- -families were torn apart under the watchful eyes of the international community. Men and boys were separated from women and small children, never to be seen again.

Every year, international diplomats pause to remember the world’s most recent genocides. On 11th July, the world will mark the seventeenth anniversary of Srebrenica genocide. Join us to remember those who perished and the survivors. Meet British Muslims who visited Bosnia in the past, and a delegation visiting this July.

Date & Time – Tuesday 3rd July 2012 – 7pm

Venue: London Muslim Centre, Seminar Room, 4th Floor, 46 Whitechapel Road, London E1

Organised by London Muslim Centre, Islamic Forum of Europe, The Cordoba Foundation and Bosnia-Herzegovina Islamic Centre – London.

All welcome.

Seminar: Afghanistan / Pakistan Futures – US Perspectives

Jun 27, 2012 | Events

With the drawdown of US combat troops from Afghanistan after July 2011 and the planned transition of security to Afghan command by the end of 2014, what are the key priorities for US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

The White House annual policy review last December said that: ‘The core goal of the US strategy in the Afghanistan and Pakistan theatre remains to disrupt, dismantle, and eventually defeat al-Qaeda in the region and to prevent its return.’ This built upon US President Barack Obama’s West Point speech a year before in which he said: ‘Our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicentre of violent extremism practiced by al-Qaeda.’

To achieve its goals, what form will US military and civilian engagement in Afghanistan take in the future? To what extent will the US support attempts at reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban leadership?

Prof Vali Nasr is Senior Advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the US State Department. He is Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. From 2003-07 he was Professor and Chair of Research, Department of National Security Affairs at the US Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey and from 2007-09, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

He has authored six books on political Islam, including, most recently, Meccanomics: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What it will do for our World.

This event will be chaired by Adam Ward, Director of Studies, IISS.

This is a joint event between the IISS and The Cordoba Foundation

If you would like further information please contact  Charlotte Laycock at events@iiss.org