Plenary,

Meeting date: Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Official Report 431KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Amanullah De Sondy from the centre for the study of Islam at the University of Glasgow.

Ladies and gentlemen, Presiding Officer, good afternoon. You may be expecting someone who comes from an ancient divinity school in the west of Scotland to give you a convoluted theological inquiry. Do not worry, I have no intention of doing that, not least because I have arrived here not from the school of divinity at the University of Glasgow, but from Edinburgh's Craiglockhart tennis centre, where I am officiating as a line umpire at a professional tennis tournament. I wonder if it is possible to mix my passion for theology and tennis. Love-15.

Love is the language of theology, faith and practice but, at times, it is lost in the sea of our own delusions. As a Scot who happens to be Muslim, I grew up thinking about what it meant for me to be a Muslim in Scotland. At times, I was stuck between Scottish society and the culture that my parents brought from Pakistan in the 1950s. It was inevitable that those in that position would have an identity crisis. Many tried in vain to create an identity, but the label "Scottish Muslim" truly confused me, for there has to be a Scottish Islam for there to be a Scottish Muslim.

The Scottish Muslim label is stuck between the Pakistani Islam that the first generation brought with them and the medieval Islamic utopia of the golden age that many preach. I found myself unable to accept any of those. I strived for my faith to be complemented by Scottish society and for that to be accepted and, most importantly, criticised by those around me—warts and all, beyond political correctness—for it is only through reflection with the other that our own identities are strengthened.

Love is a great vehicle to shape this. For me, love is the essence of the Qur'an—a text that, for me, is perfectly ambiguous, with its many shades of black, white and grey. It is a scripture that can quite easily support the actions of those who wish to promote love and those who wish to promote war. After all, it is a text and every reader has their own way of interpreting that text.

Love is a term open to multiple interpretations. Love brings with it its own challenges that we must all consider. The famous 20th century Urdu poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, who lived in Pakistan and was from the same city as my parents—Sialkot in the Punjab—was what I would consider a progressive Muslim. Seeking the beautiful in Islam through a critical inquiry into its ugliness, Faiz offers us all some food for thought on love:

"The self of a human being, despite all its loves, troubles, joys and pains, is a tiny, limited and humble thing."

Faiz's most famous poem has changed my outlook on life. It is titled "Mujh Sey Pehli Si Mohabbat Meray Mehboob Na Mang", which translates as "Don't ask me for that love I once gave you, my beloved". He weaves love between the harsh realities of war, hatred and self-interest. He says that, when one realises harsh realities, one is unable to return to the utopia of love or absolute ideals and that love cannot prosper in isolation from all that surrounds it.

So it is my heartfelt prayer that we are all led in our duties as theologians or as politicians in a realistic love, considering the realities and rationalities, weaving our Scottish tartan with its diverse shades of black, white and grey. Only then will our beloved Scotland win—game, set and match.

Thank you.