Tuesday 17 November 2009

Islam Awareness Week 2009

This year Islam Awareness Week is from 16th to 22nd November 2009 and the theme is "Walk the Talk". This theme is all about recognising our common humanity, celebrating our diversity and respecting each other, and not just paying these ideas lip-service but actually going out of your way to get to know other people who you may not otherwise meet and try to understand each other better.

You can learn more about events arranged for the week by visiitng the IAW website here. There are a series of events arranged around the country including in my neighbourhood as well as a fascinating article about the History of Muslims in Britain which includes information such as:

"Of all the countries of Western Europe Britain has always had a “special relationship” with the Muslim world. Initially, Muslims landed on these Isles as explorers and traders. Trade was so important to King Offa of Mercia, a powerful Anglo-Saxon king of the 8th century famous for building Offa’s dyke, that his coins have the inscription of the declaration of faith of Islam (There is no god but Allah) in Arabic

By the 14th century following the crusades and the introduction of several Muslim cultural traditions into British life, from the paisley to the arch to spices and the very concept of chivalry, the Muslim world was admired and respected for its scholarship and advances in all fields of knowledge. Muslim scholarship such as that of Razi, Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd) formed the backbone of intellectual and scholarly life in Britain."


The website also had resources for schools including a virtual classroom.


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