It has become quite fashionable, in certain Muslim circles, to be an ex. We have a number of ex-fundamentalists and ex-fanatics, such as Ed Husain, promoting themselves as experts on fanaticism and terrorism and advising various branches of the government. We have a group calling itself the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, which specialises in denouncing all things Islamic. We even have an odd ex-terrorist or two seeking book deals.

My friend Mufti Barkatullah is an unusual chap. He is a fully qualified "mufti", a traditionally educated and recognised expert in Islamic law. You cannot guess by simply looking at him, and his attire would definitely fool you, but in western terms he is also highly educated. He is just the kind of person who can combine tradition and modernity to produce something new that retains the best features of [...]

The government is to set up a board of Muslim theologians. Once established, it will steer the more radical elements of the Muslim community away from violent extremism and issue fatwas on controversial issues such as the position of women and loyalty to the UK. This is bonkers! And everyone should know it. Who in our diverse Muslim communities would actually listen to such a board?

The suggestion that a [...]

The Taliban have given an ultimatum to Pakistan: leave Peshawar within five days or face the consequences. That a band of terrorists can tell a democratically elected government to quit its own territory says a great deal about the power of the Taliban. Far from being beaten and on the run, as we are constantly being told, the Taliban are stronger than ever.

The ultimatum was issued this past week [...]

The beginning of the end of the war of terror has started. Mullahs in India have issued a fatwa unequivocally denouncing terrorism. So far, the international media have failed to notice, which is not surprising: the levers for changing Muslim minds have been a mystery to governments and media alike. The mullahs I speak of are not just any old mullahs: they are Deobandi mullahs.

The name Deoband, a small [...]

A new mosque will be opening this month in Levenshulme, Manchester. Nothing unusual in that, except that al-Markaz al-Najmi Mosque is eco-friendly. It is built with recycled materials and generates part of its energy from solar panels. British mosques are not re nowned for their friendliness by any barometer, so this is an event worth celebrating.

What I can say about mosques in Britain with some certainty is that they [...]

It's not easy to be a Muslim in Europe. Most Muslims I know brush aside the gazes of suspicion to which they are subjected on the streets of Amsterdam and Oslo, in the suburbs of Paris and Frankfurt, and in airport lounges. But the systematic hatred of Muslims, designed to demonise communities, is something else. Not surprisingly, it makes many Muslims angry.

Consider the past couple of years. There has [...]

In recent weeks, my house has been like an Indian railway station. Droves of people with excessively large suitcases descended on my modest abode to celebrate my daughter's marriage. A joyous occasion, of course, but while hiring castles and marquees is much in vogue for British weddings, that is as nothing, I can assure you, to the new British Asian variant.

I refer to a proper desi wedding. Desi literally [...]

News that an ageing cleric has issued a death fatwa against two Saudi intellectuals does not surprise me. The religious hierarchy in Saudi Arabia has no redeeming features. Its hallmarks are fanaticism, misogyny and xenophobia, with a strong accent on conformity and absolutism. Like the Inquisition, it moves rapidly to suppress any signs of dissent or independent thinking.

The cleric is the widely revered Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak. He does not [...]

The chaos at Heathrow's Terminal Five says a great deal about modern life. Within no time we had what the airport authorities themselves described as a meltdown.

"Meltdown", I believe, is increasingly going to be our lot in times to come. We are becoming ever more dependent on fiendishly sophisticated technology. Just what did we do before computers, microwaves and mobile phones? The problem comes when they break down, as [...]