Hiya – Salma here!
I’m head of the Birmingham Stop the War Coalition, national vice-chair of Respect, and a Councillor for Sparkbrook Ward in Birmingham. You may recognise me from the telly!!
Growing up, I mistakenly held Islam responsible for the sometimes negative treatment of women in Pakistani culture. I even considered converting to Christianity!!!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine it? Me in a Laura Ashley smock boring on about my “personal saviour” all the time!!!
Fortunately, I got involved in the Young Muslims, met Inayat Bunglawala, and ended up writing for his “Trends” magazine.
Gosh, they were exciting times. Anything seemed possible. We were bound together by our fight for justice and the Islamic way, working late into the night on campaigns such as the struggle to free some poor British muslim lads – one of them Abu Hamza’s son, and another his stepson – who had got themselves into a spot of bother mucking about in Yemen!!!!!
Of course, now I’m grown up and responsible and in the newspapers all the time, I have to say things like:
“Oh blimey, isnt’ terrorism just awful! I blame those bad Islamists who have perverted our faith. The only solution is for the government to listen to good Islamists like me and do everything we say!!!!!!!!”
And, worse still, I have to pretend to be friends with that sleazy old letch, George Galloway!!!! And Linsdey German who looks like a bag lady!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyhow, I still dream alot about the old days: the ideas, our hopes, our dreams!! The crazy fun we had!!
Why only last night, I was reading this HILLARIOUS piece I wrote for Inayat’s mag, called “Rule Islamia” (like “Rule Britannia” hahahahaha). It is all about what would happen if we ever managed to run Britain the way it REALLY ought to be.
Click on the picture if you’d like to read what an Islamic Republic of Great Britain would be like (i.e. completely BRILLIANT)!!!!!!!!
I really was a good writer, wasn’t I, although I do say so myself!!!!