Put on a happy face, Muslim women told
2011/01/26
By Rozanna Latiff
news@nst.com.myShare
Lauren Booth, British broadcaster, journalist and human rights activistKUALA LUMPUR: Be happy and smile -- that is the message renowned British broadcaster, journalist and human rights activist Lauren Booth has for Muslim women.
Booth, who converted to Islam in September last year, said being positive in public was a good way to reach out to non-Muslims and counteract the negative image of Islam in the West.
She nearly put off her conversion for one reason -- the way Muslim women sometimes looked on the (London) underground.
"In the West, your hijab is your brand. Unhappiness in public says to people that you're being beaten by your husband and your father hates you. So, smile," she told a 300-strong audience at a special talk entitled "My Journey to Islam" on Tuesday night.
The talk was held as part of a series of public lectures here, following Booth's appearance as a guest speaker at the launch of Viva Palestina Malaysia, an international non-governmental organisation advocating the creation of a Palestinian state.
In a spiritually-charged speech, Booth recounted the experiences that led her to convert to Islam, tracing a religious and philosophical journey that began during her childhood in London.
"I could remember being 7 yearsold and putting my hands together and speaking to God. No one had told me to do that and I recognise it now as fitrah (spiritual instinct)," Booth, who grew up in a non-religious household, said.
However, she confessed, she knew very little about Islam until she arrived in Gaza six years ago, where she was struck by the resolve and energy of the Muslims she met there.
"My first experience with Muslims there was so positive (compared with) what had been painted for me as the most violent region in the world," she said.
It was then that she began to make her name as an outspoken commentator on Middle East issues, often dissenting against her Western media counterparts as well as her brother-in-law, former British prime minister Tony Blair, on thorny topics such as the Iraq war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Contrary to earlier reports, which pinpointed her visit to the Fatima al-Masumeh shrine in Iran last year as the catalyst for her conversion, Booth said her attraction to Islam began in earnest after interviewing Sheikh Raed Salah, the guardian of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Palestine, at a conference in Copenhagen four years ago.
"During the interview, I was suddenly overwhelmed with feelings. I couldn't understand it," she said.
She finally realised she was a Muslim during the visit to the shrine, which ended a string of life-changing experiences for her, including being held in Gaza after Israeli authorities barred her from returning to London in 2008 as well as her former husband's involvement in a car accident, which left him in a coma.
She confessed to being frightened at first of the implications of being a Muslim and what it meant for her as a Western woman and a public figure.
"Everything you hear about Islam is centred around rules and expectations, but no one ever speaks about Islam in terms of a spiritual release and reaching outwards towards your community. After I accepted it, I wasn't scared anymore," she said.
Booth, who currently works for Islam Channel and the Iran-owned Press TV, publicly announced her conversion to Islam at the Islam Channel's Global Peace and Unity event in October last year.
Read more: Put on a happy face, Muslim women told http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/14lau/Article#ixzz1CCSrBgV3
2011/01/26
By Rozanna Latiff
news@nst.com.myShare
Lauren Booth, British broadcaster, journalist and human rights activistKUALA LUMPUR: Be happy and smile -- that is the message renowned British broadcaster, journalist and human rights activist Lauren Booth has for Muslim women.
Booth, who converted to Islam in September last year, said being positive in public was a good way to reach out to non-Muslims and counteract the negative image of Islam in the West.
She nearly put off her conversion for one reason -- the way Muslim women sometimes looked on the (London) underground.
"In the West, your hijab is your brand. Unhappiness in public says to people that you're being beaten by your husband and your father hates you. So, smile," she told a 300-strong audience at a special talk entitled "My Journey to Islam" on Tuesday night.
The talk was held as part of a series of public lectures here, following Booth's appearance as a guest speaker at the launch of Viva Palestina Malaysia, an international non-governmental organisation advocating the creation of a Palestinian state.
In a spiritually-charged speech, Booth recounted the experiences that led her to convert to Islam, tracing a religious and philosophical journey that began during her childhood in London.
"I could remember being 7 yearsold and putting my hands together and speaking to God. No one had told me to do that and I recognise it now as fitrah (spiritual instinct)," Booth, who grew up in a non-religious household, said.
However, she confessed, she knew very little about Islam until she arrived in Gaza six years ago, where she was struck by the resolve and energy of the Muslims she met there.
"My first experience with Muslims there was so positive (compared with) what had been painted for me as the most violent region in the world," she said.
It was then that she began to make her name as an outspoken commentator on Middle East issues, often dissenting against her Western media counterparts as well as her brother-in-law, former British prime minister Tony Blair, on thorny topics such as the Iraq war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Contrary to earlier reports, which pinpointed her visit to the Fatima al-Masumeh shrine in Iran last year as the catalyst for her conversion, Booth said her attraction to Islam began in earnest after interviewing Sheikh Raed Salah, the guardian of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Palestine, at a conference in Copenhagen four years ago.
"During the interview, I was suddenly overwhelmed with feelings. I couldn't understand it," she said.
She finally realised she was a Muslim during the visit to the shrine, which ended a string of life-changing experiences for her, including being held in Gaza after Israeli authorities barred her from returning to London in 2008 as well as her former husband's involvement in a car accident, which left him in a coma.
She confessed to being frightened at first of the implications of being a Muslim and what it meant for her as a Western woman and a public figure.
"Everything you hear about Islam is centred around rules and expectations, but no one ever speaks about Islam in terms of a spiritual release and reaching outwards towards your community. After I accepted it, I wasn't scared anymore," she said.
Booth, who currently works for Islam Channel and the Iran-owned Press TV, publicly announced her conversion to Islam at the Islam Channel's Global Peace and Unity event in October last year.
Read more: Put on a happy face, Muslim women told http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/14lau/Article#ixzz1CCSrBgV3
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