has revealed he is considering giving up on his Catholic faith and converting to Islam.
The Hollywood star, 59, was recently filming in Turkish city Istanbul and became fascinated with the Muslim faith during his stay.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: "The Call to Prayer happens five times a day and for the first week it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit and it's the most beautiful, beautiful thing.
"There are 4,000 mosques in the city. Some are just stunning and it really makes me think about becoming a Muslim."
So he won't be copying Madonna and taking an interest in Kabbalah or following in Tom Cruise's footsteps and become a Scientologist?
The actor was raised in Northern Ireland as a Catholic alter boy and was named after his local priest.
On his Catholic beliefs, he said: "I was reared a Catholic but I think every day we ask ourselves, not consciously, what are we doing on this planet? What's it all about?
"I'm constantly reading books on God or the absence of God and atheism."
Selangor PAS today brushed off recent attacks by Datuk Hasan Ali, telling its sacked former state chief to take on the Obedient Wives Club (OWC) instead after it courted controversy yesterday with its new campaign, “The Prophet, Islam’s Sacred Sex Figure.”
Women’s wing chief Wan Hasrina Wan Hasan said the former state executive councillor for Islamic affairs should “be engaging in that fight instead of with PAS” if he was truly a defender of Islam.
“He should address OWC as their campaign is clearly deviant and will lead the faithful astray,” she told a press conference today.
The OWC, an offshoot of the outlawed Al-Arqam movement, is holding the campaign in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad’s birthday next month.
Hasan has embarked on a roadshow to explain what he claims are the true reasons behind his “unjust” sacking from the Islamist party.
But Selangor PAS said, in a prepared statement today, that Hasan’s claims are baseless.
“He is willing to accuse PAS of ignoring ulama, selling out Malays and bowing to PKR and DAP when nothing has changed since he was Selangor chief and executive councillor.
“The only thing that changed was his position and post in PAS,” said the statement read out by Youth chief Hasbullah Ridhwan.
Hasan has repeatedly accused PAS of deviating from championing Islam, and gained notoriety last year for backing the Selangor Islamic department’s (JAIS) raid of a church over apostasy claims.
Weeks before Hasan was dropped as state executive councillor this month, he was spotted taking part in pub raids by religious authorities.
” Good discernment is necessary for an assessment of the threat and a surgicaldecision is imperative once the menace threatens to go overboard. Pakatan’s attitude towards its dissidents should be – dissent yes, insurrection no.”–Terence Netto
COMMENT Every now and then a political party is wracked by the problems caused by a stormy petrel. The recalcitrant is born, not made, so a degree of prescience about when and how to put out the nuisance is to be greatly valued though rare to find.It is now PAS’ turn to feel the heat generated by the decision to expel its former Selangor state executive councillor Hasan Ali. The man is not going to go gently into the night; he is determined to cause as much damage as possible.Though he does not have much support, as evidenced by the lack of nominations from the PAS branches in the state ward in which he was elected, he can count on UMNO-wallahs to give him the publicity and audience for his rants. PAS has gotten rid of him but must live for some time with the consequences of its decision to excise the gangrene from its body.
Hasan is not like Zulkifli Nordin, the former PKR MP who spelt trouble for the party early in his tenure as the representative for the parliamentary seat of Kulim Bandar-Baru.PKR were tardy in chopping him when they had the chance to in the later part of 2008, after Zulkifli had been flagrant in violating its ideological principles when he barged into a Bar Council-organised seminar on religious conversions.A chop in time saves the chopping party much public mortification; delay emboldens the recalcitrant to go ballistic with his “I’m the wronged one” theatrics. Zulkifli, unlike Hasan, is a small fry; so the consequences of the delay in getting rid of him were not too costly to PKR.In contrast, Hasan is a man with the gravitas of a long-established reputation as a motivational expert. Reading him wrong means one is saddled with the consequences a long time after one realises the depth of one’s misreading.
Hasan’s appetite for power
Hasan’s ambition was stoked when he was consulted by UMNO’s Mohd Khir Toyo on the possibility of a coalition government between UMNO and PAS in Selangor as results came in on the night of March 8, 2008, that the opposition had won control of the state.Khir was trying to forestall the formation of a PKR-led administration by propositioning Hasan, who was the PAS commissioner for Selangor, about an UMNO-PAS coalition. The talks reputedly broke down over Hasan’s insistence that he be the Menteri Besar in such an eventuality.The next morning PKR’s Khalid Ibrahim unwittingly whetted Hasan’s appetite for power further by offering him the Deputy Menteri Besar’s position in a PKR-led government. After that Hasan was unstoppable, much like a shark with the scent of blood in the water: he was often a source of dissidence in the state administration led by Khalid.Hasan, who held the Islamic affairs portfolio, took perverse pleasure in being at odds with the rest of the Selangor state government.This he flagrantly demonstrated in the incursion of Jais (Selangor Islamic Affairs Department) into a charity dinner function hosted at the Damansara Utama Methodist Centre in August last year.Before the initially confused matters of the incursion could settle down into something like clarity, Hasan went public with his alarums about Christian proselytisation of Muslims having occurred at the dinner.This was a leap that turned out to be unsustainable by the facts, but that mattered little to the PAS legislator. Hasan was not only unconstrained in raising the alarm about Christian proselytisation of Muslims – this despite a lack of evidence that this had actually occurred at DUMC and elsewhere in the country – he went to make common cause with Himpun, a body that was hastily formed to campaign against the supposed threat.More than a torn in PAS’ fleshWhen it transpired that PAS wasn’t going to go along with the storm fomented by Himpun with an assist from Hasan over alleged Christian proselytisation, the alarmist was unfazed. Hasan persisted in his synthetic cause and with that he became not just an embarrassment to the party but a wound in its flesh.That wound became an abscess when Hasan fulminated against Pakatan Rakyat supremo Anwar Ibrahim’s, predicament in the immediate prelude to the verdict to be delivered on Sodomy II.The PAS central committee’s surgical decision to bring Hasan’s brazen run of dissidence to an end with his expulsion was the response of a party that knew any further forbearance towards would convert a torn in its flesh into a dagger at its heart.The combined lessons of the Zulkifli Nordin (left) episode in PKR and the Hasan Ali imbroglio in PAS would support the conclusion that some prescience is needed when assessing the character of a refractory member. There are nuances to recalcitrance, the more brazen shades compounded of vaulting ambition and self-appointment as guardians of some confession.The latter shades are recipes for recalcitrance morphing quickly into rebellion. Good discernment is necessary for an assessment of the threat and a surgical decision is imperative once the menace threatens to go overboard. Pakatan’s attitude towards its dissidents should be – dissent yes, insurrection no.
Indian Muslims have since long been looking for a pan-national leader; it is just their kind of luck that a die-hard Hindu right wing leader is their self -styled savior. Modi is alleged to have a crucial role in fanning the flames of the post-Godhra anti-Muslim riots -- that killed over 800 men and women in 2002 -- by maintaining administrative passivity.
Modi is now on a fast for three days to celebrate his innocence: the Supreme Court earlier this week refused to pass an order against him in the Ehsan murder case during the riots. Modi says he had always considered the post-Godhra riots a “blot on civilized society.”
But not on him, you will note. Civil society is at fault, not Modi, who was the chief minister at the time. Either Modi is not part of civilized society or if he is, he had a role to play as chief minister of that curious society, and he didn’t play it well.
But not on him, you will note. Civil society is at fault, not Modi, who was the chief minister at the time. Either Modi is not part of civilized society or if he is, he had a role to play as chief minister of that curious society, and he didn’t play it well.
Modi is still the chief minister of Gujarat. Not once in these long years has Modi apologized on his administration’s behalf for one of the bloodiest lapses in post-independent India. Not once did he threaten to go on fast in all these years of legal lies and fake encounters; encounters in which inconvenient people got killed, and a communally coloured terrorism gained credence in the public mind thanks to political propaganda.
Modi’s three-day fast coming so soon after the high theatre of protest by India’s toughest food-phobe, Anna Hazare, makes you wonder at the many uses of a Gandhian tool. Satyagraha has been repurposed. Why didn’t Osama bin Laden think of using it?
Modi has always prided in himself as a strong man. No important file in Gujarat moves without his nod. The development of Gujarat as a modern state is attributed to Modi, most of all by himself. No credit has been given to the enterprising Gujaratis, whose instinct for making money is as sure as a shark’s smell for blood.
Yet, when it comes to post-Godhra riots’ management, his much publicized administrative acumen is missing. Here he has always claimed innocence. Things happened in a fit of “madness” he has said. But the question is precisely that: where was he when his “sadbhavna” touch was wanted most?
Before beginning his fast, Modi said that he would expose the falsity of the secular politics of vote banks. That he will build a case for developmental politics. But to have suddenly one day invited guests in burkha and skull caps chant Allah-o- Akbar at his meeting is just as cynical a exercise as vote bank politics.
That we have come to this pass where there is no difference between the split blood of the riot victims and the tears that politicians shed before TV cameras says something about society at large. It is anything but civil. Which is why Modi may just become the PM India deserves in 2014.
Talk to anyone in the Muslim-American community, and they are bound to give you a different take on TLC’s new, and now controversial show “All-American Muslim.” Some say that the show hits the nail right on the head in its portrayal of the entire spectrum of Muslims – from ultra-liberal, to moderate to orthodox. Conversely, many criticize the show as not being representative of the American Muslim community, as it only depicts one geographical area, and only Muslims from a narrow background, i.e. the Lebanese-American community in Dearborn, MI. And while I certainly see both sides of the argument, I have still watched each episode, as there are still good takeaways and positive portrayals of everyday Muslims, no matter how religious, or non religious they are.
No matter what your view on the show may be, the Muslim community now has a call to action, and this will definitely serve as a litmus test for the community. There is no doubt that we are living in a time of great challenge and turmoil as Muslims in America. Although we are 10 years past the attacks of 9/11, the level of Islamophobia in the US is at its highest and most well established level. The Learning Channel took a bold step by introducing a show that featured Muslims, living a normal middle-class, well-entrenched American life. As soon as the show launched, it was met with fierce opposition, including a protest campaign launched by the right-wing fringe group Florida Family Association, which reached out to every advertiser that aired during “All-American Muslim” and asked them to drop their ads. Shockingly, one major advertiser, Lowe’s, buckled to this pressure. Although the Florida Family Association is exultant, claiming that most advertisers have not renewed their ads, it is more likely that most non-renewals were due to business-based decisions rather than hate and intolerance. In the case of Lowe’s, however, it is clear that the hardware giant acted irrationally in the face of pressure, and as a result greatly damaged its standing as a corporate citizen.
So now that the facts are in front of us, what is the Muslim community going to do? With the rise in anti-Islam sentiment, we have seen a dichotomy in the community; on one hand we have seen a great increase in grassroots and organized activism on behalf of Muslim-American rights. On the other side, there remains a disturbing amount of apathy. Many think the best way to react to a hostile environment is to ride the situation out, and that it will all pass. Will ignoring these issues be the best course of action for Muslims as well as nation in the long term? The answer is no. For those who think that groups like the Florida Family Association are just a flash in the pan, it’s time to think again.
Racism has manifested itself in many eras and in many different ways throughout history. There were times when racism was institutionalized, as in the case of the post-slavery and Jim Crow era toward African Americans. There have been times where the racism or anti-religious sentiment has hovered beneath the surface - as in the case of attitudes toward Catholics - throughout much of America’s history. As we zoom out and examine the timeline of this relatively young country’s history, there has been a relatively unbroken chain of racism or religious discrimination that has manifested in some way, shape or form. There has always been small, yet vocal minorities who have latched onto these movements and who have attempted to fear-monger against a perceived outsider group. This has shifted at one point or another from Catholics, to African-Americans, to Jews, to Asians. The focus is now squarely upon Muslims. When multi-billion dollar firms such as Lowe’s are allowed to make moves such as this without comment, the threat of institutionalized racism becomes that much more of a reality.
Those at the Florida Family Association hide behind a false sense of morality, trying to build a connection to what they perceive as “traditional American values.” In the course of their faulty logic, they completely ignore the rights that all religions (including Muslims specifically) have been given under the First Amendment of the Constitution that they claim to cling to so dearly. The reality is that Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, as well as the Founding Fathers in general, were much more sophisticated in their worldview and more accepting of all peoples, centuries before there was any television or Internet. Past precedent shows us that these hate groups would have likely been on the side of segregation and the marginalization of the aforementioned race and religious groups, had they been present during those times. We must ask ourselves if we are truly at a crossroads when it comes to how Islam is perceived moving forward in the US.
Along with the rising clout of Florida Family Association and similar groups, we also must examine the rise in acceptance of Islamophobia in the political sphere. Look no further than the Republican presidential debates to highlight the reality that the extreme right-wing is an incubator for anti-Muslim sentiment. Today, the leading GOP candidate is likely the one that has the strongest Islamophobic credentials: Newt Gingrich. He often speaks at and panders to so-called values-based voters, a genre which the Florida Family Association belongs. Gingrich has produced and released a fear-mongering, anti-Islam film, “America at Risk,” that has been distributed widely throughout the ultra-right wing community. He recently referred to the Palestinian people as invented – an ugly, disturbing epithet that has become a common talking point in right-wing circles. What is disturbing is the possibility that this discredited, Islamophobic fraudster may just become the Republican nominee for the President of the United States of America.
Many consider Newt to simply be an opportunist – he changes his political positions as the wind blows. But the wind is blowing against the Muslims right now, so what happens if he becomes President, when money and influence stream from many quarters? The same can be said about Lowe’s and their recent missteps. Is this the first step in corporate America legitimizing the fear and hatred of Muslims? With Lowe’s in their pocket, groups such as the Florida Family Association will likely gain political and monetary clout in their campaign to demonize Muslims. We must now ask ourselves: how are we going to change this depressing, seemingly never ending tide of ill-will toward the Muslim community?
The answer is simple: If we sit back and do nothing, we lose. If we continue to ride this thing out, and wait for someone else to write a letter, or for someone else to call, or for someone else to boycott Lowe’s, then chances are that nobody will. We have great organizations that work for our civil rights on a day to day basis, but they can only do so much. All of us can do a small part to contribute to this cause – whether it is writing a letter to Lowe’s executives, calling them to express your dissatisfaction, or to just shop elsewhere in an act of conscientious objection.
As a community, it is our duty to keep this momentum alive, and at the very least, familiarize ourselves and our networks with the nuances of this issue, and the larger Islamophobia issue that we face today. History teaches us a wide array of lessons. Racism didn’t end with the passing of the Civil Rights Act in the 1960’s. Many held onto their deep seated hatred until they realized that it was socially unacceptable to continue to espouse such views – and with time, they slowly faded away. We have seen first-hand the emergence of the anti-Muslim movement. If we allow those who harbor hate to continue to gain traction in this cause, it not only jeopardizes the Muslim-American way of life, but it will also erode at the freedoms and values that make this a great nation.
No matter what your view on the show may be, the Muslim community now has a call to action, and this will definitely serve as a litmus test for the community. There is no doubt that we are living in a time of great challenge and turmoil as Muslims in America. Although we are 10 years past the attacks of 9/11, the level of Islamophobia in the US is at its highest and most well established level. The Learning Channel took a bold step by introducing a show that featured Muslims, living a normal middle-class, well-entrenched American life. As soon as the show launched, it was met with fierce opposition, including a protest campaign launched by the right-wing fringe group Florida Family Association, which reached out to every advertiser that aired during “All-American Muslim” and asked them to drop their ads. Shockingly, one major advertiser, Lowe’s, buckled to this pressure. Although the Florida Family Association is exultant, claiming that most advertisers have not renewed their ads, it is more likely that most non-renewals were due to business-based decisions rather than hate and intolerance. In the case of Lowe’s, however, it is clear that the hardware giant acted irrationally in the face of pressure, and as a result greatly damaged its standing as a corporate citizen.
So now that the facts are in front of us, what is the Muslim community going to do? With the rise in anti-Islam sentiment, we have seen a dichotomy in the community; on one hand we have seen a great increase in grassroots and organized activism on behalf of Muslim-American rights. On the other side, there remains a disturbing amount of apathy. Many think the best way to react to a hostile environment is to ride the situation out, and that it will all pass. Will ignoring these issues be the best course of action for Muslims as well as nation in the long term? The answer is no. For those who think that groups like the Florida Family Association are just a flash in the pan, it’s time to think again.
Racism has manifested itself in many eras and in many different ways throughout history. There were times when racism was institutionalized, as in the case of the post-slavery and Jim Crow era toward African Americans. There have been times where the racism or anti-religious sentiment has hovered beneath the surface - as in the case of attitudes toward Catholics - throughout much of America’s history. As we zoom out and examine the timeline of this relatively young country’s history, there has been a relatively unbroken chain of racism or religious discrimination that has manifested in some way, shape or form. There has always been small, yet vocal minorities who have latched onto these movements and who have attempted to fear-monger against a perceived outsider group. This has shifted at one point or another from Catholics, to African-Americans, to Jews, to Asians. The focus is now squarely upon Muslims. When multi-billion dollar firms such as Lowe’s are allowed to make moves such as this without comment, the threat of institutionalized racism becomes that much more of a reality.
Those at the Florida Family Association hide behind a false sense of morality, trying to build a connection to what they perceive as “traditional American values.” In the course of their faulty logic, they completely ignore the rights that all religions (including Muslims specifically) have been given under the First Amendment of the Constitution that they claim to cling to so dearly. The reality is that Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, as well as the Founding Fathers in general, were much more sophisticated in their worldview and more accepting of all peoples, centuries before there was any television or Internet. Past precedent shows us that these hate groups would have likely been on the side of segregation and the marginalization of the aforementioned race and religious groups, had they been present during those times. We must ask ourselves if we are truly at a crossroads when it comes to how Islam is perceived moving forward in the US.
Along with the rising clout of Florida Family Association and similar groups, we also must examine the rise in acceptance of Islamophobia in the political sphere. Look no further than the Republican presidential debates to highlight the reality that the extreme right-wing is an incubator for anti-Muslim sentiment. Today, the leading GOP candidate is likely the one that has the strongest Islamophobic credentials: Newt Gingrich. He often speaks at and panders to so-called values-based voters, a genre which the Florida Family Association belongs. Gingrich has produced and released a fear-mongering, anti-Islam film, “America at Risk,” that has been distributed widely throughout the ultra-right wing community. He recently referred to the Palestinian people as invented – an ugly, disturbing epithet that has become a common talking point in right-wing circles. What is disturbing is the possibility that this discredited, Islamophobic fraudster may just become the Republican nominee for the President of the United States of America.
Many consider Newt to simply be an opportunist – he changes his political positions as the wind blows. But the wind is blowing against the Muslims right now, so what happens if he becomes President, when money and influence stream from many quarters? The same can be said about Lowe’s and their recent missteps. Is this the first step in corporate America legitimizing the fear and hatred of Muslims? With Lowe’s in their pocket, groups such as the Florida Family Association will likely gain political and monetary clout in their campaign to demonize Muslims. We must now ask ourselves: how are we going to change this depressing, seemingly never ending tide of ill-will toward the Muslim community?
The answer is simple: If we sit back and do nothing, we lose. If we continue to ride this thing out, and wait for someone else to write a letter, or for someone else to call, or for someone else to boycott Lowe’s, then chances are that nobody will. We have great organizations that work for our civil rights on a day to day basis, but they can only do so much. All of us can do a small part to contribute to this cause – whether it is writing a letter to Lowe’s executives, calling them to express your dissatisfaction, or to just shop elsewhere in an act of conscientious objection.
As a community, it is our duty to keep this momentum alive, and at the very least, familiarize ourselves and our networks with the nuances of this issue, and the larger Islamophobia issue that we face today. History teaches us a wide array of lessons. Racism didn’t end with the passing of the Civil Rights Act in the 1960’s. Many held onto their deep seated hatred until they realized that it was socially unacceptable to continue to espouse such views – and with time, they slowly faded away. We have seen first-hand the emergence of the anti-Muslim movement. If we allow those who harbor hate to continue to gain traction in this cause, it not only jeopardizes the Muslim-American way of life, but it will also erode at the freedoms and values that make this a great nation.
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