The Eco Muslim Will Attend 'Generation M: Young Muslims Changing The World' Book Launch

I'm a little giddy with happies to tell you this. Don't mind my tone or random exclamations marks please, I'm typing totally informal for you.

I'll start from the beginning so you get why I'm excited, maa-sha'allah.

You know Shelina Janmohamed? You know, the famous Muslim author who wrote that book Love In A Headscarf that made the papers and blogs as Spirit21? Well, Shelina contacted me about her new book, Generation M: Young Muslims Changing The World. And I'm mentioned in it. Yayy!


Shelina's new book is a type of cultural documentation of the current western Muslims who are leading the path of infusing modernity with spirituality. If you're even half alive on any social media platform you'll be seeing how more Muslims from Europe are actively doing things they didn't, say, twenty years ago.

As a more environmentally inclined individual, my role at this book launch will be tiny compared to the Muslim giants who have affected their surroundings greatly, but my role is there nonetheless.

Attending alongside me will be Muslim film makers, Hip-Hop artists and fashion designers, and more no doubt.

I guess with the growing popularity of buzzwords like 'Islamist', 'Radicalist', and 'Eco-Jihad', there's always more sides to a story, two faces to a coin. On one hand we Muslims are the branded terrorists of the world, dictating our Shariah in the countryside and forcing children to eat terrible Halal food, while on the other we are the exotic wealthy foreigners, consumers and producers of technology, migrating to affluent countries to share our inherited cultures.

Although I haven't read Shelina's book yet (mine's in the post, whoop!), I guess that's a snippet of what it's about: my perception of myself as a British Muslim woman, compared to the world's. But my perception of myself is what Shelina is digging at more, which is why I'm excited to be a part of this. I trust Shelina has done her research, interviewed her key audience and subsequently given her most honest opinion about our new Muslim lifestyles, our evolving 'Muslimness', if you will.

We are this group of Muslims. We are not jihadists but our approach is indeed radical. We sing our faith, we paint it, we plant seeds with it, recycle it and upload it onto YouTube for the rest of the world to see. We have challenges like everyone else but our daily obstacles would surprise you too.

Before this turns into a biblical epiphany, here are a few details for the book launch:

When: Tuesday, 06 September 2016. I'll keep you posted, don't worry. Hopefully via Twitter we should be having a live feed too, so I'm told.
Venue: Ogilvy Offices, Southbank, London.
Guests:

• Romanna Bint Abu Baker: fashion entrepreneur, barrister and founder of Haute-Elan.com. 
• Navid Akhtar: broadcast journalist and founder of Alchemiya.com, a global video-on-demand platform showcasing the best films and documentaries from across the Muslim world. 
• Poetic Pilgrimage – Muneera Rashid and Sukina Owen-Douglas: female British Muslim Hip Hop and Spoken Word duo, with roots in Jamaica and branches in music and poetry, they tackle social issues using Hip Hop and Grime. “We are Muslim, Caribbean, British, Londoners, Bristolians – we’re a tapestry of things. It will come out in our music.”
• The Eco Muslim: You should all know me by now, I mean, it's just me. *wave*.

So yeah, that's the whole of my knowledge about the book launch so far. Oh, if you want a copy it's available now, Generation M: Young Muslims Changing The World.

Image + Ogilvy, Tweet

I'll come back with pictures and a Lanndaann souvenir.

Peace and Eco-Jihad,
Zaufishan