Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation

My latest article for Artlyst is entitled 'Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation'. In the article I try to explore the interface between art and religion in a world in which:

'ISIS destroys the art of civilisations wherever its reach extends, most notably at Palmyra. Brexit threatens to cut off EU arts funding without alternative national sources existing, as demonstrated by the threat from austerity cuts to the wonderful New Art Gallery Walsall. This may leave the Art world, despite its avant-garde image, ever more reliant on the largesse of capitalism and consumerism. Then, in the US those who will come to power in 2017, are those who have consistently sought to censor and neuter the liberal Arts.'

The article references Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks' 'Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence', Andre Serrano's 'Piss Christ', the At Our Mothers' Feet campaign, and Stations2016.

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Lou Reed - Busload Of Faith.

Muslims act on maternal mortality

The evaluation report which I wrote on the At Our Mothers' Feet campaign run by MADE in Europe and which was launched last week at the House of Commons was covered yesterday in the Church Times.

The article notes that:

"The evaluation reports that 29 community workshops were delivered by MADE, attended by 776 people (the target agreed with the DfID was 600). It highlights one held with a group of women from Somalia - where one in 16 women die during pregnancy or childbirth. Many who attended were brought to tears, and the group began fund-raising to help improve infrastructure in the country. The final strand of the project involved inviting Muslim NGOs to workshops. To date, 14 have pledged to increase their work on maternal health - just one short of the DfID target."

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Martyn Joseph -This Being Woman.

At Our Mothers' Feet evaluation and reception

Since 2011, the At Our Mothers' Feet campaign has been working to raise awareness about the problem of global maternal death amongst UK Muslim communities and inspire them to take action to share learning and to support Muslim NGOs to work on maternal health.

This is what the campaign has achieved so far:

• Over 50 ulama' and leaders pledged their support for maternal health
• 30 events in seven cities raised awareness among 1000 people
• 14 Muslim charities committed to increased work on maternal health

At Our Mothers' Feet was the first campaign of its kind in the UK Muslim community bringing an issue like maternal health to the fore. Through the hard work of the project team and countless volunteers, the campaign has been able to reach thousands of people with our message that women do not need to die, and inspired hundreds of campaign actions. Mosques, schools, madrasahs, Imams, charities, media personalities and women's groups have all united under this one cause.

This afternoon the evaluation report of the At Our Mothers' Feet project, which I have written, was launched at a reception in the House of Commons co-hosted by Baroness Jenny Tonge (Chair of the UK Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health) and MADE in Europe.

Baroness Tonge opened the reception before Sarah Javaid, Executive Director of MADE in Europe, and Board Member, Saif Ahmad, spoke passionately about the project and its impact on the maternal health initiatives of Muslim NGOs.

The project had three target groups which were impacted in the following ways:

• Scholars (faith leaders) – direct discussion of issues based on research and case studies in order to explore how issues and approaches can be understood and communicated within an Islamic framework. Following this groundwork, support for public statements via mosques and media.
• UK Muslim community – presentations combining statistics and stories for personal impact with scholar statements for religious engagement. Once engagement with the issues has been gained, empowerment of the community as advocates and campaigners both nationally and internationally.
• UK-based Muslim NGOs – resources setting out how to engage the UK Muslim community through the above approach and resources setting out how to practically address development issues on the ground in developing countries within an Islamic framework. Engagement with campaigning and educative approaches within fundraising campaigns to create a more informed and more active donor base. 

In my evaluation report I suggest that At Our Mothers’ Feet has been a ‘milestone’ project which demonstrated the validity of its process for enabling discussion of development issues that have been considered taboo for the UK Muslim community in the past. Through this process they have also demonstrated that young Muslims can be engaged with development issues through use of social media and the empowerment of educative/campaigning approaches.

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The Sound of Reason and At Our Mothers' Feet - Mum Song.