http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Sun, 19 May 2013 14:03:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/14/the-real-ghetto-superstar-why-floyd-mayweather-is-no-muhammad-ali/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/14/the-real-ghetto-superstar-why-floyd-mayweather-is-no-muhammad-ali/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 15:39:57 +0000 Hasnet Lais http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=34888 After claiming the 44th win of his career, the undefeated streak of boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather continues. A future hall of famer, he may be the finest boxer of our generation since Sugar Ray Leonard and arguably one of the greatest pound for pound fighters to have laced a pair of gloves.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/14/the-real-ghetto-superstar-why-floyd-mayweather-is-no-muhammad-ali/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/08/is-the-bangladeshi-spring-morphing-into-a-national-islamophobia/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/08/is-the-bangladeshi-spring-morphing-into-a-national-islamophobia/#comments Fri, 08 Mar 2013 22:00:48 +0000 Hasnet Lais http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=33041 Almost 42 years since Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan, the ghosts of the bloody 1971 liberation war still haunt the nation. The bloodletting, rape and torture inflicted by Pakistani militias prevent many Bengalis to this day from treating the country’s road to freedom as just a tragic tale of the past.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/08/is-the-bangladeshi-spring-morphing-into-a-national-islamophobia/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/08/are-female-converts-to-islam-part-of-a-new-wave-of-feminism/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/08/are-female-converts-to-islam-part-of-a-new-wave-of-feminism/#comments Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:28:37 +0000 Hasnet Lais http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=32372 You’d think after watching BBC Three’s Make me a Muslim documentary, being a female convert to Islam is so riddled with fault lines. Not really. My recent interviews with Muslim converts offered a rare glimpse into the lives of three women who would flatly reject such comparisons. And they’re all buzzing with spiritual ecstasy, retelling what caused them to halal-ify their wardrobes and Islamise dress codes.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/08/are-female-converts-to-islam-part-of-a-new-wave-of-feminism/feed/ 779 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/11/21/loaded-lux-using-hip-hop-to-heal-the-absent-father-wound/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/11/21/loaded-lux-using-hip-hop-to-heal-the-absent-father-wound/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:18:51 +0000 Hasnet Lais http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=30099 As far as music genres go, few are as hotly contested as hip hop. It’s middle America’s favourite whipping boy, but one of corporate America’s most powerful marketing agents. In the midst of the cultural tug-of-war, battle rap has returned with a vengeance and today marches unchallenged as the leading movement in the hip-hop underground. Alongside [...]]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/11/21/loaded-lux-using-hip-hop-to-heal-the-absent-father-wound/feed/ 9 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/10/16/sheikh-drugs-and-rock-%e2%80%98n%e2%80%99-roll-muslim-anxieties-with-student-life/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/10/16/sheikh-drugs-and-rock-%e2%80%98n%e2%80%99-roll-muslim-anxieties-with-student-life/#comments Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:00:04 +0000 Hasnet Lais http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=29168 As much as I tried to repress from memory a recent post in The Independent titled “Slut dropping' and 'Pimps and Hoes' - the sexual politics of freshers' week”, it rings true for some common Muslim anxieties with student life.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/10/16/sheikh-drugs-and-rock-%e2%80%98n%e2%80%99-roll-muslim-anxieties-with-student-life/feed/ 61 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/10/10/faith-and-film-actor-ashley-chin%e2%80%99s-balancing-act/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/10/10/faith-and-film-actor-ashley-chin%e2%80%99s-balancing-act/#comments Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:43:11 +0000 Hasnet Lais http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=29061 Actor and Muslim convert Ashley Chin, a.k.a. Muslim Bilal speaks about the conflict between pursing an acting career and remaining faithful to his religion.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/10/10/faith-and-film-actor-ashley-chin%e2%80%99s-balancing-act/feed/ 25 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/26/hating-muhammad-echoes-of-a-medieval-polemic/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/26/hating-muhammad-echoes-of-a-medieval-polemic/#comments Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:00:18 +0000 Hasnet Lais http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=28668 As sketchy details surface about one person who has been alleged on a US website to be the director of 'Innocence of Muslims', and a recent French cartoon depicting Muhammad in a postmodern satirical form, both filmmaker and cartoonist join a long list of Muhammad-baiting Islamophobes.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/26/hating-muhammad-echoes-of-a-medieval-polemic/feed/ 125 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/12/the-mosque-is-tired%e2%80%a6our-imams-are-clueless/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/12/the-mosque-is-tired%e2%80%a6our-imams-are-clueless/#comments Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:37:59 +0000 Hasnet Lais http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=28346 Just before his passing, the late Cardinal Carlo Martini spoke damningly about the Catholic Church. As a Muslim, I feel digging behind his statement unearths a wisdom which many British Imams will find hard to swallow. The Cardinal’s remark is relevant to circumstances obtaining for Muslims who are dogged by the same servility to tradition and spiritual malady plaguing Christians.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/09/12/the-mosque-is-tired%e2%80%a6our-imams-are-clueless/feed/ 65