Oh joy! Oh goody, goody sonic gumdrops! ‘Tis music to my ears to hear The National feature Next Music Station, a new series on Al Jazeera that explores the musical soul across the spectrum of the Arab world.

NMS spans 11 episodes, nine countries and 80 musicians to reflect the diversity of Arab music, reaching around corners and behind closed doors to brush with bands and artists who might otherwise have remained undiscovered.

Eleven weekly one-hour shows beam the lesser-known sounds of Sudan, Tunisia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Yemen to a TV set near you, to mingle with more familiar sonic flavours of Syria, Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon.

Join me in joyous hairbrush karaoke and jump up and down on your beds, dear readers: this could get loud…

Tune In, Turn Up and Tap Your Toes.

Next Music Station is already airing on Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel, while those of us that tune in to AJ English will have to sit on our hands until the beginning of April.

In each episode, Basque director Fermin Muguruza and his small crew journey to an Arab city or charter an entire country to interview musicians and hear them perform. Muguruza, an acclaimed musician, is no stranger to Arab sounds. His documentary Checkpoint Rock: Songs From Palestine saw him boldly go where few have gone before him: through the streets of the Occupied Territories in search of music, musicians and muses.

The Next Best Thing

NMS dances to a similar tune. Egypt gets two episodes, the first of which sees our intrepid tune-hunter groove and jive around the “mother of all cities”, Cairo.  The second is a journey up the Nile, starting in the south and carrying up to Alexandria and Port Said. Kuwait shares an episode with Bahrain and fuses the traditional songs of the pearl divers with Bedouin-style a cappella.

“When you meet these artists, it’s amazing,” Muguruza told The National. “Because of their background, that they’ve lived through wars, their different stories, you really feel like you’re learning a lot.”

Never too Young or Old to Play

Next Music Station also serves as a platform for the Arab world’s younger, less-established musicians to get their voices heard beyond their own back yards.

Filming in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco was interspersed with trips home for editing, while Muguruza set up a base in Beirut for three months to film the Lebanese and Syrian instalments. Friends, producers, managers and musicians from all corners of the globe were called on to help during the research phase.

“I didn’t sleep a lot last year,” Muguruza admits. “I worked every day and night, checking different things, especially the Internet and YouTube. It was amazing. Very passionate, but very obsessive.”

“‘Let me grow as an artist or I will become President of Pakistan and rule this country.” – Veena Malik is loud and clear and she sure doesn’t mince her words.

Love her, or hate her and you’d have teeming support from thousands of others on either side of the fence. The fiesta Ms. Malik’s appearance on Indian reality TV Show Bigg Boss has ignited an avalanche of public debate among Pakistani society.

Some, like TV anchorman anchor Kamran Shahid and Mufti Abdul Qavi deem the Pakistani siren the shame of their nation, yet Veena’s defiance and self-defence as a modern, worldly woman have attracted admiration and adoration… after all, let’s face it, she’s not exactly hard on the eye.

V for Vendetta

There’s an interesting analysis of Veena’s turbulent trajectory in the Express Tribune. The big bang came in response to her attitude, attire and interaction with other contestants on Bigg Boss. It sent ripples across her homeland, attracting mud slinging from the moral police and much debate splashed across news headlines.

But Veena didn’t take it lying down. Instead she went live on national TV to fight her corner, asking the host, audience, and Pakistan, why such a big deal was being made about her TV show conduct when the nation had bigger fish to fry.

Fair point, regardless of how it was executed.

Then, to add a little fat to the flame, Veena took Mufti Qavi to task for allegedly rampant child abuse in madrassas.

Fight for Your Right to Entertain

“I am not a coward and can’t act like one,” Veena tells the Express Tribune, in an interview at her home in Pakistan.

Her dreams are far from humble, seems Ms Malik has been tempted by elevation to the giddying echelons of politics and won’t be dissuaded by those who deem her treasonous:

These few people are not the real Pakistan. I just want them to understand that I represent the entertainment industry of this country. Let me grow. Let me go places as an ambassador of this country’s entertainment industry.” She says.

Flying or Fanning the Flame?

“I would like to be the President of Pakistan, even if I am asked to pick the presidency of any country in the world.” Veena’s clearly on a mission.

Patriotic, she certainly is, although I can’t quite envisage a female Reality TV star with a penchant for stilettos making the Pakistani Presidency just yet. But then again, there are stranger things in heaven and earth:  nobody envisaged California’s governor either.

Flame or Shame of a nation? It all depends on how you look at Veena Malik, but she’s far from dull or dumb. Her passion and moxie are admirable and I’m curious to see where she crops up again when the dust from this particular TV typhoon settles.

Tattoos, handcuffs and Starbucks coffee – is this the way to self-expression? Not likely. But many Arab women can probably relate to the complex issues posed by photographer Abdulaziz Al Qahtani’s latest exhibition, “An Intimate Landscape” which depicts Arab women and the quest for identity in today’s world. This Saudi Arabian artist uses bold images that challenge the observer to examine traditional roles, taboos and his or her place in Western society.

To Want or Not To Want

Pop culture affects all those who live within it and, being based in London, Al Qahtani is at the heart of it. His insightful observations come through in several pieces from the expo, with images of Hijab wearing women in mini-skirts, getting tattooed and drinking alcohol.

Al Qahtani believes that taboos such as these are often used to conceal truths and desires, and that taboos may be the key to rediscovering true human nature. But hold on, not so fast! This up and coming artist is not suggesting that we race out to break all the rules- at least not without putting some serious thought into it.

In an interview with Muslimah Media Watch, he criticizes the double standard that exists in Western society. “People are expected to follow cultural guidelines like sheep, yet they believe that they are open-minded because they wear ‘cool clothing’. Some believe that things such as drinking alcohol or wearing different clothing make you progressive, but I disagree with this.”

Islamic Art?

Yes, all of the women depicted in “An Intimate Landscape” are wearing the hijab. And yes, Al Qhatani addresses gender inequality (with a definite role reversal!) in his photos of whip-bearing women and their subjugated husbands. But there is no direct reference to Islam. A rather important factor when searching for our place in society, no?

The artist explains, “I wanted to move away from Islam, because I do not like to classify based on religion. I do this because I feel like everyone is spiritual, and that is the best way to be in touch with your inner-self.”

Rather than focusing on Islam specifically, Al Qahtani’s has given universal relevance to his artwork- the photographs depict women as they negotiate their identities.

Although we can see that the women are Middle Eastern because they are wearing the hijab, the search for identity is a challenge that women-and men- from all types of social background can relate to. “An Intimate Landscape” dares observers to embark on this search, but to do it mindfully through deep introspection and self-reflection.

How did a 24-year old Muslim from Agra, India go from waiting tables to playing a central role in the British Empire? The power of love knows no limits. Or so reports The National in a fascinating article on Queen Victoria of England and her Indian Muslim lover.

When Abdul Karim was brought from India to England to serve at a dinner (note- the dinner was at Buckingham Palace and Karim was serving an Indian princess!) he couldn’t have guessed that within a year he would be serving as the closest confidant to Queen Victoria.

And we would not be aware of his influential role if it weren’t for a young author from Calcutta who was writing a book about curry. The author, Shrabani Basu, learned that the queen had ordered the dish to be on the menu everyday for her final fifteen years and thought there might be a reason why, so she decided to do some investigating.

And a good thing she did, or the royal court would have succeeded in burying all records, photographs and correspondence of this incredible, erm, friendship. Thanks to a frail, distant relative of Karim who had kept his diaries, Basu has been able to share the story in her new book Victoria and Abdul.

From Serving Tables to International Policy

Abdul Karim came to serve tables at the golden jubilee dinner in 1887 and within a year was one of the most influential characters in the Queen’s court, much to the dismay of the royal government. After the prime minister stopped Victoria from awarding Karim a knighthood, she moved him into a position as Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.

Karim counseled the queen on all kinds of issues, and had a profound influence on Victoria’s attitude towards India. At his advice, she demanded that viceroys in charge of the one-time colony take new measures to reduce communal tensions.

“At a time when the British Empire was at its height, a young Muslim occupied a central position of influence over its sovereign,” Basu said.

How did Karim do it? Well, it seems he was a good friend.

“I am so very fond of him,” Queen Victoria was recorded as telling her daughter-in-law, Louise, Duchess of Cornwall, in 1888. “He is so good and gentle and understanding … and is a real comfort to me.”

Although the court was horrified by the closeness Karim’s relationship with the queen (horrified, but just imagine the same situation today!), Basu doubts that the two were actually lovers.

Friends to The End

The friendship carried on for 15 years until the queen’s death. Victoria had ordered that Karim be given a place among the principal mourners at her funeral, which he was – and then he was promptly sent back to India by King Edward. It was ordered that all evidence of Karim and his relationship with the queen be destroyed.

However, Karim managed to get his diary out of the country and his family, who knew how special that hand-written book was, kept it for an entire century. Now, for the first time, the diary and the wonderful tale it contains has been made public.

Get it while it’s hot!

Nestled among glittering skyscrapers, Kuwaiti citizens enjoy the good fortune of living a life of luxury- shopping at designer malls, dining at the finest restaurants, travelling the world on a whim. But living the first class lifestyle has some societal side effects- the price tag that is placed on marriage. These days, the parents of a lovely bride-to-be often demand a six-figure dowry for their daughter’s hand in matrimony.

According to an article from the Muslim Observer, many Kuwaiti men are choosing to marry non-Kuwaiti women in order to save a literal fortune. The result of rising dowry prices has resulted in a rising number of unmarried Kuwaiti women.

Anti-Spinster Action

It can’t be denied that the government of Kuwait looks after its people, from the cradle to the grave. Health and education are free, and each child receives $275 every month until they are 18.

On top of these standard benefits, Kuwait’s Emir has just given a gift of $3600 and 14 months of free food to all citizens in honour of the 50^th and 20^th anniversaries of Kuwaiti independence and liberation from Iraqi aggression, both in February. A fine cause for celebration!

A government like this won’t stand by to watch its female population pass into spinsterhood, so they’ve come up with a new proposal to encourage Kuwaitis to marry other Kuwaitis instead of foreigners.

The proposed marriage grant aims to double the amount of money a Kuwaiti man receives upon marriage if the bride is also a compatriot, bringing the total grant to over $27,000. Another proposal would grant money for men taking a second wife who is divorced, widowed or over 40 and never married. And this is in additional to the new house that is also given as a wedding gift!

Money Isn’t Everything

The marriage grant is certainly well intentioned, but love and money can be a tricky combination. Getting married is only the beginning, the real challenge lies in the years to come after the wedding. Having enough money sure takes some of the stress off, but Kuwait still has a divorce rate that has surpassed 50%. Maybe the next grant will fund marriage counseling!

British Muslim author and blogger Shelina Zahra Janmohamed has a confession to make. Or so she’s been telling The Guardian….

She, like me and countless other young Muslim women  love girly books. Call it what you will, chick lit, a la Bridget Jones and all manner of other everyday female heroines floats our boats and offers a welcome alternative to wrapping the ol’ grey matter around more taxing themes.

To cut a long story short: loving girly books don’t mean we’re dumb.

Muslim, She Wrote…

Riveting reads on the highs and lows of live, love and the universe for Muslim women don’t exactly spill off the shelves. You can find a fair selection of books by Muslim women about arranged marriage, and in the oh-so-true words of the author: “shelves and shelves of misery memoir and all these women in black veils with camels walking in the background and titles like I Was Sold Into Marriage.”

However, peruse for chronicles of everyday existence for Miss Modern Muslim in any major mainstream bookstore and you’ll come up with slim pickings.

This is why I for one would like to run up to Ms Janmoahamed, throw my arms around her and give her a big fat kiss for taking the time to sit down and scribe Love in a Headscarf. Half way between girly-book and memoir, Shelina’s candid, sincere and sometimes rib-tickling account of her arranged marriage is a joy to the eyes and mind.

Wanted: Muslim Prince, RSVP to My Parents…

From introduction to honeymoon and beyond, Love in a Headscarf is a gorgeously-written account from a woman who always knew her marriage would be arranged, However, it still radiates the desire of women of all faiths and backgrounds: to find that special Mr.

“I noticed when I started reading [chick lit] it that it was very much about ‘How do you find the prince?’ And what I wanted to do was tell that universal story, but from the perspective of being a Muslim woman.”  Shelina tells The Guardian.

A Many-Sided Saga

From her parents’ emigration from Tanzania to London, to her liberal but believing upbringing and Oxford education, the author approaches the issue of faith and feeling with warmth and poise.  She dives headfirst into the deep en don issues such as radicalism and women’s rights without preaching or falling into stereotypes or clichés.

It was this open-minded fresh approach the spawned and spurred her successful blog (as spirit21), the predecessor to Love in a Headscarf, a book  I’d bet by bottom donut any woman anywhere will love. This is precisely what Shelina Zahra Janmohamed hoped to achieve with her book, as she reveals to The Guardian:

“When I sat down to write it I realised I didn’t want to write a story that was ‘This is Islam and these are the pillars . . .’ People can read that in a text book. I thought I wanted to tell a universal story and the best story to tell is the story of love”.

And it is exactly what she has succeeded in creating. Bravo!

I often ask myself if there is anything, dear cyber-comrades, that cannot be done on the Internet these days.

We can buy, sell, marry, divorce, work, love and even… sue. Case in point: the Kuwait-based Lebanese blogger being sued for $18,000 by the owner of the Benihana Japanese-style restaurant in Kuwait for posting a negative review of his dinner.

Benihana chef hard at work

Now That’s What I Call Feedback

Mark Makhoul, a Lebanese living in Kuwait who runs the popular blog www.248am.com told The National that restaurant is suing him “They’re asking for financial compensation, and asking for my blog to be shut down,” he said.

Our digital diner visited the restaurant in Kuwait’s Avenues Mall in December and proceeded to post a review that gave the service and friendly staff the thumbs up. Mark’s appraisal of his meal, was less complementary and he ended his blog by putting his two dinars’ worth in a less than appetizing nutshell: “Would I go back to Benihana? No, I wouldn’t.”

“There are two other Japanese restaurants at the Avenues: Wasabi and Maki, and I would prefer either one of those to Benihana.” The bold blogger also uploaded a pair of videos of the chef juggling utensils, while he cooks – something of  a Benihana trademark.

Dinar for One

Seems Behihana’s GM, Mike Servo found the review hard to swallow, and posted a comment to it claiming that the restaurant’s name has been “destroyed and abused” by the blog. Mr Servo added that the blog’s suggestion that customers go elsewhere is something he believes to be against the law of Kuwait”.

Kuwait’s criminal investigation department has been informed of the case and a copy of the court order that was downloaded from Mr Makhoul’s blog states that said the blogger, who works for an advertising agency, had “hidden intents”.

“They think it’s a conspiracy. It’s a very far-fetched argument. I don’t think they have a case,” Mr Makhoul told The National.

More than a Mouthful

Benihana owner Abdul Rahman al Mutairi is playing his cards close to his chest on the issue. He stated that Kuwaiti law requires both parties to refrain from speaking about the case until a verdict is reached.

Hundreds of Internauts from across Kuwait and the Arab region have sent messages of support and friendship to Mr Makhoul on Twitter and Facebook.

The blogger’s trial began on March 8 and the brave blogger sees his case as a precedent, stating: “If they want to go ahead, I’m not going to chicken out. It doesn’t just affect me; that’s why I want everyone to get involved. If I lose this case it could affect all the bloggers in Kuwait.”

He hopes the pressure from friends near and far from across the cyberverse will force the Benihana Corporation to demand the Kuwaiti franchise owners to clean their plates of the case.

There are few things that cannot be accomplished by Internet these days. In an every more virtual reality, we can order dinner, buy a house, even meet the man/woman of our dreams at the click of a mouse.

The only condition, or so it would seem – is that there is no way back when “send” has been pressed. In the good old days, we had time to change our minds, but thanks to the World Wide Web, decisions, be they right or wrong, are made in a moment.

Nobody can be more aware of this than the Qatari gentleman who ended his marriage in a Skype conversation. Claiming to be a little green on Islam’s inner workings, the man jokingly typed talak, talak, talak (I divorce thee, I divorce thee, I divorce thee) in the window of an online chat and before he could say “w8t a min” the digital deed was done.

No Way Out

“We love each other very much and want to be together but right now [we are] caught in this thing. Want to know a way out,” said the Qatari man, who has not been named, according to an article in The Telegraph.

An online fatwa by the Darul Uloom Deobandi seminary in northern India,  – one of Islam’s leading authorities on religious law has ruled that if the couple want to remarry, the woman will have to marry another man before she can remarry her first husband.

Tough Love

“When you gave three talaqs, your wife became “haram” (forbidden) for you. Neither you have the right to take her back nor solemnise a new “nikah” (marriage) without a valid “halalah” (second marriage). After the completion of “iddah” (a three month waiting period following a divorce), the woman can marry whomever she wishes except you,” the fatwa stated.

The couple will have to wait at least six months to remarry and bear the strain of the wife remarrying, having sex with another man, and divorcing again.

“…the provision for Talaq in Islam is for unavoidable circumstances not for teasing or jokes,” Maulana Arshid Madani, President of Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind told The Telegraph.

Moral of the story? – take care when typing!

With so much unrest and strife in the world, not least in the Middle East, it’s good to know that we can and still want to talk to each other. Having spent a little time at the Neve-Shalom Wahat-al-Salam Peace Village, I’ve seen the power of communication and discovered the common cultural crossovers that so clearly exist between the Jewish and Muslim faiths.

I read an article in the LA Times about an initiative that really brought this home and has inspired me profoundly: The West Los Angeles Cousins Club is an LA- based grassroots discussion group made up of 15 Muslim and Jewish women, that meets once a month to explore faith and mutual understanding.

Bridging the Gap

The meetings take place in Jewish and Muslim homes and involve, warmth, conversation and food and customs from both cultures. Club members also attend each other’s religious ceremonies and celebrations: Last August, Rachel Landsman, an orthodox Jew and Club member, invited her Muslim friends to attend her Hassidic Jewish wedding.

Jewish women also attend Muslim holiday gatherings with their “cousins.” The general consensus is intrigue and delight and the discovery of how much common ground exists between the two faiths.

“Sometimes I feel I have more in common with my Muslim cousins than I do with my secular Jewish sisters…” Landsman tells the LA Times. “Just as there are thousands of ways to be a Jew, there are thousands of ways to be Muslim.”

Sensitive Issues

The group leans towards discussing religion and spirituality, rather than sensitive political issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict.

However, it can be tricky for the women to keep their reactions to news events out of the circle, like when Israel attacked Gaza two years ago. In 2008, a Palestinian gunman killed eight students at a Jerusalem seminary. Soon after, a Muslim convert came to the Cousins Club crying and told her cousins: “This is not my Islam.”

Women from both faiths have had to justify their position to family and community members who are less than thrilled about their choices.

The Road Before and The Road Ahead

The WLCC was launched three Jewish women: interfaith minister Shayna Lester, poet and education consultant Jean Katz and the late author Savina Teubal. Inspired by a similar initiative in Orange County the Cousins Club has just celebrated its 8th anniversary and today has more Muslim members than Jews. Most of the Muslim women hail from Indonesia or are converts to Islam.

Muzaffar “Bibi” Haleem, is a Pakistan-born member of the Club and of Culver City’s King Fahd Mosque. She founded the website Islamicity.com and co-wrote the book “The Sun Is Rising in the West: New Muslims Tell About Their Journey to Islam.”

Rachel Landsman says it is Haleem’s  nurturing ways that most touch her. “Except that she is Muslim, I think of her as a total Jewish mother,” she laughed.

The women end their meeting by holding hands, reciting Jewish and Muslim prayers of healing in honour of any member who was ill and absent. They hug and kiss and go their separate, but perhaps not so different ways, until they meet again next month.

How do you find a mate when you don’t date? This intriguing question opens Muslims in Love, a short film by students at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, which tackles how devout faith and finding true love fit together for today’s young American Muslims. In director Zerina Usmen’s own words, this 26 minute 5-character film is inspired by a theme “…that calls for 1.2 billion stories.”

Set against a backdrop of secular America, where young people date, cohabit and flit between relationships freely.  The five characters in Muslims in Love must contend with societal norms on top of the complex issues at the heart of finding a partner within the framework of practicing Islam.

Made in America

Mohammad and Ferdaus meet and marry according the traditional Muslim codes of courting conduct, with the aid of friends, family and…. technology. Michelle, who is a convert to Islam finds her choices somewhat limited when trying to find a Muslim husband. Jameelah, an African-American Muslim is confronted with racial issues and double standards, and Zahra believes that faith and fate will bring Mr. Right to her front door.

Watching the trailer for Muslims in Love, and casting an eye over the website I was struck by some of the challenges the young filmmakers faced in their desire to convey Muslim culture from behind the scenes. Researching and compiling this poignant and important journey into the hearts and minds of young Muslim Americans trying to find their places and partners was no small feat.

A Small Step for Man, A Giant Leap for Muslim Filmmakers

Finding young, men and women that were prepared to reveal their intimate hopes; fears and feelings can’t have been easy. That’s before even attempting to access Muslim parents who were prepare to spill the beans on the trials and tribulations of wanting the best for a son or daughter, and their reputations in a general society that doesn’t (appear to) favor old-school values.

And to top it all, the film was shot during Ramadan!

Muslims in Love hasn’t had a public screening as such – any of you reading this who might like to organize a screening can contact th filmmakers via the film’s website. The reactions it has received from internal screenings have been highly positive. In the words of the director:

“Muslims love it, because it’s so rare to see people on screen that accurately represent their experiences. The characters are finally Muslims they can become invested in and root for. Non-Muslims appreciate the range of voices within the Muslim community on the issue of love, and are always taken aback by the incredibly vocal and articulate Muslim women characters.”

In The End Are There Only More Questions?

She hopes the film will help members of the Muslim community speak more openly and overcome off some ingrained taboos about voicing concerns on love and marriage.

“We can’t do justice to our faith if, for example, racism dominates marriage decisions and if we don’t want to admit how challenging it is to practice Islam in our lifestyles for fear of being labeled a bad Muslim. It would be great to find that the film helps Muslims to be honest, and to be OK with being honest.” She says.

Can faith and modernity go together like a happy couple in today’s world? It’s a big question, and a great comfort to know so many of us are asking it, and a few courageous young filmmakers are attempting to answer it.