Sat, 18 February 2012, 8 pm | English

RELC Building

Darul Arqam (Muslim Converts Association)

Shelina Zahra Janmohamed

talk

Love is often considered a difficult, naughty or subversive word amongst Muslims. Perish the thought that someone might be 'in love' or marry for love. Even in family relationships between siblings, or between parents and children love is something we find love very hard ...to express. That's strange because the Prophet often talked about how husbands should often say 'I love you', how fathers should bring gifts for their children, and how Muslims should give each other hugs when they see each other and greet each other with 'peace.' So, what went wrong and why are Muslims often so uptight about love? Come and engage in Shelina's Muslim Love Project to find out how we reverse the trend. And you'll even get to practice saying "I love y" in public.

Shelina Janmohamed is the author of "Love in a Headscarf", a humorous and irreverent memoir about growing up as a Muslim woman. She writes regularly for EMEL magazine, a leading glossy Muslim lifestyle magazine. She also writes for the Times Online, the National (based in the UAE) and has written for the Guardian and Comment is Free.

She has her own award-winning blog which is now four years old at spirit21.co.uk. She has travelled with the British Foreign and Commonwealth office to Darfur, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Indonesia, Qatar and Turkey under its programme to build links with British Muslims and encourage dialogue. She is a creator and organizer of social and cultural events for young British Muslims, as part of creating a new British Muslim culture and identity, and the host of the annual ‘Eid in the Square' event which is held in Trafalgar Square. She is a trustee of the Windsor Fellowship which encourages minority ethnic students to excel in education and employment.

Shelina was named by The Times newspaper and the UK Equalities Commission as one of the UK's 100 most influential Muslim women, and most recently she was named as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. She is a graduate of New College, Oxford. She is married and currently lives in London