She is an amazing woman. Truly inspiring.

Wow. I just googled TAHMENA BOKHARI and she is amazing. She has done so much and winnng this title is really nothing. I hope we can work with her again as Britains. We should start a cross cultural dialogue with Pakistanis and Muslims in Canada. I think Canada has done a far better job with integration. Tahmena is a great champion for this cause and she is truly reaching Pakistanis everywhere.

Ms Bokhari must realise many muslims understand that modelling,dance and music involve many aspects that are not permitted in our religion, I am far from a perfect muslim but understand the religion enough to respect islam and the priciples and values it promotes.
This reminds me of the "lesbian and gay muslims" attempting to gain a place in muslim society, It will not happen. There are certain rules which muslims must abide by, But if one does not agree with the laws of islam then realise it is you at fault not the laws of this true religion.
Please do not interprit my post as a personal attack on Ms Bokhari but merely an explanation of why so many muslims are against those men and women who promote values which in all honesty are deeply offensive to the majority of muslims.

I attended this conference and heard Ms. Bokhari speak along with others. It was absolutely brilliant. When you hear these women speak, how inspiring they were and the concept was such an eye opener to our community. I think you should hear these women speak before making a judgment. I also think you can have your strict interpretation but let others have their own. That is what Ms. Bokhari in fact say is that you do not have to be like her, she is not telling you to dress like her and nor is she saying she as an expert in Islam. She is saying be yourself in a healthy and positive way, better yourself and use any energy you would on being negative to making yourself a better, more tolerant, more open and more caring human being. There is too much negative energy in our community (and hate) similar to the man who commented below defending the meaning and regulations of his religion. Why are men so threatened by women speaking, women dancing, women dressing the way that they want?
Religion is oppressive to women, so men can easily criticise a woman for not being "muslim" enough, while men do it all. Isn't that a nice position to be in. If you heard the speakers, there was a woman there from fashion week in Pakistan, and the clothes were so amazing, so feminine, sexy, bold, and beautiful....that is modernization of Pakistan. There was another woman there named Sara who said the way she grew up she associated everything bad and boring with being Muslim as her parents constantly prevented her from participating in mainstream society and culture. What the speakers were saying is to open your mind to see the damage you are doing to children and to the development of Muslims everywhere.
I know Ms. Bokhari stated that she is not the expert on religion and nor does she claim to be the one and only example for Pakistanis, but I can tell you in my mind and heart she is up there with the likes of princess diana and mother theresa. She has done so much for our community and for people around the world. So what if you do not like her off the shoulder dress or her interests in dance, she is a gift to us, a leader, a role model for the world and something all of us need to be proud of.
If you have more interest in this you should talk with the people who organized the conference http://www.bmsd.org.uk/ . There were musicians there, painters, singers, writers, film makers, it was just amazing.

Gazala,We can debate this matter for an eternity but the fact remains many muslim women choose to draw inspiration from the great women of the islamic religion. These women, The wives of the prophets and sahabas are the true source for guidance and inspiration for muslim women today.
As far as most muslims are concerned we realise what is permissable and will not accept any compromises.
It seems that most people think pakistani when talking of muslims but I think most muslims in this country are not of pakistani descent. Many of the problems you talk about are cultural and nothing to do with islam. Not having men and women in your culture who understand the Qur'an and the sunnah it seems is the problem.
Please seperate cultural beliefs and islam only then you will find out what is oppressive, Islam or your culture.

I am not here to debate religion, or debate at all about anything. I am here to talk about culture and support the women who spoke who at the conference. It is about tolerance. If you believe your religion says music is bad then so be it, but do not preach that to others who may have a different interpretation or belief. The world is made up of all kinds of Muslims and all kinds of Christians. Culturally speaking, reality is that Muslims practice in all kinds of ways and NO ONE has the right to claim to be more Muslim than someone else. God will decide so why not have faith in God.
The Christians do not go around criticising each other the way Muslims do, and hence their people are striving in every area. Everytime someone who happens to be Muslim does anything positive then every Muslim man has to put his two cents into it. We have religious leaders whom you can go to to clarify what is haram and halal. I do not go to those people for advice personally and neither does any one I know.
This conference was not about religious debate and I do not think any of the speakers would claim to be experts in religion or claim to be the models for all Muslims to follow. They happen to be very talented people and just happen to be Muslim.
The point is that we have to be open. The girls who were a part of Pakistan's fashion week, are you saying they are not Muslim? The women who play instruments, sing and dance are not Muslim? Being Muslim is not just a way of naming your religion, it tells me nothing about one's religious beliefs, saying one is Muslim is also a social and cultural identity and whether you like it or not that is the reality. That is what I am saying here. So if you want to debate what is halal and haram, you can go to the mosque. But in the real world, reality is that there is culture and we are cultural beings after all in the way that God made us.
Furthermore, I am so tired of Muslims always bringing religion into everything and always focusing the discussion on what is halal and haram. We are human and there are more things to focus our energy on and this is why I believe we get no where as a people. While others are moving forward supporting their own, we are stuck on wondering is this halal or harram. Get over it people!

I also want to direct readers to this issue of music being allowed in Islam at http://unity1.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/a-detailed-fatwa-about-music-and-singing-by-sheikh-abdullah-al-judai/#comment-159
See this is the kind of education we need on Islam and not these hard and fast rules on haram halal created by some bearded mulana who has never lived outside his village. Sorry, but you have to be aware of the world and be relevant if you are going to advise others. The religion has been hijacked and terrorized by a small group of men who do not know any better.

"art" ie singing with music,dancing,modelling and exposing one's body has no place in Islam regardless of your point of view, Any imitation or innovation in our religion is forbidden.
Islamic calligraphy and poetry have been around for centuries it is a shame more muslims are not aware of real culture, The culture of Islam.
G khan you continue your crusade for modernity in your culture but not my name please.

Well thank you for the permission Hanif. But really every human being is free to think believe and do what they will. And did you have a look at the link I posted below on the Islamic perspective on music and singing, it clearly states that it is incorrect to think that Islam forbids music and singing.

You are free to practice your version of Islam. And we will practice ours. If you are happy within your beliefs, satisfied, not jealous or hateful of others, love your neighbors as the prophet did, take care of your family and promote kindness and happiness then all the more power to you. I believe in being a good human being and sometimes I think many forget this in the name of religion. I am not alone in this belief.

I do encourage all to look up the bmsd organization. They are very outspoken knowledgeable and bold group of people. The website is http://www.bmsd.org.uk/ You can see on there responses to the conference, pictures and learn more about these issues. They also have a document on there discussing that the hijab is not a requirement according to the Quran.

To cover one's hair and body except the hands ,face and feet is a requirement of all women without exception according to the Qur'an and Sunnah. I would also like to add that the clothing of the body is required to conceal a womans figure.
Many muslim's are grateful for the people and government of this country for the freedom it has allowed us to practice our religion. To adhere to the tenants of islam and live beside our neighbours in this diverse country would be so easy if only more muslims were educated in the sunnah. My sister all I would like to say in this my final post is to take inspiration from Yvonne Ridley, A women with the characteristics many more muslim should aspire to.

That is fine. But the reality is that even Muslims disagree on what is Islamic or not and Muslims practice it differently. I am ok with that, it is their business. It is not for me to judge. It is men like you who judge women based simply on their clothing that ruin the name of our culture.
And yes, it is great when anyone finds a faith they believe in and practice, whether it be Islam or Christianity. It does not mean one is better than the other, but that for them one is more suitable. There are Muslims who have converted to Christianity as well by the way.
In a diverse society, it is about choice and options which is what we have available to us here in Britain. That is something you have to respect and abide by if you will live here. It is funny how many want the benefits of living in this country but do not want to contribute. It is funny when many want others to understand their religion but do not open their hearts and minds to what others can teach us.

Thank you G for your comments. I support Ms. Bokhari, the bmsd conference and all of your comments on here 100%. I do not agree with this Hanif. You know, I am a Pakistani woman, and I think women like Tahmena are so bold and courageous, true role models. We need women like that in a world where men have somehow hijacked this religion....all religions in fact. Tahmena discusses how women all over the world are oppressed whether in the name of religion or in the name of economics. It also always amazes me that with all the sins our so called "Muslim brothers" have committed, you know like murder, wife abuse, burning their wives, sleeping around, bombing innocent people...with all that going on...there is nothing that seems to hit a nerve more than a Pakistani woman who is outspoken. As soon as a Pakistani woman even shows a shoulder or an ankle, everyone is so offended and upset and all of a sudden speaking out that this is unIslamic. People where were you when we needed to speak out against the murders and bombings by Muslims, then you were upset but not enought to speak out so blantantly. Now when it comes to women, every man seems to think he has the right to make a comment and use Islam as the reason to criticise her. Why are men so threatened by a strong women? I guess we must be pretty powerful people then if men are afraid of what will happen when we become liberated.

I have heard Tahmena speak, and I agree that it is very important children are exposed to music and dance at an early age. That is why other children are surpassing our kids even in first world countries. Tahmena discussed the brain development, I mean she is so amazing the way she discussed it. She did not even discuss religion, but focused on her own research and work....she talked about the importance of stimulating the brain and how therapeutic the arts are. You know what I think, if more people in our culture took up painting, music and even drinking I think we would not be people who have so much hate and anger in us. I am sorry but our people seem so angry and hateful...and some then use this hate to form terrorist groups. Its true what Tahmena says, if you did not grow up with love, you do not know what love and compassion is and so you will not promote love in the world only hate. I am summing up Tahmena's more deeper explanation, but that is the basic....you have to love your children and then they will grow up to love and not hate.

G khan every muslim is a sinner but when a muslim cannot/will not accept a sin to be a sin then you are in a very dangerous situation. Allah is merciful and will forgive any major sin with sincere regret but if you deny or attempt to distort the words of Allah to suit one's own agenda then there is no chance of forgiveness. All I wish to say is please accept what is a sin even if you do not agree with it,That is called Iman/faith.
Your blanket hatred of men who attempt to dress and have an appearance which is similar to the prophet is very distasteful especially from a fellow muslim. Have an open mind and do not judge these men,No doubt some are the worst examples of a muslim but there are many who truly are god fearing.
Integrating into society should not be at the expense of our faith but rather the driving force for integration. Believe me there are many muslims who have tried to integrate fully and in the process lost thier muslim faith, They mostly lie in mass graves in europe.

M sarwar I am so upset that you actually advocate drinking alcohol to fellow muslims,You are no friend of any muslim and the debate that this topic has sparked in my workplace is brilliant as every one of us male or female now agree that your views are not compatible with muslims.
This post is an excellent example to show other muslims the kind of people who claim to speak on our behalf but in reality have absolutely nothing to do with us.
Regards the speech given by Tahmena Bokhari I am certain many pretty words were spoken but if one wants to hear a real strong muslim women with intelligence and passion then listen to yvonne ridley!

My comment about drinking was not meant to be taken literally, but more that our people need to lighten up. We are giveN too many restrictions which build frustration and this turns into hate for each other. oTHER Societies have outlets for their anger which we do not, so we take it out on each other. I do not see happy Pakistanis or Muslims, I see angrey frustrated people with dysfunctional fmaily lives. That is exactly what I am seeing happening here. Believe me Haniff we know and have heard and have been hearing your exact views for decades. Now we need to hear from fresh eye opening people who have more to say on this. It is not up to you to decide who is Muslim and who is not, it is up to God. If people, who happen to be Muslims want to persue the arts than what is your problem. You can do what you like. And yes, we are all aware of the prevailing hijacked voice and know many Muslims will not like it, which is all the more important that this conference took place. I am tired of hearing from men, I am tired of the same old issues, please lets hear from Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Tehmina Kazi and others from bmsd. Why cant these men move over so these women can be heard!

Moreover, please do not tell us more about yvonne ridley. We are fully aware of who she is and we choose to have our own role models. We need a diversity of women leaders to appeal to a diverse audience of women. One woman cannot represent all Muslim women, just as one man cannot represent all Muslim men. There are various women leaders out there, Sayeeda Warsi, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Tahmena Bokhari, who are amazing and have great things to say. So please let's hear them. We also had Benazir, the one female Pakistani who was an example to the world, but our men killed her!!! There are also women from other cultures whom we can learn from, bell hooks, whom you probably never heard of, even mary kay. All women, despite their faith and way of life/dress should be respected.
I am also tired of converts taking over the debates, dont forget us your born Pakistani Muslim sisters, mothers and daughters!!!!! We need support, recognition and an opportunity to speak if men will finally move over.

Lastly, I think music, singing, dancing and so on are very healthy, soothing and calming. As Tahmena indicated, when you dance and listen to music, happy chemicals are released in your brain, I do not think it is healthy that we prevent our kids from getting into the arts. I think it is cruel actually to hinder their development in that way. Other writers discuss the importance of our people getting into film and novels so that we can tell our stories our way. Indians have taken over because they are so dominant in media. Indians are everywhere in every industry and Pakistan is no where because Indians support their own even when they disagree on a few points. Our people always look for the negative in everything, and this I believe goes back to our own frustration....as anything we find pleasure in seems to be forbidden in the religion.

Unfortunately M sarwar your last three post are a pathetic climbdown,Please do as you wish but as I said earlier not in any muslims name please.It is a sad fact that most of the hatred directed toward's muslims in this country is direct result of the attitude of the vast majority of pakistanis. It pains me to say it but wherever you go in the world be it European countries,asia,middle east or africa most people have a negative view of pakistanis. This post will upset many of my friends but we must look at ourselves and acknowledge that muslims show few of the characteristics that our Prophet taught us and the Qur'an orders us to show.
It is eye opening to see the problems that exist for muslim women of pakistani background but the only way to solve these problems is through an understanding of the Qur'an and Sunnah. I take your point on pakistani men's double standards but that is not the fault of the religion of Islam. Please forgive me if I appear racist or nasty towards my fellow pakistani muslims,that is not my aim.

We need proper education on Islam as provided by my link
http://unity1.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/a-detailed-fatwa-about-music-and-singing-by-sheikh-abdullah-al-judai/#comment-159
Did you read that Mr. Hanif? And those are the people at that site with which you can debate whether music is legal or not Islam. We quite frankly are not concerned whether you or some cleric says it is illegal.
What I think you Mr Hanif are missing is that Muslims are not just Muslims because they seek knowledge of the Quran. Muslim is also a cultural identity and there is more to life than debating what is Islamic and politics of Muslims. We are normal human beings. Why must everything always come down to debating about Islamic theology. Does being Muslim mean that we can possible have nothing else to do? I think that shows your lack of exposure to people and cultures. You cannot dismiss everything because it is outside of theology debates.
Yes, agreed that Pakistanis have serious problems. I am not sure what your nationality is but Islam is practiced differently in different cultures. I am also not bought over by other country's cultures or interpretations, they have nothing to do with Pakistan. I do not think other Muslims from other countries even care what happens to Pakistan. Only those of us whose families fought for this country.
Now Pakistani culture has been hijacked by those who claim Islam and have forced their interpretations on everyone else. I am a Pakistani, and yes, I happen to be Muslim, but more importantly I miss the culture of Pakistan, the music, the arts, the clothes all of those things that represent our nation which are dying out. We need to revive these to keep our country strong. That is my point, and you can keep debating on this or that verse ofthe Quran, but my concern is with my culture and movng it forward which quite frankly only a few bold people from our country are doing.

Also, Mr. Hanif, I am interested to know why you are so concerned as you have left so many comments on here in opposition of the original idea proposed by the bmsd conference of reviving the arts. Music, dance, clothing, films books novels and festivals keep a culture alive and also become evidence of a culture in history.
Why are you so threatened by these ideas? Why does it bother you so much if people are taking up and supporing this cause? Is it because it is a viewpoint taken up by women? Does it make you uncomfortable that women could be singing and dancing? Is it because the Islam you learned as a little boy and taught by other men will now have some new interpretations? If you are not from Pakistan then why does it matter to you how Pakistanis define their Islam?
I find most men are themselves very uncomfortable and that is why they are opposed to any change. Probably you were not exposed to these things and you have your own misconceptions of the arts. Usually we fear what we do not know and what seems foreign to us, and the arts must be very foreign to you.
Young people are seriously in need of these new voices and slowly there will be a diversity of voices out there and not just the one of the mullas that we are all very much aware of. Young Muslims today are redefining what it means to be Muslim and we should listen to their needs.

Hanif: As the Director of British Muslims for Secular Democracy and the organiser of this conference, I can tell you that it was a huge success. Here are some pictures:

http://www.bmsd.org.uk/conference.asp

Also some quotes from the attendees:

http://www.bmsd.org.uk/quotes.asp

The event highlighted the importance of positive female role models. All but one of the six speakers in the first session were women (confident, successful ones at that; these women are recognised for their skills and achievements over anything else). If you had attended, you would have heard Tahmena Bokhari’s assertion that the Mrs Pakistan pageant is not like other beauty pageants. For one thing, there is no swimsuit section. Tahmena gave a very moving account of her art therapy work with victims of the Pakistan earthquake, as well as orphans in Cambodia. We think that this kind of humanitarian work sets an excellent example for young girls, whether Muslim or not.

You are, of course, free to disagree with us; this the beauty of the system of democracy that we have promoted for several years. However, I would urge you to look at fatwas like the one on music provided by G. Khan. Even Yusuf Islam, who gave up music for many years, has now returned to singing and using instruments.

G khan I would advise you to be less flippant regards the Qur'an, The Qur'ans every verse holds vast amounts of ...well let's just say a little bit of respect please. I am not pakistani but I do care for all muslim's regardless of race or gender. One can be very selective of islamic law, As you say say the choice is ours to make. Islam has nothing to do with culture least of all pakistani culture, Islam is the "culture" of Qur'an and Sunnah. Try that culture. T Kazi, succesful women are those who have succeeded in the eyes of Allah,Your definition of strong and succesful are so different to mine. Please take an example of the women mentioned in the Qur'an,Maryam pbuh is a super example and try to take an example of the"culture " she displayed. I love all people who who believe in allah be they male or FEMALE and I pray for those who do not. Muslim women who go against the teachings of islam concern me just as much as the men, Sorry to disappoint you. one final point,G khan do you really believe music the arts and your clothes keep pakistan strong?

Yes Hanif. It appears you are not educated in what keeps cultures alive. Perhaps you should take a history course at the uni. If you look throughout history, it is the arts that have keep cultures alive and over history that is how people have been informed about culture. We are losing Pakistani culture, where many mistake it for Indian. There is less and less record of any Pakistani culture other than this terrorism that we hear about. This is why education is so important. You think that culture has nothing to do with Islam, but it has everything to do with Islam. I cannot teach a full course on the matter hear, so I seriously suggest you look this up.
There is obviously some nerve that we have triggered in you, and that is exactly why we need bmsd and more women out there. To combat your ancient views that have become dominant. Democracy means that every idea has a place. Just because you read the Quran and some mullahs translation does not make you an expert. Again, please become educated on the religion as now there are new translations and interpretations coming that are identifying the cultural bias by those who previously interpreted it.

Mr Hanif If you are not from Pakistan than you do not know the pain many of our families faced in creating this country. We lost family members, entire families and we lost our belongings and our homes and everything. Our families had to start fresh with nothing. That is why many feel obligated to keep the positive aspects of our society alive. It is men like you who prevent us from doing so. The terorists are a small group, but they 100% of news coverage and when those of do something positive, men like you prevent our message from going fwd. I do not understand why you are concerned if Pakistanis want to keep their culture alive? What do you have to with Pakistan and are you so opposed to these ideas? You have not addressed these questions, I suspect it is fear of the unknown.
I think you only like docile women who repeat the teachings of men. Just like men around the world, who are afraid of women having any kind of voice as what will happen if women get power, men will have to move over and cannot oppress us any longer.