Forthcoming:

‘Unravelling Disorder’, an interview with the London-based Sufi artist Lateefa Spiker, for emel magazine. Due out May 2010.

‘Herat: Pearl of Central Asia’, TBC. The fascinating historical backdrop of the Afghan city of Herat. This article accompanied photos taken by Stéphane Herbert of Shooot – the first photos to be taken of Herat since the end of the Afghan War.

‘Islam in Tibet and Ladakh’, TBC. This article covers the spread and development of Islam in these majority Buddhist areas, examining the ways in which Muslims and Buddhists have succeeded in forging good relations and a shared culture.

Recent:

‘Table Talk’, interview with Baroness Rabbi Julia Neuberger, Emel magazine, UK, May 07. Lib Dem life peer and vocal social activist Baroness Neuberger gives her views on the nature of faith and the way it affects interaction with civil society, drawing examples from both the Jewish and Muslim communities in Britain.

‘Sacred Stone’, interview with Adam Sulieman Williamson, Emel magazine, UK, Feb. 07. Adam is a stone-carver, gilder, painter and calligrapher who is striving to revive traditional crafts and artforms, blending them with references to the timeless spiritual teachings of Rumi and others. Click here for PDF.

‘Al-Andalus: Bijou de l'islam en europe’, Sézame magazine, Morocco (now defunct) in December 05. This article follows the rollercoaster fortunes of Spanish Islam, featuring photos from Stéphane Herbert of Granada's Alhambra and Cordoba's Mezquita. The first article I wrote in a language other than English.

‘Sufism and Slavery in East Africa’, Islamica magazine, international, issue 16 (June 06). From the seventh century CE onwards, Islam has played a central role in the evolution of Swahili identity, yet for most of that time, it remained the priveledge of the power elites. Sufism brought it to African slaves who had otherwise been denied deep religious knowledge, through people like Shaykh Habib Saleh of Lamu. This article was taken from my final year dissertation for my degree (BA hons African Language and Culture, SOAS). Click here to read an extract.

Unpublished:

Chechnya: The Forgotten Battlefield – a discussion of the current political and humanitarian landscape of Chechnya, which has receded from the public consciousness – if it were ever a major presence there. Includes interviews with Satanay Dorken, CEO of MARCCH (Medical Aid and Relief for the Children of Chechnya), as well as Tony Wood, author of last year's Chechya: the Case for Independence.

Book review, Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore’s ‘Abdallah Jones and the Disappearing Dust Caper’. Moore is a prolific poet who somehow emerged unscathed from the Beat generation to become Muslim. His surreal, strongly Sufi-inflected poems have a dedicated following. This is a wildly lyrical, powerfully symbolic children's story which will make any adult's heart race.

Private commission – analysis of Ibn Khaldun exhibition, run by El legado andalusí, which was held in the Alcázar in Seville, July 06. Ibn Khaldun was a 14th historian from Tunis, whose family were originally from Yemen but had lived in Seville for several generations. He is renowned as the world’s first historiographer. I also wrote a diary of this trip, hopefully to be used as part of the Golden Web project, which aims to be online later this year.

‘The Festival of the Upside-down’, a photostory of one of the thousands of fireworks festivals that occur across Spain every summer, celebrating saints' days. In this festival, which took place in Faura, Valencia, in Aug. 05, the fireworks don’t just go from the ground – they are also carried upside-down at arm’s length by people in gardening gloves as they walk down the main road, in celebration of Santa Barbara, patron saint of fireworks makers. Click here to see a PDF.

‘Islam in Tanzania’, 5,000 word private commission from the British High Commission in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Nov 02 – Mar 03). This involved interviewing Tanzanians, translating the interviews from Swahili into English, making use of magazines and newspapers (in circulation and in archives) and the internet to build up an in-depth picture of the role of Islam in Tanzania, the views of Muslims about Britain and British people, and ways in which the BHC might facilitate greater community cohesion between the religious communities in Tanzania and the British ex-pat and tourist presence.