All posts in Media

Podcast: Dr. Bilal Hassam Talking Across Religions

June 16, 2014

When we saw that Bilal (from London, part of The Leaf Network) was coming to Singapore last year, we had to pull him in to KL to do some stuff. One of our volunteers hosted him and another organization close to us, Hawi al-Khairat (HAK) supported with logistics. Pic is of him helping us carry our equipment after an event. Clearly it was easy hosting him. 🙂

The main part of the trip was to help setup a bunch of meetings for him and colleague Krish Raval of Faith in Leadership to support their work in developing (future) leaders of faith background or connected to it, foster better relations between each other. We also organized a workshop and a talk for them and look forward to having. Click here for photos.

Hey.. thanks for bringing in Bilal Hassam. His interview aired last month & was so excellent. Bilal is an excellent speaker & considering all the rubbish that’s going on as far as religion is concerned in the country, his talk was a breath of fresh air. We received so much positive feedback that it was repeated over the weekend. Thanks again for the contact. – Meera Sivaoothy, BFM

BFM was helpful in hosting an interview with him which they aired recently and was very well received. Listen to that interview here.

*We met Bilal two years prior to this trip, when he was a guest at an event of ours. As a group of individuals, before Peace Meal’s inception, we hosted a session at Mukha Cafe with Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya from California, now based in Michigan – he is often seen on YouTube as the translator for his teacher, Habib Omar Bin Hafidz when they do English programs.

Anyway, we had consulted the former Californian surfer boy turned scholar Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya on some ideas we had, which he gave support and advice to. Little did we know, those ideas eventually became what we know today as Peace Meal.

Comments: Comments Off

Podcast: Rhamis Kent on Permaculture, Work in the Muslim World & Investment Community

February 18, 2014

When he was in town, we organized an interview at BFM Radio. Rhamis was in Malaysia to teach a two week Permaculture Design Course, and prior engagements, including two talks with Peace Meal. Pomegranate Versus Heroin: Muslims Getting a Wholesome High on Nature and Ibn Khaldun’s Pleasures of Civilization.

Just like how when Islam came, it brought a whole new refreshing idea, narrative, philosophy (call it what you will for this context), permaculture is somewhat refreshing too. In this interview Rhamis addresses a few key issues with the way the world, and we, run things today.

The following an excerpt from the interview. Listen to the full interview on this podcast, by clicking here.

clonidine patch tts

Being children of the industrial age, we are primarily seen as being consumers. And not producers. We don’t produce the things that we use. We don’t grow the food. We don’t make the housing. We buy the house that we live in from someone else, and the materials come from somewhere far away. The source of production is somewhere remote where we don’t see. We don’t really understand what goes into to providing those things and that has consequences.

You’re describing capitalism..

No no.. Whether it’s a capitalist or a communist marxist model, it’s a bit of a red herring, because both are predicated on the same infrastructure to provide those goods. So it all relies on some sort of variant on the industrial vision, predicated on taking living things and turning it into dead things, and selling it to people. Whether or not it is the state or the private individual in the free market that are providing those goods. The logical conclusion to that system or way of thinking is, what happens when you’ve consumed everything?

Rhamis is a Permaculture consultant who travels all over the Middle East and North Africa advising governments and organizations on how they can engage in ecosystem restoration in order to increase biodiversity and sustain plant, animal, and human life. Click here for his article “Restoring the Amanah Through Earth Repair: Islam, Permaculture, and Ecosystem Restoration Work.” He is also part of the Zaytuna community since 1999, which later became Zaytuna College (USA) led by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and other scholars.

Comments: 0

Videos from Islam & Secularism Series Season 1

May 28, 2013

As promised at our events, here are the videos from the series of conversations we’re hosting based on the book by Prof Al-Attas Islam & Secularism. Do visit this page from time to time, as we will be uploading more videos from the other sessions (Season One – 13 May, 27 May, 10 June, 24 June. And Season Two – 21 Oct, 4 Nov, 18 Nov).

Take note that these videos aren’t meant to substitute your attendance. Please do try and make it to the sessions, as even if we do upload the full session on YouTube (which we won’t), it is still different in terms of learning new things face to face, and the environment also. In some way, yes the mint tea, ginger coffee and curry puffs we serve, is part and parcel of that discussion we get during each session.