Welcome
My name is Michael Malik, and I am the one responsible for the words of IZWAYZ, IZQ and all the material accessible here listed under B&B that is really meant just to act as a background and gloss to IZWAYZ and for whoever might find it useful.
What is here is all the stuff that accumulated on my computer over a couple of decades, stuff that seemed so evanescent when first used, yet didn’t get destroyed because it always seemed that it would come in handy one day. And I guess that day is now.
To make it all a bit more manageable, I have grouped it under four headings.
Introduction
This contains much more detail with regard to the development of IZWAYZ, how I imagined its implementation, and suggestions as to how those now using it may find ways to integrate it into their children’s Islamic education. Here you will also be able to find a lot more information about the life and works of the author, for those who think such information might be interesting or relevant.
Broadcast Pieces
Over the years, I appeared regularly on the BBC, as well as other channels, mainly but not entirely on radio, and this section contains about 180 of those appearances that were scripted beforehand, as opposed to free-form participation, ad-lib interviews and the like.
Academic & Educational
Here you can find work I presented in an academic milieu, University lectures, formal and informal, including my MSc thesis on “Knowledge, Religious Understanding and Education in a multi-faith society”, as well as any number of talks and workshops on Islamic education with non-muslim educational professionals as well as muslims. There are my khutbas as muslim chaplain at Stirling University, and talks given during my time as local chairman of Malaysia’s ABIM Outreach program. There is extensive writing about the Salman Rushdie/Satanic Verses issue, which seems to have had a recognisable effect on the situation, and of course the curriculum development used as the basis of IZWAYZ. A lot of material to plough through, but some of which, at least, I think might prove quite rewarding.
Other Talks, Writings, Projects Etc.
Words, words, words, words, words. So much was written during the twenty-odd years from the 1980’s to the early 2,000’s when I was working in, around and for the muslim community, and not everything seemed to fit into the previous headings, so all those odds and ends came to rest here. Not that they are all rubbish, however. Here you can find my first lecture after returning to Glasgow, a drama script about the life of Abu Hanifa, some interfaith work, and perhaps more relevant than ever, discussion of Jerusalem and the Al-Buraq Wall.
Clearly, as far as the content of this Backstory material goes, it is vastly more expansive than IZWAYZ itself, but it is a different beast entirely. Virtually everything here was written for adults, usually in a specific context, with some subjects warranting thousands of words as opposed to the few hundred on any IZWAYZ page. But IZWAYZ is meant to be the centre of a community conversation, ever expanding outwards, whereas this Backstory is what it is, or was, solely my opinion, and as such I thank God for whatever is true and correct, and bear responsibility for any mistakes or misunderstandings myself. AstaghfirAllahuAzim.