Hassan and Habibah

infobox television
show_name = The Hassan And Habibah Show


caption =
format = Talk Show
runtime = 60 minutes
creator = Hassan Saleemi and Habibah Ellahee
starring = Hassan Saleemi and Habibah Ellahee
country = UK
network = Islam Channel on British Sky Broadcasting, Eurobird 1, and Astra 2A,2B
first_aired = November, 2004
last_aired = present
num_episodes =

Hassan Saleemi and Habibah Ellahee are married co-hosts of a light social affairs television programme. They are widely known among Muslims as "Hassan and Habibah" and their show is entitled 'The Hassan and Habibah Show'. Their show appears on the London based English language Islam Channel [http://www.IslamChannel.tv] . The show is described as a

"unique show..live husband and wife talk show discussing issues with different guests. This refreshing weekly discussion show examines social issues that deal with family, marriage and various other topics" [http://www.islamchannel.tv/ProgramDetail.aspx?id=14&date=8/14/2005]

They are noted for challenging mainly South-Asian cultural perceptions on the nature of Islam, dealing with topics such as forced marriage, domestic violence (with the 'Muslim women's helpline' [http://www.mwhl.org/] ), depression (with the 'Muslim Youth Helpline' [http://www.myh.org.uk/] ), infertility problems (with Dr Mohammad Taranissi [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1858462.stm] [http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abridged/326/7404/1416-b] ), and had one show assering that the prophet of Islam Muhammad was a romantic (with Dr Abdul Wahid [http://opendemocracy.net/author/Abdul_Wahid.jsp] ).

Osama Saeed Scottish head of the MAB and senior organizer in the Stop the War Coalition describes them as "the Richard and Judy of the Muslim community" [http://www.osamasaeed.org/osama/2005/11/return_of_the_c.html]

They have on occasion dealt with more serious topics, specifically on the 25th December 2004, in a 2-hour special, they did a show entitled "Prisoners of Iman", discussing cases of Muslims that have been imprisoned for their faith, or political activity. They interviewed the wife of Ian Nisbet, one of the "Egypt Three" [http://www.free-egypt-3.org] . The first half hour of this show can be downloaded for free.

Off-Screen Writing

Since the July 7th attacks on London, and the consequent proposals for new legislation, off-screen the couple have become more politically active. Hassan wrote an article for the Muslim Weekly about Tony Blair's Labour Party national conference speech, 16th July 2005, on concept of wanting the Shariah, the Caliphate, the dismantling of the Zionist Israeli state, and an end to western military interference in the Muslim world, in which he wrote,

"The most counterproductive thing Mosques and Islamic institutions could do, unduly fearing repercussions, is to discourage debate or promotion of the above four issues in a peaceful way. If you prevent the youth discussing these things inside the Islamic institutions, they will be discussed elsewhere, only with much more resentment, alienation, frustration and eventually possibly even ‘extremism’."

Habibah wrote an article which appeared in The Sunday Times, in which she mentioned that she was on the 'London underground' network, on July 7th 2005, and passed through Edgware Road Station 3 minutes before the bomb exploded. She wrote,

"Ambiguous terms like ‘extremist’, ‘hard-line’, or ‘fundamentalist’ have become common currency in the rhetoric related to this whole debate. I would argue this is a diversion away from any real threat, in order to subvert a new generation of highly educated radical young Muslims who demand a fair hearing for their peaceful criticism of capitalism or foreign policy, which some find simply unpalatable."

"Please note the lack of religious justification, i.e. the secular nature of the logic below"

She then outlined the terrorists' logic in justifying killing civilians, and then went on to say,

"I repeat, the above logic is not my own, but the logic used by the terrorists on their websites, which is simply padded out with a few out of context verses from the Quran. You will note that it has much to do with foreign policy and double standards, and little to do with blind hate, religious fervour, or hatred of any civilisation. Even if these people were not Muslim, they would still have the above grievances."

"If we were to be tough on crime and the causes of crime, wouldn’t it be sensible to be tough on terrorists, and tough on the causes of terrorism, which isn't Islamism, or religious fanaticism? I firmly believe if it wasn't for Islam's restrictions on war, we would be dealing with a lot more Arab, Chechen, African, Pakistani, Central Asian nationalist or left-wing bombers, rather than the few Muslim bombers."

"To taint Islamists for the tragic events in London would be like tainting Christians for the genocide in Bosnia, and for the continuing help the perpetrators like Ratko Mladic get to stay in hiding, by some in the Orthodox Church."

Political activity

Hassan and Habibah both appeared on Channel 4's Shariah TV special on the London Bombings. They criticised the response of the 'elders' and people claiming to be representative of the Muslims, for focusing inward on the causes of the bombings, diverting away from external factors such as foreign policy. They argued the approach of the "self-appointed" Muslim leaders suited those in power who wish to discount foreign policy from the equation.

Hassan has since launched an online petition against the proposed ban on the British Islamic group Hizbut-Tahrir, in which the text reads,

" "The notion that Hizbut-Tahrir should be banned, raised almost a month after the deplorable London bombings as part of the prime minister's anti-terrorism proposals, smacks in the face of honesty in light of his declarations that the British way of life will not be changed. Any ban on any peaceful organisation that has been consistently against violence, is the exact opposite of what the Prime Minister claimed when he said we should not allow the British way of life to be changed. Tony Blair is violating the principle of the right to express an opinion that has been ardently enshrined in law or spirit for centuries. Our fear of terrorism will not be played upon irresponsibly to ban non-violent opinions and organisations, we will not be divided like this"

Hassan was also one of the 38 signatories on the "Unprecedented Muslim Community Response to Proposed Anti-Terrorism Measures" [http://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=1489] .

International Islamic Conference on Dialog

In June 2008, Hassan and Habibah were invited to the International Islamic Conference on Dialog in Makkah by the Muslim World League, and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia [http://www.monasticdialog.com/n.php?id=53] . The conference was attended by the highest Islamic authorities, grand Muftis, or Ulema from every Muslim country, significantly including a delegation from Iran with the ex-president of Iran and current chairman of Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Rafsanjani. Consequently, Hassan and Habibah featured on the front page of the leading pan-Arab newspaper of record Al-Hayat [http://ksa.daralhayat.com/local_news/regions/06-2008/Article-20080606-5aa8d579-c0a8-10ed-0165-7e5ab999792a/story.html] .

They were also quoted commenting on the conference in the leading English newspaper Arab News arguing that the process of dialog should not necessarily involve religious people of other faiths but should instead focus on the secularists and the agnostics "We should devise a way to engage them" Hassan said Muslims in Britain and the US should be at the forefront, giving practical shape to all that is being said at the conference, “We are an integral part of those societies; we understand them; we know the problems; we know the cultural sensitivities; therefore, we are in the best possible position to conduct this dialogue.” [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=110636&d=6&m=6&y=2008]

ee also

*Islam channel

External links

* [http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?q=Hassan+%26+Habibah Hassan and Habibah Videos on Google Video]
* [http://www.rte.ie/tv/whosafraidofislam/episode_3.html Irish TV's "Who's afraid of Islam" featuring the pair]
* [http://lamancd.com/whh/?p=68 Show on Thursday 3rd November 2005]
* [http://www.dawah.tv/broadcast/ic/prisoners.rm First Half hour of "Prisoners of Iman" show]
* [http://hassanandhabibah.blog.co.uk Hassan And Habibah's Blog Website]
* [http://www.mpacuk.org/content/view/808/33/ Habibah's article published in the Sunday Times]
* [http://www.themuslimweekly.com/fullstoryview.aspx?NewsID=DC87CA7BF86C4B284C39EBC4&MENUID=COMMENT&DESCRIPTION=Comments Hassan's article in The Muslim Weekly]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1550073,00.html Full text of Joint Statement in the Guardian newspaper entitled "Muslim Community Response To Some Of The Proposed Antiterrorism Measures"]