As the blog title suggests, I’m interested in pretty much everything (except football, flower arranging and soaps).
13/05/10: A friend emailed me this today (lol):
This is your motto…”You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
The picture on the left is of me at home reading my favourite poet TS Eliot. The middle one is me last winter with Sophie (poor Sophie passed away yesterday afternoon, 24/06/09); and on the right is a cool pic from Regent’s Park Mosque, London, where I give talks from time to time. Click pic to enlarge.
I occasionally give talks at the Islamic Circle at Regents Park Mosque. Today I got a nice email from Mr Durani who chairs the group. He received this from a recent visitor to the mosque:
Subject: Many thanks
Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 20:50:35 +0200
Dear Mr. Durani,
Hope this e-mail finds you well.
The reason I am writing to you is that I wanted to thank for the lectures I attended at the Islamic Circle at the mosque a few months back, and also for help in answering my questions. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend any more lectures as I received a job offer in my native Norway and suddenly got very busy moving back and switching roles.
I should’ve written sooner as it’s now been some time since the last lecture I attended, I am sorry for my delay but I still wanted to show my gratitude.
Could you please give my very special thanks to Paul, who I regret I was not able to return and see again. He was very helpful, understanding, and patient and I gained much from his views and knowledge and the long conversation we had after the lecture. I can’t quite find the words, but this talk was “exciting and stimulating”, and while I learned from several people at the mosque, Paul was especially easy to relate to and I think it was easier for him to communicate with me.
I’d also wish to thank him once more for the books he bought for me, I didn’t have any cash at hand at the time but he can provide me with account details I’d gladly repay him.
(I must apologise wholeheartedly if I have not remembered his name correctly I’m embarrassed and ashamed to say but I’m horrible with names.)
With my very best wishes,
Kind regards,
Rolf
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Today I received this email:
From: Tim Winter <tjw31@cam.ac.uk>
To: paul williams
Sent: Monday, 28 May 2012, 20:30
Subject: congratulations
As-salamu alaykum Paul.
I just wanted to say that I admire your work very much – may Allah bless you.
Abdal Hakim
Comments on: "About this blog…" (13)
Hello. These two videos should interest you as they involve Muslim-Christian Debate/Dialogue. Both videos are highly informative and entertaining.
Thanks for these videos, I’m a big fan of Shabir Ali…
I’m curious, were you the moderator for the Muslim-Christian Debates in London involving Adnan Rashid, James White, David Wood, etc. You look very much like him…
Yes, I was the moderator for some of those debates in London. What did you think of the debates?
I very much liked what I saw so far (a few of the debates have not yet been released on video) . They were quite educational. I especially appreciated the bluntness with which Adnan Rashid spoke. The man does not mince his words! Such an approach is necessary sometimes when dealing with missionaries like David Wood, for example. What did you think of the debates, if I may ask?
I think the debates had some good moments and some bad moments. A long time ago I was actually a member of Westbourne Park Baptist Church where the debates were held, and the Pastor there (Rev Steve Latham) is still a friend of mine. I think the ‘blunt’ approach of some of the speakers would only have served to antagonise and possibility alienate the Christians in the audience.
But Wood and White are fundamentalist Christians who have a very distorted understanding of Islam, and they do need to be confronted.
But at the end of the day I think we witnessed the theological equivalent of a boxing match. I prefer the more nuanced and productive approach of someone like Shabir Ali who is very well grounded in the Christian scriptures and the Qur’an and has earned the respect (even admiration?) of Christian polemicists.
Sadly, I do not think Adnan’s pugnacious style will win him many friends amongst the Christians…
Paul
Hi, its Pete White here! So I found you here at last (kept saying I was gonna check it out but never got around to it!). Anyway, I just thought I’d say hey and let you know that I will be checking it out every now and then to check it’s being kept in good order!
Seeya soon
Pete
Aa Paul,
(don’t know if you remember me – Pete’s friend Nadia. I was at his conversion with a camcorder)
Anway, if you don’t already know, thought you might like this (lectures on Islam, Christianity and Jesus):
http://www.iccuk.org/images/seasonoflectures.jpg
Hi there
Yes I remember you. Thanks for the link
Bilal
Paul, I’ve appreciated your comments and encouragement at my own blog – it’s been helpful to know that someone “out there” is reading at least some of what I write. I’m wondering whether you could recommend a resource for me to correspond with regarding some questions I have about applying Islam in my life. It looks like you’ve got your hands full, and I don’t know who to go to with my questions. I’ve looked at some online forums but I don’t yet know how to evaluate online sources of information about Islam. Any help would be appreciated. Shukran in advance. ~Ashmath
Ashmath
sorry for the lateness in replying! Perhaps you can email me at … and we can discuss further…
Salams Paul
I would like to email you about something but I can’t find your email address on your blog. If you don’t take personal emails that’s fine but if you do I would really appreciate you giving my questions some time.
Many thanks
Mona
Mona, I’ve emailed you directly…