What A Pity London Isn’t Islamic (Yet)
A quote (not a joke) from Michael Hodges in Time Out London, 5 June 2007
An Islamic London would be a better place. [...] Alcohol is haram, or forbidden, to Muslims. As London is above the national average for alcohol-related deaths in males [...] turning all the city’s pubs into juice bars would have a massive positive effect on public health. [...]
‘The world is green and beautiful,’ said the prophet Muhammad, ‘and Allah has appointed you his guardian over it.’ The Islamic concept of halifa or trusteeship obliges Muslims to look after the natural world and Muhammad was one of the first ever environmentalists, advocating hima – areas where wildlife and forestry are protected. So we could expect more public parks under Islam [...]
If Islam became the dominant religion in London [...] this could have a revolutionary effect on educational achievement and, perhaps just as importantly, general levels of discipline and self-respect among London’s young people. [...]
Application of halal (Arabic for ‘permissable’) dietary laws across London would free us at a stroke from our addiction to junk food, [...]
Each Muslim is obliged to pay zakat, a welfare tax of 2.5 per cent of annual income, that is distributed to the poor and the needy. If the working population of London, 5.2 million, was predominantly Muslim this would produce approximately £3.2bn each year. More importantly, everyone would be obliged to consider those Londoners who haven’t shared their good fortune. London would become a little less cruel.

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