by Salim Bhorat

Imagine dozens of parents and children skating, boating, climbing and sliding;
Imagine being present at a seminar on Reporting Islam with Al Jazeera and The Guardian chaired by an employee of the BBC;
Imagine an enthralling live theatre which has previously played at Shakespeare's Globe;
Imagine numerous Art and Calligraphy workshops;
imagine all this taking place at one venue, all at the same time on Saturday 8th July 2006.

This was a flavour of the melting pot called Islam Expo 2006 at Alexandra Palace London.

Having arrived at 10.30 I was immediately struck by the scale of the event within the first few minutes and realised that my one day in London was not going to be enough time to slowly enjoy and absorb; I now realised why this was a four day event. I then texted a number of other friends to call me should they be visiting here today as bumping into all of them would be more through fortune than planning.

My thoughts were to have a wander around to start off with and then make some mental notes as to how I would spend the time...Knowledge zone all about Islam past, present and future...Peter Sanders' Photography maybe pickup some tips personally from Peter for the photos I would take today; Must chat to the artist Mazzy Malik as I haven't come across Arabic graffiti before, watch some kids (and adults) learn from Unaiza Karim about geometrical design.....Must find out why New Civilisation magazine has tweaked my curiosity as I wander past.

Swing around past the organisations' and corporate stalls and am suddenly in another vast albeit smaller hall where the lighting is low and exudes the perfect setting for the Souk (although this does leave me wondering about how I will provide the light for my amateur photographs). The stalls are already buzzing, selling everything you would expect from an Islamic market place, except culturally this also made it a global marketplace with people of so many different origins.

Must look into 'mercy oil' and the illnesses its merchant claims to remedy. A sister with the relevant legal skills offers to come up North to participate in an event I'm looking to organise regarding Islamic wills. A brother selling kids' Islamic cartoons also offers to come for a kids picture show I also aim to organise.
Over 100 souk stalls so am informed all of which seemed to be thriving - with the possible exception of, in the heat of a hot London July, the Muslim double glazing stall; but what do I know of the resilience of double glazing salesmen?

I comment that a village must get to a certain size before it becomes a town and a double glazing firm sets up business, a measure of Islam Expo must be that it was of a scale large enough to accommodate a double glazing stall.

I am feeling a bit peckish but decide to continue as I don't want to miss the seminar shortly taking place Reporting Islam as I previously mentioned. I am pleased to hear the reporting views of Al Jazeera as they concurred with mine and look forward to benefiting from their new English services. Whilst this event is nearing a conclusion, two other talks commence: a two-sided debate around Islamic schools and Integration and a seminar on Prophet Muhammad: the man. Like a man with a TV remote and no video recorder, I share a part of each one, not wanting to miss either completely.

I meet numerous friends who are involved in the organisation of the event and hope my congratulations and encouragement bolster them for what must have been some tiresome months even before this truly great event and then sit down for the first time with two friends I bumped into and catch up briefly before setting off again. It is 3.30 before I realise that I have not even had lunch and sit down with a delicious chicken satay wrap and an ethical drink, not wishing to ponder too long on which food stall I should choose for lunch as the decisions have been tough enough today already.

I end the day attending a seminar "Islam and the Left" with Muslim and non-Muslim panellists who are now well recognised for working together in a coalition of conscience in a war ravaged world.

My mental list of 'must-do's' and 'must visit' and 'must speak to' were far longer than the time I had available and I am just glad to have participated and wonder how I will convey this to friends who aren't here.

I think, maybe I will write about this day (sadly without really expecting to do it justice) and show people the photographs and hope the organisers have the resources and energy to plan Islam exp 2007 and hope my scribblings and view through a lens helps create an even bigger audience. July 7th the day before, depressed me slightly for obvious reasons, July 8th and the organisers of Islam Expo gave me renewed hope and optimism for the future of Muslims in Britain.

May Allah swt reward all those responsible for Islam Expo 2006. Insha Allah I wholeheartedly look forward to Islam Expo 2007.

Salim

http://www.flickr.com/photos/salimb/sets/72157594194021400/