What's in a Name?

We've been going through some funny emotions this week when thinking about what to call our new baby. If anyone was wondering what tomitv stands for it is "The Only Muslim in the Village". We are very conscious in the current climate that "our sort" are not the flavour of month what with PCs asking not guard the Israeli embassy, Mr Straw removing women's veils and whatever else the gutter press can think up.

Now had this been a couple of years ago I really don't think we would be deliberating so much about a name. We were very conscious with our first that we wanted a name that translated into English/British culture. So Zakariyya became Zak. And now we've run out of other easily translatable names!

It is a real sign of how things have changed or are changing; I may be paranoid but anti-Muslim sentiment does seem to be growing especially in areas where we live where seeing a brown or black face is just as common as seeing a dancing polar bear - well maybe not that uncommon. I think I've seen 10 "Asians" and 2 black people in 5 months.

So we are really grappling with the name this time. Is Ali too foreign? Ismaeel to much a handful? It's a shame we have to be so protective over the name but I suppose it is a sign of the times. My Mum, who isnt even Muslim, lives in fear we are going to call it something like Abdullah - "his life will be hell. He'll be persecuted, never allowed into any countries, beaten, tortured and killed." You think I am joking - she is serious. Yesterday I told my wife that our teacher asked us to call it Osama to test her reaction. She went a bit white.....

So what's in a name? Well in a village like this it could mean the difference between integration and seperation. We are always very careful never to present ourselves, our actions or our beliefs as Islamic - rather we term it as something like "spiritual". People tend to accept that easier and show more interest. If we mentioned Islam, boy I am not sure how people would react although a few people do know and they seem OKish about it.

If I was Sikh or Hindu or Bahai I doubt we would be going through this. On one hand its a shame that people can't be themselves but on the other I suppose its our own weakness - we should be proud of our religion (which we are) and just get on with it. However we are stuck in the middle in many ways. We both have English, non-Muslim parents to consider plus the community we live in. I think, and I hope we are right, that by trying our best to straddle the divide we can forge some sort of middle path that people from both sides can sympathise with.

So.....we are still left with a nameless baby. Maybe "Gareth" (please pronounce with Welsh accent).

RAIN:

It's been pouring with rain here for the last week or so. It continues to beggar belief why we let all this rain water run into gutters and then into the sewer system? If there is one thing this government should do to revolutionise how we approach the miracle of water it should be to have every house standing and every house built in the future to use rain water. What for? Toilets, gardens, washing cars, etc, etc. Wasting like we do is a crime. This is my next project after the sheep - to start collecting all our rain water and to use it rather than waste it.