Ollamh Media

Welcome to Ollamh Media

Welcome to Ollamh Media. My name is Gavin John and I am a disillusioned University Instructor with a mission to holistically educate the next generation of culture creators. I am a proud European Muslim with a unique outlook on the world and the contemporary issues we are facing. I am not a scholar of Islam nor a scholar of the Western Tradition but a dedicated student of both.

My goal is to show you how both these traditions are not incompatible. In fact, a Islam compliments European identity.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقۡنَٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٖ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلۡنَٰكُمۡ شُعُوبٗا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ أَكۡرَمَكُمۡ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتۡقَىٰكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٞ

People, We created you all from a single man and a single woman, and made you into races and tribes so that you should recognise one another. In God’s eyes, the most honoured of you are the ones most mindful of Him: God is all knowing, all aware.

Surah Hujurat Ayat 13

The nefarious narrative of the “Clash of Civilisations’, no longer carries any intellectual integrity. Every year numerous individuals of European heritage are embracing the religion of Islam. However, the word on the street is that Islam is a religion of the ‘other’. This methodology has un-mistakingly been promoted by the malevolent merchant classes. Those who are drowning in their usurious profit at the expense of humanity by and large.

As a proud European man I can attest wholeheartedly, that there is NO DICHOTOMY BETWEEN BEING MUSLIM AND EUROPEAN. Just as South Asians, Turks, Bosnians, Senegalese and Egyptian populations retain their peculiarities within an Islamic framework, the same can be said for the European Muslim community. We are just yet to see it in its entirety. This is where we have an incredible opportunity and dare I say responsibility.

The Islamic values espoused by humanities exemplar the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, are the very same values that our ancestors valued and attempted to replicate in their own particular way.

I say, Islam is Europe’s only solution to return to tradition. Though, this does not mean for one moment that we are to look outside of our own culture for a different way of expressing our individuality. Islam is a filter, not a reset.

A beautiful synthesis of the esoteric and exoteric realities of life. A reversion to our natural state. Not a re-conditioning but an UN-CONDITIONING.

The quintessential European identity will be refined, to be in line with reality as it really is. WE WILL BE ROOTED IN OUR TRADITION ONCE MORE!

The Art of Living

Regularly ask yourself, “How are my thoughts, words, and deeds affecting my friends, my spouse, my neighbour, my child, my employer, my subordinates, my fellow citizens? Am I doing my part to contribute to the spiritual progress of all with whom I come in contact?” Make it your business to draw out the best in others by being an exemplar yourself.”

Epictetus: Selected Discourses

As a University Instructor, I am inclined to teach. Within the education system, there is not a holistic cultivation of character. This is what the Art of Living will be about. It is personal development but through an educational lens.

The Isles

The Isles is a personal project revolving around the Islands of Britain and Ireland. A journey into the traditions and culture of these Islands. Two Islands which mean a lot to me personally as the majority of my ancestry comes out of these two beautiful lands.

All of my paternal ancestry is from Ireland, therefore first and foremost I consider myself Gaelic. However, my maternal ancestry is almost completely from England, with a little bit of Northern Italian. I do feel it is important to be aware and proud of you heritage. So, this part of my blog is an ode to these windswept islands in the North Atlantic.

“Loving your homeland is part of your faith”.

Ibn Arabi may Allah azza wa jaal be pleased with him.

Get in Touch!

If you are interested in what I have to say, please follow me on X. You can also get in touch by filling out a contact form and I will reply.

Gavin John
https://twitter.com/OllamhMedia