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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
altmuslim this week - june 29, 2009 - This week, reeling over the death of Michael Jackson (or is it Mikaeel?), a brutal (and brutally unfair?) new film about the stoning of women in Iran, and our good friend Farah Pandith - the most effective behind-the-scenes American Muslim you've never met - is promoted to a new office by Secretary Clinton.
ASIDES
editor's blog
US outreach to Muslims in good hands - Several of us at altmuslim have had the opportunity to work with Farah Pandith, who has just been appointed by Secretary Clinton to be a special representative to Muslim communities worldwide. (June 27, 2009)

Her name is Neda - Many have died tragic - and silent - deaths in the post-election violence in Iran. But one woman, Neda Agha Soltan, became a symbol with her death caught on video. Here, Neda's fiancee, Caspian Makan, comments on her story in comments transcribed exclusively for altmuslim.com. (June 25, 2009)

CONTRIBUTORS
PODCASTS
altmuslim review 032 - Muslim writers everywhere! We speak about the new wave of Western Muslim literature and interview two authors with recently released books. Our own Irfan Yusuf talks about his memoir, Once Were Radicals and Reza Aslan tells us more about his second book, How to Win a Cosmic War (June 11, 2009)

altmuslim review 031 - Oh, Bama! What does the election of Barack Obama mean for American Muslims, who were both courted and shunned during a long campaign? We speak with American Muslim Democratic activists who were gathered in Washington for the historic inauguration. (March 5, 2009)

ELSEWHERE
State-sponsored Sufism, Ali Eteraz, Foreign Policy, June 10, 2009.

Pushing the Envelope Without Breaking It, Shahed Amanullah, The Mosque in Morgantown, June 2, 2009.

Obama in Egypt: Let the unsaid be said, Zahed Amanullah, Patheos.com, May 28, 2009.

Zahed will be a panelist at Divan 2.0, a debate on the future of the Muslim internet sponsored by the Radical Middle Way at the London School of Economics in London, England, May 22, 2009.

Once Were Radicals (published by Allen and Unwin), the first book by Associate Editor Irfan Yusuf, is released in Australia, May 4, 2009.

Shahed and Wajahat will be speaking at the 3rd Annual Leadership Summit presented by the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals in Princeton, NJ, May 2, 2009.

Shahed will be leading a workshop on Media Strategies & Techniques at the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow conference in New York, NY, April 24-25, 2009.

Bringing it all back home, Wajahat Ali, The Guardian, Comment is Free, April 9, 2009.

Zahed will be conducting a two day workshop on Blogging and New Media for Italian students at the United States Embassy, Rome, Italy, April 8-9, 2009.

Crusading for Modern Islamic Art, Shahed Amanullah, Beliefnet, March 26, 2009.

Wajahat will be speaking at the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow conference in Doha, Qatar (January 16-19, 2009)

Finding the middle ground, Hesham Hassaballa, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 8, 2009.

Shahed will be speaking about Muslims in the political process at the 8th annual Texas Dawah Convention in Houston, Texas (December 27, 2008)

Skyscraping ambition for Mecca, Ali Eteraz, The Guardian (UK), Comment is Free (December 18, 2008)

Zahed will be leading a technology workshop for European Muslim professionals at the Salzburg Global Seminar, Salzburg, Austria (November 16-20, 2008)

Zahed will be a keynote speaker at the inaugural meeting of the Network of European Muslim Technology Entrepreneurs, in Madrid, Spain (November 14, 2008)

Shahed will be a featured panelist at Red Faith/Blue Faith: Religion in the 2008 Election and Beyond at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC (November 7, 2008)

Let the Global Islamic Conspiracy Begin, Ali Eteraz, Jewcy, (November 5, 2008)

Zahed will be a guest on Press TV's Islam & Life, hosted by Tariq Ramadan, speaking on French and American Muslim experiences (November 3, 2008)

Zahed will be a guest on Irish broadcaster RTE's Spectrum radio show, speaking about Barack Obama and the Muslim factor in the US presidential election (November 1, 2008)

IN THE NEWS
Islamic Society reaches out to other faiths - "ISNA is very interested in extending their connections with Protestant groups," said Rafia Zakaria, an Indiana lawyer and associate editor at altmuslim.com, a Web site that looks at Muslim issues. "Having a figure as high profile as him gives them legitimacy to extend those kinds of alliances with church groups that have a significant amount of power in the United States." (June 21, 2009)

American Muslims, Jews rate Obama’s speech - "He was really pressing for people to say in public what they say in private. Everybody knows what the solutions to a lot of these problems are and I think there is vast agreement on what they are going to be. But nobody really talks about it and puts the cards on the table," said Shahed Amanullah, editor of the Web site altmuslim.com. (June 5, 2009)

A place to explore Muslim American life - "The biggest challenge facing us is more internal - asking the deeper question. Okay, now that we know that we are Muslim Americans or American Muslims, whatever you want to call us, what does that mean?" (May 23, 2009)

The great potential for online Muslim media - "A recent study in the US implies a correlation between non-Muslims who fear Islam and those who don't know any Muslims. The more Muslims get to know their non-Muslim neighbours, the more ability they will have to influence them." (April 29, 2009)

Obama’s entreaty to Islam surprises Muslims - "Here's where the American public is going, and here's where Obama is going and trying to head it off," said Shahed Amanullah, editor and publisher of altmuslim.com. The Bush administration asked Amanullah for help in shaping dialogue with the American Muslim community. "He's heading it off on a global level," Amanullah said. "He's starting at a core of the problem. The core of the problem is the crisis overseas." (April 8, 2009)

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Media
Al Jazeera’s new American challenge
On 1 July 2009, media relations between the Arab world and the United States took a fascinating turn. For the first time, the Doha-based TV station Al Jazeera brought its English-language news service to a large cable television audience in America, beginning in Washington, DC and then moving to other US cities. As the company’s director general, Wadah Khanfar, recently explained, the station is now expected to reach 2.3 million American viewers through MHZ Networks, a DC area cable TV provider, and has the potential to effect significant change in US-Arab relations. Though Al Jazeera launched English-language programming in November 2006, it was not picked up by major US cable providers because of the widespread view that its coverage went against American objectives. This new decision marks a cultural shift. (2 comments)
Islamic Relief: A 4-Star Charity

Obituary: Michael Jackson
The way he made us feel
Like him or not, Michael Jackson, who passed away this week at 50, had an intriguing and tangential relationship to Islam in addition to his many controversies. Nevertheless, he was loved by millions of Muslims for his music and talent. (2 comments)

Pakistan
State-sponsored Sufism
After years of bemoaning official Saudi sponsorship of Wahhabism, and condemning official Iranian sponsorship of milleniarian Islam, we are now being asked to celebrate a state-sponsored brand of Islam in Pakistan. Not only is this unprincipled - it is going to backfire. (7 comments)

Iran crisis
Leave Iran alone
Despite the cacophony of mock-solidarity echoing from all echelons of the US neo-conservative establishment, when it comes to doing what’s best for the Iranian people and indeed for the world, the US must do nothing at all. (12 comments)

Mideast Politics
One step forward, two steps backward
Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad are ensuring through their recent actions that the peaceful and just solution to the Arab-Israeli problem inspired by President Obama is harder to reach. (No comments)

Movie "The Mosque in Morgantown"
Pushing the envelope without breaking it
Asra Nomani, deserves credit for bringing light to the issue of gender inequity in American mosques. But since there is widespread agreement among Muslim leaders for the need for change, is Nomani's approach the best way to create it? (2 comments)

Iran Elections
Repressive Islamic rule loses its lustre
Iranian Muslim youth aren't the only ones disillusioned with theocratic politics. Many young Muslims in the West like myself, once attracted to political Islam, have now become disillusioned by it. At the same time, we feel disenchanted with Western attempts to manipulate it, then demonise it when it suits. (18 comments)

Obama's Cairo speech
The value of words
For all the ensuing media chatter on the necessity of following his beautiful words with beautiful deeds, President Obama deserves credit for his overtures to Muslims around the world in his groundbreaking speech in Cairo. (16 comments)

Inclusion
Could there ever be a Muslim Supreme Court justice?
Even though Muslim slaves help build this country from the time of its founding, and millions of Muslim live here today, having a Muslim Supreme Court justice will probably not occur within our lifetimes. (12 comments)

Pakistan
Send thousands more tea drinkers to “AfPak”
US foreign policy-makers and military leaders have something to learn from what author and philanthropist Greg Mortenson has achieved. Long-term success in the tribal regions of Pakistan takes patience, resilience and the ability to listen. (10 comments)

Education
The case for an American madrassah
In order for American Muslims to dispel the misperception of incompatibility, American Islamic scholars will need the intellectual gravitas to go toe to toe with foreign trained and overseas scholars. Zaytuna's proposed "Muslim Georgetown" could achieve this. (18 comments)

Somalia
Time for a consensus on Islamic law
Despite the threat to stablity from Al Shabaab, Somali governments from 1960 to 1991 (when the last government fell) adopted a mix of Islamic law and Western systems of governance that were compatible with Somalis' sense of moderation and faith. (1 comment)

Society
I would die to defend my community
The concept of life is taken as a precious thing, to save one life is as if to save the life of the whole mankind. However, this is, again, an abstract idea. What is real and tangible is the community around me. And I would die to defend it. (3 comments)

Pope Benedict XVI
The Pope meddles in the East
It is hard to predict what the Pope has accomplished on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which essentially used interfaith relations as a means to mediating international relations. But nevertheless, he spoke with sincerity and faith as he linked justice with peace. (4 comments)

Pakistan
How to rescue a failing state
In Pakistan, poor law enforcement, inadequate counterinsurgency know-how, popular conspiratorial thinking, failing infrastructure and the absence of good governance as exposed through declining economic and social indicators shows us a dismal scenario. However, all of this presents only one side of the coin. (9 comments)

Obama in Cairo
A blow to democracy
US President Barack Obama's decision to give his long-advertised speech to the Muslim world from Cairo will be seen as an endorsement of Egypt's brutal 30-year long dictatorship which has stifled political and press freedom alike. (36 comments)

Torture
Torture is evil, not a forensic technique
According to most experts of torture, barring a few like Dick Cheney, torture is ineffective. If we have to waterboard people hundreds of times, then either torture doesn’t work at all, or we have some really very sadistic and mean people working in our government. (34 comments)

Civil liberties
Checking faith and politics at the door
Historically, one's politics, faith, and associations have been protected from government scrutiny and surveillance under the First Amendment. But for Muslim Americans, questions probing our politics, faith, finances, associations and charitable contributions to lawful organizations have become the price of admission to return home when travelling. (No comments)

Obituary: Dr. Hassan Hathout
The reconciliation of oppositions
Noted American Muslim leader Dr. Hassan Hathout, who passed away this week, tried to braid a message to American Muslims and non-Muslims alike - criticizing Muslim behavior that did not correspond to ethical standards, while asking non-Muslims to recognize the common ground between them. (3 comments)

Former British PM Tony Blair
More fundamentalism, please
Last week, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave a speech in Chicago that focused entirely on a "fundamental" Islam that is "the opposite of what extremists preach." Instead, if his focus been on extremism as a global threat, he would have been justified in confronting extremist interpretations of Islam. (23 comments)

Talibanization
The war against girls’ education in Pakistan
This week, a soccer-ball shaped bomb killed seven boys and girls at a school near the Swat region of Pakistan. Here, an Pakistani-American shares her thoughts on the changes affecting girls' education in her former homeland. (13 comments)

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
Flirting with fascism
For better or for worse, the US has been an incredible friend to Israel. Will Israel prove its friendship to the US or will its current flirtation with fascism undermine this long-standing alliance? (3 comments)

Extremism
Does Islam need a reformation?
Given the often terrible news about Islam, it is only natural to wonder whether Islam itself is the problem. Yet, as tempting as it is to apply the Christian experience as analogy, it is a flawed premise from the very beginning. (48 comments)

Perspectives
The many shapes of extremism
Extremism is nothing more than a bunch of neurotransmitters working overtime - or perhaps under time. It is not Islam or Judaism or Hinduism that creates extremism; rather, some people are predisposed to extremism and will pursue it in any faith. (11 comments)

The Taliban
A response to modernity
In its rigidity, the Talibanised society mimics an authenticity that sounds and feels truly pure and Islamic and is greedily imbibed by a population that is hungry for answers. (83 comments)

Interfaith
Growing up Muslim amongst Jews
Zeba Khan traces her own adherence to Islam as an adult back to the Jewish friends she made as a young student at the Hebrew Academy of Toledo, who shared with her the joy and spiritual fulfillment they felt from practicing their faith. (4 comments)

Book: Mother of the Believers
A new literary take on Aisha
Screenwriter and author Kamran Pasha explains what motivated him to write a novel about the Prophet Muhammad's youngest wife, Aisha and how it differs from both contemporary and historic views of this complex, controversial, and revered figure in Islamic history. (63 comments)

Identity
The dehijabization phenomenon
After a brief, identity-driven swell in the number of hijab wearers, there now appears to be a decline. Why did women who spent years, or decades, in hijab decide to dehijabize? What is it that women feel must be fulfilled in life without the hijab that is apparently missing while wearing it? (44 comments)

Domestic surveillance
End the FBI’s abuses, but work with them
The FBI's hasty pronouncements and ensuing misguided responses by some American Muslim organizations have placed undue burdens on the American Muslim community. Both the FBI and American Muslim groups should work out their differences before security and civic harmony are undermined. (10 comments)

Public service
Homeless for one week
Yusef Ramelize didn't just want to call attention to the plight of the homeless in New York City with his groundbreaking "Homeless for One Week" project. He wanted to experience it. (1 comment)

Perspectives
Muslim westerners have built - and become - a bridge
Muslim westerners bring something else to the Muslim world – a more sophisticated understanding of the West as a whole, which as westerners they have as their birthright. That understanding is crucial if the Muslim world – West dialogue is ever to bear fruit. (5 comments)

Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad
An imam who can
The founder of the Cambridge Muslim College, Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murad, looks likely to create a positive, British culture among young followers of Islam. Too bad so few people know about him. (27 comments)

Darfur
Rallying to the wrong cause
It took an indictment by the International Criminal Court to rally the Muslim world to the cause of Darfur. But Muslim countries are rallying to support Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir, rather than to support the victims of the Darfur tragedy. (30 comments)

Islam and pluralism
Who speaks for Muslims?
American Muslims are not a monolithic block – they are as diverse as American Jews in terms of differences in orthodoxy and observance. But just as the media paints a monolithic picture, some Muslims also insist on doing the same. (76 comments)

American Muslims
Thriving in America?
Headline figures from a new Gallup poll – which say that Muslims are doing better in the US than the UK – don't tell the whole story. Applying one country's model to the other won't complete the story either. (53 comments)

BRIEFINGS
Clothing bans
Beyond the burqa
Curbs against some types of womens' religious attire - such as the proposed burqa ban in France - often have little to do with commitments to the emancipation of women and much to do with using women’s bodies as a platform for varying political agendas. (31 comments)

Iran elections
Are fists unclenching in Iran?
Barack Obama and others may have hoped that Iranian leaders were ready to “unclench their fists,” but few leaders are ever ready to do that. Instead, the world must wait and see which of the competing sides of the Iranian government gets their way. (4 comments)

Law enforcement
Cooking up conspiracies
In the relationship between American Muslims and law enforcement, the fear and distrust seeded by anti-terror tactics impedes useful political conversation. It unfairly handicaps community efforts to mobilize in a local and national political voice. And it does not make anyone safer. (5 comments)

Terrorism
The unequal treatment of two religiously motivated crimes
For two recent crimes, a Muslim, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, is charged with terrorism and murder. In a similar case, a Christian, Scott Roeder, is charged with murder but not terrorism. Yet, there are ample indications that both sought to influence government policy. (15 comments)


NEWSMAKERS
British parliamentary candidate Osama Saeed
Muslims in Europe: The Scottish example
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has a new candidate for British Parliament from one of its key districts in Glasgow - activist Osama Saeed. But what's a young Glaswegian Muslim doing running with a nationalist party in Europe? We speak to Saeed to find out. (1 comment)

Filmmaker Jennifer Taylor
“There are so many things that surprised me”
Filmmaker Jennifer Taylor gives some insight into the people at the heart of her documentary film "New Muslim Cool", talks about avoiding the typical traps found when telling stories about Muslims, and explains how labels become meaningless for a community that increasingly blurs the lines between ethnicities, beliefs, and cultures. (1 comment)

Author Reza Aslan
“We are fighting a war of the imagination”
For much of the past decade we have been fighting a "cosmic war" under the guise of a "war on terror," according to author Reza Aslan. In it, there lies a never-ending battle between almost mythical forces of "good" and "evil," skewing real-life history with a fantasy element with no practical resolution. (10 comments)

Author Shelina Zahra Janmohamed
“Life is on hold until you get married”
Author Shelina Zahra Janmohamed sits down with us to discuss the issues brought up in her new book Love in a Headscarf, which documents Janmohamed's search for a partner in a landscaped blurred by culture clashes, mixed identities, and double standards. (8 comments)


REVIEWS
Muslim Voices Festival
Cultural diplomacy in Brooklyn
The Muslim Voices Festival, a unique 10-day art and music festival featuring Muslim artists from around the world, brings a unique form of cultural exchange to New York City this week - starting with the celebrated Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour (1 comment)

Film "Warring Factions"
A breakdancing bridge to Iran
Warring Factions a new documentary film by Justin Mashouf, explores an unusual link between American and modern Iranian culture - the underground b-boy scene. In it, we see a reminder of the human connection that is often lost in politics. (1 comment)

Movie "Waltz with Bashir"
A waltz with injustice
A sobering and imaginative Israeli film Waltz with Bashir artfully documents the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres that should have left a lasting impression. Current events show how a film like this is needed. (No comments)

Movie "Slumdog Millionaire"
Hope from an unexpected place
Slumdog Millionaire, a fantasy wrapped around the brutal realities of modern day India, could make even the most curmudgeon of grinches amongst us applaud at the end. (4 comments)


VISIONS
Hajj construction
A glimpse of the Meccan future
By Zahed Amanullah, June 12, 2009


A controversial plan involving the multinational construction firm Atkins to expand the Grand Mosque in Mecca has been leaked, showing a massive new radial structure accommodating up to 3 million people. Prepare to rejoice - or recoil in horror. (No comments)

CNN report
American Muslims, Jews rate Obama’s speech
By Zahed Amanullah, June 5, 2009
Editor-in-chief Shahed Amanullah discusses the ramifications of Barack Obama's speech in Cairo on CNN along with fellow Muslim Americans Nura Sedique and Dr. Farah Khan on Thursday, June 4th. (No comments)

Film "New Muslim Cool"
Playing it cool
By Zahed Amanullah, April 29, 2009
Described as "spellbinding" by the San Francisco Chronicle, the new documentary New Muslim Cool by San Francisco filmmaker Jennifer Maytorena Taylor tells the story of Puerto Rican American rapper Hamza Pérez, who quit drug dealing 12 years ago and started down a new path as a young Muslim. (No comments)

Election 2008
Standing up to hate
By Davin Hutchins & Lagan Sebert, October 20, 2008
Before you generalize about Republicans, watch a group of Muslim (and Christian) McCain fans shoo away some anti-Muslim activists at a campaign rally. (No comments)


ISLAM NEWS via TALK ISLAM
Once upon a time, I used to say to my dearest brown friend, that someday it would be cool to be brown. That day is here. Bono Bon Jovi a Once upon a time, I used to say to my de…

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Once upon a time, I used to say to my de…

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Via Nico….essential Dreyfuss. I wonder if Khamenei would sanction a Tianaman. I think he would lose most of Qom in a blink. Like Dreyfuss says, Nejad probably would. I wonder if the Shah could have retained power with a Tianaman, but was constrained from employing that by his American puppet-masters. Happy Fourth, all. I pray that Iran will be [...]

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Via Nico….essential Dreyfuss. I wonder…

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I dig Fareed, I really do. But when I ripped his simplistic analysis of the “three forces”(democracy, nationalism, religion) I was correct. The force of nationalism preserved the young islamic republic and was the prime directive in the 80s, just fierce nationalism and healthy paranoia preseved the young Union in Jackson’s time. [...]

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I dig Fareed, I really do. But when I r…

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Juan Cole has put together a remembrance of the recent (and ongoing) Iranian protests in pictures and film on the occasion of the American celebration of its Declaration of Independence. Also he posts this response from Fareed Zakaria to a a question put to him on CNN about whether the US should bomb Iran… Zakaria: It would [...]

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Juan Cole has put together a remembrance…

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Sarah Palin has resigned, and Obama moves to block sanctions against Iran.… Sanity is breaking out all over. a Sarah Palin has resigned, and Obama move…

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Sarah Palin has resigned, and Obama move…

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A sore point on the part of some about the response of the Muslim community to Michael Jackson’s rumored conversion: When a famous person becomes Muslim, it becomes permissible to celebrate their achievements which are haram upon everyone else. Upon the death of Michael Jackson, we are seeing Muslim leaders celebrating his music as if no [...]

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A sore point on the part of some about t…

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TV gameshow offers atheists ’salvation’: The show, called “Tovbekarlar Yarisiyor,” or “Penitents Compete,” features a Muslim imam, a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk attempting to persuade 10 atheists of the merits of their religion, according to CNN Turk. If they succeed, the contestants are rewarded with a pilgrimage to one of their chosen [...]

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TV gameshow offers atheists ’salvation…

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Blogosphere 2.0: Why it ain’t what it used to be. Norms and practices. Bloggers have undermined the blogosphere. Bloggers do not link to each other as much as they used to. It’s a lot of work to look for good posts elsewhere, and most bloggers have become burnt out. Drezner and Farrell had a theory [...]

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Blogosphere 2.0: Why it ain’t what it u…

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Al Arabiya: Female DJs modernize tribal Pakistani region. New radio station in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA): The new station, set up by the FATA authorities, aims to counter several illegal stations run by the extremists who air anti-West and pro-Jihad propaganda and has raised a few eyebrows for breaking away from social norms in the [...]

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Al Arabiya: Female DJs modernize tribal …

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how come the ahl-e haqq/yarsan aren’t treated like the bahai in iran? a how come the ahl-e haqq/yarsan aren’t t…

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how come the ahl-e haqq/yarsan aren’t t…

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