No compulsion in opinion 
Saturday, July 04, 2009 | 12 Rajab 1430  
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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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The American Muslim
Irfan Yusuf
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Irfan Yusuf
In addition to being an associate editor of altmuslim, Irfan Yusuf is also a regular contributor to Crikey.com.au, NewMatilda.com and Malaysiakini.com. He also is a regular speaker and has delivered seminars for organisations such as the Australian Homeland Security Research Centre and the Institute of Public Administration of Australia. Irfan joined altmuslim.com as Associate Editor in 2006.

Irfan is also a regular media commentator on a variety of social, political, human rights, media and cultural issues. He has appeared on local and national radio and TV in Australia and New Zealand. Irfan's opinion pieces and book reviews have been published in over 15 national, metropolitan and regional newspapers in Australia, New Zealand and Brunei. His writings can be seen online at Planet Irf and Madhab Irfy.
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ARTICLES BY IRFAN YUSUF

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)

Clash of civilizations
The great faction fiction
Neither the West nor Islam can be seen as a cultural monolith. Those of us sitting on the fence should never have to choose between one or the other. (29 comments)

Author Imran Ahmed
An unimagined life
Associate editor Irfan Yusuf catches up with Unimagined author Imran Ahmad at the Sydney Writer's Festival to discuss identity and the generation gap for a Muslim growing up in the West (3 comments)

Guantanamo Detentions
Winning few friends in the Muslim world
The mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay continues to be a powerful recruiting argument used by anti-Western and anti-democratic forces in the Muslim world. (7 comments)

Book "Still Moments"
Moments of clarity
Still Moments, a short memoir by Dr. Zighen Aym, thoughtfully explores the contrasts and commonalities between experiences in his native Algeria and his adopted America. (0 comments)

Former Indonesian President Suharto
The authoritarian liberator
The man who ruled over the world’s largest Islamic nation for over 30 years certainly was not perfect. But today Indonesians enjoy freedoms which their co-religionists elsewhere yearn for. (3 comments)

Looking for extremism
Fighting jihadists with inkjet printers
You don’t need dodgy receipts to prove dodgy books are sold by certain dodgy Muslims. Likewise, we have no need for dodgy conservative thinktanks using dodgy excuses to hide their dodgy sectarian prejudices. (9 comments)

Controversy in Sudan
Sudan’s ready teddy
After two decades of civil war, and having the largest population of internal refugees of any country on earth, you'd think Sudanese Muslims have far more pressing issues to worry about than the name of a teddy bear. (4 comments)

Remembering "Crazy" John Ilhan
Merging faith and business
For many Australians, coverage of "Crazy" John Ilhan's funeral at a prominent mosque will be the first time they will learn that the man behind one of Australia's most successful business brands was a practising Muslim. (5 comments)

Heroes of 9/11
Clearing Salman’s name
Six years after September 11, 2001, we would do well to remember a particular victim, one who was portrayed as a terrorist before his name was cleared. (1 comments)

India-Pakistan Partition
Lines on a map
Sixty years after the partition that created India and Pakistan, Irfan Yusuf explores why some of the barriers between nations never really kept people apart. (15 comments)

Rushdie Knighthood
Flippant thoughts on Sir Salman
Perhaps those Muslims who waste their time and energy banning books and threatening authors have finally realised this only makes these authors damned rich! (11 comments)

Author Mohsin Hamid
Reluctant fundamentalists and unrepentant Westerners
Mohsin Hamid, author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist recently visited Australia, and I was fortunate to have the chance of catching up with him to discuss the main character in his novel. (4 comments)

Islam in Australia
Animal Farm Islam
Clearly all Muslims are moderate, but some are more extremely moderate (or moderately extreme) than others. (2 comments)

Radio talk shows
Why Don Imus should move to Australia
A sensitivity against racism in the US has created a backlash against "shock jocks" such as Don Imus. The same racism against Lebanese and Middle Eastern minorities in Australia goes unpunished. (2 comments)

The Hilali affair
Has Mufti Day ended down under? (Part III)
The ethno-religious dynamic among Australian Muslims, along with politics, has compounded the potential removal of controversial imam Sheikh Taj el-din Al Hilaly (16 comments)

Professor Raphael Israeli
An Israeli Hilaly?
The inappropriate comments of Australian mufti Sheik Hilaly have been mirrored by a visiting Israeli professor, Professor Raphael Israeli. So where's the balanced reaction? (19 comments)

Australia's Sheikh Hilaly
The sheik must go
Disparaging non-Muslim Australians as "convicts" was the latest in a string of inexplicable comments. Australia's Sheik Hilaly must now surely resign or be sacked. (3 comments)

Holiday charity
Christmas and Eid thoughts among the cane toads
Muslims and Christians have a joint responsibility to ensure this message of hope and mercy is not lost. The message should remind us of our shared Abrahamic spiritual roots. (0 comments)

Sheikh Hilaly Controversy
Has Mufti Day ended down under? (Part II)
Irfan Yusuf provides a detailed background for the controversy surrounding Australian imam Tajeddine Hilaly, whose remarks about women have caused an uproar. (8 comments)

Sheikh Hilaly Controversy
Has Mufti Day ended down under? (Part I)
Irfan Yusuf provides a detailed background for the controversy surrounding Australian imam Tajeddine Hilaly, whose remarks about women have caused an uproar. (2 comments)

Pope Benedict Controversy
Papal free speech
From time to time, Christian and Muslim leaders talk about each other's faiths. That's religion. And that's life. At least it should be. (9 comments)

Extremism in India
Mumbai and the hijacking of the Indian spirit (Part 1)
India has long had a variety of religious extremist groups, many of which are not afraid of using both electoral politics and communal violence to achieve their goals. (6 comments)

Indonesia Earthquake
Indonesia’s city of soul mourns
Irfan Yusuf explores the history of the Jogja region of Indonesia, which is reeling from a major earthquake that has taken over 5,000 lives. (0 comments)

Interfaith Relations
What Muslims can learn from Easter
Easter is about Christ, a great man who saw the inherent worth of all human beings - even tax collectors and sex workers and lepers, those whom the rest of society wrote off. (22 comments)

Non-Muslim minorities
Whatever happened to “no compulsion in religion”?
If Muslim minorities do not stand up for the rights of non-Muslims in Muslim-majority states, their occasional claims to being oppressed minorities themselves will not be taken seriously. (0 comments)

Interfaith Relations
Why Christmas unites Christians and Muslims
Christmas should remind us that, despite minor cultural and theological differences, the things that unite us are more numerous than those which divide us. (9 comments)

Iraq Hostage Crisis
New Zealand’s Muslims should help save one of their own
An Australian imam was instrumental in helping gain the release of an Australian hostage in Iraq. Now that a New Zealander has been taken, Muslims there can help too. (4 comments)

Tolerance
Saint Aslam
People damned by society are the truly oppressed. When they pray against you, watch out. But when they wish you well, expect to find peace and joy. (2 comments)

Terrorism
If a bomb hits Sydney…
Let's start searching our souls and correcting our attitudes. Let's get our house in order. Because if we don't, and if a bomb hits Sydney, we are doomed. (0 comments)

Provocative Preachers
Irreverent words from irrelevant imams
So why are inflammatory imams so often interviewed and quoted? Why do some journalists hang off every word these people say? (3 comments)

July 7th Attacks
Speak out or be condemned for your silence
How can peace be established with bombs and suicide attacks and kidnappings? How can peace be spread through killing peaceful civilians? (57 comments)

Australia's Sheikh Hilaly
Winning hearts at the heart of controversy
Despite his past faults, Australia's Sheikh Tajeddine el-Hilali should be commended for his act of courage in helping facilitate the release of Douglas Wood. (0 comments)

Inspiration
Ihya uloom al-FatAlbert
Fat Albert said something that reminded me of a verse in the Qur'an. He said that loving someone is inherently wonderful, even if the person is not physically with you. (0 comments)

Psychiatry and Islam
Depression is not weak faith
Depression is not being given the attention it deserves in Muslim communities. Indeed, many of our scholars dismiss depression as simply weak faith. (7 comments)

Hudud Punishments
Anwar Ibrahim is proof that Tariq Ramadan has a point
Sharia may be a divinely-inspired legal system. But in the hands of the wrong people, it's criminal punishments can become part of the devil's handiwork. (1 comments)


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