altmuslim this week - november 10, 2008 - This week, with the decisive victory of President-elect Barack Hussein Obama, we take a look at what Obama's ascendancy says about Muslims in America and around the world. Also, what do Rashid Khalidi and Rahm Emanuel have in common? 
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On Rahm and Rashid - Barack Obama's selection of Rahm Emanuel is a worrying start to pro-Palestinian hopes in his administration. But when compared to his friendship with Rashid Khalidi, is Obama being reactionary with the Emanuel pick - or strategically open minded? (November 10, 2008)
Crescents among the crosses - The fact that up to 10% of voters still believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim (despite the Rev. Wright debacle and over a year of clarifications in the media) or "an Arab" underscores just how embedded the idea is that Muslims are still alien to all that America stands for. (October 20, 2008)
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altmuslim review 030 - Free speech - is it something Muslims can live with? In this episode, we talk about how Muslims cope with (and benefit from) free speech in Western societies. Also, an extended interview with Jewel of Medina author Sherry Jones discussing her controversial book. (October 10, 2008)
altmuslim review 029 - A vibrant Muslim media could have an opportunity to restore balance to the Muslim public image - if it can get on its feet. In this episode, we explore the state of the Muslim media. Also, an interview with the creator of "Muslim Cafe", Navid Akhtar. (July 5, 2008)
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Recent and upcoming talks and offsite articles by altmuslim contributors
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)
Shahed will be a guest on the nationally syndicated radio show Interfaith Voices, speaking about the "otherization" of American Muslims (October 23, 2008)
Powell's remarks rebut the idea of Muslims as political kryptonite - Wajahat Ali, The Guardian (UK), Comment is Free (October 22, 2008)
Today's Boo Radley: Muslim Americans - Wajahat Ali, The Washington Post (October 20, 2008)
The Republican red scare, Wajahat Ali, The Guardian (UK), Comment is Free (October 11, 2008)
Heritage was mixed a long time ago - Irfan Yusuf, Sydney Morning Herald (September 30, 2008)
Shahed will be a guest on BBC Radio 4's " Sunday" programme speaking about the Jewel of Medina controversy (September 28, 2008)
Dangerous liaisons, Wajahat Ali, The Guardian (UK), Comment is Free (September 27, 2008)
Another attack - in the name of whose Islam? - Irfan Yusuf, The Age (Australia) (September 22, 2008)
Violence against women won't stop until men speak out - Irfan Yusuf, New Zealand Herald (September 12, 2008)
Shahed will be participating in a panel discussion, Sourcing Islam, at the Religion Newswriters Association conference in Washington, DC (September 20, 2008)
Muslims have nothing to fear from this book - Shahed Amanullah, The Guardian (UK), Comment is Free (September 9, 2008)
Rushdie is no believer in free speech - Irfan Yusuf, The Age (Australia) (August 8, 2008)
Shahed will be participating in the Progressive Revival group blog at BeliefNet (July 29, 2008)
Western civilization? What a good idea that would be - Irfan Yusuf, New Zealand Herald (July 22, 2008)
Shahed will be speaking about the role of the Web in promoting Muslim civic engagement at the ISNA South Central Zone Conference in Houston, Texas (July 5, 2008)
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Media appearances and analysis featuring altmuslim editors
Domestic crusader - An associate editor of the publication AltMuslim.com—“it’s neither too apologetic nor too antagonistic”—Wajahat exhorts wealthier American Muslims to invest in their own future by creating think tanks and scholarships in art and media instead of collecting luxury cars. “We have to break out of our culturally isolated bubble,” he says.
(October 11, 2008)
National publisher kills Spokane journalist’s book - [Amanullah] sent e-mails to about 200 graduate students in Islamic studies, telling them of Spellberg's "frantic" call and asking if they had heard about the novel. "What I got back was a collective shrug of the shoulders," says Amanullah. "The thing that is surreal for me is that here you had a non-Muslim write a book, and you had a non-Muslim complain about it, and a non-Muslim publisher pull the book." (August 20, 2008)
Self censoring Muslims - "But Amanullah says he never wanted the book pulled. 'I'm upset the book wasn't published,' he said, 'not because I agree or disagree with the book.' For him, 'I don't want to be in the position where we are stifling speech. Preemptive censorship is not in our interest. That's worse than even censorship. We're not going to silence our way out of problems.'" (August 12, 2008)
You still can’t write about Muhammad - "But Ms. Spellberg wasn't a fan of Ms. Jones's book. On April 30, Shahed Amanullah, a guest lecturer in Ms. Spellberg's classes and the editor of a popular Muslim Web site, got a frantic call from her. "She was upset," Mr. Amanullah recalls. He says Ms. Spellberg told him the novel "made fun of Muslims and their history," and asked him to warn Muslims." (August 5, 2008)
Why the silence? - "Both reactionary religion and militant secularism are on the rise, with both displaying a rigid certainty and a desire for power that will do nothing to benefit society. In this context, it is vital that people with open-minded faith speak up and demonstrate alternatives. [altmuslim.com has] set many good examples in this regard." (January 8, 2008)
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2008 Elections
Looking at the RNC through Muslim eyes
Posted by Shahed Amanullah on September 6, 2008
If you listened closely during the various speeches at the RNC convention, you'll notice that the times when the crowd was most animated was when Republican rage was focused on what Sen. John McCain calls the "trancendent challenge of our time: the threat of radical Islamic terorrism". Various speakers through the convention returned to this theme, which consistently galvanized the crowd. "John McCain hit the nail on the head," thundered former Gov. Mitt Romney. "Radical violent Islam is evil, and he will defeat it." Rejecting calls to avoid using the term "Islamic terrorism" for fear of fomenting hostility towards Muslims, former NY mayor Rudy Giuliani was defiant. "Please tell me who they are insulting when they say Islamic terrorism," he said. "They are insulting terrorists."
(Note to Mr. Giuliani: Terrorists who are Muslim love being called "Islamic". It gives them legitimacy. "Terrorist" they don't like so much, because they think they are freedom fighters. You'd think this would be obvious.)
I don't have a problem with fighting radicals who manipulate Islam for violent ends. What I do have a problem with is that these Republican leaders, and the crowd they lather up, have such a vague defintion of "radical Islam" that it demonizes millions of law-abiding Muslim Americans in the eyes of their fellow citizens, few of whom could tell the difference between a radical Muslim and a peaceful one.
I have a Muslim friend who has been a Republican for 30 years (surprisingly enough, there are an embattled few Muslim Republicans) who emailed the McCain campaign to get some clarification on exactly what they define as "radical Islam". To sum up the long answer that came back: there are up to 100 million radical Islamists in the world who are determined to kill us, and the US needs to resolutely defeat them. No word on how to tell the radicals from the moderates, or if there is any solution other than a military one. Just a recipe for open-ended war against an undefined enemy.
You might think, "Well, this is all for the cameras, and they're just venting." But the crowd at the RNC (unfortunately) holds a significant amount of political power in this country. Reinforcing the theme of Islam being the enemy will seep in at the convention and emerge later in the form of discriminatory surveillance, lopsided laws that treat Muslims as guilty until proven innocent, and and increased desire to bomb the hell out of any Muslim country that doesn't toe the US line.
To tell you the truth, I don't feel personally threatened. In my experience, this country has far more reasonable people in it than the crowd chanting "USA! USA!" with anger in their eyes during Romney's speech. In the wake of 9/11, far more Americans offered comfort to the Muslims I know than offered insults. (No prize for guessing the political orientation of those two groups of people.) But I am upset that politicians feel they need to resort to declarations of war to get themselves elected, and saddened that they are oblivious to the very real damage the cause to decent American citizens who work hard, pay their taxes, and don't deserve to be lumped into the same category as those who perpetrated 9/11.
(Cross-posted from Beliefnet's "Progressive Revival" blog)
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