altmuslim this week - august 23, 2010 - This week, is there a connection between the heated rhetoric over Park51 and increased hate crimes against Muslims? Also, parallel struggles against anti-Muslim protests in Bradford, England and the innovation (and integration) on display in the 30 Mosques, 30 States and 30 Nights, 30 Grants projects. 
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How Miss USA will push the secret Muslim agenda - A leaked memo confirms a nefarious plot to infiltrate America using the one weapon we can't resist: Total hotness. (May 17, 2010)
South Park: The controversy continues - In a special for Salon.com, our Associate Editor Wajahat Ali offers his take on the controversy over South Park. If you think South Park's Muslim brouhaha was messy, you should see what's going on in the neighboring town of East Park. (April 28, 2010)
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altmuslim review 033 - We're baaaaack! We speak about the ongoing controversy over Park51 and what means for the future of lower Manhattan. Also, a discussion with Farhad Chowdhury of the M100 Foundation, which seeks to change the way Muslims pay zakat (August 13, 2010)
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)
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Recent and upcoming talks and offsite articles by altmuslim contributors
It's the occupation, stupid, Wajahat Ali, Salon.com, June 4, 2010
Sex and the City 2's stunning Muslim clichés, Wajahat Ali, Salon.com, May 28, 2010
Draw Muhammad Day: Collectively Punishing Muslim Americans, Shahed Amanullah, Huffington Post, May 25, 2010
Shahed will be a guest on the BBC World Service's World, Have Your Say discussing the proposed French ban on niqab (and fines for husbands who compel their wives to wear them) on May 18, 2010.
Even Controversial Views Should Be Protected by Freedom of Speech, Asma Uddin, The Huffington Post, May 7, 2010.
What I understand about Faisal Shahzad, Wajahat Ali, Salon.com, May 6, 2010
No freak out about South Park, Zahed Amanullah, The Guardian, Comment is Free, April 23, 2010.
Shahed will be a guest on the BBC World Service's World, Have Your Say discussing the South Park controversy along with Zarqa Nawaz (Little Mosque on the Prairie) and other guests on April 22, 2010.
Shahed will be a guest on NPR's State of Belief discussing Barack Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, April 17, 2010.
Zahed will be attending a panel discussion entitled " Are Islam and Free Speech Compatible?" in London, England on Friday, March 26, 2010 sponsored by The City Circle. He will be accompanied by Riazat Butt (The Guardian), Hamid Khan (Consultant in Offender and Youth Development), Abu Muntasir (JIMAS), and Dr Usama Hasan.
'Jihad Jane': not the usual suspect, Wajahat Ali, The Guardian, Comment is Free, March 18, 2010.
Al-Awlaki, a new public enemy, Zahed Amanullah, The Guardian, Comment is Free, December 30, 2009.
Islamophonic: Review of the year, Riazat Butt, Zahed Amanullah and David Shariatmadari, Cif Belief (The Guardian), December 18, 2009.
Fort Hood has enough victims already, Wajahat Ali, Comment is Free (The Guardian), November 6, 2009
The pitfalls of filming Muhammad, Shahed Amanullah, The Guardian, Comment is Free, November 4, 2009.
Children of Dust (published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins), the first book by longtime altmuslim.com contributor Ali Eteraz, is released in the US, Canada, and the UK on October 13, 2009.
Shahed will be attending the m100 Sansoucci Colloquium in Potsdam, Germany, September 14-16, 2009. He will be moderating a panel discussion on the Danish cartoon crisis with Denis MacShane MP, Jasim Al-Azzawi (Al Jazeera English), and Flemming Rose (Jyllands Posten).
Associate Editor Wajahat Ali's play "The Domestic Crusaders" is having its premiere at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City, NY, September 11, 2009. The play will continue through Sunday, October 11, 2009.
Shahed will be moderating or participating in three panel discussions at the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention, including Muslim Journalists: The View from the Inside, Supporting Social Entrepreneurs and Civic Leaders, and Blogistan: Muslim Americans on the Web in Washington, DC, July 3-6, 2009.
State-sponsored Sufism, Ali Eteraz, Foreign Policy, June 10, 2009.
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Media appearances and analysis featuring altmuslim editors
Helping U.S. reach out to young Muslims worldwide - Soon after Farah Pandith was named last year as the State Department's first special representative to Muslim communities, she sat down with the editor of an independent Muslim website for her first official interview. Altmuslim.com, a forum for opinion and analysis about current issues facing Muslims, was a fitting choice. Pandith has said a strong focus of her work is to reach out to younger Muslims around the world, often those most likely to use the Internet for news and networking. (June 5, 2010)
Censorship is in the ascendant - Zahed Amanullah, associate editor of altmuslim.com, has argued in a national newspaper blog that, since the warning came from an unrepresentative group, the media interest was not justified. As for events of the past – the fatwa on Salman Rushdie, the Danish cartoons, the murder of van Gogh – they were "three incidents over a 20-year period from amongst 1.6 billion people. These things do happen. But we all need a bit of perspective." (April 30, 2010)
Muslims say new security rules unfair, ineffective - ''Muslims are doing their duty. Muslim parents are being attentive. It's the TSA that's not being attentive. It's the TSA that's not doing its duty," said Shahed Amanullah, an editor at the Web site altmuslim.com. "There's nothing more that Muslims can do than turn in their own families." (January 7, 2010)
US Muslims & media… Lost love - "We have a big problem; it’s that other people are shaping the story about us," Shahed Amanullah, editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com, told IslamOnline.net. (December 16, 2009)
Moves to Seize Mosques Spark Outrage - "I'm extremely skeptical that the link between these mosques and this organization is so strong as to merit the seizing of a considerable amount of assets that do a lot of good for the Muslim community," says Shahed Amanullah, a prominent Muslim blogger based in Austin. "The government better be prepared to make a very good case, because this is unprecedented." (November 17, 2009)
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No hearts were stabbed
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Religious tolerance
The Ground Zero synagogue
By Ghassan Bridi, August 30, 2010
Has Lebanon officially become more tolerant and progressive than the United States? In a country with about the same land mass as Los Angeles County which has been at war off and on for nearly four decades, “Ground Zero” for the Lebanese is arguably their entire country -and at the center of their Ground Zero is downtown Beirut, captured and occupied by the Israeli Defense Force in 1982 and which was almost entirely reduced to rubble from Muslim West Beirut to Christian East Beirut, and all points in between. ( 2 comments) | |
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Park51
It’s about the community, stupid
By Abed Z. Bhuyan, August 25, 2010 The Park51 project in lower Manhattan cannot fail. It must not fail. Indeed, it has become a fight that needs fighting by all Americans. But it must begin with strong Muslim leadership. ( No comments) |
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Park51
Pride and prejudice
By Muqtedar Khan, August 23, 2010 Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf's project to build bridges with America has inadvertently become a lightning rod for hatred. If he succeeds in building his center, it will be a triumph for America and its values. But American Muslims will have to pay a big price for it. ( 2 comments) |
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Assimilation
Looking for an American standard
By Sara Haji, August 18, 2010 Does the American standard consist of freedom of religion, that fundamental right to which we thought ourselves entitled in this nation? Or has the new American standard become the method by which to deny American Muslims their rights? ( 1 comment) |
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Afghanistan
Prosecute Taliban leaders for war crimes
By Rafia Zakaria, August 16, 2010 By misusing concepts of Islamic law to instate a reign of terror, the Taliban are guilty of increasingly bloodthirsty killing campaigns that kill hundreds of Afghan civilians. It's time to hold them accountable. ( 22 comments) |
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Theatre
Finding mizan with a good story
By Luqman Ali, August 13, 2010 In creative storytelling and theatre from the Muslim community lie the answers to many questions and the solutions to many problems, not least that of how we positively relate to and communicate with the world. ( No comments) |
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Fasting
Ramadan and God’s love
By Hesham Hassaballa, August 11, 2010 You can fake prayer: you can pray in front of other people so that they can say you pray. You can fake giving alms; you can fake going to Mecca. But you can’t fake fasting. And that is how we can show our love for God. ( 3 comments) |
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Park51
Looking for common ground in lower Manhattan
By Parvez Ahmed, August 9, 2010 Now that the developers of the Muslim community center known as Park51 have secured their legal rights to continue development, what can we do to help heal the tensions that arose in its wake? ( 4 comments) |
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Park51
Choosing freedom over fear
By Joshua M. Z. Stanton, August 4, 2010 With its last legal hurdle cleared, Park51 will still face protests that threaten to undermine the freedom of a religious community to provide a space that is open to Americans of all faiths. We must stand with Park51 as part of a free society. ( No comments) |
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Pakistan
Let’s be friends, not frenemies
By Safiya Ghori-Ahmad , August 2, 2010 America would be well-served to provide better explanations and offer more concrete tools for engagement and interaction with young people in Pakistan. It could be a long struggle, but we’ll certainly need to make more friends in Pakistan in the long run. ( 5 comments) |
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Journalism
Islam, the media and meaningless language
By Ali H. Mir, July 28, 2010 The use of reactionary language in place of context when covering issues related to Muslims is simply lazy journalism. But there is more at stake than that conclusion implies. These hollow phrases fail to portray Muslims as human beings or to accord Islam the same stature as other global faiths. ( 17 comments) |
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Supreme Court
US peacemakers forced to stay home
By Sahar Aziz, July 23, 2010 As a result of the Supreme Court ruling on Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (HLP), the ability of American civil society to pursue peaceful means to resolve violent conflict is now curtailed. ( 2 comments) |
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Religious liberty
How can we view Muslims as Americans?
By Asma T. Uddin, July 21, 2010 The latest outbreaks of paranoia and anti-Muslim sentiment around the construction of new mosques, particularly the one proposed in lower Manhattan, is propelling American society down the same road it has traveled many times before, to its own detriment. ( 5 comments) |
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Cartoonist Molly Norris
Hijacked art, sidetracked peace
By G. Willow Wilson, July 19, 2010 There is a central tragedy to these endless cartoon scandals, such as the one involving the Seattle cartoonist, Molly Norris, who penned the comic sparking an "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day." No one is looking for a resolution. ( 41 comments) |
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Health
House on fire
By Adem Carroll, July 16, 2010 In the midst of a health crisis in American Muslim communities, the Director of the Muslim Consultative Network offers some insight into how to get young Muslims to stay healthy as Ramadan approaches. ( 2 comments) |
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Marketing
Designing a game-changing Islamic brand
By Shelina Zahra Janmohamed, July 11, 2010 Entrepreneurs intent on creating ‘Islamic’ brands to move past just tweaking products so that they are technically Islamic, and start thinking about the Islamic values that are crucial to new products and then design products from the ground up. ( 5 comments) |
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Patriotism
Thank those who serve our country
By Parvez Ahmed, July 9, 2010 It is possible to be a good American and a good Muslim. More of one does not mean less of the other. Weaving American patriotic traditions into Muslim events will make this point loud and clear. ( 22 comments) |
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Social Entrepreneurship
Solving social challenges, shaping public policy
By Samiur Talukder, June 25, 2010 Financial aid to developing countries can be mired in corruption, lack of governance, and inefficiency. In contrast, Muslim social entrepreneurs and the microfinance initiatives they have developed have much to offer. ( No comments) |
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Author Thomas Friedman
Either an idiot or…
By Haroon Moghul, June 23, 2010 New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, in his unendingly offensive series of "Letters from Istanbul," offers up reasons to "wonder" about Turkey, only to indulge us in his propagandistic and arrogant attempt to smear it. ( 5 comments) |
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Education in the UK
How can Muslim disengagement be reversed?
By Tehmina Kazi, June 21, 2010 How can we use the educational system to promote a sense of national belonging amongst Muslim communities? And what role should the major stakeholders - society, government, and the Muslim community themselves - play? ( 2 comments) |
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Religion and the law
Unveiling religion in the public sphere
By Heather Laird, June 18, 2010 Outward displays of religiosity from Muslims, as well as those from other faiths, are being increasingly misunderstood and frowned upon by public institutions and courts. It is imperative that our legal system offer more protection for those who choose to wear religious garments. ( No comments) |
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Gender segregation
On second thought…
By Hesham Hassaballa, June 16, 2010 Recent admissions by some clerics in Saudi Arabia that the monarchy's strict gender segregation may have been the result of Qur'anic misinterpretations could help align that country more towards its moderate peers. But it also raises questions about the infallibility of past Islamic rulings. ( 17 comments) |
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Cordoba House
Zero tolerance at Ground Zero
By Mohamed Elibiary and Amad Shaikh, June 11, 2010 Criticism of the proposed Cordoba House near Manhattan's Ground Zero are working to undo significant interfaith work and seek to create a climate which divides American Muslims from their fellow citizens. ( 4 comments) |
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Justice
Policing the innocent, domestically and abroad
By Muneera Shariff Gardezi, June 9, 2010 Domestically and internationally, force has been used by people in power to maintain the status quo and prevent any sort of movement of marginalized groups. Over the last few days we have seen how this display of abusive power has manifested itself. ( 3 comments) |
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UCLA basketball coach John Wooden
More than a coach
By Tarik Trad, June 7, 2010 Famed UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, who died last week at the age of 99, was an inspiration to me as a child and gave me valuable lessons in how to succeed in life. ( No comments) |
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Perspectives
The fast of a lifetime
By Nancy Mahmoud, June 4, 2010 One mother’s fast becomes an act of solidarity with her son who suffers from a rare disease, Eosinophilic esophagitis, that prevents him from eating food. What if that fast lasted a lifetime? What if there was never an iftar? ( 3 comments) |
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American Muslims
Lost and leaderless
By Rafia Zakaria, June 2, 2010 During the past year alone, many unfortunate opportunities have thrown up questions about the intentions of the Muslim next door, a situation complicated by the inability of the American Muslim leadership to accept its immigrant dimension. ( 16 comments) |
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Pakistan's madrassas
Terror factories?
By Fahad Faruqui, May 28, 2010 Though not all madrassas are singing the chorus of hate and jihad against the West and not all jihadis are the offshoots of madrassas, Pakistan still has a serious problem to contend with. ( 12 comments) |
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Charitable giving
Help Muslims give without fear
By Akil Vohra, May 26, 2010 One year ago, President Barack Obama promised to make it easier for American Muslims to fulfill their obligations to zakat (charitable giving). But today, American Muslims still worry that their donations could become criminal liabilities. ( 2 comments) |
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Pakistan's Facebook ban
Protecting the violent?
By Asma T. Uddin, May 24, 2010 Pakistan's recent censoring of Facebook in response to an "Everybody Draw Muhammed Day" campaign is deeply flawed, protecting the wrong party and providing the wrong incentives. It appeases, rather than controls, extremists and gives them license to react violently. ( 12 comments) |
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Jacksonville Human Rights Commission
When media acts responsibly
By Parvez Ahmed, May 19, 2010 When University of North Florida professor Parvez Ahmed was nominated to the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, local media and public officials did not succumb heavy pressure from a small but vocal group to reject him, demonstrating that responsible journalism and diligent public stewardship is alive and well. ( 1 comment) |
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Niqab
Cover up, your hatred is showing
By Hesham Hassaballa, May 10, 2010 Politicians in Europe should understand that freedom works both ways. If cartoonists are free to draw or insult the Prophet Muhammad, then Muslim women should be free to wear niqab if they choose to do so. ( 15 comments) |
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Franklin Graham
Hearing can prevent smearing
By Samiur Rahman Talukder, May 5, 2010 As Muslims, how can we expect to engage in dialogue and promote discourse if we exclude people like Franklin Graham, as the Pentagon recently did? What are we doing to help people see that they have misunderstood Islam? ( 4 comments) |
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Fear of Muslims
Muslim-phobia has gone beyond a joke
By Irfan Yusuf, April 30, 2010 Muslims know of Muhammad as a man who happily forgave the men and women who murdered his followers, even the woman who chewed the liver of his uncle slain on the battlefield. So why are ludicrous threats taken so seriously. ( 37 comments) |
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Education
In defense of Islamic faith schools
By Dr. Ibrahim Lawson, April 26, 2010 Muslims have a right, as much as any other faith, to be taught their religion alongside a mainstream curriculum. Rejecting faith schools as "anti-democratic" or "divisive" is simply the wrong approach to take. ( 5 comments) |
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South Park
South Park and the freedom to blaspheme
By Aziz Poonawalla, April 23, 2010 The Muslim response to depictions of the Prophet has been mostly indifference with perhaps some wounded silence, even after several portrayals over 10 years on "South Park". So why does Comedy Central now preemptively censor itself when a lone nut posts a threatening note to the show's creators? ( 10 comments) |
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Extremism
Life of a Muslim de-radicalizer
By Arsalan Iftikar, April 21, 2010 Texas native Mohamed Elibiary has found himself caught in between radicalized Muslim youth and their families, finding a way to minimize the impact on wider American Muslim society while helping prevent others from going down the same road. ( 1 comment) |
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Religious violence
Food for thought for Qur’an bashers
By Svend White, April 12, 2010 Something must be said about the many contemporary critics who ignorantly and offensively denigrate the Qur'an on flimsy grounds while instinctively explaining away far more challenging ethical problems to be found within their own sacred scriptures. ( 54 comments) |
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The Hutaree
Another man’s freedom fighter
By Hesham Hassaballa, April 7, 2010 It is much easier to see the "other" as being depraved enough to become a terrorist. With the arrest of nine Hutaree militiamen last week, we know that it is much more difficult to see it in white, Christian America. ( 4 comments) |
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Justice
Protecting speech, preserving charity
By Sahar Aziz, April 5, 2010 By requiring proof of specific intent to support violence, the U.S Supreme Court would preserve our cherished values of free speech and charitable giving, while focusing anti-terrorism efforts on illicit activity ( No comments) |
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Security
It’s hard not to feel like a criminal
By H.A. Hellyer, April 2, 2010 Based on my experiences traveling from Britain to the US and Arab countries, additional security measures and changing attitudes towards Western Muslims mean that, in some small way, al Qa’eda has succeeded in changing our way of life. ( 1 comment) |
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Politics
Obama’s historic first victory
By Muqtedar Khan, March 24, 2010 While passage of President Barack Obama's health care bill will not alleviate all America's health care problems, it demonstrates to those in the public service that short-term political sacrifices are worth making in pursuit of long-term visions. Perhaps true progress in the Middle East will be next. ( 35 comments) |
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Holy Land Foundation trial
Seeing my father through magic eyes
By Noor Elashi, March 22, 2010 As Holy Land Foundation (HLF) co-founder Ghassan Elashi may be transferred to a higher security prison to serve his 65-year prison sentence, his daughter Noor reminds us why all five HLF co-founders remain political prisoners ( 3 comments) |
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Art
Jihad Jane and the Muhammad cartoons
By Wajahat Ali, March 15, 2010 Art can be used as a loaded cultural and political weapon to incite animosity amidst an already hostile climate dominated by foolish controversies — or it can be used wisely and bravely as a common language to bridge the divides. ( 2 comments) |
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Obituary
Remembering Sister Aminah Assilmi
By Hesham Hassaballa, March 10, 2010 Aminah Assilmi, who passed away last week in a tragic automobile accident, was a tireless advocate for Muslim women's rights and equality within the framework of Islam itself. She was also a renown scholar, prolific writer, and well-known speaker who will be sadly missed. ( No comments) |
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British Muslims
Can madrasahs bridge the education gap?
By Asim Siddiqui, March 1, 2010 Because Muslims are one of the most insular groups in Europe, some British mosques have tried making themselves more relevant to youth, women and non-Muslims, filling an education gap in the process. ( 1 comment) |
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Social networking
Fatwas against Facebook?
By Fahad Faruqui, February 26, 2010 Even if one sympathizes with the rationale and the language attributed to an Egyptian sheikh's recent alleged Facebook fatwa, a ban on social networking will ultimately amount to nothing ( 5 comments) |
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Domestic violence
Remembering Aasiya Zubair
By Wajahat Ali, February 15, 2010 Last year the tragic beheading of Aasiya Zubair jolted a dormant Muslim American community to finally acknowledge and proactively confront the hidden scourge of domestic violence in its midst ( 3 comments) |
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Civil liberties
Another red scare?
By Sahar Aziz, February 10, 2010 Most people would agree that adopting violence to propagate a political agenda is radical and warrants punishment. However, American public discourse has reinvigorated the misuse of the term ‘radical’ to label both criminal activity and unpopular political dissent. ( 46 comments) |
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Homegrown radicals
Complacency is not an option
By Parvez Ahmed, February 3, 2010 The American Muslim community should not brush aside facts by either taking a defensive posture or by being apologetic. The better path is to conduct honest soul searching and enact proactive measures that can avoid such attention grabbing headlines in the first place. ( 12 comments) |
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Semantics
Let God be God
By Parvez Ahmed and Lucinda Mosher, January 27, 2010 Many Muslims erroneously believe they have monopoly over the use of the word Allah, asserting that the Christian God is different from the Muslim God. And yet, normative Islam insists that there is "No God but God," meaning there cannot be a God for Christians and a different God for Muslims. ( 6 comments) |
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Civil liberties
How our lawlessness strengthens our enemies
By Shahid Buttar, January 25, 2010 The strategy that could most effectively hamstring violent extremism abroad is the same one that would most effectively stop disaffected youth in America from turning to violence: applying our principles equally and with consistency. ( 33 comments) |
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Terrorism
Technology is not the problem, human relations are
By Heather Laird, January 22, 2010 What we need in this time of uncertainty is not more technology, but more human relations, more understanding of different perspectives and working with that to achieve peace and social justice. ( 6 comments) |
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Treaty of Lisbon
Helping solve Europe’s identity crisis
By Abou El Mahassine Fassi-Fihri, January 20, 2010 Although the recent ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, which aims to protect civil, economic, and social rights of EU citizens, is a great step forward in protecting Muslim minorities, it is no panacea to Europe’s current identity crisis. ( No comments) |
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Islam4UK ban
Free speech martyrs
By Junaid Afeef, January 18, 2010 Banning the extremist group Islam4UK does not refute the organization’s twisted beliefs and, worse still, marginalizes British Muslims who do not support them. ( 43 comments) |
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The Burj Khalifa
Behind the glitz
By Rafia Zakaria, January 15, 2010 The very dynamics of the architecture of the tallest towers and their historical symbolism suggest acts of defiance. Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, now the world’s tallest building, takes the act of rebellion against physical limitations to new levels — literally. ( 3 comments) |
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Islam and cinema
Visions of light
By Omer Mozaffar, January 11, 2010 When a movie takes my in-exile self into new worlds within the human heart, showing me dimensions of humanity and the human experience, it is as though the Divine is whispering through these visions of light. ( 8 comments) |
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Interfaith
Prophet Muhammad’s promise to Christians
By Muqtedar Khan, January 1, 2010 There exists in the Sinai a document written by the Prophet of Islam that clearly lays out the responsibility Muslims have to protect the Christians that live in their midst. It is a potent reminder of our collective responsibility to look after our neighbors. ( 4 comments) |
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Interfaith
“He was the best of the Jews”
By Muqtedar Khan, December 28, 2009 If Muslim Imams told the story of Rabbi Mukhayriq to their congregations in America and elsewhere, I am confident that it will contribute to manifestations of increased tolerance by Muslims towards others. ( 4 comments) |
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Christmas
A Muslim Christmas greeting
By Hesham Hassaballa, December 25, 2009 I am very happy to wish my Christian friends and neighbors a hearty "Merry Christmas", for, even though we see Jesus through different religious lenses, our love for Jesus is one. ( 3 comments) |
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Muslim Americans
Confronting radicalization online
By Shahed Amanullah, December 23, 2009 The best possible antidote to extremist thought online is to propagate a compelling Muslim American narrative that instills pride and purpose among susceptible minds, and then connect them to mainstream efforts to address U.S. policy in Muslim countries. ( 8 comments) |
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Education
Teaching faith in America’s schools
By Dilara Hafiz, December 16, 2009 Although the roots of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are briefly studied in both middle and high school curriculums across the US, the historical focus leaves students unaware of the state of current beliefs and practices, as well as commonalities, within these faith traditions. ( 12 comments) |
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Elected Muslims
Hard work and an easy smile
By Hesham Hassaballa, December 14, 2009 Two contrasting examples in America's November elections show that Muslims can either overcome fear and prejudice against them to win elected office, or they can use fear and prejudice against their opponents and lose. ( 8 comments) |
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Pakistan bombings
The real martyrs
By Maryam Khan Ansari, December 7, 2009 Although the suicide bombers who attacked a Rawalpindi mosque on Friday believe they will be martyrs, that honor lies with their victims. Here, Maryam Khan Ansari tells us about 18 year-old Saad Sadiq, who was killed in the attack. ( 37 comments) |
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Sustainability
The eco-halal revolution
By Nadia Arumugam, December 4, 2009 A growing number of Muslims are calling for a more transparent and environmentally sound approach to the production and supply of halal meat that reflects broader issues of sustainability and environmental friendliness backed by Islamic concepts. ( 1 comment) |
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Swiss minaret ban
The case of the Swiss minarets
By Sheikh Yasir Qadhi, December 2, 2009 This week's ban on minarets in Switzerland, approved by 57 percent of voters, is a sign of the increasing influence of right wing parties in Switzerland's direct democracy - despite there being only four minarets in the entire country. ( 85 comments) |
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Eid and Thanksgiving
A beautiful juxtaposition
By Hesham Hassaballa, November 25, 2009 Thanksgiving should be spent in giving thanks to our Lord for all the blessings and goodness we have received. And this year, there could not be a day that is more fitting to coincide with Thanksgiving than the day of Arafat. ( 11 comments) |
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Tunku Varadarajan's "Going Muslim"
Normalizing hate speech
By Aisha Ghani, November 18, 2009 In his essay "Going Muslim," NYU professor Tunku Varadarajan seems to be asking the government to continue doing what it has been doing for a while: produce indiscriminate policies on paper only to then exercise them in discriminating ways. ( 17 comments) |
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Race, class, and religion
Remembering Imam Luqman Abdullah
By Imam Zaid Shakir, November 16, 2009 The political rhetoric sometimes employed by Imam Luqman Abdullah has led his detractors to argue that he is responsible for his own death and that he was an advocate for violent Islamic revolution. But those close to the Imam present another picture. ( 9 comments) |
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Diplomacy
A monumental task for American Muslims
By Ruby Amatulla, November 13, 2009 After the recent tragedy at Fort Hood, American Muslims need to realize the enormous political capital they could muster if they unite to form a movement for diplomacy between East and West for the greater good of all. ( 15 comments) |
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Journalism
When does a gunman become a terrorist?
By Zain Shauk, November 11, 2009 Scriptural references, when taken out of the widely varying religious contexts in which they're understood, can leave readers with a narrow and potentially misleading understanding of a faith. The same is true for acts of violence that we often too easily describe as terrorism. ( 16 comments) |
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Biopics
The pitfalls of filming Muhammad
By Shahed Amanullah, November 9, 2009 Unfortunately, the Matrix producer Barrie Osborne's planned biopic on the life of the Prophet Muhammad won't illuminate Islam in the same way 'The Message' did 33 years ago. Instead, there are plenty of other stories yet to be told on film.
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Fort Hood killings
Fort Hood has enough victims already
By Wajahat Ali, November 6, 2009 Whatever was in the mind of shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who reportedly gunned down 13 people at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas, is no reason to question the loyalty of Muslim Americans in general. ( 26 comments) |
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Kashmir
Faith after the quake
By Salma Hasan Ali, November 2, 2009 "Islam doesn't tell anyone to kill on the basis of religion," Shaukat bhai said. "Extremism is bad. We should follow the moderate way." I wondered what it would take for this sound bite, from a bespectacled, bearded former Taliban, to make it on the nightly news. ( 1 comment) |
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Imam Luqman Abdullah killing
Condemn that which is condemnable
By Heather Laird, October 30, 2009 Whatever conclusions people make about the killing of Imam Luqman Abdullah, they should do so with all the facts in hand. If we find condemnable acts, we should all condemn them. And where we find innocence, we should defend it. ( 13 comments) |
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Discrimination
India’s invisible minority
By Parvez Ahmed, October 23, 2009 Persistent religious discrimination against Muslims and recurring communal violence have marred India’s ideals and values. As the Sachar Report illustrates, the issue of Muslim empowerment is not so much about the Muslim community as it is about India’s future ( 154 comments) |
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Foreign Policy
A new approach to US aid in the Muslim world
By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz, October 19, 2009 While America tries to improve its image in the Muslim world, it is slowly realising that providing aid for programmes that will benefit a country's people, not just the state, can help immensely. ( 2 comments) |
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30 Mosques, 30 Days project
Touring the spiritual side of NYC
By Kalsoom Lakhani, October 12, 2009 Although Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq’s 30 Mosques in 30 Days project was only a modest attempt to break perceptions, their subsequent narrative indicates how easy it can be to break barriers, to challenge stereotypes and get to know one another. ( 1 comment) |
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Perspectives
Infidel in the mosque
By Andrew Zielsdorf, October 9, 2009 During our stay in Saudi Arabia, we were ordered to avoid contact with the locals. But the very few personal interactions I had with Muslims there were with friendly and generous people. I then decided it would be beneficial to me to get more first-hand experience with Muslims and Islam. ( 8 comments) |
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Rape
Polanski and the burqa
By Ibrahim Abusharif, October 7, 2009 The French decades-long hospitality to confessed child rapist Roman Polanski, especially when held up next to Sarkozy’s nasal exegesis of the burqa, drips with pretense and hypocrisy. Likewise for the Hollywood elite who have come out in support of him. ( 22 comments) |
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Islamophobia
A new phase of conflict in the UK
By Nabila Pathan, September 28, 2009 In responding to a new series of protests by more explicitly anti-Muslim groups, British Muslims are trying to find the balance between a marginalization their views and a counterproductive overreaction. ( 40 comments) |
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