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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
altmuslim this week - august 25, 2008 - This week, Pakistan instability in the wake of Musharraf's resignation, Sherry Jones speaks to us about Jewel of Medina, and protest boats in Gaza teach us all a new lesson.
ASIDES
editor's blog
Zero tolerance for Muslim participation in politics? - The very people who fight to push Muslims out of the public square are also the ones clamoring for our communities to get out in the streets and prove our loyalty to the US. If only they could see the contradiction for themselves. (August 6, 2008)

Geeking out at SXSW Interactive - There is no better place to mingle with other geeks than at South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, one of the largest Internet-focused conferences in the country, where we presented a panel discussion on "Online Extremism - And The Muslims Who Fight It" (March 20, 2008)

CONTRIBUTORS
PODCASTS
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)

altmuslim review 028 - Where in the world is altmuslim? This month, we report on the halal industry from the World Halal Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and from Milan, Italy where we speak to Italian Muslims about the challenges they face. (May 20, 2008)

ELSEWHERE
Shahed will be participating in a panel discussion, Sourcing Islam, at the Religion Newswriters Association conference in Washington, DC (September 20, 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)

Shahed will give a presentation, Shaping the Public Debate About Muslims, at the Center for American Studies in Rome, Italy (May 12, 2008)

Zahed will be a guest on BBC Radio 4's "Sunday" programme speaking about religious podcasting (May 4, 2008)

Rafia and Shahed will be guests on South Africa's Channel Islam, speaking about interpreting Islam in the modern world (March 28 & April 4, 2008)

Shahed will be speaking at the CAMP International Leadership Summit in Princeton, NJ (March 29, 2008)

Shahed will be a guest on Radio Tahrir, airing on WBAI 99.5 FM in New York, speaking about the Muslim block vote (April 1, 2008)

Shahed will be appearing on The Agenda with Steve Paikin for a recap of altmuslim's SXSW panel "Online Extremism" (March 26, 2008)

altmuslim is hosting a panel discussion at 2008 SXSW Interactive, "Online Extremism (And The Muslims Who Fight It)" (March 9, 2008)

Count blessings, then tally taxes - Hesham Hassaballa, Chicago Tribune (February 24, 2008)

'Busharraf' gets the people's message - Irfan Yusuf, New Zealand Herald (February 22, 2008)

Shahed will be participating in the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar (February 17-19, 2008)

Sharia an unlikely threat - Irfan Yusuf, stuff.co.nz (February 13, 2008)

Converts' dangerous pull towards extremism - Irfan Yusuf, Sydney Morning Herald (February 7, 2008)

Safiyyah will be appearing on The Agenda with Steve Paikin for a debate on "Today's Young Muslim Women" (February 1, 2008)

Sidelining the loud-mouthed cultural warriors - Irfan Yusuf, Canberra Times (January 10, 2008)

Safiyyah will be guest writing at the TVO website offering commentary on the two-part TV series Britz (February 2008)

IN THE NEWS
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)

Does the US tolerate anti-Muslim speech? - "You see more hostility towards Muslims now than you did the year after 9/11," says Shahed Amanullah, editor of a Muslim web-zine, AltMuslim.com. He and other observers point to America's failure to capture Osama bin Laden, the continuing difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan, and news of terrorist plots overseas as reasons why many Americans feel hostile towards Muslims. (December 7, 2007)

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PODCASTS
altmuslim review 004
Our fourth podcast features a discussion of recently proposed anti-terror legislation in Britain and Muslim reaction, along with an analysis of Muslims in movies and television.
Download the .mp3 version of this show here.

Islamic Relief: A 4-Star Charity

8 COMMENTS ON THIS PODCAST



Links to things we discussed:

Tony Blair's proposal to ban Muslim extremists, and convicted Virginia imam Ali Al-Timimi

Upcoming movies & shows, including Pretty Persuasion, Sleeper Cell, and Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World

More about "Big Brother" contestant Kaysar Ridha and the Muslim wrestlers of "SmackDown"



Salaam aleikum,

3 things of note on your reports in London:

1. Anjum Chowdhery is the spokesperson for Al-Muhajiroun, not HT.

2. What is NOT particularly well talked about by anyone in the media, save for a few leftist outlets, is what is meant by "extremist speech" or "incitment". The neo-nazi and all White fascist party, the British Nationalist Party, led by Nick Griffin seems to escape the ban, when it says and does the same thing as al-Muhajiroun, and also has a proven record of violence as well using tactics of assaulting Muslims, shoving dog excrement into their mailboxes, and starting race riots between Muslims and non-Muslims in Oldham, Brumley, and Leeds (where 3/4 of the suicide bombers came from).

3. there were 2-3 Muslim conferences on these very same topics held last weekend throughout the UK, would be nice if u could at least mention them and what was discussed in them.

regards,
g


You mean this Nick Griffin? I think credit has to be given where credit is due... when the BNP tried to use images of the bombed bus in flyers days after the London bombs, they were roundly denounced (not even mentioning the BBC expose linked to above). Nick Griffin is awaiting trial on hate crimes charges and their bank accounts have been frozen. Omar Bakri's have not, so there's no need to imply a double standard (in the opposite direction) where it doesn't exist.

As soon as we can digest information from what has happened over the weekend (the podcast was recorded Sunday), we'll try to include it in future shows.



salaam aleikum,

my apologies as i stand corrected

however the main point is that under the so-called "incitement" and "preventing terror" laws and measures proposed -- would the BNP also be banned? (it is still currently legal)

here is an article that details what I am getting at:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1545406,00.html

salaam aleikum,
g


Whoops - my bad about Chaudhry. I stand corrected too.



Salaam aleikkum

Last comments on this issue as I don't wanna flood your inboxes...but some articles that show that the banning of these groups is NOT simply a black/white issue:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=auOe8uASx_q4&refer=uk

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php4?article_id=7124

http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/publishing/1044

http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-terrorism/ban_2740.jsp

salaam aleikum


Wasalam, and thanks for the links...


I first heard of Omar Bakri Muhammad on NPR when Jon Ronson described getting to know him for his book on extremism, "Them." I have to say, Ronson makes him out as rather of a buffoon, and it took me a while to figure out that some people consider him a serious threat.

That said, and particularly in light of his 'hijra' to Lebanon so that he could "continue to practice his religion" (Muslims in prison don't get to practice?), how does the general British Muslim community regard him - as the blustery buffoon, or as someone who is a risk to safety?


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