I just posted something new on Tikkun Daily. … [Read more...]
Tikkun Daily: The NT as “Jewish” lit and reading scripture in historical context
April 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Essay on Malcolm X in Claremont Review
April 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
There's a very interesting essay on Malcolm X in the conservative Claremont Review of Books. Among other things, it gives you a taste of the political and cultural milieu from which Malcolm X emerged. There's much to comment on, of course, but I was most struck by the examples provided of his and Elijah Muhammad's tactical cooperation with none other than the Ku Klux Klan. For all their vast differences, the Klan and the Nation of Islam shared a vital overarching objective: both were … [Read more...]
Praying to which god, I wonder…
March 28, 2012 By 1 Comment
As a Muslim, I find it hard to put to words how obscene and revolting this report is. According to reports in the media, an elderly woman in a UK senior home may have died due to a delay in receiving medical treatment caused by a Muslim nurse who refused to tend to her until after he finished praying. From The Telegraph: Alzheimer's sufferer Dorothy Griffiths, 87, was found sitting down after staff heard a bang and a carer went to the office for help to lift her. But agency … [Read more...]
Tikkun Daily: “Think the NYPD is infiltrating Pat Robertson’s church?”
March 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
After a very long hiatus, I finally posted something new on Tikkun Daily. … [Read more...]
Teaching Kids the Holy Quran…with Legos!
February 22, 2012 By 3 Comments
I’ve blogged on occasion about Legos. You might remember me mentioning The Brick Testament,which retells a number of famous (and in some cases shocking) stories from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Well, I appear to be the last person in the Islamophere to notice the wonderful blog Teaching Kids the Holy Quran, which aims to do the same for the Quran, but with some innovative twists. I love this glimpse of a Lego Jahannam (Hell) from Chapter 72/Surah Al-Jinn: The emphasis is on … [Read more...]
Skewering racism on public radio
February 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
For those who are French-enabled, I thought I'd share a great radio skit that's stirred up controversy in France. There's a new humorous skit on French public radio called A votre écoute coûte que coûte (which I'd translate as "Listening to you, whatever the cost [to me of doing so]") about radio call-in show on health issues hosted by two insufferably smug and superficial experts (a doctor and a psychiatrist who are married). This particular episode involves a … [Read more...]
All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim
February 2, 2012 By 1 Comment
The collection of essays by American-Muslim men that I mentioned before—and to which I myself contributed a piece—will be published in a few months and is now available for pre-order. Its title is now All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim. It now boasts a foreword by the trailblazing US Congressman Keith Ellison. Kudos to the book’s editors Wajahat Ali and Zahra Suratwala. Here’s the current Amazon blurb on All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim: … [Read more...]
Insights into diversity within the Muslim Brotherhood
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Came across a helpful if a bit sketchy overview of the schools of thought within the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement that’s on Western observers’ minds these days. According to “The Muslim Brotherhood’s Trial of Pluralism” by Ibrahim El-Houdaiby in the Egyptian newspaper Midan Misr, there 4 streams: Islamic Modernism in the mold of Muhammad Abduh (and later Mahmud Shaltut) that “rejects the authority of turath (accumulated heritage of Islamic sciences), and calls for the return … [Read more...]
The Transformers face a truly eldritch horror!
January 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This has no relevance to Islam, American politics or the price of fish, but as an ardent fan of H.P. Lovecraft, I have to give this delightfully obscure and unexpected mashup a nod. Octimus Prime and the Autobots are up against their fiercest, most spine-tingling foe yet: Cthulhu! As if that's not entertaining enough, the Autobots are Steampunkified. I haven't bought a comic book in ages, but the surreal novelty and unbridled geekery of this title may change that. A panel … [Read more...]
Beware the peaceful decoy Muslims!
January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A very timely report from the trenches of the War on Terror. Al-Qaeda's most insidious plot yet: the peaceful decoy Muslims! The Onion News: "Al Qaeda Populating U.S. With Peaceful 'Decoy Muslims'" The sad thing is that this is barely satire, in some circles of American politics and media. The Orwellian notion that Muslims who are to all appearances and by all conventional standards squeaky-clean, "normal" and "moderate"--but who do not enlist … [Read more...]
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