I have a piece over on Religion Dispatches on the line between reasonable expectations of acceptance of orthodoxy within American religious organizations and religious intolerance. Op-Ed: The Real Muslims? by Svend White | Religion and Theology | ReligionDispatches Candace Chellew-Hodge wrote last week in RD about the dogmatism enforced by some of the organizations ranked as top Christian employers. This got me thinking (and chuckling a bit) as I imagined compiling comparable rankings for Muslim American community organizations (especially given... Read more

When I turned around after making wudu yesterday at the local mosque before juma, I almost fainted at the sight of something that seemed utterly alien. There was a laminated timetable hanging on the back of the door for meticulously tracking and documenting daily maintenance (with a bunch of categories like cleaning, supply re-stocking, mopping, …). Such charts are pretty routine in the heavily trafficked facilities of fast food restaurants and government buildings, of course, but I don't think I've... Read more

This has to be the most bizarre diplomatic crisis ever. A CIA station chief in Algeria is being investigated for drugging and raping Algerian women. According to news reports, he even made video recordings of the beastly affairs. Observers are worrying this will reinforce the "Ugly American" image, but there's one yet more surreal detail that might complicate the discussion a bit. According to news reports, the guy's a convert to Islam, though presumably not a terribly practicing one given... Read more

Thought I'd share a touching and thought-provoking anecdote about Sh. Hakim al-Tirmidhi from an article I just read in connection with my Sisyphean thesis.     His family life seems to have been happy, based on sincerity, respect, and lovel.  Farid al-Din al-Attar relates that his children, asked how they knew if he were angry, replied that he used to treat them, on such occasions, with an affection which was even stronger than usual, but at the same time refrained from... Read more

Nearly 150 innocent people dead as of last count.  And who knows how bad this imagined strike against the US and the UK by the other side in the War on Terror will make things for Muslims in India (who already have a lot to deal with).  What an outrage and a tragedy. God rest their souls and bring these twisted mockeries of "mujahideen" to justice quickly. While everything about this is horrifically wrong and I realize that the kind... Read more

A reminder from the Times Online in the UK that hatred isn't an exclusively Arab or Muslim phenomenon in the Middle East.   This is just the tip of iceberg. Hate and violence beget hate and violence. Time Online Picture Gallery, November 20, 2008 November 20, 2008Hebron unrestThe settlers pledged to use violence towards Israeli soldiers deployed to evict them, and Palestinian residents. Some desecrated a cemetary in Hebron, causing outrage among locals. The Israeli Army cleaned off the graffiti(Nayef Hashlamoun/Reuters)... Read more

An-Noor has a very practical list of Tips to Wake up for Fajr. Some Muslim needs to invent a water-squirting alarm clock. Read more