Day: October 20, 2003

Current Affairs

The Magic Bullet [Updated]

islamoyankee

I believe that many of the issues facing the Muslim world revolve around questions of using intellect, and I believe intellect can only be exercised in an environment where knowledge is freely available and given. I believe education – not indoctrination passing itself off as the highest of human endeavors – is the basis for any level of positive discourse in the ummah. The Arab Human Development Report published last year came to similar conclusions, and the indication is that this year’s report will come to similar conclusions. If you look at what we call the “golden” periods of Islamic…

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Uncategorized

Maimonides on Giving

islamoyankee

I’m placing this here because I think it has strong resonances with the Muslim thinking on the concept of charity. I’ll post a similar one for Muslims shortly. Eight Rungs of the Giving Ladder: The concept of giving anonymously without knowing the recipient can be traced back to ancient Israel. Beggars would regularly congregate next to a wall of a courtyard and donors, being aware of this, would face the opposite direction and toss coins over the shoulders in the direction of the wall. Therefore, the recipients of the charity would not feel ashamed or indebted to the giver. Maimonides,…

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Current Affairs

Occupation

Ghostdog

Scanning the news today, I was struck by a headline on Reuters stating: “Majority of Palestinians back suicide bombing”. The following is a brief excerpt from the article: Seventy-five percent of Palestinians support the suicide bombing at an Israeli restaurant two weeks ago in which 21 people, including four children, were killed, a Palestinian survey shows. “The survey by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, which questioned 1,318 respondents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, also showed that 85 percent of Palestinians support a “mutual cessation of violence by both sides”. The poll found considerable anti-American feeling…

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